I'm an entrepreneur trying to let the American people know that it's not immigrants that are causing economic problems, it is the fact that our economy is advancing in ways that is making human labor less and less essential.
— Andrew Yang
The vast majority of companies don't go public and mint dozens of millionaires. And most companies don't go around doling out stock options; private companies tend to be very tight about ownership.
Our system rewards specific talents more than anything. I got pushed forward for having certain capacities. Others had their horizons systematically lowered for having capacities that our academic system had no use for. I've seen countless people lose heart and feel like they should settle for less, that they don't deserve abundance.
Universal basic income is not a solution in search of a problem - it is the obvious solution that has been in front of us for years. It only requires us to have the vision, empathy and courage to adopt it for the American people before it is too late.
The benefits of a universal basic income overall are huge.
Automation is no longer just a problem for those working in manufacturing. Physical labor was replaced by robots; mental labor is going to be replaced by AI and software.
I can't sit by and do nothing as our country disintegrates.
We need to wake up to the fact that it is not immigrants who are causing economic dislocations. It is technology and an evolving economy that is pushing more and more Americans to the sidelines.
Silicon Valley is like Wall Street in that it will fill and pursue market opportunities to their logical extremes.
If you're a set of guys looking to start a company, think about women you could team up with - they will see things differently and solve problems you didn't even realize you had.
Starting a company is rough. It's even harder when you're young - I know this firsthand, because my first company flopped when I was 25.
One thing I disliked about being a lawyer was billing for my time.
Money often moves around like a high school kid with no personality - it goes with the crowd.
I sometimes compare starting a business to having a child. You have a moment of profound inspiration, followed by months of thankless hard work and waking up in the middle of the night.
Unfortunately, hardworking, academically gifted young people are kind of lazy when it comes to determining direction.
If you join a growth organization, you'll likely do different things in different roles throughout your career. It's excellent to learn and build with others. You'll meet people you want to work with.
Very few parents keep up with who the top professors are or whose classes their kids are taking, partially because most undergraduates interact more commonly with graduate students.
I would not outlaw or eliminate private health insurance. But if we do a good enough job, with a robust public option, there really should not be as much of a need for private insurance in the market.
The technologists and entrepreneurs I know are generally good people. If they were given a choice, 'Do your job and eliminate normal jobs' or 'Do your job and create abundant opportunities,' they would choose the latter. Most of them would happily even take a small hit to do so. But this isn't a choice they're given.
We say success in America is about hard work and character. It's not really. Most of success today is about how good you are at certain tests and what kind of family background you have, with some exceptions sprinkled in to try and make it all seem fair.
The impending destruction of jobs due to automation and AI technologies is definitely increasing the need for - and speed at which - we have to implement big solutions, such as a universal basic income.
A universal basic income funded by a value-added tax, which is a tax placed on a product whenever value is added at each stage of the supply chain, from production to the point of sale, would spread the benefits of automation to a much wider group of people.
We should relocate federal agencies throughout the United States, to provide an economic boost to the surrounding areas and make them feel more connected to their government.
After getting a law degree, I spent five unhappy months as a corporate attorney.
In 2011, I started a nonprofit organization, Venture for America, to help bring talented young entrepreneurs to create thousands of jobs in Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Birmingham, Baltimore and other cities around the country.
Technology companies tend to operate in winner-take-all spaces and thus adopt a very high-commitment culture.
Starting a business is similar to an athletic endeavor, like serving a tennis ball. Telling you how to do it is useless. You actually get better through a combination of practice, coaching, and repetitions with money on the line.
Millennials get a bad rap sometimes about their grit and perseverance.
I grew up a skinny Asian kid who was often ignored or picked on. It stuck with me and branded my soul. As I grew up, I tried to stick up for whoever seemed excluded or marginalized.
Finding initial funds is the primary barrier most entrepreneurs face. Many people don't have three or six months' worth of savings to free themselves up to do months of unpaid legwork.
There is a common and persistent belief out there that entrepreneurship is about creativity - that it's about having a great idea. But it's not, really. Entrepreneurship isn't about creativity. It's about organization-building - which, in turn, is about people.
People can grow from adversity as much as they do from prosperity.
If you're positioned to start your own organization, that's great - but rare.
If your son graduates from Harvard, people will regard him as smart and highly qualified for the rest his life and give him access to opportunities. He'll be able to get any job he wants.
I am a Medicare-for-all public option proponent.
I had very little going for me as a kid except for the fact that I had demanding parents and was very good at filling out bubbles on standardized tests. I went to the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University because I did well on the SAT. I went to Exeter because I did well on the SAT.
Incarceration and recidivism rates high? Providing people an incentive to stay out of jail while also providing them some level of economic security while they get back on their feet - both accomplished by a UBI - sounds like a great way to solve that problem.
Zoning laws making housing more expensive? That's less of a problem with a universal basic income and more of a reason to put money directly into people's hands.
If we focus our economy on improving human outcomes instead of just a topline GDP that is increasingly going to fewer and fewer people, we can see what Americans can do when they're free to unleash their true potential.
We need to provide all areas of the country with access to high-quality medical care.
What good is a high GDP if some, or even many, Americans are left behind?
I never thought I'd run for president. My parents were immigrants to this country - and leader of the free world was not on the list of careers presented to me as a skinny Asian kid growing up in upstate New York.
Every parent pursues the best possible opportunities for their child while climbing over obstacles and limitations each day. So in a way, all parents are entrepreneurs.
For most students at universities around the country, studying entrepreneurship is a pleasant intellectual diversion, not a professional choice, path, or commitment.
I've always believed that talking about something is not the same as doing something about it.
I've always taken pride in relating to the underdog or little guy or gal.
In my experience, fledgling entrepreneurs focus way too much on the money - you can get most things done and figure out a lot without spending much. That said, most businesses require money to launch and get off the ground.
It's hard to get started as a young entrepreneur - often much harder than one would ever realize.
Just about any growth company is going to need smart salespeople, account and project managers, business development, marketing, operations, customer service, content creation, communications, analytics, and social media.
Online education and technology are doubtless going to change how we learn in the years ahead. Remote learning is inexpensive and brings down the cost of near-universal access.
