What does the 21st Century "union" look like?

Trade unions are common in the 20th century, and they exist as a counterweight to the power of corporations and capitalists, who can influence elections and make a community of individuals who are otherwise unrelated.

But in modern times, trade unions began to weaken, and in 2009 the scale reached the lowest ebb in history. Although wage stagnation and inequality remain, the topic of the rich is still being debated and unions are not popular. But I think the word "union" has a new situation in the current internet age.

At present, there are several industries that clearly need a third-party platform to exist as a balancing force, with an overwhelmingly dominant role collapsing, while the ability to link small partners together creates extraordinary value and influence. The first industry is VCs, and even if the investment case is rotten, they are still protected by the fund cycle, LP and so on because they generally have the initial capital. This is not the case for entrepreneurs, whose failure means bankruptcy, friends are dispersed, and a loner. Investors have had an incredible voice over the past 30 years in terms of investment valuations and trading. Therefore, such as AngelList and series Seed documents have made great achievements in rebalancing the strength of the negotiating parties. One organization even better: That's why I think Combinator is the first truly successful union-entrepreneur Union in the 21st century.

Whenever you are a YC alumnus, you are surrounded by a third-party community that coordinates disputes, and the community also provides you with unique information resources, and if things don't go well, the community can even get you and your company to land safely. When Sam said he particularly wanted more women and colored men to apply for YC, I couldn't help but applaud the extra protection the marginalized entrepreneurs needed most. Startups,angelpad and TechStars are both working hard and have achieved different degrees of success. Their success creates a similar effect, and I think YC's efforts will create a wave that drives all the founders ' boats to the waves rather than the winner-take-all situation. The incubator will be the entrepreneur's union.

The shared economy also needs "unions". For example, drivers in Uber,lyft,sidecar and Hailo, the fast-growing community, do not have the ability to determine their own salary to ensure their own rights (Social Security, Medicare, etc.) or to access the industry information about the work they do.

A previous article in New York magazine also discussed "contract-related issues" in sharing the economy, which is a community, but is not well organized, and the community needs considerable resources to protect participants. Drivers, for example, are now on their own, and the Reddit they set up on the island are so vivid that they are a good resource for the new driver.

The "Freelancers League" may be the first to recognise the "free business Economy" (gigeconomy), and has provided tens of millions of dollars in health insurance for its members, New York freelancers. And will continue to expand as their national welfare program benefits. As an advocacy organization, globalisation has done a good job-focusing on peers.org in the city. But there are a lot of startups that are taking a total profit-making approach, but I've found that Zen99, guild, Benny, Sherpashare and Guevara are all trying to attract participants in the economy by providing resources.