INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Labor Day is a holiday that just doesn&t fit Silicon Valley
Its purported purpose is to celebrate working men and women and their — our — progress toward better working conditions and fairer
Yet, few regions in recent times have supposedly done more to &destroy& quality working conditions than the Valley, from the entire creation
of the precarious 1099 economy to automation of labor itself.My colleague John Chen offered the received wisdom on this discrepancy this
weekend, arguing that Valley entrepreneurs should take the traditional message of Labor Day to heart, encouraging them to create more
equitable, fair, and secure workplaces not just for their own employees, but also for all the workers that power the platforms we create and
operate every day.It a nice sentiment that I agree with, but I think he misses the mark.What Silicon Valley needs — now more than ever
before — is to double down on the kind of ambitious, hard-charging, change-the-world labor that created our modern knowledge economy in
We can&t and shouldn&t slow down
We need more technological progress, not less
We need more automation of labor, not less
And we need as much of this innovation to happen in the United States as possible.The tech industry may have become a dominant force by some
metrics, but we are only just getting started
Entire industries like freight have little to no automation
Several billion people lack access to the internet, to say nothing of critical, basic infrastructure
Our drug pipeline is anemic, and costs for education, health care, construction, and government are continuing to skyrocket.In short, we
have barely scratched the surface of what we can achieve with software, with hardware, with better business models and better automation
These aren&t table scraps, but trillions dollar opportunities lying in wait for entrepreneurs to seize them.And yet, we keep hearing
persistent claims that overwork is a problem in the Valley
Discussions of work-life balance are practically de rigueur for startups these days, as are free meals and massages and unlimited vacation
These demands are coming at a time when some of the most fertile opportunities for innovation in areas as diverse as robotics, space,
biotech, cancer, and construction remain ripe for the taking.It a hustlers world out there, and the message that those who want to shape
that world should be hearing this Labor Day is simple: work harder
Hell, work today.Certainly that the message ingrained in most places competing with the Valley these days
Mike Moritz wrote a column in the Financial Times earlier this year, comparing the hard-charging work ethic of Chinese tech entrepreneurs
and workers with their Silicon Valley brethren
He didn&t mince words, and the piece ignited a firestorm of criticism.But he right, and not just about Chinese founders
Entrepreneurs in developing and middle-income countries from India and South Korea to Brazil and Nigeria now have access to the same tools
that top Valley startups use, with experience to boot
And they are hungry to transform their lot in life into something much more ambitious, much more grand.We need to re-inject their level of
urgency back into the Valley ethos and compete ferociously
We can&t rest on companies from the 1990s like Google, or the 1970s like Apple and Microsoft as the final wave of innovative companies
We need the next massive tech companies to be built, and they&re not going to be created 20-hour workweeks at a time.Entrepreneurship is a
Hustling isn&t fun, losing deals isn&t enjoyable, and working around the clock under intense pressure is not for the faint of heart
For those who want the easy road, there are many, many pathways today in the modern American economy that will guarantee it, whether that is
a big tech giant, or some other Fortune 100 company.Yet, the spirit of America is always choosing the bigger gamble, the bolder vision
And it is the people who stand up and demand that we make huge strides today — not tomorrow — that are going to own the future.Of
course, founding a company has to be a voluntary choice
No one should have to work for a pittance, or feel coerced into a high-pressure lifestyle when they aren&t ready and willing
No one should be locked into an economic system where they can&t improve their own income and status through tenacity and strategy
Our tech companies should absolutely be more diverse, and fairer to all people
Equity can and should be more widely distributed.But when it comes to the true meaning of Labor Day in the American sense, we should
celebrate the hard-working founders and entrepreneurs who are taking on the biggest challenges and focusing all of their talents on solving
these critical human problems
That what made Silicon Valley what it is, and it the meaning of Labor Day that every founder and dreamer should center on.
