Interview, Fireside Chat
a16z Podcast | Of Governors and Mayors, and Tech Policy
- Event Context: The discussion took place at the A16Z annual summit in November 2017, featuring Governor Doug Ducey (R-Arizona) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-South Bend, Indiana).
- Core Thesis: Both leaders argue that state and local governments are becoming the primary drivers of pro-technology and pro-innovation policy, often bypassing federal paralysis.
- Governor Ducey's Regulatory Actions:
- Immediately terminated a state official who planned to ban Uber and Lyft with sting operations during the Super Bowl.
- Used an executive order to lift decades-old regulations originally written for the taxicab industry.
- Set a goal to remove 500 regulations from Arizona statute books during the calendar year.
- Adopted a "public safety and public health first" framework, allowing innovation to flourish once these thresholds are met.
- Shifted the internal culture of state government to mimic private sector efficiency, comparing cabinet meetings to private sector "all-hands" meetings.
- Mayor Buttigieg's Urban Strategy:
- Positioned South Bend as a "beta city" to test new technologies, social ideas, and policies due to its manageable size (pop. ~100,000) and industrial history.
- Successfully launched Limebike (dockless bike sharing), a system that required zero municipal funding and eliminated the need for traditional bike stations.
- Leveraged his election mandate as a "candidate of technology and new ideas" to overcome internal government resistance.
- Adopted a tolerance for risk, acknowledging that if an initiative fails, it should not cost taxpayers money.
- Bipartisan Trends:
- Tech policy issues (autonomous vehicles, drones, fintech) are largely nonpartisan; cooperation occurs across state lines regardless of party affiliation.
- A growing network of state and local officials exchanges ideas independently of federal government progress.
- Both leaders emphasize that local delivery (e.g., water, transportation) compels leaders to prioritize innovation over partisan disagreement.
- Federal-State Dynamics:
- Mayors often find it more critical to manage state-level bureaucracy (e.g., in Indianapolis) than to interface with Washington, D.C.
- State governments are currently acting as testbeds because other states, such as California, have introduced permitting fees and recertification hurdles that drive companies away.
- Arizona actively solicited autonomous vehicle testing by offering a clear regulatory path once safety standards were met.
- Forward-Looking Statements & Data:
- Safety: Autonomous vehicles have the potential to save 38,000 annual U.S. road deaths, 94% of which are currently attributed to human error.
- Mobility: Driverless vehicles could restore independence to the elderly and disabled, effectively reducing the impact of age-related disabilities.
- Market Shift: Arizona is positioning itself to become a primary testing ground for self-driving vehicles, a trend highlighted by a New York Times front-page business story.
- Leadership Philosophy:
- Leaders must actively "sell" pro-innovation visions to the bureaucracy, as officials often default to regulatory caution.
- Success is defined by making decisive executive choices rather than seeking consensus on nonpartisan economic development issues.
- "Success breeds success": Proven innovative moves reduce future resistance from stakeholders.