00:23:31 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:23:31] S0: Exactly, Zellnor was one or two, you know, I forget which exact, I think Brad Bees had seemed like he was gonna win. Or he had the more momentum, not that he was gonna win, [00:23:41] S1: but he was Brad is also, I mean, you know, I've met him a number of times. I grew up in Brooklyn, you know, and have sort of known him, even if only peripherally, for a long time. I think he is a... We're not here to... And this is deeper into New York politics than your audience probably wants to get, but, like, I think Brad is, like, a really, really cool and, like, kind of beautiful soul. [00:24:04] S0: We talk about inside baseball stuff on [00:24:06] S1: this podcast. Yeah. Yeah. And and if you wanna get really, really inside baseball, the, like, single most personally moving thing to me in Judaism is this idea of, like, Bezalem Elohim. We're all made in God's image. We share this kind of divine, like, divine spark or, you know, piece of divinity within ourselves. And, anyway, something randomly former New York City controller Brad Lander talks about a lot, and he and I have have talked about it and kind of bonded a little bit over that in passing various points. I think he's a really, really special person, and I'm excited to see what he does next. [00:24:40] S0: But do you think, you know, if Mamdani and AOC are the future of the Democratic Party? I think
00:24:45 · Yoni Rechtman
[00:24:45] S1: they're the future of the Democratic Party in New York, and I think it's really, really important to, like, be able to meaningfully distinguish between, like, the bluest of blue states and the rest of the country. Like, I don't... You know, John Fetterman is a Democrat. Like, Tim Kaine is a Democrat. You know, Joe Manchin was a Democrat. Like, there are a lot of different flavors of Democrat around the country. I'm not really super convinced that the, like, the way to win is to, like, put forth figures like Mamdani and AOC on a national stage. I think they do really well in certain corridors. I think they have some good ideas. I think they have some really bad ideas. I don't think that that is the future of the Democratic Party. I think that there are like, honestly, on some of the kind of bread and butter issues, I think that the left does a much, the left of the Democratic Party just does a much better job of like talking about things, and frankly like talk, like the whole... Affordability buzzword. Affordability and, like, that, you know, then just becomes this question of, like, do we do we see affordability through a supply side lens, which is more of the kind of, like, abundance and like YIMBY movement, or do we see affordability through more of the demand side lens, which is the historical democratic approach of like subsidized demand and then watch as prices spiral out of control? So the emerging Democratic consensus does actually, across the sort of range of Democrats, does seem to be more supply side or abundance oriented, which is really encouraging. I work in New York with a group called Abundance New York, who these guys these guys are great. Shout out, you know, Katherine and Ryder. And then nationally, I'm I'm close with the people who run the Inclusive Abundance Initiative. I think there's like the whole idea of abundance politics can work really well. I think the language itself is very like elite coded and and and maybe not super transferable. Works better as affordability. Let's do more things and make things cheaper. But that to me is like the sort of positive vision of the future that the Democratic Party should be putting forward. We just, in California,
00:27:07 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:27:07] S0: I think Matt Mahan is now running for People are clearly gonna circle around him. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, hope the Democrats don't mess it up. You know, I think if it's abundance oriented, positive mindset, just the California tax, while I'm fine with taxing billionaires, taxing unrealized gains is such a disaster that then having these taxes floated, even though I know it's sort of like, you know, some union puts on some ballot initiative, but it really feels like it could plausibly pass in California. That stuff is I hard to take, you [00:27:42] S1: don't think it will pass, and I also don't think it would stand up to like a court challenge. But like, yeah, the wealth tax idea in that way is really stupid. I think the like actually right way to do that is get rid of the step up in basis, which is basically like a reintroduction of the estate tax, And then the second thing is like come up [00:28:02] S0: with some Ideally on a national level so people aren't And state [00:28:06] S1: do some approach to taxing the like buy, borrow, die strategy. [00:28:11] S0: Right. And then give people health care. Yes. I think if the tax is for something, it's easier to sell. Sometimes when Democrats are talking about it just as a tax without saying this is the policy we want to pay for, it just feels sort of mean spirited and anti capitalist.
00:28:11 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:28:11] S0: Right. And then give people health care. Yes. I think if the tax is for something, it's easier to sell. Sometimes when Democrats are talking about it just as a tax without saying this is the policy we want to pay for, it just feels sort of mean spirited and anti capitalist. [00:28:27] S1: Mean, I think what's happened in New York is actually like a really encouraging version of what this could look like, which is New York introduced congestion pricing, which is functionally a consumption tax. Instead of talking about it as a victory of how much revenue we've generated, I think Kathy Hochul in particular, like, done a really good job of talking about the outcomes that it's been I [00:28:49] S0: know, was such a hater. I know, me too. She's so much better She's than I yeah, just wait until after the election, like, do it in a much Yeah, more politically valuable Get some seats for Democrats, like she's totally right. She's she's [00:29:03] S1: a badass. [00:29:03] S0: She's a political...
00:29:03 · Eric Newcomer, Yoni Rechtman
[00:29:03] S0: She's a political... [00:29:04] S1: It's like it's like not my like vibe and aesthetic, but like she's fucking knocking it out of the park. And and part of it is like she has been very, very... She had a really hardcore message discipline about not talking about how much money they've raised, but instead talking about the outcomes and what they're spending the money on, which is, like, you know, improvements to the subway system and, hey, look at all of the outcomes we're achieving in terms of, like, shorter commute times and lower air pollution, and less noise pollution, and you know, more shoppers on the street, and you know, all of these things are like awesome and real and we have proof of, and like it is just that is a positive way of talking about government intervention that is exciting, and you make a case for how you're gonna make people's lives better instead of making a case about how you're gonna make their enemies' lives worse. [00:29:54] S0: All right, so talking about the business of venture capital. Talk a little bit Oh, that? Yeah, our job, you know, your job and sort of the main thing [00:30:03] S1: I write about. I think probably like all of, you know, the rest of my team is They're skipping to this moment. Yeah, they're fucking God, he's done. [00:30:11] S0: We'll have a little link where people can just join us. Like, oh, yeah. They're done with politics. Talk about business. Yoni and [00:30:17] S1: Eric living out for twenty minutes.
00:30:17 · Yoni Rechtman, Eric Newcomer
[00:30:17] S1: Eric living out for twenty minutes. [00:30:20] S0: Give us give us your articulation in classic spicy slow fashion of what Slow's Slow Ventures philosophy is.