Erik Torenberg (@eriktorenberg), co-founder and Executive Chairman of On Deck join Lucas Bagno and Ian Cinnamon on this episode of Solarpunk. Village Global’s Solarpunk is a podcast series about technology, space, and defense.

Takeaways:

• Startups are the most effective organizations for solving our biggest problems.
• Startups disproportionately contribute to economic growth.
• Governments and startups need to work together, not against each other.
• China has the GDP per capita of Mexico but they have power because of how big their population is.
• Increasing population should be an aim of the US government.
• Humans are a naturally technological species and the only way out of our current problems is through technology, not without it.
• People in Silicon Valley need to invest in storytelling and capturing hearts and minds. They have a new appreciation for how important politics is.
• Ideas from Silicon Valley are being exported around the world —among them are giving without asking for anything in return, alignment via equity, and decoupling where you live from where you work.