Episode 12 is out now! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts and more.
Can entrepreneurship be a force for good?
On this week’s show we welcome two guests - Chris & Cookie from Beyond Binary Thinking. We asked them the headline question and what they think it would take to make entrepreneurship a force for good.
Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/409898003566768817/
Given our career choice, Anthony and I are obviously passionate about entrepreneurship and believe in it as a force for good. But we recognise this is not always the case. There are corrupting influences within the world of tech startups and within companies in a capitalist economy more broadly. What better way to expose these than to invite an avowedly socialist guest into the debating ring?
Uber is a fascinating example. Has the worlds largest taxi startup been a net force for good? It’s certainly been great for social mobility. It’s often cited as a great example of using technology to solve old problems in innovative ways. However, it has left a trail of lawsuits in the wake of its hyper-growth. Cities have banned it, taxi firms have been put out of business (has its net job creation even been positive?) and it has been at the centre of the debate about the rights of “gig economy” workers for years.
What makes this episode interesting is that our guests were not afraid to challenge our views and fervently disagree on where the problems lie and how we can fix them. We tackle how companies should be run, whether Marx’s views on the exploitation of workers still apply and if “more democratic” organisations are the answer. In the process, we get up close and personal with the decisions we make in running our own companies and how to be ethically consistent in business.
Send us your comments. Which views in this episode did you agree with more?
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Lastly, this show is currently free of sponsorship, so we’ll take this opportunity to plug our two businesses. Stasher.com - when we can all travel again this year, use Stasher for affordable and convenient luggage storage on your trips. And Treepoints - if you want to live carbon neutral, subscribe to Treepoints from just £6/month. Look out for our Treepoints integrations, going live with businesses across the UK to plant trees at checkout and make online purchases carbon neutral.
Until next time!
Jake & Ant