Thank you to my editor, Paul Whitlatch, for being such an incredible reader and collaborator. And thank you to my agent, Byrd Leavell, for being a great friend and the best in the business. Belief in someone is a powerful thing.
Thank you to everyone who has helped build Venture for America over the years. I hope that you recognize the ideas in this book as springing from our mission. A dedicated group of the right people can indeed change the world. I’ve lived it and been the beneficiary of this truth, thanks to you.
As an entrepreneur, I’m a big fan of borrowing. I owe an intellectual debt to Martin Ford for breaking this ground and Andy Stern for orienting me toward solutions. David Freedman inspired the title of this book. Lauren Zalaznick, Cheryl Houser, Eric Bahn, Miles Lasater, Abhas Gupta, Bernie Sucher, Kathryn Bendheim, Daniel Tarullo, Miika Grady, Scott Krase, Eric Cantor, Lawrence Yang, Owen Johnson, Chip Hazard, Chris Boggiano, Marian Salzman, Guillermo Silberman, and many others provided phenomenal insight into early drafts.
Albert Wenger, Josh Kopelman, Rutger Bregman, David Brooks, J. D. Vance, Jean Twenge, Lisa Wade, Victor Tan Chen, Yuval Harari, Steve Case, David Autor, Krystal Ball, Ryan Avent, Alec Ross, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Chris Hughes, Derek Thompson, Steve Glickman, John Lettieri, Rana Foroohar, Tim O’Reilly, Dylan Matthews, Annie Lowrey, Ross Baird, Nick Hanauer, David Rose, and Scott Santens shaped my thinking on many points, generally without knowing it.
Thank you to Zeke Vanderhoek for being such a great partner and friend. This, too, is your legacy.
Thank you to Muhan Zhang, Andrew Frawley, Katie Bloom, Matt Shinners, and Zach Graumann for being a part of the new story very early on. We will have a lot of company soon, I believe.
Thank you to my researcher, Ovidia Stanoi, for tracking down so many pieces of information, helping visualize data, and bearing with me.
Thank you, Evelyn, for being the best wife and partner anyone could hope for. You are to mothers what Universal Basic Income is to solutions. Christopher and Damian, I hope this helps make your country stronger in the ways that matter.