Presidential candidates Sen. Cory Booker and Andrew Yang are advocates for tech and believers in its economic importance. Yes, they are techonomists, and both have spoken on our stage. Hear their take on the issues in these exclusive conference videos. More
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The Surprising Truth About Young Entrepreneurs – They’re Fewer than Ever
We are bombarded with prominent images of young people starting tech companies, but the facts tell a different story. The proportion of people ages 20 to 34 who started a business in 2013 has dropped to its lowest level in 17 years. There's a crisis in entrepreneurship, and Andrew Yang, who heads Venture for America, explains what his organization is doing about it. VfA hosts its own annual conference in Detroit immediately following Techonomy Detroit, Sept. 15th & 16th. More
Venture for America’s Yang Calls Detroit an Innovation Hub
Winning innovators don’t depend on the market for opportunities; they innovate their way into them. So says Venture for America founder Andrew Yang, who talked with us at our Techonomy Detroit conference about the need for more innovation and why Detroit can help spark it. “We need to get more smart people building things. We need to get more of our talented working to solve the problems of the day,” he said, adding that Detroit's access to talent, resources, and customers to put it at the forefront of tech entrepreneurship in coming years. More
Venture for America Made This Young Easterner a Detroit Believer
I found my future on Twitter. Two weeks into a summer research internship in Singapore that I had already lost interest in, I saw the tweet that would change my life. It linked me to an article describing the kickoff event for Venture For America, a new program dedicated to placing top college graduates in startups in economically troubled cities. I knew right away what I would be doing with my first two post-collegiate years. The application process started with a written submission followed by a phone interview, and culminated in a day of group and individual interviews by VFA board members and staff. After a few tense days, VFA founder and CEO Andrew Yang called me with an offer. More
A Talent Transfusion for Scrappy Startup Hubs
Maybe Millennials aren't as selfish as people think. Some college grads are turning down high salaries in finance and consulting for entry level positions at startups in cities like Detroit, New Orleans, and Baltimore—where they can have an impact on the community while also learning important entrepreneurial skills. They are doing so with the help of Venture for America, a nonprofit that matches highly talented graduates with startup businesses in cities that need an economic boost, The New York Times reports. Founder Andrew Yang says that the program aims to improve talent allocation among bright college graduates. “Promising growth companies, companies that are five years old or less, are the consistent engine of job creation in this country,” he told Techonomy in an interview last fall. More
Venture for America Plants Budding Entrepreneurs in Urban Soil
Before the Techonomy Detroit conference in September, we talked to Venture for America founder Andrew Yang about how his new program is attracting young talent to startups in Detroit and elsewhere. Like a Teach for America for wannabe entrepreneurs, Venture for America matches the best and the brightest young graduates with startup companies in struggling cities. Ultimately the program hopes to help reinvigorate the American economy and entrepreneurial spirit, says Yang. More