Tag: Startup company

That's a hard reality startups must face and embrace, according to Bradley Tusk, an ex-Mike Bloomberg campaign manager turned tech investor. Why it matters: Tusk has parlayed his career’s lessons into a new book, “The Fixer: My Adventures Saving Startups from Death by Politics,” which he hopes can help startups operating in highly regulated industries like transportation, sports betting, and cannabis. Top lesson: “You've got to take government and politics seriously because it can make or break your business,” says Tusk. After years in politics, he decided to open a consultancy to help businesses launch political-style campaigns on public issues. In 2011, he was introduced to Uber’s then CEO, Travis Kalanick, who needed some help dealing with New York City’s Taxi & Limousine Commission. “I had no idea what it was!” exclaims Tusk when asked if he knew his Uber equity would one day be so valuable. But: “It only works when people are really passionate about your product,” says Tusk. It also turns out that you can’t always win against city hall, as one of Tusk’s investments, scooter startup Bird, learned last month when San Francisco decided not to give the company a permit to participate in its pilot program. The big picture: Tusk’s book includes guides to help startups deal with a number of political dilemmas, but he also argues for the value of applying a “basic conscience” in those situations. Go deeper: ?Listen to Axios's Dan Primack chat with Tusk on Monday's Pro Rata podcast.

The local tech startup Goods Unite Us is hoping that buying politically is what comes next. Sign on to either the Goods Unite Us website, or its iPhone app, and users can type in a brand or company. It’s a tool that provides transparency to citizens, said co-founder and CEO Abigail Wuest, in an era when corporations are able to pour massive amounts of money into electoral politics. The tool also assigns a grade from negative 100 to positive 100 to each brand as well. Epic Systems racks up a positive 70. The software generates the score using an algorithm that factors in levels of political spending, along with the specific causes and candidates corporations contribute to. “Progressives tend to not favor corporate money in politics.” “If more people start shopping politically, if they know where their money is going...eventually the corporations that are giving their money to (political action committees) would maybe not necessarily stop, but would think twice,” said Miller. Wuest said Goods Unite Us was born in the wake of the 2016 general election, when levels of political spending hit all-time highs: The pricetag for the season was nearly $6.5 billion. About $1.5 billion of that comprised outside spending, primarily from super PACs — committees that don’t spend directly on candidates, but that are capable of raising and spending unlimited amounts of money. Wuest and Miller said that it’s an example of how for-profit companies can also strive to do good.