YouSaid · the spoken record

Trey Hollingsworth

lines on the record: 26
first: 2017-06-07
most recent: 2017-06-07
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Don't really think of ourselves as a disruptor. We're not trying to disrupt the way that public benefits work in America. We think there are actually lots of really committed people who are doing great work in the public benefits space. We really want to enhance the efforts that they are already committed to and to improve the lives of the people that they try to serve. And for a lot of our users, that's about navigating these public benefits and making sure that they have enough to spend and so they can actually go purchase purchase those groceries. But I think that our mission goes broader than just a public sector program. It's really about the entire stack of what it's like to put food on the table when you're a low income American. So what are the stores you shop at? How do you choose the right items? How do you find savings? And how do you manage the entire process? I think in the longer term, we're really an anti-poverty company. So to the extent that food in the table is an important part of fighting poverty, that's why we're starting there. But I think more broadly, we see a huge opportunity to modernize the safety net and to fight poverty through software.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Every program we have needs to be rigorously and regularly evaluated so that we can optimize it or get rid of it and replace it with something else that's working. You can do a randomized controlled trial for about 100 grand now. So we're going to increasingly see our not-for-profits providing information, showing what works and what does not work. I've got legislation. We've just passed into law that creates a clearinghouse of best practices that people can draw on. These are some of the things that certainly we ought to be doing. And I think most importantly, we just need to be thinking of people not as recipients of government programs, but instead as assets to be realized as opposed to liabilities to be written off.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Something you said that I thought was profound, which is we do tend to solve or attempt to solve those challenges that we understand. I think that the private sector can help government better understand its own problems by embedding predictive analytics into some of our programs. We could do that in our social programs. And then on the back end of it is rapid cycle evaluation to determine whether or not we're actually helping the people after slightly manipulating a program to tailor it to the needs of a particular population or individual.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Know you can have an understanding and a deeper empathy of someone else's challenges. I think there are ways to start interesting companies, whether they're for-profits or nonprofits that address these types of challenges. There is an opportunity in the coming years for people of all income spectrum types to start their own companies and to solve their own challenges. And so the question is tooling. How do we provide the tools so that those 44 million Americans on food stamps can indeed start their own companies?”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, so a couple of things. The first is we spend all of our time talking to people who are recipients of the Snap program and of Food Stamps in the United States. And what we hear time and again is that the benefit is extremely critical to being able to put food on the table. And so for our users and the people that we work with, it's very clear to us that this public benefit is a really critical part of the safety net. And this is who we're trying to serve. In terms of how we can inspire other entrepreneurs to solve these types of problems, I think people start companies that solve the problems they understand. And I think that's why so many of the startups that come out of places like Silicon Valley are addressing the issues of 20-something males who live in cities because those are the types of issues the tech entrepreneurs as a demographic tend to understand better than the average. There are 45 million Americans who are currently on food stamps. There are probably not a lot of them starting software companies. And so who's going to build the software that meets their needs? I think there are two different ways we can address that. The first is that actually”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the answer you would have heard from any Republicans say a generation ago, and I don't say this critically, it's just the standard Republican line, is use economic incentives to bring them into this marketplace. And that still applies, right? And unapologetic, unabashed, and proud capitalist. And so to the extent we can create a profit incentive for people to actually help individuals as opposed to self-indulgently funding 70 plus federal government programs where we have some sense that perhaps on the margin some of these programs help, but really don't have much clarity on that. I prefer not to think in terms of programs, but instead of treating individuals holistically before modernizing our social support system.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“How do we convince more young New Yorkers or young Hoosiers that come from these communities that understand these issues better than anybody else, right? Because they've grown up confronting these issues. How do we incentivize them to actually either go start companies or try and improve it from the inside?”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We know that in our most vibrant sectors like the tech sector, what you do is you learn from suboptimal results. You don't even consider them failures, right? And then you iteratively improve upon them. And so we wanted to replicate that sort of model in government. There are a number of competent evaluators who conduct either randomized controlled trials or longitudinal studies that can really rigorously assess whether or not or paying for success or paying for something less than success.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, it's essential that we have safeguards in government to make sure that when we do partner with whether it's not-for-profits or for-profit entities, and there's money to be paid for those services that we are, in fact, improving lives. And so the approach we've taken in our social impact partnership legislation is number one, we make sure that all contracts very clearly delineate what outcomes you're trying to achieve by what date, what milestones, intermediate milestones you're supposed to hit, and so forth. Then secondarily, make those contracts public and make all independent evaluations. And I emphasize independent evaluations by a third party. They have to be public as well. You see, there's this habit in government when you tend to do something, you issue a press release, you hold a press conference, and then when things don't go so well, you tend to hide it. No, this is exactly the opposite of what should happen.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We've tried to build a business model that doesn't conflict from the social impact we're trying to create but actually complements it. I think that's the strongest type of social impact and most sustainable type that we could build. So as an example, in the early stages of the company, we considered a model where we were going to build software for the food stamp program and then we were going to build software to make it easier to get a visa or to get a driver's license. We were going to have all these different verticals. One of the reasons we chose not to go down that path was that was a model where we were going to not make money off of low-income consumers and instead to make money off of these other types of services. We instead asked ourselves, is there a better model where we can actually build a big, interesting business while also still serving the same types of people that we started the company to serve? And so that's why we have this free app that people who are on food stamps currently use to manage their benefits. Our business is selling advertising to grocery retailers and grocery brands who want to attract the business of our shoppers at their stores, often by providing coupons and discounts directly to our users so they actually save money by using our”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right. Basically This is a trans partisan issue in the sense that everyone recognizes we need to improve these programs. Whether you want to better spend taxpayer money or you care deeply about the targeted populations, we all recognize that improvements need to be made. The legislation you're alluding to is legislation that would allow private investors to scale up things that are working either on account of private business or in a not-for-profit sector. And if you improve lives based on an independent evaluator determining that lives were significantly improved, then we pay back the investors all that they put in to scale up that intervention plus a positive return on investment. That's the model we call them social impact partnerships. And the legislation passed unanimously out of the House of Representatives last Congress. I think it will pass out of the Senate this Congress and we'll sign it in the law.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Studied using the gold standard, randomized controlled trials across multiple sites. Can you imagine a business continuing to operate 70 programs that they weren't even sure were money makers or not, right? I mean, and so out of those 10 studied, only one has been found to meet its defined purpose. So this is where we need some help.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Think we need to make sure that our foster care system is tailored to the needs of its particular population, which is not confined to the state of Indiana. It's not confined to the state of California. This is a national challenge of trying to match needy children to loving parents or relatives or another set of foster parents, whatever might be in the best interest of the child, irrespective of state lines. Now, in the private sector or even in the not-for-profit realm, you tend to respond more to the needs of your customers. They are the ones who put together pilot programs that need to be scaled up ultimately by government. We don't do enough of this in government. In fact, we don't even measure success. There are roughly, depending upon how one counts, the different social support programs, 80 federal social support programs. Only 10 have ever been rigged.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And when we asked her how she was able to do that, she told us that it's because this is how much she knows she can buy for her kids. This is how close she is to really needing serious, serious help to put food on the table. And so she has to do this every day. So we thought that was a little bit crazy. I come from a consumer technology background, so my experience has always been building consumer-facing software products previously at Facebook. This particular challenge is one that's been solved by the private sector for years, right? Every major consumer bank has had a free smartphone application you can use to check your balance and see your transaction history for years. But for some reason, that didn't exist for these 44 million Americans spending $70 billion per year through the BT card. So that's what Fresh EBT really is. It's supposed to be a modern software layer on top of the EBT.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And she said, the first thing that I do is I call the phone number on the back of my EBT card to see how much I can spend. And so she did that for us. And before listening to the automated voice prompt, she typed in one and then three and then typed in her entire card number purely from memory.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, that's right. In the late 90s, the food stamp program transitioned from actual paper stamps onto a debit card called the EBT card that is how food stamp benefits are now distributed to these 44 million Americans across the country. There's about 70 billion dollars spent each year through the food stamp program at grocery stores. It actually composes a huge amount of revenue for the grocery industry. And an earlier version of Propelled, we were actually building software to help people enroll in food stamps. And in late 2015, we transitioned away to building what we do now, which is really focused on building financial management software for people who are already on the program. My business partner and I were in a grocery store in Philadelphia trying to get people to enroll in this benefit and on this particular day, lots of people told us that they were already in”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think for a challenge as deep and as significant as poverty, it's got to be a team effort. And I think we can all do a little better. I think there's more that the public sector can do. There's more the private sector can do. There's more the nonprofits can do. What we are trying to build is one of a multitude of efforts that are really trying to address this very complicated and very deep problem.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Of programs that exist. And I think some of that can be done by leveraging technology. Having on your smartphone access to valuable information, which is increasingly how we're getting our information, I think can benefit policymakers and program recipients alike.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I would welcome the efforts of the private sector or not-for-profits or perhaps innovative individuals within government that might, for example, help those from more humble circumstances navigate our constellation of social services programs. It's unclear to the single father of three children who's been offered a job of $12 an hour whether or not that person is going to be better off taking said job or if instead they should stay home, take care of their own kids, cut some grass on the side. I certainly couldn't fault that individual if they made either decision, right? But policymakers have a difficult time determining whether or not somebody would be better off under those circumstances. So we need to try and create some order out of this confusing concept.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The sphere of the public sector means that we shouldn't try as a private sector company to do better for our users, I think is the wrong approach. We think about ourselves a little bit like how turbo tax works for the tax process and that here's a private sector company that's able to take the UI of a particular program and make it significantly better such that people save time and money. And I think that's ultimately, you know, that's really what we are, the same type of ethos that we're trying to drive for a program like the food stamps program.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Program. So to the extent we can define outcomes and identify how much money we're really spending by either addressing a challenge or immediately for prevention purposes or addressing it later on, that gives us a much clearer picture about what sort of interesting partnerships can be brought to bear to treat individuals who need help.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“State is operating in its own stovepipe, which we find not just in our foster care system, but across government. I find this challenge, though, to particularly afflict our efforts to serve people who are poor, who are vulnerable, who are at risk. Our safety net needs to encompass our public, our private, our not-for-profits. I couldn't agree more. I really think we're underutilizing all the expertise out there. And our government programs typically, they don't measure outcomes. They may measure inputs. If we're able to tear down walls between organizations and programs and connect the data dots about particular outcomes, then suddenly we're able to get a holistic picture of the needs of a particular individual, of the outcomes of populations. Not for-profit programs, and private”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think the experience of the safety net in 2017 really encompasses the public sector, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector, and someone who is experiencing a financial shock or is going through a tough time, uses services from a variety of those different sectors. And so a single sector approach, I think, is a little bit short-sighted and incomplete. And that's part of the reason we run the company that can go in between these three sectors, regardless of whether they're a government-run service or whether it's a private company offering a better type of kind of financial service product. These days are focused is on a public sector service called the SNAP program, formerly called the food stamps program. It's used by about 44 million Americans currently, so about one in seven families in the United States is currently relying on these benefits to purchase food.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I grew up in a loving and supportive household that sometimes had trouble putting food in the table, ended up getting a full ride scholarship to Stanford and then working at Facebook where I built a lot of consumer software. I left Facebook to apply the best practices of Silicon Valley to build really engaging, really crisply designed consumer software to solve social issues around poverty. We learned about food stamps through a nonprofit program called Blue Ridge Labs that's based in Brooklyn that helps entrepreneurs identify challenges faced by low-income Americans.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It almost always in today's environment takes a bit of persuasion to tell people to spend money, right? You need to identify a serious need. Here we've got an incredible need that is impacting so much of our country. And in the end, we're going to save money and improve lives at the same time. So it wasn't that tough of a cell. It just took a little time to normalize people to this idea that maybe their states, how they've been doing things for generations, wasn't quite working.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Starting at a high level, represented in my congressional district, Scott County, Indiana. This is ground zero for the opioid crisis. And what has happened is so many children of opiate addicts find themselves in our foster care system. It's overloaded. Indiana's foster care system, and it got me to looking into how that system was managed. And so let's just say our existing foster care system is suboptimal in that regard. So it was designed to serve people in a given state when really an interstate solution was needed. Some of the problems, just to very quickly itemize them, it's a paper-based system, so it's really slow. Extra costs are associated with looking through the paper for staffing and for equipment and supplies and maintenance of all the records. And then it's opaque as well. I mean, you don't have the ability to log into a system and figure out the disposition of a particular case. So I knew we could do.”
2017-06-07 · a16z Podcast · a16z Podcast: Modernizing Government Services, From Food Stamps to Foster Care · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source