How might a long-term stock market transform tech? (ZigZag episode)

August 25, 2022

At Center for Humane Technology, we often talk about multipolar traps — which arise when individuals have an incentive to act in ways that are beneficial to them in the short term, but detrimental to the group in the long term. Think of social media companies that compete for our attention, so that when TikTok introduces an even-more addictive feature, Facebook and Twitter have to mimic it in order to keep up, sending us all on a race to the bottom of our brainstems.

Intervening at the level of multipolar traps has extraordinary leverage. One such intervention is the Long Term Stock Exchange — a U.S. national securities exchange serving companies and investors who share a long-term vision. Instead of asking public companies to pollute less or be less addictive while holding them accountable to short-term shareholder value, the Long-Term Stock Exchange creates a new playing field, which incentivizes the creation of long-term stakeholder value.

This week on Your Undivided Attention, we’re airing an episode of a podcast called ZigZag — a fellow member of the TED Audio Collective. In an exploration of how technology companies might transcend multipolar traps, we're sharing with you ZigZag’s conversation with Long Term Stock Exchange founder, Eric Ries.

CORRECTION: In the episode, Tristan says that TikTok has outcompeted Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The truth is that TikTok has outcompeted Facebook, but not yet YouTube — which has 2.6 billion monthly users to TikTok's 1 billion. It would be more accurate to say that TikTok is on a path toward outcompeting YouTube.

Guests

Eric Ries is the founder and co-CEO of the Long Term Stock Exchange — a U.S. national securities exchange serving companies and investors who share a long-term vision. The Long Term Stock Exchange launched in September of 2020, and its current technology company listings include Asana and Twilio. Eric is also an entrepreneur and the author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, which has sold over one million copies and has been translated into more than thirty languages. He is the creator of the Lean Startup methodology, which has become a global movement in business, practiced by individuals and companies around the world. Eric has founded a number of startups, like IMVU, and has advised on business and product strategy for startups, venture capital firms, and large companies across many industries.

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