This week we introduce the topic of the Rise of the Entrepreneur, by stating that: The entrepreneur is a dominant but divisive figure in technology today. On one hand, they are almost heroic: they started from “nothing” and built technologies, companies, and products used by millions around the world. On the other hand, they are seen as the worst of capitalistic excess: exploitative, extractive, and often already blessed with significant educational, wealth, racial, and gender advantages. Christian Bale - American Psycho
As with the previous week’s investigation into Silicon Valley and what came to be known as the ‘Californian Ideology’, Mujtaba Ahsan’s text ‘Entrepreneurship and Ethics in the Sharing Economy: A Critical Perspective’ encourages us to interrogate and reflect on what the term entrepreneur means to us today, particularly as a popular figure that is celebrated in the context of technology and social media emerging out of the United States:
“Meshing seamlessly with mainstream American romance with the rugged individual and the maverick, the figure of the entrepreneur with its long and powerful history is ideological— deployed in the pursuit of newer, more profitable work arrangements designed to benefit powerful owners and investors over marginalized workers.” (Ahsan M. Entrepreneurship and Ethics in the Sharing Economy: A Critical Perspective. Journal of business ethics. 2018, p.29)
It’s perhaps no surprise, that the physical manifestation of the entrepreneur, as it is presented to us through media, tends to be a 30-50 year old, white, well-educated, male from the USA. Some of the most successful and well known entrepreneurs comfortably fit this profile.
http-//thequotes.in/were-just-enthusiastic-about-what-we-do-steve-jobs/.jpeg
Elon Musk, Tesla CEO https-//www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/08/elon-musk-tesla-california-texas
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO: https-//fortune.com/2018/06/27/coinbase-bitcoin-givecrypto/.jpeg
Brian Chesky, Nathan Blecharczyk, Joe Gebbia , AirBnB founders: https-//www.businessinsider.com/org-chart-airbnb-board-of-directors-expertise-in-crisis-2020-4
Bill Gates https-//money.com/bill-gates-net-worth/.jpeg
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook: https-//macmagazine.com.br/
Jack Dorsy, Twitter and Square CEO: https-//www.ft.com/ - financial times Jack Dorsy
What is it that seduces people towards the image of the entrepreneur? What is promised by this personality? If, as Mujtaba Ahsan earlier suggests, the entrepreneur also represents a certain maverick spirit, a type of personality who is brave, trail-blazing, has vision, and perhaps most importantly of all, determines their own working conditions, this attraction to the figure of the entrepreneur is perhaps understandable.
https://www.mapsofworld.com/answers/world/what-are-the-top-10-countries-with-most-internet-users/
https-//www.cbinsights.com/research/report/corporate-venture-capital-history/
Within what we now commonly know and refer to as the ‘gig economy’ people who work for entrepreneurial companies, like Uber, are promoted as being partners, as participating and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit of the company. We are told they can determine their own schedule, that they can balance work with other ambitions and commitments, that these gig economies allow us to break free of the restrictions of contract employment and regulation:
Uber, for example, operates what is in essence a taxi service without paying heed to licensing requirements, commercial insurance, background checks, vehicle inspections, etc., giving it a significant competitive advantage over commercial transportation providers. It isn’t obliged to follow minimum wage or overtime regulations, nor is it required to offer its drivers any benefits such as health care insurance, vacations, etc. Classifying drivers as entrepreneurs serves Uber’s financial interests in fundamentally important ways, and yet Uber manages to also project itself as a corporation providing social good by opening up avenues for (micro) entrepreneurship.
Ahsan M. Entrepreneurship and Ethics in the Sharing Economy: A Critical Perspective. Journal of business ethics. 2018, p.21
Driver Jesus Jacobo takes part in a statewide day of action to demand that ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft follow California law and grant drivers “basic employee rights.’’ Los Angeles, California, August 20, 2020. https-//venturebeat.com/2020/11/25/gig-economy-workers-could-receive-equity-under-sec-proposal
https-//www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/upshot/gig-economy-limits-labor-market-uber-california
So why work under these conditions? What is the broader context for these gig or ‘sharing’ economies? LEFT: https-//fortune.com/2015/09/15/financial-crisis-anniversary/.jpeg BELOW: https-//www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coronavirus-gig-economyworkers-put-lives-on-the-line-to-pay-rent-9bq87sbbw
It is important to note that the major sharing economy companies rose from the ashes of the 2008 financial crisis. A significant number of employees were impacted by this financial crisis, millions of workers lost their jobs during this time and the national unemployment rate increased from 4.7% in 2007 to 10.5% in 2010. Ahsan M. Entrepreneurship and Ethics in the Sharing Economy: A Critical Perspective. Journal of business ethics. 2018, p.21
Gig or ‘on demand economy’ “The sector is projected to grow from $14 billion in 2014 to $335 billion by 2025 [...]
In last week’s topic we briefly discussed the conditions that allowed for the development of a place like Silicon Valley and how a unique set of circumstances helped create this technological utopia. In this week’s reading, Jathan Sadowski further encourages us to think about the relationship between urban landscapes and technology. In his text ‘Cyberspace and cityscapes: on the emergence of platform urbanism’ he discusses how start-ups, new urban development, and new technology companies are changing the way cities grow. What does this mean for the entrepreneur and how are they affecting the urban fabric of cities all around the world?
“Can Jerusalem Turn High Tech Hub?” https-//www.jta.org/2018/11/14/israel/
We find the entrepreneur in the postindustrial, or semi-industrial landscape of our cities, making ‘creative spaces’ for start ups and new technology companies.
Top: Creative Hub in Lisbon old industrial zone https-//creativeconomy.britishcouncil.org/blog/15/01/04/fedoriv-hub-going-lisbon/.jpeg
Top right: We Work space https-//www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/304110
Bottom right: We Work NYC https-//www.deskmag.com/en/coworking-news/wework-harms-40percent-of-coworking-spaces-in-its-close-vicinity-competition-986
Many people would assert that being an entrepreneur is as liberating as it is hard work. That by pursuing your entrepreneurial potential, you are in fact taking control of your time. Daniel Cockayne argues that this romanticized concept of entrepreneurship is simply an emotional attachment that justifies economic uncertainty. “In other words, in order to rationalize the long hours, hard work, and negligible rewards of starting a company, one must have an emotional attachment to entrepreneurialism. Talking about being ‘driven’ or having a ‘passion’ for one’s work excuses the obvious downsides. Jean Burgess, Alice Marwick, Thomas Poell. Silicon Valley and the Social Media Industry. In: The SAGE Handbook of Social Media. SAGE Publications
Ltd; 2018
https-//www.entrepreneur.com/
But of course it would be overly simplistic and naïve to suggest that all entrepreneurial personalities are exploitative, opportunistic and that new entrepreneurial companies in the technology field only serve to monetise and gentrify our cityscapes and make a few people rich by exploiting the labour of workers without reliable contracts. Below, in this week’s topic are a list of stories, case studies, video presentations and resources that help to break the mould of the facebook/uber/airbnb entrepreneur. What personalities, stories or businesses would you add to this list?