E7: How Andrew Yang Would Cure American Politics

Andrew Yang is a former founder of Venture for America and former candidate for president of the United States. Yang is now focused on introducing a third party to our two-party political system. He sits down with Erik to talk about why politics is broken and how to fix it, the current political landscape gearing into the 2024 elections, an inside look as to what's actually involved in running for president, and reflections on what he would've done differently. We also talk about universal basic income, fixing California, and fixing media polarization. If you’re looking for an ERP platform, check out our sponsor NetSuite: http://netsuite.com/upstream -- We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com. RECOMMENDED PODCAST:  Every week investor and writer of the popular newsletter The Diff, Byrne Hobart, and co-host Erik Torenberg discuss today’s major inflection points in technology, business, and markets – and help listeners build a diversified portfolio of trends and ideas for the future. Subscribe to “The Riff” with Byrne Hobart and Erik Torenberg: https://link.chtbl.com/theriff TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Preview of the episode (03:46) When Andrew Yang realized the two-party system is broken (08:37) How third parties can cure the system (11:09) What’s the relationship between money and laws changing? (16:10) How the “the last election” plays out (16:58) Sponsors: Secureframe (18:54) Andrew Yang’s prediction for 2024 (20:58) Introducing competition to one party state California (25:26) Institutionalization of the DNC (27:58) Manufacturing the “presidential quality” (29:12) Andrew Yang on Vivek Ramaswamy (33:05) Self-interest in politics (34:52) How to get more talented people to be in politics (37:39) Andrew Yang’s reflections on his candidacy (40:07) What it’s like to run for president (46:10) Trumpism is not over (47:10) Future of disunity? (49:39) Media environment (52:32) UBI and AI SOCIAL LINKS: Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg Andrew’s Twitter: @andrewyang Forward Party Twitter: @fwd_Party Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod Erik’s Substack: eriktorenberg.substack.com Please support our sponsors: Beehiiv | Shopify | Secureframe  Head to Beehiiv, the newsletter platform built for growth, to power your own. Connect with premium brands, scale your audience, and deliver a beautiful UX that stands out in an inbox. 🐝to https://Beehiiv.com and use code "UPSTREAM" for 20% off your first three months -Shopify: https://shopify.com/torenberg for a $1/month trial period Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. Shopify powers 10% of all ecommerce in the US. And Shopify's the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and 1,000,000s of other entrepreneurs across 175 countries. From their all-in-one ecommerce platform, to their in-person POS system – wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. Sign up for $1/month trial period: https://shopify.com/torenberg. -Secureframe: https://secureframe.com/ Secureframe is the leading all-in-one platform for security and privacy compliance. Get SOC-2 audit ready in weeks, not months. I believe in Secureframe so much that I invested in it, and I recommend it to all my portfolio companies. Sign up for a free demo and mention UPSTREAM during your demo to get 20% off your first year. -- This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected].