When you hear a member of Congress talking about the tech industry these days, there’s a good chance it’s in a negative context. Republicans rail against the companies that have enabled everyday citizens to project their voices with a freedom and scope that even presidents could not have matched just a couple decades ago. Democrats rhapsodize about dismantling some…
When I first started sharing the concept of blitzscaling, then later wrote a book about it, I was primarily focused on a very specific business context. For start-ups looking to achieve leadership positions in emerging and highly competitive global markets, it makes sense to prioritize speed over efficiency in the face of uncertainty. Over the last few…
Bitter political partisanship continues to divide America. Devastating wildfires, floods, and hurricanes leave no part of the country untouched. Rapid technological innovation has altered global business patterns and relationships, and left individual workers, companies, and even entire industries wondering what the future holds for them. Now throw in a global pandemic. It’s not an environment…
“A government of the people, by the people. A beautifully American ideal, but a reality denied to many for much of this nation’s history. As Americans, we know that in our democracy we should not expect to agree on everything. However, regardless of our political affiliations we believe the very foundation of our electoral process…
Earlier this year, I was pleased to learn that the UK Government was planning to appoint a Tech Envoy to the U.S. – a dedicated point person who would live in the Bay Area and function as a conduit between our tech industry and the UK. Later, when I learned that Joe White would take on this newly created…
Since states around the country began offering early voting in mid-September, inspiring images of citizens lining up to exercise their franchise have become commonplace. In some cities, they’re showing up well before dawn to claim their place in line. In others, they endure rainstorms or turn the wait in line into an outdoor dance party. The electorate’s enthusiasm extends to mail-in…
As we head into the home stretch of the most consequential election of our lifetimes, it has never been more critical to ensure that every American voter has the ability to exercise this most fundamental democratic right of voting, and that we maintain our commitment to free and fair elections in which every vote is counted.…
So often people talk about the Democratic Party as the party of pluralist, pie-in-the-sky idealism and the Republican Party as the party of practical, results-driven business. At last night’s Democratic National Convention, though, one of the world’s most successful, results-driven business leaders, Michael Bloomberg, made some key points. Bloomberg, of course, is not just a great…
Since taking office in 2017, Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted he’s on the verge of replacing the extremely popular Affordable Care Act with “something so much better.” Usually, he claims the timetable for unveiling his healthcare plan is “about two weeks.” Last month Trump was at it again. “We’re signing a health-care plan within two weeks, a full and complete…
Today, I’m excited to announce the debut of a new political project I’m financing: a digital campaign — in partnership with Meme 2020, Lincoln Project, Six Point Harness, and Rhyme Combinator — that uses memes, animation, battle rap, and influencer marketing to highlight the absurdity of Donald Trump’s presidency and the importance of voting this November.…
“I built the greatest economy in the World, the best the U.S. has ever had,” Donald Trump tweeted in June. “I am doing it again!” Obviously, the first part of that tweet is a towering Trump lie. Trump inherited a great economy from his predecessors, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and for a while, he…
Even as reports of a new viral outbreak in China started popping up during the first weeks of 2020, most people were slow to pay sufficient attention to the developing threat. In contrast, Bill and Melinda Gates acted decisively and quickly. On January 29th, the Gates Foundation pledged $10 million “to help frontline responders in China and…
From the moment Donald Trump announced his presidential campaign in June 2015, I’ve been a Never Trumper. That was because he’d spent zero minutes of his life as a public servant — and virtually every minute of his life engaged in narcissistic self-promotion. He started out slapping his name onto skyscrapers and casinos, and then less grandly,…
In one important measure of democracy, America is unfortunately not first. Or even 20th. In fact, according to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, the United States ranks near the bottom for voter turnout among its peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, just 26th out of 32 countries. In the top…
During the 2016 presidential campaign, a truism emerged that the best way to understand Donald Trump is to take him seriously, not literally. This has always struck me as nonsense, for two reasons. First, it creates an artificial divide where there is in fact a natural unity: Taking someone literally is an obvious early step in…