Intro
This is my first conversation with Evan Burns, CEO of State Affairs. I think Evan is building one of the most interesting companies at the intersection of politics and capitalism, with the ambitious goal of creating the category of “policy markets” which he says is more important than financial markets. In this conversation we discuss the state of media, the thesis and business of State Affairs and more.
Keith Rabois was one of the first believers in the idea and they just came out of stealth with a $70m seed round funded by Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund.
To understand how Evan got here, perhaps sharing some of his background is important. He started a media company called Odyssey which he ran for eight years before eventually exiting and went on to start a beverage company called The Long Drink that was wildly successful in a short period of time doing 500 million in sales. Through that he learnt how important it was for companies to understand policy in real time and have relationships with policymakers.
One of the best things about doing the show is meeting people that lay low and are underrated in the mainstream discourse. I think Evan is one of those people who is going to build a generational company and will be household name in the next five years or so.
Watch on YouTube
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
01:41 - Evan's First Venture: Odyssey and the Plurality of America
03:00 - Seeking "Alpha" Outside Coastal Media Hubs
05:00 - Groupthink in Silicon Valley & the Grifter Problem
08:26 - Moving into the Beverage Space: The Origin of Finnish Long Drink
10:45 - Navigating Nuanced State Policy Laws & Early Mistakes
12:45 - Changing the Overton Window: Lessons from Uber & SpaceX
14:50 - Connecting with People: The Pandemic Underwear Campaign Goes Viral
16:44 - Entrepreneurial Survival Instinct & the Strategy Behind Media Narratives
19:08 - News Bias, Fact-Seeking
21:28 - Defending Democracy and Fixing Education
24:06 - Optimism for Future Progress
25:47 - Why Negativity Dominates Politics
27:00 - The Thesis Behind State Affairs: Introducing "Policy Markets"
29:00 - Tracking Opaque State Legislation and Government Data
31:00 - Building a Base Layer Knowledge Graph for Real-Time Access
32:58 - Business Model, Key Corporate Customers, and Moving at Real-Time Speed
35:25 - Regulatory Capture and Relationships in the AI Age
37:21 - Use Cases for Elected Officials, Lobbyists, and Executives
39:51 - Customizing Policy Models for Startups & Mid-Sized Businesses
41:54 - Bringing Policy Makers and the Startup World Together
44:33 - The Value of Objective Nonpartisan News in the Next 10 Years
49:40 - Deep Journalism on the Ground: Engendering Trust Over Content "Slop"
55:30 - Exploring the Pillars of a Monopoly Business Structure
58:06 - Economies of Scale in Proprietary Data Collection
01:01:00 - Apprenticing in the Modern Workforce
01:03:26 - Moon Landing Debate
01:04:53 - The Mistake of International Expansion Before Winning America
01:06:29 - Palantir-Inspired Go-To-Market Model
01:07:07 - Why MBAs are Bad for Startup Careers
01:08:24 - What people disagreed with him on early in State Affairs journey
01:09:58 - Closing
