Several high-profile startups have decided to go all in on the politics, and, unsurprisingly, they all seem to be leaning in one direction.
Startup recruiter Uncubed welcomed 11 startups to the leftist fold this week, including Airbnb, Lyft, and LinkedIn, all of whom have made clear that they oppose the new Republican president and plan to be even more politically involved in the future. Below are a few of the more well-known companies who are enthusiastically driving a wedge between themselves and roughly half of their potential American clients.
As The Daily Wire reported previously, California-based AIRBNB has become increasingly more bold in its progressive stances:
During the 2016 election, co-founder Brian Chesky et al at Airbnb officially endorsed Hillary Clinton. The company has apparently even dedicated some wall-space at its HQ in San Francisco to the radical Black Lives Matter movement:
For its virtue-signaling “We Accept” Super Bowl ad (above), Airbnb partnered once again with ad agency TBWA Chiat/Day — with whom they’ve had a rocky relationship ever since they angered librarians. Right after Donald Trump sent shockwaves through the establishment media by defeating Hillary Clinton, Airbnb launched its “inclusive” ad campaign.
In late January, Uncubed notes, Airbnb “pledged to provide free housing to refugees and those recently banned from the United States” and “pledged to donate $4 million over the next four years to the International Rescue Committee, which helps refugees.”
While GOOGLE is not formally declaring itself one way or the other, more than 2,000 of its employees have. Just ten days after Trump’s inauguration, the the “#GooglersUnite” employees staged a walkout in protest of Trump’s immigration/refugee executive order. The Verge reports:
More than 2,000 Google employees in offices around the world staged a walkout on Monday afternoon in protest of President Donald Trump’s executive order banning immigration in seven Muslim-majority countries. Using the hashtag #GooglersUnite, employees tweeted photos and videos of walkout actions around the world, including at headquarters in Mountain View, California.
The protest came after employees donated more than $2 million to a crisis fund that will be distributed among nonprofit groups working to support refugees. Google match employees’ donation with $2 million. “This was in direct response to the immigration action,” Enzam Hossain, an employee on the Mountain View campus, told The Verge. “We wanted to be a part of it, and support our colleagues who are facing it.”
Then there’s LYFT, who likewise joined the chorus of anti-Trump/pro-immigrant protesters by donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to help fight the travel ban, declaring, “We stand firmly against these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community.”
Also getting more political is LINKEDIN, whose co-founder Reid Hoffman is joining forces with other powerful liberals to create a new left-wing organization called Win the Future (WTF, seriously) with the goal of securing wins for progressives and progressive causes in 2018 and 2020. Politico reports:
A collection of Silicon Valley executives, engineers and activists are quietly plotting a progressive counterattack against President Donald Trump, a sign of the industry’s growing anger at his election victory and actions on immigration.
Through a new organization tentatively called Win the Future, or WTF, the likes of LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus are teaming up with former Sierra Club President Adam Werbach to connect political organizers and shore up progressive candidates and causes ahead of the 2018 midterm and 2020 presidential elections, according to three sources familiar with the plan.
The other startups Uncubed highlights:
- OK CUPID, which is now fully embracing politics
- MEETUP, which is calling for leftists to #RESIST Trump
- BOX, whose CEO really hates Trump
- Y COMBINATOR, which is actively promoting the ACLU and “Track Trump“
- ETSY, which is helpfully providing “agit-propts” for lefitsts
- HAMPTON CREEK, which decried Trump’s “un-American” campaign
- and BANDCAMP, which condemned Trump’s “immoral” travel ban