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
YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
31–40 of 226 posts
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#32Who needs public services when you can have private for-profit start-ups? I'm sure the new startups will always prioritize serving the citizens over making money. After all, that's what private for-profit organizations have a long track record of doing. In seriousness: I'm sure the listed start ups do good work. There are ways tech can help government and people. Government 2.0 is awful branding. The idea that you ca…
There are plenty of private companies that are positive or, in many cases, even necessary for governments and democracy to function. The media is one example, and so are internet providers. As this request is written, really any contractor that does something better than the SQ would qualify.
And, of course, YC even funds non-profit startups. Recognised tax-exempt organisations almost by definition work on goals which are also in the government's purview.
As it is, it appears your comment simply takes umbrage with the title? There is even a footnote explaining that the goal here is not to replace government but to improve it. That footnote may have actually been added as a response to your comment, because your's would seem to be a rather odd reading of this request.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#33Who needs public services when you can have private for-profit start-ups? I'm sure the new startups will always prioritize serving the citizens over making money. After all, that's what private for-profit organizations have a long track record of doing. In seriousness: I'm sure the listed start ups do good work. There are ways tech can help government and people. Government 2.0 is awful branding. The idea that you ca…
It's a great fallacy that the government prioritizes serving citizens over "making money". Government always prioritizes making money. Look at the entire democrat political spectrum concocting different ways to increase taxes, and the republican spectrum to increase spending.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#34Who needs public services when you can have private for-profit start-ups? I'm sure the new startups will always prioritize serving the citizens over making money. After all, that's what private for-profit organizations have a long track record of doing. In seriousness: I'm sure the listed start ups do good work. There are ways tech can help government and people. Government 2.0 is awful branding. The idea that you ca…
I'm in agreement. The problems of government are best solved by pairing civil servants, the ones who know how to run the country, with enthusiastic, well-funded teams.
The end goal should be open, accessible projects built with open accessible tools.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#35The solution to income inequality is not going to come from venture capitalists and private companies. I have an idea for a non-profit that tackles a systemic problem, but I can't help but look at some of the other yc grads and think that their companies seem hopelessly out of touch with the problems they're trying to tackle. Promise is mentioned as "tackling mass incarceration", but their company seems geared more t…
The solution to income inequality probably isn't going to come from governments either sadly.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#36Hey folks - happy to answer questions about our new RFS.
I have an idea for a non-profit that tackles a systemic problem, but the companies you've listed seem hopelessly out of touch with the problems they're trying to tackle.
Promise is mentioned as "tackling mass incarceration", but their company seems geared more towards improving efficiency in criminal justice agencies. Do they really think that an app that sends reminders is going to help failure to appear rates? Crime, recidivism, failure to appear etc are deeply rooted in poverty and hopelessness.
How does a reminders app fight any of those problems? People fail to show up to court because they don't see the point, because they think the system is stacked against them, because they can't afford to take the time off of work, because they can't find child care, or because they don't have transportation. It's ridiculous to suggest that an app that sends reminders of court dates will make an impact on any of these problems. Have you encouraged the people in Promise to talk to experts in this area?
Or is your approach with all of these systemic problems to just make some apps that crunch data and send reminders?
It really does not make me want to apply, given that you are listing a company like this as one of your bright, shining Government 2.0 examples. Not that I would trust a bunch of VC's to tackle income inequality anyway, but it's almost funny how terrible these companies are about missing the mark.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why the focus on only profit making for-profit companies when the bulk of what you mentioned is currently being serviced by non-profits?
When non-profits succeed they have to ask for more money. When for-profits succeed, they fund themselves. So it's far better for a for-profit to solve a given problem than a non-profit, as they are inherently more scalable.
>When non-profits succeed they have to ask for more money.
That's not true at all. I worked for 3 years on a non-profit that funded itself and it received external donations and investments. This is not "either self-funding or external-funding". The whole idea of a nonprofit is that instead of sharing the surplus of revenues between shareholders, leaders or members, it will invest the surplus further into the company development and projects. It has nothing to do with scalability.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#38Who needs public services when you can have private for-profit start-ups? I'm sure the new startups will always prioritize serving the citizens over making money. After all, that's what private for-profit organizations have a long track record of doing. In seriousness: I'm sure the listed start ups do good work. There are ways tech can help government and people. Government 2.0 is awful branding. The idea that you ca…
There's definitely some room for nuance though.
Government's actions are constrained by a massive aversion to risk. I think in some areas there's definitely opportunity for private companies to provide services cheaper/better than they currently are while still having room for profit.
Also, contracting out to private entities gives people someone to sue (without leaving the taxpayers on the hook) and the government someone to fire (or not renew their contract) when things get F'd up. Compare the options available to the public if the police misbehave vs if private security guards hired by the city/town misbehave.
Government should contract out the things private industry does better and cheaper and in-house things that private industry cannot do. For example, government should give money to organizations that run homeless shelters, not run the shelter itself. If there are local options for getting rid of scrap metal then the government should not be taking appliances as part of city trash pickup.
There's definitely things that government should be doing (like social safety nets) but not everything government does is stuff government should be spending its time and money doing. For the things that government does not do it should act as a check to make sure nothing gets too out of hand, like an operating system managing resources and the software using them.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#39Who needs public services when you can have private for-profit start-ups? I'm sure the new startups will always prioritize serving the citizens over making money. After all, that's what private for-profit organizations have a long track record of doing. In seriousness: I'm sure the listed start ups do good work. There are ways tech can help government and people. Government 2.0 is awful branding. The idea that you ca…
Yes, I think this is a strong example of: when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
YC cultivates some amazing hammers, but I'm not sure the inefficiencies of government are nails, but rather massive systemic issues stemming from cultural beliefs about what fairness, accountability, and democracy should look like. Is it wasteful to create tons of red tape to prevent fraud, for example? Yes, probably. Is a more efficient system which creates opportunities for corruption a valid trade-off? That's where the real debate lies and there are no easy answers.
Re: YC's request for startups: Government 2.0
#40Who needs public services when you can have private for-profit start-ups? I'm sure the new startups will always prioritize serving the citizens over making money. After all, that's what private for-profit organizations have a long track record of doing. In seriousness: I'm sure the listed start ups do good work. There are ways tech can help government and people. Government 2.0 is awful branding. The idea that you ca…
I'm in agreement. The problems of government are best solved by pairing civil servants, the ones who know how to run the country, with enthusiastic, well-funded teams. The end goal should be open, accessible projects built with open accessible tools. https://gds.blog.gov.uk/
And here in the states we have the USDS and 18F doing great work. The just need more funding.