00:52:48 · David Senra
[00:52:48] S1: Which ties to your main mission, which is like, if you don't change this incentive structure, you're not going to be able to recruit high quality, talented people. If we keep, let's play this out ten years from now, okay, might not matter to you that what, 44% of the workforce, whatever the number is, is 50 or over. Well, it's gonna matter when they're all gone, and we have nobody to replace them.
00:53:07 · Scott Kupor
[00:53:07] S2: Yes, that's exactly right. Yeah, so look, everything ties together. Right? If I'm gonna... I gotta go tell people a good story to get them here. When they get here, I actually have to have an environment they're excited to do. And if they're excited to do it, then we will actually get modernization because they won't be trapped in the system of not actually trying new things. Like... And look, We have to accept the fact that we're gonna screw some stuff up. Like, again... And and, you know, Marc always always, you know, gets excited about some of these. Like, you know, there's a whole meme in Silicon Valley, right, that Silicon Valley, like, loves failure. Right? And, like, nothing can be farther than true. Nobody fucking likes failure. But what Silicon Valley does recognize is, look. If we're gonna innovate, we're not gonna get it right all the time. And, again, like, okay, if we're talking about life and death for people, we should be pretty careful we get it right all the time. But if I can, like, make the retirement experience 10 times better and there's some risk that's reasonable that I fuck it up, quite frankly, and it doesn't work, like, we gotta incent people to take that risk. Like, it's crazy that we're not doing that, but, like, historically, nobody has been willing to do that because, you know, whatever, the person who was in my seat wanted some other political job coming out of this, and therefore, if they got a bad, you know, congressional hearing that would stop it. Like, I told the president this when he interviewed me in December, after he, like, asked me why he thought I was qualified for the job. And I was like, look. I'll tell you the other reason why I think I'm qualified is there's not some other job I'm trying to get out of this. Like, I've been incredibly blessed, incredibly lucky in my private life. I didn't come to this job because, like, I'm I'm competing for some other either private sector job or public sector job. So it's like, look. I don't really care. Like, I'm gonna do what I think is the right thing, and then if I get in trouble, I'm either going to fight if I screwed up, or if it turns out I did something stupid, that's fine. Fire me. I'm okay with that.
00:54:45 · Scott Kupor, David Senra
But there are so many people who are in these jobs because it is a stepping stone to something else that it prevents them from being willing to take that appropriate level of risk to try to get stuff done. To me, this just makes no sense, and this is why we have kind of stasis for so long. [00:54:57] S1: All right, so let's say somebody's listening to this right now, They wanna help. They're young. They wanna do a few year stint. Where do they go? How do they get in touch with you? [00:55:06] S2: We have a whole website, believe it or not, earlycareers.gov. That's one place they can go. We're about to be on, like, 40 different college campuses. If they're there, they can show up, and see us. They can, follow me on x. I'm just at s cooper. OPM is at u s opm. Like, any of those places, but literally, like, send me a DM if you're interested. Like, I guarantee you, like, we will figure out a way to make someone walk. [00:55:31] S1: I love how much you're on this. Thanks for taking the time to [00:55:34] S2: talk to us, guys. Thanks, David. Appreciate it. Yeah.
00:55:34 · Scott Kupor, Erik Torenberg
[00:55:34] S2: talk to us, guys. Thanks, David. Appreciate it. Yeah. [00:55:38] S0: Thanks for listening to this episode of the a 16 z podcast. If you like this episode, be sure to like, comment, subscribe, leave us a rating or a review, and share it with your friends and family. For more episodes, go to YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Follow us on X at a sixteen z, and subscribe to our Substack at a16z.substack.com. Thanks again for listening, and I'll see you in the next episode. This information is for educational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any investment or financial product. This podcast has been produced by a third party and may include paid promotional advertisements, other company references, and individuals unaffiliated with a16z. Such advertisements, companies, and individuals are not endorsed by AH Capital Management LLC, a16z, or any of its affiliates. Information is from sources deemed reliable on the date of publication, but a16z does not guarantee its accuracy.