Short summary
Key points
Tech firms with tech that disrupts the status quo face enormous challenges when it comes to government regulations
To fight back, startups need to take their aim at the polls of politicians — that’s their weak point. They are more concerned with getting re-elected than with governing. With a few exceptions — the rare breed, politicians worry about what the media and voters think of them. If you’re going to win the fight, you need to know your enemy. There are four basic types of politicians.
1. Typical Pols: They preoccupy themselves with validating their insecurities but can also be engaged in hard work under the right circumstances.
2. Ideologues: They are the true believers e.g. the Tea Party, the Green Party, etc.
3. Backbenchers: These are just happy to be in politics and all they care about is re-election.
4. Corrupt Pols: They take bribes, exchange donations for favors, and are in it for selfish reasons.
The point of this book is to help startups think intelligently about politics so they can counterpunch or, ideally, avoid getting hit in the first place. The more you understand why politicians and regulators don’t want you to launch a new hotel system, a new transportation network, or a new peer-to-peer insurance pool without their consent, the easier it is to figure out how to change the political equation and convince them to go along.