Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

blog.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 226 posts

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#141

Post by atlasunshrugged »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #138
atlasunshrugged wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about a solution that makes it easy for any small group to hire lobbyists? Something like Kickstarter campaigns for cause areas where you want to get something done (eg. prison reform) so you create a campaign and get people to contribute; it hits a minimum threshold and the platform hires a lobbying firm to work towards the goal. Of course, with lobbying there are no guarantees anything happens, but would be in…

Stripe Atlas for Political Action Committee creation and maintenance essentially? I would throw money at that. I don't entirely agree that money is speech, but I also don't believe in bringing a knife to a gun fight. Or perhaps Upcounsel for lobbyists.

Not exactly but pretty dang close to Stripe Atlas for PACs, but I think a big part of doing that well is having someone that has connections so there probably either has to be some marketplace of lobbyists attached or some mechanism to guide you to the right lobbyist/team to hire based on the cause area

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#142

Post by berberous »

Alex3917 wrote: post #5

In Andrew Yang's recent panel at Monetery Tech Summit, he was making the case that most of these are problems that the free market doesn't reward solving: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhNpbPhFwRc&t=957 These are all important problems, but there have been people working on them for decades already without much progress. What we really need is for either government to tackle these problems itself, or else to put in…

I didn't watch the linked video, but aren't things like education and affordable housing also problems that governments have been tackling for decades without much progress and even often making things worse?

For example, economists are almost uniformly against rent control, which many cities try to implement. And the flood of government money encouraging educational loans seems to have made college costs spiral.

Personally, I think both the free market and the government can do good and can do bad. Sensible policies and entrepreneurs can help these issues, and bad policies and bad companies can worsen them.

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#143

Post by justaguyhere »

thomasjudge wrote: post #51

As someone who works in technology in the public sector at the state level, let me just say that there is tremendous greenfield opportunity for software startups within existing government programs. Probably every program that government runs requires one or more systems to administer it; these are often painfully legacy systems. We are starting to see startups in some of these niche line-of-business areas (Medical M…

Could you link to a product or two SaaS products that you like, built for gov?

How can really small players get into this space though?

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#144

Post by dnautics »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #140

I can't help but feel that with better representation (or at least representation that felt they had to actually do right by voters) then we would be in a much better place and many of these problems would be solved through legislation. I know this is glossing over many things like lobbying, gerrymandered areas, favoritism for incumbent candidates, etc. but I really think there's something to getting more people elec…

'at least representation that felt they had to actually do right by voters'

What is the mechanism by which you propose to enforce this? Who gets to define "do right by voters"?

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#145

Post by mdorazio »

Slam7min wrote: post #136
yeahitslikethat wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried so many times to work with government entities. It's a complete mess. It seems the only people who want to fix the problems don't work there or are fine with the problems.

Yup, we're a hot mess to work with. Challenges: - Procurement rules that require RFP/RFQ to obtain software and limit departments' abilities to get low cost, easy-win solutions. - Older, non-tech savvy workforce - Administrations that focus on high visibility IT projects (to public) without thinking about the not sexy foundational issues that are needed. Also politics. - Siloes between departments that result in many…

It's kind of sad that the exact same list of issues applies to many Fortune 500 companies I've worked with.

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#146

Post by atlasunshrugged »

dnautics wrote: post #144
atlasunshrugged wrote: post #140

I can't help but feel that with better representation (or at least representation that felt they had to actually do right by voters) then we would be in a much better place and many of these problems would be solved through legislation. I know this is glossing over many things like lobbying, gerrymandered areas, favoritism for incumbent candidates, etc. but I really think there's something to getting more people elec…

'at least representation that felt they had to actually do right by voters' What is the mechanism by which you propose to enforce this? Who gets to define "do right by voters"?

Not sure the exact definition, I meant it more as the politician would have to do what they said they would do when they were campaigning (as in fulfill their promises). The enforcement mechanism is what I think is most lacking today - even when politicians break promises they often still get reelected (hence the Congressional reelection rate compared to voter approval). The pessimist in me says it has to be purely based on money because money is what really talks, but maybe there's another mechanism too

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#147

Post by jkeuhlen »

MWilcut wrote: post #31

If anyone wants to help Veterans, I am an attorney, 5+ years in assisting Vets get VA benefits. I have A LOT of fully formed concepts, but amateur/hobby technical ability. Most immediate goal is to compliment but go well beyond the very minimal efforts that USDS has been doing for Vets directly the last 2-3 years. VA has coopted USDS into assisting the VA first, Vets only incidentally. matt@deutermanlaw.com

What kinds of issues are you thinking about tackling in that space?

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#148

Post by westurner »

There's money to be earned in solving for the #GlobalGoals Goals, Targets, and Indicators:

The Global Goals

1. No Poverty

2. Zero Hunger

3. Good Health & Well-Being

4. Quality Education

5. Gender Equality

6. Clean Water & Sanitation

7. Affordable & Clean Energy

8. Decent Work & Economic Growth

9. Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

10. Reduced Inequalities

11. Sustainable Cities and Communities

12. Responsible Consumption & Production

13. Climate Action

14. Life Below Water

15. Life on Land

16. Peace and Justice & Strong Institutions

17. Partnerships for the Goals

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goals

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#149

Post by mythrwy »

boucher wrote: post #125
mythrwy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say most VC's are probably very interested in solutions for income inequality. In the direction of getting their net worth equal to Bezos that is. In the other direction not so much perhaps. But really what is people's obsession with "income inequality"? Ya, the rich shouldn't run governments or be able to evade laws or abuse the poor (which is why we have governments who also perhaps should do more to care for t…

There is a wealth of literature on the subject, no pun intended. Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the 21st Century" (or, more practically, summaries of it) offers one interesting perspective. A different take can be seen in books like "Winners Take All" by Anand Giridharadas. On the most basic level, you should question your own premises. The reality of extreme wealth inequality is that rich people do have a substantiall…

But the problem in that case is the way government is set up (folks can "buy" government etc.).

I don't think the best way to solve that problem is saying people can have less money but rather fix the systemic issues (lobbyists, opportunities for corruption, the campaign contribution circus etc). And manifestly not allow abuse of the poor by those with money.

What seems to happen the other way is sort of like what happens in China (or other parts of the world). Becoming a bureaucrat is an income producing commodity. And that has a worse outcome than Bezos buying a newspaper in my opinion.

But I also agree with the problems you point out. They are issues with the way things are running right now in the US for sure that should be addressed and it is hard to do because monied interests stymie attempts.

Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0

#150

Post by tyre »

yeahitslikethat wrote: post #135
tyre wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. The problem is not that there aren't opportunities to improve but that getting those into the hands of users is often nearly impossible. Public officials are not incentivized to improve software or even services. People vote based on emotions and the downside of fucking up a software upgrade is far more politically damaging than the upside of fixing it. Until the procurement and purchasing process is impr…

I had the same experience. Too many hoops to jump through. No one trusts the decisions public employees make so there's too much Red tape. Sales is too expensive. The value to the public might be millions. The software value to the organization is nil. Their attitude: Oh we can process applications 10x?? Why bother? The people will wait. They always have. Why change it now? Staff won't want to learn something new.

And they almost literally cannot go out of business. The incentives aren’t there.

I don’t know. I sincerely hope someone figures it out. We could improve so so so many things

Post reply on HN