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Andrew, welcome back to Giant Ideas.
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Great to have you with us.
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Last week we talked a lot about universal basic income and US politics.
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This week we want to dive into you and your amazing life story.
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So we ask all of our guests on Giant Ideas.
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If you had to depict your life in three photographs, what would those photographs be and why?
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>> Well, now uh I'm a dad um and married.
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Um so I've got a wife and two kids who are 13 and 10.
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And so the first photo that comes to mind for me would be uh like a recent Thanksgiving photo of the four of us.
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Um because I don't know if you guys have um kids or families, but uh that that stuff becomes um know the core.
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Um so that that would be picture number one.
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So so grateful for the family.
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Uh I love them very much.
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Uh photo number two that that does come to mind for me is like that there are and there are a number of photos you could take like a a few of them.
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Um but there's like a photo of me in front of a crowd rallying for u universal basic income like the presidential campaign in 2019 or 2020 and thousands and thousands of people showed up uh and it's uh a singular experience. I recommend it.
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I recommend that everyone listening to this run for the highest office in their land um immediately.
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Um um so that's >> what's it like Andrew?
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What's it what is it actually like to run for president and how does it change your life?
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You're part of a very small very strange club of people who've run for president.
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Tell us what it's actually like and how has it changed your life now years later.
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>> So what it what it's like in real life is an exercise in um ego destruction and humility.
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Uh, and I and I tell you why.
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Um, so like, you know, I'm a fairly cool accomplished guy.
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Um, but when you run for president, everyone's like of and then you're like of America, obviously.
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Or um, like I I was at my son's uh, school event and then meet another dad and then the dad asks what I do for a living.
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Very reasonable question.
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Um, but it sounds like I'm a lunatic if I say like I'm a presidential candidate.
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Um, because I'm not on TV. I'm not famous.
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I'm not a current senator or anything.
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So, they'd be like, what?
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And then I have to go through all this explanation.
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And at the end of that explanation, uh, you know what they would say?
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It's like, good luck with that.
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[laughter] So, you're like, I don't want to have this conversation over and over again.
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>> Well, is the natural thing to say. What else? What else?
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What What would you prefer they to say?
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>> What they should say is like, uh, let let me uh donate the maximum right now.
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drop everything and follow you to Iowa.
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That's what they should have said. No.
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Um so uh so you know that that's like minor humiliation.
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Um [laughter] and you you have like tons of minor humiliations.
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Now in this case uh you know I went from that to screaming crowds of thousands and uh seven presidential debates and uh like the rest of it.
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Um so thank you Yang Gang you know if you're listening to this.
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But uh you know it was months and months of anonymity and slogging and having events that uh very few people would show up to in the middle of nowhere.
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Um, so I'm grateful to everyone who believed in me and in particular worked on the campaign.
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Um, because there's this arc and to your question, I get recognized on the street every day.
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Uh, you know, here in the States and 98% of the time it's very very positive.
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Uh, where I'd be like, you know, people ask me all the time like, "Hey, run again. You were right on AI."
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Uh, you know, things like that.
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So there's a lot of love.
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What what what gets someone elected?
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>> Well, in in my cycle and I actually, you know, being a numbers guy too, um so uh I won the Iowa youth vote uh and was really really strong on uh cares about people like me, want to have a beer with um you know has like uh my interest at heart.
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um the things I lost on uh in that case to Joe Biden in 2020 was um has the right experience to defeat Donald Trump.
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Um you know and and I actually get that like Democratic voters uh you know it's like you want to bet on the magical Asian man from the future uh or like the uh you know former vice president um when your opponent is Donald Trump.
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And so they they chose Joe Biden and I think they got it right because Joe Biden did win.
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Now, Joe Biden then got it historically wrong by sticking around to run again.
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I mean, that so he failed us all.
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Uh, but they weren't wrong in 2020.
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Um, v voters are kind of simple that way.
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Uh, and uh, you know, like um, that I think what got Joe elected that time was just people wanted uh, to find someone who could beat Trump. >> Yeah.
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>> Yeah. Do you know what's interesting Andrew when you say that people recognize you in the street and actually it's mostly really positive and you get a lot of love that has by observation been my experience we we work with David Milliband who's the former foreign secretary of the UK who chairs our advisory board at Giant and everywhere I go around the world with David people come up to him literally all day every
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day and recognize him but it's all positive but the only people who come up to him are the ones who say I wish you would have been prime minister you would have been fantastic I love you and it's a very warm experience and I think it's counter to everything you hear and read that people don't shouldn't go into politics or don't want to go into politics because it's so hateful, it's so awful, it ruins your life. Clearly,
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Clearly, that's not not your experience in the US. >> Yeah, it's true.
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I kind of jokingly was like everyone should do it.
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Uh I think more people should um should get into the arena because uh the arena needs great people, great ideas and uh I have had like a wonderful elevating experience uh you know like not all sunshine and roses like a lot of stress um you know and obstacles um but mostly love. >> Amazing.
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What would your third photograph be Andrew?
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You know, the third photo that comes to mind for me is um a childhood photo uh being born in Skenctity, New York, upstate with my immigrant parents uh in the 70s, you know, them like smiling and striving.
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Uh they came to this country with nothing.
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Um wanted to build a better life for my brother and me and uh it worked.
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Um and you know, we're very grateful to them.
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Uh now my father um immigrated back to Taiwan and he's in his 80s.
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Uh so I try and get his grandsons to visit any chance we get.
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Um but that you know like that decision um that they made back in the 60s uh defined my life.
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>> What's the single biggest thing they taught you?
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>> You know like like they just uh busted ass man.
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and they just like worked really hard all the time and uh you know as a kid that stuff does rub off on you.
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So it's one of my contributions to my family is like look if I work hard then like like they they'll see that. >> Amazing.
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And you've worked in a couple industries and sectors.
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You've been in politics, you've been in business, you've done a range of things.
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Um any thoughts or reflections on on reinvention and applying yourself to such different areas?
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Yeah, I I recommend that too.
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But people need to not get stuck in this era.
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Um the way I see it is that we have tours of duty that will take typically >> um I'd say like each tour of duty is like 3 to 6 years, maybe 3 to 8 years.
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I mean, frankly, the longer the tour of duty, the better things are going for you.
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So, you know, try and stretch it out.
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Uh, and uh, I've had politics, I've had business, I've had, uh, philanthropy and nonprofits, I've had entrepreneurship, uh, and loved it all.
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Uh, you know, and now I'm working on Noble Mobile, which is something I'm super excited about.
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Um, to try and save Americans billions of dollars and get them off of what one comedian calls our rectangles of sadness, otherwise known as our smartphones.
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Um, so, uh, the average Noble mobile user uses 17% less screen time, uh, in month two or three relative to how they started.
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Um, and I dare say that's like around where most of us want to go.
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I think most of us want to decrease our screen time by, let's say, 20% uh, as like a threshold.
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Some of us would like to decrease it by a lot more than that. >> How does it work?
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>> Oh my gosh, so glad you asked.
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Um because uh you know, okay, um the average European is spending 35 a month on your wireless data.
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Uh that's what you guys are used to.
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The average American is spending 83 a month.
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Uh and I was spending 140 a month with a company called Verizon, which is number one in the US in market share.
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So what the heck is that extra $48 a month doing?
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Um, and I just want to define how big that uh difference it gets.
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Uh, if you multiply it times 12, it's let's call it $600 a year.
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And then you multiply it times the hundreds of millions of Americans who have cell phones, uh, it amounts to hundred billion dollar in extra spend a year on cell phone services in the US relative to Europeans.
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um if we were paying what you guys were paying.
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Uh now that hundred billion 11 billion of it uh was in the form of dividends [laughter] to Verizon shareholders.
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Um where if you look up Verizon stock it pays a 6 and a half% dividend last I checked.
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Um AT&T might be 4 and a. 5%.
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Um so these are companies that are just taking billions of dollars from customers and giving it to shareholders um as their primary draw.
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Uh and uh it's not like the service is you know like innovating really um like that like it works don't get me wrong it works but um but they're they're not spending billions to make it better.
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uh they're spending billions on marketing and um convincing us that um what we're spending with them makes some sense.
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So I ran for president on universal basic income uh and I figured out that a lot of Americans uh are broke uh and are trying to figure out how to save money.
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So if I could get them closer to what you guys are spending, I'd be doing them a huge solid.
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Uh so what Noble Mobile does is we license data from T-Mobile uh and we'll cut the average American's phone bill in half. And here's how we do it.
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So for a Noble user, you spend $50 a month on unlimited data um on on the T-Mobile network, but we give you up to $20 back at the end of the month based upon any data you don't use below 20 gigs.
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So, the average Noble user will spend $42 a month.
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Um, which is like magic, half of what the average American is spending.
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Um, and because we're giving you money back for not using your phone, uh, your data use goes down when you're out and about.
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Uh, because people like money and they like measurements, they like rewards.
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Uh, so that's how Noble Mobile works.
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And in your experience with Noble, what is the best way to get yourself using the phone and the screen less?
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>> Uh, well, the the main thing is to so I I say this like don't sleep with your phone in the same room.
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Um, that's a great place to start.
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Uh, try not to uh use your phone during meals.
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Um, that's a fantastic step.
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Take one break from your phone a day minimum.
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Um, it could be your gym workout or a walk or something along those lines.
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Uh, and um, be aware of how you are um, around other people because studies have shown that if you look at your phone while you're talking to someone, uh, they want to punch you in the face.
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[laughter] >> I mean, understandably so, but that that is such a good moment.
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We've all gone into a store or a room and then realize you're still on your phone when you should really just be, you know, engaging and looking at people.
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But I think a good place to start is definitely not bringing into the bedroom and certainly not doing it in meal times.
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>> And an alarm clock, that's that's my recent the last couple of months, I bought an old school alarm clock, which was the last remaining excuse to keep the phone in the bedroom. It's gone.
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>> We we hardly recommend that at Noble.
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Something on an alarm clock and it cost you what uh like $15 US.
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>> Yeah, >> it's fantastic.
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Well, we like to end every episode, Andrew, by asking what it is about you that has enabled you to have the success you've had in your life so far. And you can't be modest.
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Um must must be uh honest about what it is about yourself.
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You know, guys, um I read a book called uh On the Edge by Nate Silver about um risktaking.
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And then and the main thing that has made me successful is that I you know I I think I've had like a realistic assessment of um the riskreward of various situations.
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And so I'll use the one that I'm most famous for.
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Um decide to run for president. What are the downsides?
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Opportunity costs um time away from your family and possible total public humiliation.
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You know like those are the main downsides.
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And then the upsides were things like accelerate the end of poverty uh for millions and millions uh and do what you thought was the right thing to do.
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Uh and I thought, hey, like if I run for president, it doesn't go well.
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Like I'll be able to look at myself in the mirror um and I'll survive.
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Um, in part because like the total public humiliation thing uh was a real possibility, but like I thought I could live with that.
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Um, and I think too many people get scared off of things because they make too much of uh that kind of risk.
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Uh, you know, and it it's >> risk. >> Yeah.
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Yeah, it's like like I like one of my aggravating things and by the way a lot of people listening to you guys can re resemble this is like you get to a certain level very very few people who reach a certain level are willing to do something that will make them look really bad.
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Uh you know they they they take risks in like a narrow band and it makes them lame.
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[laughter] Um and and so to the extent that I've had uh you know like an interesting career um like I I don't think I'm necessarily um uh like um better than other folks um and most dimensions.
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Um, but like I I'm willing to um take risks that other people have shied away from.
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And I don't think like I think that I'm right and they're wrong in this.
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It's like you should be willing to take this risk too.
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Like what's what's keeping you like what's the problem?
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Um and and I I see that it gets stacked on top of people like the these uh layers of success and socialization.
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Um you know, you just have to be willing to let some of it go.
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Um, you know, we don't have that much time on this planet.
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Uh, and if you can't, I actually gave this impassion speech to a bunch of donors for like a democracy event.
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They were really, for the most part, very rich, successful folks.
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And I was like, you know what's missing from this room?
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An appetite for total public humiliation.
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You know, like you you guys like are messing around because like, you know, like the investments you're making, they're very significant, but they're not going to change any of your lives.
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Not going to make you look bad.
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like you guys have to be willing to look bad.
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Um, [laughter] and that to me is like the the message.
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It's like be willing if you're willing to if you're willing to look bad, you might wind up um changing the course of history.
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But if if you're not willing to look bad, you're not going to change >> That's a great note to end on. Love that.
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Thank you so much, Andrew.
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>> Thank you for joining John Ideas, Andrew. Really appreciate it. >> Appreciate you guys.
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is I do send out a weekly uh email at andrewyang. com.
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Um, a lot of it's US-based, but you know, people might en enjoy aspects.
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I'm going to be talking a lot about what AI is doing with the labor market.
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Um, if you want to join for that,