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A Venture Capital firm says techies need to get along with government:
From Airbnb to Uber, some of Silicon Valley’s most successful companies have been fighting regulators since their inception. Now, one of the tech industry’s most respected venture capital firms wants to help both sides of the battle make nice with each other.
Andreessen Horowitz announced today that it’s launching a new policy and regulatory affairs unit, and that it has appointed Ted Ullyot, Facebook’s former general counsel, to lead the shop. Ullyot, who worked at both the White House and the Department of Justice before coming to the Valley, will be tasked with helping the firm’s portfolio companies see eye to eye with the government regulators with whom they’re increasingly butting heads.
Well, what do techies say, agree with the VC or string them up by their toes and poke them with sticks? Inquiring minds want to know...
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday April 17 2015, @03:13PM
Aha, I see: You're talking about doing something different than their competitors. I was thinking you meant "Deliberately trying to avoid government-mandated responsibilities" (there are definitely businesses that do that, e.g. Uber). I take it "breaking the rules" is a catchphrase that means "Don't assume your competitors have figured out the best way of doing something".
Engaging in regulatory capture to try to prevent an improvement in an industry is a rearguard action that is usually doomed to failure. For example, if somebody in a state that doesn't allow Tesla sales really wants to buy one, they can have somebody they know in another state that does allow Tesla sales to buy one, then drive it to the state they live in (it's legal to own a Tesla, just not buy one direct from Tesla). Or, if there were a critical mass of potential customers in a state which requires a dealership in order to sell a car, they could set up a single dealership which was more like a depot than a retailer, offer home delivery on similar terms to their online sales, and then pay people to drive the cars from the dealership to the customers, which is still much more efficient than having dealers all over the state.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.