Enough “Protesting” — Co-Create Value

The Leadership Opportunity for Entrepreneurs

So many “protestors” didn’t vote. Now they are waking up. The world is waking up. So what should we do now? What next?

Let’s start by being honest about agency and our ability to impact change. You aren’t an “activist” for liking, commenting, or sharing on social media and then hiding people that disagree with you. Did you even look at that “must read” article you recommended? (There is often 10X more social engagement around posts than actual click through to a website.)

Meanwhile, the status quo in Silicon Valley tends to be that technology will continue to disrupt employment until there is a need for something like basic income. It’s a foregone conclusion that entrepreneurs shouldn’t care about the suffering created by displacing workers. Keep accelerating growth through venture capital and fuck everyone else because…Woo-hoo Disruption! Growth hacking! Automation! (insert latest buzzword here)!

People voted to change a political system that doesn’t work for them. Silicon Valley doesn’t work for them either.

Silicon Valley today reminds me of that scene in the Big Short. Two young kids are celebrating their ability to buy shorts standing inside a Las Vegas casino. They are going to get rich and make tons of money because all of the subprime mortgages are dog shit. Brad Pitt’s character gets angry. You guys are celebrating the crash of the US economy.

Except there is no Brad Pitt character in Silicon Valley, no voice of conscience among seasoned investors. Venture Capitalists expect such massive returns on investment that they discourage startups to build sustainable businesses. Revenue complicates things. It’s better to ramp up and exit. There is no accountability or responsibility to create or share value.

Robots, drones, self-driving vehicles, Artificial Intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, cheaper Internet access and smart phones bringing an estimated three billion people online for the first time — these are among the changes that will happen in the next 10–20 years. 80% of jobs making $20 or less are at risk of automation, with office jobs also at significant risk.

This might sound exciting in Silicon Valley, the land of disruption. But for billions of people — BILLIONS! MOST OF THE WORLD — the future is terrifying. There is risk of widespread unemployment, climate change, violence and wars, food and water shortages, the types of apocalyptic scenarios that lead to civil unrest and fears of the End Times of humanity.

Instead of complaining about fake news or championing basic income, let’s address the underlying economic issues that foment anger and hatred. You can’t change the results of elections, but entrepreneurs can have a positive impact on the world. Maybe now is the time to re-evaluate your life. Maybe now is the time to co-create something meaningful.

Silicon Valley was once a place for visionaries. 30 years ago Apple launched a bold Super Bowl ad to not be like 1984. Be different. Think different. The crazy ones change the world. Have the courage to manifest your dreams into reality. Today courage for Apple is killing a headphone jack. Recently they published a $300 book of their own product photos.

The launch of a clear iPhone next year will be revolutionary. Silicon Valley will universally praise them for breakthroughs in innovation. It will also be ridiculously expensive and instantly become a luxury status symbol. Apple sits on a war chest of over $100b USD, more cash that many small countries. Imagine if they invested in companies that co-created value. Imagine if their actions reflected the values of their ads and brand.

The philosopher Zizek commented after the US elections that voters selected a wolf, instead of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Clinton courted Wall Street and Occupy Wall Street, LGBT communities and Saudi Arabia. Silicon Valley speaks of community and collaboration, sharing and co-creation, yet this often appears to be a function of marketing to ramp up valuations or for exits that cannibalize the underlying business. We call investors “angels” knowing they act out of self-interest.

As Douglas Rushkoff and the #BuyTwitter movement point out, Twitter would be an incredible company if it didn’t have such insanely high expectations for returns to its investors. They could have continued to incubate innovation on top of their platform instead of cutting developers off from its API and betraying its community of evangelists. They could have differentiated from and remained competitive with Facebook’s newsfeed.

Traveling to around 40 different countries speaking with entrepreneurs around the world, I know firsthand how much they look to the US for leadership. Silicon Valley is home to the world’s most innovative and revolutionary companies. The collaborative economy is positioned to become the global economy. Stop “protesting” and lead by example.

Found companies that share and create value for users. Integrate principles of sustainability into the charter. Optimize for revenue and cash flow instead of relying on investors. Become a B-Corp and refuse to make decisions that compromise the long-term vision of the company for short-term profit. Or a really radical idea: found a company you want to run, not sell.

The cult of the entrepreneur conditioned us to embrace disruption without thinking about its consequences. We view the world through the lens of metrics instead of relationships. Isolated in our own echo chamber, we remain shocked 60 million people voted differently than a hive mind that doesn’t seem to care about anyone else.

Even a basic understanding of human nature should reveal why Trump, Brexit and nationalist/religious extremism are popping up around the world. Tools optimized for instant broadcasting of opinions are amplifiers of emotions. Algorithms are the great enablers of extreme viewpoints, filling feeds with posts that whip us into a frenzy. Fake news is a scapegoat for a multi-trillion dollar Ponzi scheme of content and ads.

We need to think about the future like we are building a movement. Collaboration and sharing, community building and value creation, are more than a function of marketing growth — they must be values established by founders engrained in the DNA of corporate culture. Just because you can demonstrate traction through customer development, doesn’t mean you should raise money and exploit a market opportunity.

Does your company need to exist in the world? Would your users be grateful for the opportunity to participate and invite their friends? Are you acting from a place of consciousness and optimizing for happiness?

Let’s redefine success beyond a pump-and-dump ploy to get acquired by a big company that is struggling to remain relevant. Maybe you should build a sustainable business instead of spending 4–5 years of your life for an exit, knowing your startup will implode or be ruined because the parent company culture sucks and nobody will care once you cash out. Let’s stop pretending that Silicon Valley functions differently than Wall Street, ruthlessly disrupting markets and siphoning off value to wealthy investors.

We need to work towards a world where our choices are not the lesser of evils. Choose to do meaningful work and found companies that matter instead of beating the drum of disruption and expecting the government to step in when billions of workers are displaced from their jobs. Embody values of fairness, equality, and compassion. Be the change you want to see in the world. Let’s co-create the future we want and deserve.

If you dig this post, please check out my latest book Empower: How to Co-Create the Future. The full e-book is available by donation here.

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