Jan 2, 2019 · 30m · a16z
a16z Podcast | Trade, Commerce, Manufacturing, Immigration, & Cuba -- with Penny Pritzker
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this a16z podcast episode, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker discusses how the Department of Commerce acts as an innovation agency for American business. She details policy initiatives across high-skilled immigration reform, international trade agreements, cross-border privacy frameworks, and recruiting Silicon Valley talent into public service.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. The host holds 1.2% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
The host as informed peer 4.1 Guest teaching 4.1 Guest disagreement 1.5 The host pushing back 2.9
speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 20:40 Guest asserts Cuban sovereignty against host's internet freedom push
When Ted asks if the Commerce Department plans to push Cuba on internet freedom, Penny firmly reframes the question by reminding him that Cuba is a sovereign nation.
Hardest push from the host ▶ 15:47 Host challenges Privacy Shield agreement using Article 29 Working Group objectionsTed directly challenges the optimism surrounding Privacy Shield by citing specific regulatory pushback from the Article 29 Working Group.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:45 Guest explains commercial diplomacy via Indonesian data localization anecdotePenny illustrates the reality of commercial diplomacy by recounting how she explained to an Indonesian minister that data localization policies directly contradicted their desire to attract companies like Apple.
The host holds their own ▶ 12:27 Host cites ECJ Safe Harbor ruling and direct talks with European officialsTed demonstrates deep policy expertise by describing his direct conversations with visiting European officials four days after the ECJ invalidated the Safe Harbor framework.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The host as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The host pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Commerce Department as America's Innovation Agency | 3 | 5 | 1 | 3 | Ted challenges the framing of the Commerce Department as an 'innovation agency' by noting that many in tech view government as hindering rather than helping innovation. Penny responds with a thorough breakdown of federal manufacturing institutes, matching funds, and workforce training programs. | |
| U.S. Immigration Reform and STEM Talent Retention | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Ted demonstrates legislative policy knowledge by pointing out the Washington partisan logjam between H-1B visas and comprehensive reform, citing historical precedents like George W. Bush's 2005 stance. Penny argues for comprehensive reform based on political coalition math and a $1.4 trillion economic impact. | |
| Commercial Diplomacy and Global Innovation Culture | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Ted displays high expertise by describing his own hosting of foreign dignitaries and citing the European Court of Justice invalidation of Safe Harbor four days after it occurred. Penny illustrates commercial diplomacy using an anecdote about advising an Indonesian minister regarding Tim Cook and data localization laws. | |
| EU-US Data Privacy Frameworks and Privacy Shield | 6 | 4 | 2 | 5 | Ted presses Penny on Privacy Shield stability by specifically pointing out that the Article 29 Working Group voiced strong objections. Penny defends the agreement by emphasizing the built-in annual review process and noting that only four data complaints have actually been filed. | |
| Re-engaging Cuba and Latin American Trade Impact | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Ted presses Penny on whether the U.S. government will push Cuba for internet freedom and open access. Penny rejects the interventionist premise by reminding Ted that Cuba is a sovereign nation while arguing that diplomatic engagement will naturally drive progress. | |
| The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Tech Sector Advocacy | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | Ted asks whether Penny's call for business advocacy on TPP is a direct rebuke of Silicon Valley tech firms 'hiding in the tall grass'. Penny responds jokingly that she chastises 'all her children equally' while arguing for the critical necessity of Asia-Pacific market access. | |
| Department of Commerce Operations and the Digital Economy | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | Ted asks how Penny applied entrepreneurial practices to managing a massive federal department. Penny outlines Commerce's operational strategy, digital economy leadership under Alan Davidson, and efforts to properly capture gig economy data in GDP metrics. | |
| Silicon Valley Talent in Government and Global Startup Support | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Ted supports the idea of tech talent taking temporary public service roles in government. Penny highlights specific programs like Presidential Innovation Fellows, Startup Global, and Digital Attachés in six foreign markets. |
Statements from this episode (20)
Pritzker: One-third of U.S. economic growth depends on business creation
“Fully a third of our growth is dependent upon what you guys do, which is build businesses.”
Pritzker: Federal $70M manufacturing institute grants get at least 1:1 match
“U.S. Federal government puts up, what's called, seventy million dollars to create, ah, an institute on three-D printing, or composite materials, or advanced manufacturing. And the latest one is smart fabrics. And that's matched at least one to one, and in most…”
Pritzker: Over 50% of US STEM students are immigrants
“Fully north of 50% of the people that we're training in this country in STEM fields are Immigrants, right?”
Pritzker: Comprehensive immigration reform would add $1.4 trillion to US economy
“It's hugely beneficial if we were to do comprehensive immigration reform. It's worth about 1.4 trillion dollars to our economy”
Pritzker: Tech innovation ecosystems require tolerance for failure and flexible bankruptcy laws
“The first thing you have to do is, it has to be ok to fail. You've got to make it easy to start a company, easy to close a company. It's got to be easy to declare bankruptcy, it's got to be culturally acceptable to try something and fail, and that be ostracize…”
Pritzker: Indonesian minister asked her to recruit Apple despite hostile data laws
“When I was first in this job, I'm in Indonesia, and a minister comes to me and says, we really want apple here in Indonesia, and would you please call Tim Cook? We'd like apple. I said, you know, look, I'm happy to call Tim Cook, but you are, Putting in place …”
Pritzker: US-EU digital commerce reaches $280B annually
“They understand that we do two hundred and eighty billion dollars of digital commerce annually right now, and it's only growing.”
Pritzker: Roughly 4,000 companies rely on transatlantic safe harbor rules
“There's 4000 businesses, roughly, across the Atlantic that benefit from having, you know, in essence, a safe harbor for how do you, what, how do you put, send data back and forth across the Atlantic where privacy is protected”
Pritzker: Privacy Shield has unanimous European Commission approval
“The privacy shield is, as we call, the new structure. Is, I think it's satisfies the court case. It will allow data back and forth. It has the unanimous approval of the European Commission.”
Pritzker: Only four privacy cases occurred under prior US-EU agreement
“There have only been four cases. Mm-hmm. Four cases.”
Pritzker: Internet backbone infrastructure is coming to Cuba
“There isn't the internet backbone yet there yet, but it's coming.”
Pritzker: 95% of global consumers reside outside the United States
“95% of customers are outside the United States. 80% of purchasing power is outside the United States.”
Pritzker: Asia-Pacific middle class will reach 2.5B-3.5B in 15 years
“Over the next 15 years, you're going to see it go from about five hundred million to five hundred and seventy million middle class to Somewhere between two and a half and three and a half billion. I've seen numbers in, in, in that range. In 15 years.”
Pritzker: 11.5M American jobs depend on US exports
“We have 11 and a half million people whose jobs depend on selling goods outside the United States.”
Pritzker: Obama administration laid 130,000 miles of high-speed broadband
“We've laid about a 130,000 miles of high-speed broadband during the Obama administration.”
Pritzker: Commerce Department generates 20 to 40 terabytes of daily data
“We produce 20 to 40 terabytes of data a day.”
Pritzker: U.S. government releases only 10% of its weather data
“So we produce weather data, which we're only making about 10% of our weather data available right now, and that's powering things like the weather channel and other things.”
Pritzker: U.S. GDP statistics fail to adequately capture the gig economy
“In fact, one of the challenges we have right now, and I'm fighting to get access to this information, is we don't have, really, we're not counting, I don't think, in GDP, the gig economy, as fulsomely as it ought to be accounted in our GDP, and one of the thin…”