00:00welcome to the a 16z podcast I'm Michael
00:03Copeland just a few years ago if you
00:06were mayor of Washington DC or really
00:08any other city you didn't have to wrap
00:10your head around the likes of lyft uber
00:12and airbnb and the other companies in
00:14the fast-growing sharing economy the
00:17reason is they didn't exist now you have
00:20no choice as DC's current Mayor Muriel
00:22Bowser because the citizens in your city
00:25certainly already have the sharing
00:28economy and he's sharing businesses got
00:31in front of government but they didn't
00:33get in front of their customers because
00:35their customers are demanding these
00:36services so and in a lot of ways we've
00:38had to catch up bowser joins this
00:41segment of the pod along with former DC
00:43mayor Adrian Fenty now a special adviser
00:46to a 16z to discuss how technologies and
00:49tech companies are changing cities and
00:52government and how moving forward they
00:54may play an even bigger role there's
00:57anything that I think is is right for
01:00more innovation in in solutions in
01:02government it's in the Human Services
01:04all that and the case for more
01:06transparency and government on this
01:08segment of the a 16z podcast the stars
01:13have aligned and we have two mayors of
01:15Washington DC the current mayor Muriel
01:18Muriel welcome thank you thank you and
01:20the former mayor and special advisor
01:22here at the firm Adrian Fenty Adrian how
01:25are you sir you guys are both Ward 4
01:28stars right we both used to represent
01:32award for one city council and and now
01:35I'm former everything and you got the
01:38current mayor here and we're so glad
01:39she's on the west coast so I want to
01:41talk about then that relationship
01:43between technology and between Silicon
01:45Valley and the tech industry and DC in
01:47particular I mean what are you looking
01:49to technology for and to do and and
01:53really honestly what can it do well we
01:55actually have seen a pretty remarkable
01:57growth I think in an interest in
02:01technologists and in starting and
02:03startups and people wanting to start up
02:06companies in DC for so long Adria and I
02:08born and raised in Washington and we
02:10were always known as a government town
02:13and we've actually seen in our city that
02:17we're growing more private-sector jobs
02:19than the jurisdictions that surround us
02:21and a lot of that is from young a
02:24startup companies young people are
02:26attracted to DC we have a just a great
02:31city to get started in so now as a
02:35government we have to figure out how do
02:37we harness that that energy that people
02:41are attracted to just because we're a
02:42great place to live so tech companies
02:45tell us that we just have to be a better
02:48business environment and I think we're
02:50doing things like making sure our
02:51regulations make sense and making sure
02:54our tax structures make sense but they
02:58also want to be around other
02:59technologists so how do we use our
03:02convening power as a government to
03:03attract more companies and make sure
03:05that there's opportunity but also what
03:09we know and probably the biggest
03:10disadvantage that we have if you compare
03:13us to Silicon Valley in some other
03:15cities is that they have to be able to
03:17raise the money that they need to grow
03:19their companies and so we want DC to be
03:22on the map and we want to have companies
03:24that have started there have grown and
03:27stayed in Washington and been able to
03:28raise some money to continue to grow I
03:31was gonna just say one thing and then
03:33turning back to the mayor who's our on
03:37our guest so I left office January 2011
03:40which is obviously just a little bit
03:41over four years ago and when I left
03:43office there was no left there
03:46essentially was know Airbnb nobre
03:50zenefits opens up any of the companies
03:53that we were talking with today they
03:55didn't even exist and now at the US
03:59Conference of Mayors which we've been
04:00that for the last three days if you talk
04:02about tech really those are the
04:04companies everyone's talking about so
04:06like I mean it's amazing how much things
04:08have changed and the mayor visited with
04:11Brian Chesky CEO of Airbnb I mean it I
04:16think it's like I don't really have
04:18never worked on regulatory issues as
04:20mayor for tech companies and this is a
04:22big part of what the new mayor has to do
04:24so that's my question
04:26is it more and more on your plate
04:27because these companies are more in your
04:29business as it were well there are more
04:31and more providing opportunities to DC
04:34residents and visitors you know this is
04:36some of the sharing economy and he's
04:38sharing businesses got in front of
04:41government but they didn't get in front
04:43of their customers because their
04:44customers are demanding these services
04:46so in a lot of ways we've had to catch
04:48up it's from food trucks to ride-sharing
04:51to now how sharing and all those things
04:55people have demanded additional choices
04:57and that's why these companies are
04:59finding success so it is it makes sense
05:03for us a mayors and people who have to
05:05make the public policy work and make
05:07sure people are save and and make sure
05:10that we have the level of regulation
05:12that we need but we don't want to tamp
05:14down on innovation I don't think we've
05:15had a mayor on our podcast say it would
05:19be useful to for everyone in Silicon
05:22Valley to kind of know what is the mayor
05:25when you meet with a Brian Chesky or you
05:28know John Zimmer or Logan it left what
05:32do you what do you guys talk about what
05:34are some of the exchanges about how can
05:35they help you how can you help them
05:37better well we we always want to know
05:39what their experience with what how
05:41they're working with our residents so if
05:44they can tell me how many DC residents
05:46are taking rides some of them even want
05:48to share information if they can tell us
05:51how much revenue they're collecting and
05:53how many taxes they're emitting that's
05:56and we want to know what how they have
05:59interacted with with our government and
06:02some of these companies now or have been
06:04proactive about suggesting ways to
06:07regulate the the environments that
06:09they're in and that that can be helpful
06:12too so as mayor my job is to make sure
06:15all the executive agencies that regulate
06:18business or collect taxes or provide
06:20permits and licenses are being
06:23supportive of new and creative ideas but
06:28also balancing that with the need to
06:30protect our residents and visitors it's
06:32interesting to know that that that
06:33portion of that wave of new and creative
06:35ideas as you say they could have been
06:38food trucks they can be sort of
06:39other things that happen in the physical
06:41world but increasingly their technology
06:43kind of undergirded ideas aren't they
06:46they are and they in what we see is that
06:50they're disruptive to the way that
06:52people have been used to doing things
06:54but many people are choosing these
06:57different services that make their life
06:59easier but governments are just slow
07:03moving by by nature and so it takes some
07:08time to everybody to get their ideas
07:11around these new ideas but I think
07:13what's in what's really special about DC
07:16is that a lot of the technology
07:19companies use the laws and regulations
07:22that we have created to both encourage
07:24business and protect consumers and now
07:27they're using those our laws and
07:29regulations as models around the country
07:31so I think what people will see is that
07:34DC has embraced the the sharing services
07:38and sharing technology and we have done
07:41it in a very practical way you you said
07:44it and I didn't but that government
07:46moves slowly and that's probably a good
07:48thing you know for for all of us
07:50citizens but what would you advise sort
07:53of parties on all sides of those
07:54equations if you're an entrepreneur and
07:56you're trying to come to town if you're
07:57a a consumer in you're feeling kind of
08:00wait a second is this good this is
08:02change I'm not sure how I should wrap my
08:05what do you like how should they
08:06approach you and and Adrian you to like
08:09how should entrepreneurs come into this
08:12mix and and make the most of it well I
08:17think well you have a great service you
08:19go out you go out there and market it
08:22you let officials know it's always
08:24helpful to let folks know you're coming
08:27to town this is what you do in in work
08:32hand in hand with officials I think what
08:34you're going to find is most elected
08:36officials just want to have the best
08:39services possible that are affordable
08:42and safe for their residents and if the
08:46more they know about your business and
08:48your service and what it does to make
08:51your jurisdiction the best
08:53you're gonna have a lot of support yeah
08:55a couple of things that are like I
08:58didn't even have that are now a part of
09:01almost every every city again it's a
09:04reflection on how much things have
09:05changed so like one you're talking
09:06another about you you've got a chief
09:08innovation officer and to 1776 which is
09:13the incubator in DC and in Chicago in
09:161871 and maybe you could talk a little
09:20bit about how important those are the
09:22cities on how you guys are working with
09:23this there's two things I think that's
09:25also a part of what Michael is talking
09:28about sure one thing that we and when I
09:30was out trying to become mayor the
09:33District of Columbia we talked to a lot
09:35of people every kind of business that
09:38that you can imagine and what we what we
09:41knew for sure is that we had to
09:44transform the way that government
09:45approached on its problems whether it
09:48was distributing benefits to residents
09:52for how we paid for parking or how
09:55people could start a business we really
09:58had to use technology to do that and
10:00change it in a way that made it more
10:02like what and less like what made it we
10:06think we want to reduce the number of
10:07trips that people have to make to
10:09government agencies so the more you can
10:11do at home the more you can do from your
10:13office the more you can do from your
10:14mobile device is what we have to do and
10:18we we went out to the private sector we
10:21hired a chief innovation officer who
10:23comes from a background of coding using
10:27you know coding to solve government
10:30problems we attracted him he's connected
10:32to all of the technologists in DC and
10:36that's important we also make it part of
10:38our economic development platform that
10:41it shouldn't be hard to get started I
10:42mean we actually want to harness the
10:45energy that kind of came organically to
10:47DC technology and be intentional about
10:50it from our economic development arm of
10:53the government starting in supporting
10:57these small businesses is a part of our
10:59strategy to grow jobs in DC this this
11:03sort of connection to something that
11:04you've you promised I think when your
11:07but they you're you're working on which
11:09is body cameras for four police officers
11:11and bear with me for second which is all
11:15about transparency so if you extend that
11:17across government you know why is
11:20transparency important and then how does
11:22technology help you get there
11:24transparency is so important because we
11:27need to have the people behind us to do
11:29just about anything whether it's taking
11:32over the schools that Mayor Fenty took
11:34on in DC whether it's making our police
11:39department more accountable or how you
11:42know I can convince people that we have
11:43to spend a hundred million dollars every
11:45single year in affordable housing and
11:47people will get behind you on all of
11:49those things if they understand what
11:51you're doing and the more information we
11:53can get out in that regard gives the
11:56people the information that they need to
11:58support their their political leaders so
12:01having trust in government and you know
12:04from time to time Trust wanes between
12:08citizens of a community and their
12:10elected officials and especially in DC a
12:12part of my whole reason for running is
12:15to regain the trust of our citizens so
12:19that we can get big things done in the
12:22city so we started with just simple
12:24things like making the budget more
12:26transparent making my schedule
12:29transparent making sure that people have
12:32open meetings in the government but you
12:36you've touched on something that's
12:37really critical to us public safety
12:39mayor's the part of the first
12:42responsibility of amerimike the city
12:44safe and having a accountable police
12:47forces is part of that and we're going
12:49to need Silicon Valley when it comes to
12:51these cameras you hear people talking
12:53about a lot of these cameras but it's
12:55virtually impossible right now to
12:59quickly redact the the information that
13:02these cameras pick up and so for us to
13:05go from where we are as body cameras now
13:08I know in a year from now we're gonna be
13:10in a whole different place yeah so
13:13review that material I mean everybody
13:15with a GoPro thinks that like well how
13:17hard could it be but it's it's clearly
13:19it's a question of how much day
13:21when is it available who gets to do what
13:23with it and when so it's the balance
13:25between accountability and privacy yeah
13:28and so when you have a police officer
13:30coming into your home you you deserve
13:33some privacy you have a right to it
13:36but at the same time if that police
13:38officer does something wrong we want
13:40certain bodies to have access to that
13:42information but if you're Carl and if I
13:45ever have to call the police I don't
13:46necessarily want to see it on the
13:48evening news right right I was funny
13:50because just got wise he's a general
13:53partner here at the firm and I had a
13:54conversation with your police chief
13:55maybe a year to ago and we were just I
13:58think Scott asked the question what's
14:00what technology do you find yourself
14:02using the most and she said that she
14:04used Palantir and then this was I mean I
14:08was obviously using it when I was in
14:10office too and I didn't even know that
14:12and she and I really I was I was really
14:15pleasantly surprised by that okay I know
14:18she's incubating a company called mark
14:2043 which is gonna do some really great
14:23software stuff but I was wondering like
14:25when I was leaving office there was they
14:27were starting to put more in DCRA that
14:29you could do mobile or through the
14:31internet and more on DMV I wonder how
14:34that push is going to have as you said
14:36to have more services that you can you
14:39don't have to go and how's it going I
14:41think it's going well but there's a lot
14:43more that we can do for example what I
14:45think the work you did at around DMV has
14:47been great like I haven't been inside a
14:49DMV in a while because I can do it all
14:52by mail or online I could pay my
14:56registration I could pay for my tickets
14:57perfect so really extraordinary
15:00circumstance that the mayor does get
15:03tickets okay and now for I think the
15:10we can do more around all these plans
15:13you've seen these big rolls of plan DC
15:15are a consumer and regulatory affairs so
15:18they do all of our permits and business
15:20licensing but if we can take a plans for
15:24a building like this and get them
15:27paperless and so they can be approved
15:29they can be amended and they can be paid
15:32for all online there
15:34that is going to be a huge huge for us
15:37and we're a city that actually has a lot
15:39of building going on unlike a lot of
15:41cities so we still have there these our
15:43permits office is very busy and so if we
15:46can get that paperless we're going to be
15:48going far well you have a very busy
15:50schedule both of you I know that but
15:52this might relate to sort of my final
15:54question which is yeah this this podcast
15:56has a lot of entrepreneurs who listen in
15:58so I want to know from you the next time
16:00you come out to Silicon Valley and you
16:02meet with companies or maybe there are
16:03companies that are started in Washington
16:05DC what can technology do for you what
16:07can you what can they build for you that
16:09you're like god if I only had this or
16:11these things or this approach help me
16:15with some of the human services problems
16:18of our city which I think that if they
16:20can do that in Washington they can do it
16:22for any city in the United States so
16:25we're hugely invested in affordable
16:27housing so how can we make sure that the
16:29money we put in is getting to the right
16:32people we want more of our babies to be
16:35born healthy how can we use all of this
16:38Fitness technology really to help us
16:41tract and support mothers we want to end
16:44homelessness in the district how can we
16:47use technology to make sure we're moving
16:50people to the right places so if there's
16:52anything that I think is is ripe for
16:54more innovation in solutions in
16:57government is in the human services well
17:01you heard it get to work everybody out
17:03there mayor Bowser Mayor Fenty thank you
17:06guys so much thank you thank you
![How To Succeed As A NEW & YOUNG Realtor [Deals Every Month + Luxury Listings]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FrtrRghgTayc%2Fhqdefault.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
