“As a society, we can’t hide from the future; we have to build and own it.”
― Andrew Yang
“The reason Donald Trump was elected was that we automated away four million manufacturing jobs in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. If you look at the voter data, it shows that the higher the level of concentration of manufacturing robots in a district, the more that district voted for Trump.”
― Andrew Yang
“Mistakes are acceptable if they’re the result of moving forward.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“Overnight successes are generally years in the making. And most progress is made in isolation, far from the public eye.”
― Andrew Yang
“We need people building companies all over the country to innovate in aviation, consumer products, education, health, cybersecurity, biotech, manufacturing, and everything in between.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“I’m a capitalist, and I believe that universal basic income is necessary for capitalism to continue.”
― Andrew Yang
“When I was growing up, I’d study for days trying to get good grades. When I’d get an ‘A,’ I’d feel elation for about 30 seconds, and then a feeling of emptiness.”
― Andrew Yang
“Building a successful business requires a combination of human capital, financial resources, market opportunity, persistence, community support, and even luck.”
― Andrew Yang
“We need more women solving different problems, starting companies, and creating jobs to drive our economy and society forward.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“If I need a pick-me-up, I pull up a memo file on my phone and type in three things I’m grateful for. The things I’ve typed on other days are still there. It’s a long list. Always helps.”
― Andrew Yang
“It might be a lot easier to take risks if you’re part of a group who will look out for one another.”
― Andrew Yang
“I’ve always believed that talking about something is not the same as doing something about it.”
― Andrew Yang
“The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is push my dog off of me. He likes to sleep on top of me. I think it’s because I’m warm and breathing.”
― Andrew Yang
“Before Starbucks, there wasn’t as much of a coffeehouse routine; we generally drank really cruddy diner coffee.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“Millennials get a bad rap sometimes about their grit and perseverance.”
― Andrew Yang
“I meet young people all the time who say something like, ‘I want to work in venture capital.’ And I can see why. Who wouldn’t want to be smart, well-paid, dispense large sums of money, and tell people what to do?”
― Andrew Yang
“Unfortunately, hardworking, academically gifted young people are kind of lazy when it comes to determining direction.”
― Andrew Yang
“Most Americans agree that technology is going to eliminate many more jobs than it is going to create.”
― Andrew Yang
“Technology can create needs even as it addresses them.”
― Andrew Yang
“People can grow from adversity as much as they do from prosperity.”
― Andrew Yang
“Back in 2001, my first start-up was mentioned in the ‘New York Times’ and ‘USA Today.’ I figured that would drive thousands of visitors to the site and tons of new business. Instead, only a handful of people visited our site, and not much business came of it at all.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“The monetary market is going to value people’s time less and less as time goes on, so you need another way to structure their day that rewards them.”
― Andrew Yang
“Non-profits should be looking to enlist and retain the best people to aggressively solve problems, not to perform adequately and persist. We should expect people to innovate and do the highest-quality work and then reward them accordingly.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“The vast majority of small business owners want nothing to do with figuring out a website. They are neck-deep in their business trying to keep it going.”
― Andrew Yang
“I’ve always taken pride in relating to the underdog or little guy or gal.”
― Andrew Yang
“Our young people desperately want the chance to participate in and lead our nation’s economic and cultural revival. They’re up for the challenges that they’re going to inherit. It only remains for us to present the path to address them.”
― Andrew Yang
“People generally think of technology simply as a spur to start new businesses. But the Internet has also made it possible for more businesses to compete for any given opportunity.”
― Andrew Yang
“In most every business, you learn by doing. The apprenticeship model is much more effective than the classroom for cultivating entrepreneurs.”
― Andrew Yang
“People love Twinkies, and everyone knows about them, yet Hostess went bankrupt. Attention and commercial success have an uncertain relationship in business.”
― Andrew Yang
“In a professional service environment, you often work on one engagement or deal after another, with one ending before the next begins.”
― Andrew Yang
“There is, happily, a non-redistributive approach to address income inequality – one that doesn’t rely upon government. It’s to grow the pie. That is, create more decent jobs that pay more.”
― Andrew Yang
“I like most of the venture capitalists I know; they’re smart, well-intended guys who genuinely enjoy helping entrepreneurs succeed. And I love venture capital and investment capital of all categories – its economic impact is proven. The more of it the better.”
― Andrew Yang
“Intellectual capital drives financial capital and growth.”
― Andrew Yang
“One thing I disliked about being a lawyer was billing for my time.”
― Andrew Yang
“At Manhattan GMAT, I had done my best to create a positive work environment and culture, and I further believed in rewarding people financially at or above the market rate for a job well done.”
― Andrew Yang
“All you need is self-driving cars to destabilize society.”
― Andrew Yang
“I try not to bring my phone to the gym – it’s too tempting to play with it.”
― Andrew Yang
“Tell young girls they can be anything, including entrepreneurs and self-made billionaires. Encourage your friends/daughters/female students/yourself to take a shot.”
― Andrew Yang
“I have started or run several companies and spent time with dozens of entrepreneurs over the years. Virtually none of them, in my experience, made meaningful personnel or resource-allocation decisions based on incentives or policies.”
― Andrew Yang
“You will almost always leave a professional services environment with a few noteworthy friends and relationships. These contacts can prove to be extremely valuable both personally and professionally.”
― Andrew Yang
“The problems that you see startups tackling are dramatically different in different cities. Silicon Valley is unlikely to produce the same set of companies as New York or Cleveland because the region has a different set of strengths and defining institutions.”
― Andrew Yang
“Organizations relying upon young, idealistic, and mission-driven people to work at below-market compensation over the long-term will burn them out and find the best people leaving over time.”
― Andrew Yang
“What good is a high GDP if some, or even many, Americans are left behind?”
― Andrew Yang
“Income taxes are very poor at generating income from automation because the gains are realized by technology companies that are experts at not paying taxes.”
― Andrew Yang
“If a company is growing, then people’s roles often grow and change, and opportunities abound.”
― Andrew Yang
“After graduating from Brown, I went to law school and became a corporate lawyer in New York City.”
― Andrew Yang
“In my experience, entrepreneurship tends to be kind of cumulative, like a layer cake. Taking some time away can make it hard to rev up.”
― Andrew Yang
“FOMO (fear of missing out) is the enemy of valuing your own time.”
― Andrew Yang
“We’re conditioned to let businesses fail, regardless of how much we like them. We believe that if the market doesn’t want that bookstore to exist, then it shouldn’t exist.”
― Andrew Yang
“I spent five years running Manhattan GMAT helping young people get into business school.”
― Andrew Yang
“Money often moves around like a high school kid with no personality – it goes with the crowd.”
― Andrew Yang
“The best policymakers know that in start-ups, as in politics, not everything works out exactly as planned.”
― Andrew Yang
“When I graduated from Brown, I had a very limited conception of jobs, careers, and what I wanted to do. Basically, I figured I should do some kind of thought work that paid well, but I wasn’t sure what.”
― Andrew Yang
“In some environments, roles shift and change each period depending on what the company’s needs are. On the other hand, many functional roles can become very repetitive if you perform similar tasks over and over again.”
― Andrew Yang
“Every entrepreneur doesn’t need to be technical – there are plenty of opportunities out there for people who aren’t coders.”
― Andrew Yang
“If we create enough new companies, there will be additional opportunities for people at every rung of the educational ladder.”
― Andrew Yang
“Many of the scrappy young people I meet who are the first in their family to go to college feel that they have to bring home a steady paycheck to make their family’s sacrifices worthwhile.”
― Andrew Yang
“One reason why entrepreneurs are admired is that they often take on a degree of risk in launching a new business.”
― Andrew Yang
“I probably looked pretty conventionally successful as a 24-year-old getting paid $125,000 a year, plus bonus, wearing suits, and living in a Manhattan apartment. But I hated my job, I didn’t admire the people I was working with, and I felt that I was becoming a smaller, less imaginative, less risk-taking, less likable version of myself.”
― Andrew Yang
“It’s hard to get started as a young entrepreneur – often much harder than one would ever realize.”
― Andrew Yang
“For most students at universities around the country, studying entrepreneurship is a pleasant intellectual diversion, not a professional choice, path, or commitment.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“Venture for America operates in communities that could generally use more innovation: Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore, and other U.S. cities. So I’m obviously a big believer in innovation and progress as key drivers of economic growth and prosperity.”
― Andrew Yang
“I remember looking up to most any venture capitalist as someone who could make my little company happen with a single million-dollar check.”
― Andrew Yang
“If a new company is formed, it hires people and creates jobs in its community. As it grows, people’s opportunities multiply and wages rise. Inequality diminishes as more people get pulled into good jobs.”
― Andrew Yang
“I wear a suit most days, in part because it’s suitable for any type of meeting and in part because it takes the thought out of it.”
― Andrew Yang
“Of course, women are free to start any kind of company they want. But women sometimes identify different problems than men do and start different sorts of companies as a result.”
― Andrew Yang
“When I was first thinking about what would become Venture for America, I was trying to figure out how to solve a problem – that our top young people were being driven to roles that did not, to me, address the needs of our time. That VFA would be a non-profit just seemed like the most efficient way to solve the problem.”
― Andrew Yang
“It’s easy to see how non-profits become engrossed in catering to donors, which may or may not be the best thing at all times, while if a company is ultra-engaged with its customers, it’s universally positive and helpful.”
― Andrew Yang
“After a couple of years in a professional setting, you’ll get used to dressing presentably, preparing for meetings, speaking appropriately, showing up on time, writing professional correspondence, etc.”
― Andrew Yang
“In the start-up setting and in most companies, the output is action-oriented. You need to be getting things done and making decisions, often with limited information.”
― Andrew Yang
“At Venture for ,we’ve worked with hundreds of aspiring young entrepreneurs who want to build businesses and change things for the better.”
― Andrew Yang
“Starting a successful company is one of the hardest things anyone does.”
― Andrew Yang
“The image of entrepreneurship as the province of the unprivileged and un-entitled – the Horatio Alger, rags to riches myth – flies in the face of reality.”
― Andrew Yang
“Freelancers generally want as friction-free an engagement as possible.”
― Andrew Yang
“If you go deep into a problem, you’ll find most all of the time that there are yet more problems to be solved from the ground up.”
― Andrew Yang
“Retail businesses have narrow margins. If you cut off a flow of young consumers, it’s only a matter of time before the businesses struggle and fail.”
― Andrew Yang
“A company can set off in one direction, figures out that it’s not the right way to go, and then go in an entirely new direction. Over time, the product or service improves, and the company gets better at executing and delivering.”
― Andrew Yang
“Asking the government to fix our economy is like asking an editor to fix a movie, but in this case, the editor’s not even of one mind.”
― Andrew Yang
“What was a profitable business in one era can become a public utility and a recognized public good in the next.”
― Andrew Yang
“Professional services industries like finance, consulting, and legal services are, by definition, meta-industries. That is, they serve to help large companies raise money, buy and sell each other, reorganize, implement new systems, conduct complex transactions, and so forth.”
― Andrew Yang
“All of us, and particularly young people, have a tendency to view ourselves and our natures as static: you’ll choose to do something for a few years, and you’ll still be the same you.”
― Andrew Yang
“One could argue that our national university system has become a de facto talent drain for much of the country. Many states and communities send their top students away to great schools, never to hear from them again.”
― Andrew Yang
“The best organizations are filled with people who have a wealth of choices as to what work they choose to do. We need to give them every reason possible to solve the world’s problems.”
― Andrew Yang
“The professors at Harvard are smarter and more world-renowned, and so your child will learn from a pre-eminent scholar who is a leader in his or her field. Some of Harvard’s professors are even famous.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“If you’re positioned to start your own organization, that’s great – but rare.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“Technology companies tend to operate in winner-take-all spaces and thus adopt a very high-commitment culture.”
― Andrew Yang
“Silicon Valley is like Wall Street in that it will fill and pursue market opportunities to their logical extremes.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“After getting a law degree, I spent five unhappy months as a corporate attorney.”
― Andrew Yang
“I can’t sit by and do nothing as our country disintegrates.”
― Andrew Yang
“We need to provide all areas of the country with access to high-quality medical care.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“The benefits of a universal basic income overall are huge.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― 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.”
― Andrew Yang
“I am a Medicare-for-all public option proponent.”
― Andrew Yang
“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.”
― Andrew Yang
“If you can’t pay your bills, it has a really tough effect on your mental state.”
― Andrew Yang
“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
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