David Burstein
CEO & Founder, Run for America
Discussion
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
Hi I’m David, I’m the founder and CEO of Run for America, we’re out to try and change American politics. Ask me anything! Thanks for joining! excited to chat with you all. this is my first time doing a chat like this, excited to get going.
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Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
Hi David! In your opinion what's the single largest problem facing the American political system today and how do we fix it?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@alexcartaz the incentive system. members of Congress are not bad people, but they are trapped in an incentive system where all of the incentives align around constant re-election, and appealing to extremist voters, there's no incentive to actually get things done or to collaborate. this is a big part of what we're trying to solve. Similarly we need more people choosing to run for office who are real leaders who've proven to be successful at mobilizing people and resources to solve problems
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
What role should successful folks in Silicon Valley (founders, investors, etc.) be playing to help make a difference in political spheres (b/c ostensibly there are more complicated problems that even the most promising startups can't solve on their own)?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@alexcartaz great question. we need everyone at the table in helping improve our system. Silicon Valley has helped us come up with some of the most transformative ideas of the past two decades, but politics won't be fixed by an app. its the entrepreneurial mindset of imaging a new solution to an age old problem, looking at things totally differently that we need to harness in DC. DC and Silicon Valley speak a different language and that needs to change.
Lejla Bajgoric
@lejlahunts · Intern, Product Hunt
Hey David! Based on the Millennial Generation's "civic idealism and savvy pragmatism, combined with their seamless ability to navigate the 21st century world," how great of an impact do you foresee us potentially having on solving some of the world's deepest, oldest issues? Do you have any specific predictions in mind?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@lejlahunts this generation is well positioned to affect change in the 21st century, and frankly our members of this gen who lead our biggest instutitions from Congress to Fortune 500 companies are going to have to make key decisions about how they operate into the future.
Harry Stebbings
@harrystebbings · Podcast Host @ The Twenty Minute VC
Hi @davidburstein thanks so much for joining us today. Would love to hear how significant a role social media plays in determining the political opinions of the general public in todays day and age? What platform do you find is highest in terms of engagement for you? P.S. Who is going to win the election?!
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@harrystebbings Social media has created obviously huge opportunties to engage in the process and allowed individuals to have direct access, but it's also led to a coarsening of the dialogue, both in terms of what is said to each other and also our need to react instantly to everything that happens (often much more emotional) and often distracts from issues of substance. there's a great book called the filter bubble that talks about what you see online politically affects people and the danger of political thinking silos
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@harrystebbings as to your other point. I try and stay out of the prediction business, but you may find this piece I wrote about how trump can win to be interesting: http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2...
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hey David! Thanks for being here today. 🙌During your career to date, what has been your a) most challenging moment and how did you overcome it? b) proudest moment and why? c) most surprising moment? Thanks!
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@ems_hodge in 2013 I did a book called Fast Future. Writing a book is one of the most challenging things you can do. It's also one of the most rewarding, I learned in that process that you just have to plow through things, generating your own personal momentum is the most important thing you can do in challenging environments. creating and celebrating small wins. it's what keeps you going particularly when it gets really tough.
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@ems_hodge I'm proud of everything I've been able to build and share with other people. I'm always most proud of what I'm doing at the moment, because each thing you do, you learn and get better. my career hasn't been linear, but I couldnt have done anything I've done without doing the others and doing the others in that order. I try and let my passions guide me in life and not plan too much.
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@ems_hodge most surprising...thats a tough one, I think there's a lot of chance encounters that have made a big difference, but we all have many of those moments. It's just a question of whether we are open enough with our minds and eyes to see them happening. Living in NYC one of my mottos is "look up" because in NYC you miss have the story if you look straight ahead. Suddenly you look up for the first time, after walking down the same street for 10 years and you see things totally differently and you have new realizations. I'd encourage everyone to look up a little more
Russ Frushtick
@russfrushtick
How do you make politics more about the issues and less about soundbites and witty retorts?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@russfrushtick we will always have soundbites. but right now the people who shout the loudest win, not actually because they are the loudest, but because they are the only ones being loud. Non-extremists by definition make less news because they are less loud. But those people can organize more powerfully to overpower the soundbite culture. the Soundbite culture is a symptom of needing ratings and also because there's a rather vacant landscape of people talking substance
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
What do you think will be the single most important political change in the next 15 years that will irrevocably change the nature of American politics and direction of of progressive change?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@alexcartaz 15 years from now we'll probably have been able to make voting and registration much easier and more digital. that will expand the electorate greatly and open up big new potential.
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
A lot of folks, including Van Jones and I believe David Axelrod, have talked about how trying to stay politically informed from watching TV is hard b/c the discourse gets reduced to zings, sound bites, yelling matches, etc. Do you think there is a promising alternative to staying informed? If so, do you see podcasts playing a role here?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@alexcartaz it's less about the medium and more about what people are saying. there's not a quality dialogue right now I don't think. we're not listening to each other, we are talking at and past each other. the promise of social media to be a real dialogue hasn't yet been fulfilled in politics, its still very much broadcast like TV is
Corley
@corleyh · COO @ Product Hunt
@davidburstein what is your POV on the two-party system?
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David D. Burstein
@davidburstein · CEO
@corleyh having two parties in and of itself isnt a problem. the challenge is that both parties have become so monolithic in their thinking. Each party used to be made up of 2-4 factions, with some more moderate than others which creates incentive for them to work with the other party. we don't have that right now and that creates gridlock.