Rising talent

Venture for America earned Yang a title as one of the Obama administration's 2015 Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship (Courtesy of Yang 2020)

Monthly cash injections

Featured photo courtesy of Yang 2020

During Thursday night's Democratic debate, viewers may find themselves Googling "the Asian man standing next to Joe Biden." At least, that's the hope for Andrew Yang.Yang, a tech entrepreneur turned presidential candidate, was the second Democratic candidate to enter the 2020 US presidential race, following John Delaney's July 2017 announcement. Yang's campaign has gone from essentially unknown to pulling in 1-2% of polled respondents, according to RealClearPolitics, putting him ahead of candidates such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro. This growth can be largely attributed to a sharp increase in mainstream media appearances and a cult-like social media following, affectionately known as the Yang Gang, but he's still a long way from a household name.So who is Andrew Yang? He's a math aficionado with an entrepreneurial background and ties to the world of tech, venture and startups.Much like Donald Trump's momentum as it pertains to US presidents lacking a political background, Yang's entry into politics was unpredictable.Long before he threw his hat into the presidential ring, Yang was an Ivy League-trained attorney and entrepreneur. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1999, but after a short stint as a corporate lawyer, Yang decided such that career path wasn't a good fit and pivoted to launch a dot-com era startup—which, like many others, ultimately flopped.Following the dot-com bust, Yang was hired on as an executive for a small healthcare startup before becoming CEO of academic preparation services provider Manhattan Prep in 2006. The company was acquired by Kaplan in late 2009, and he remained at the helm for two more years.Most relevant to Yang's current identity was the 2011 founding of Venture for America, where he served as CEO until 2017 before leaving to launch his campaign. The New York-based nonprofit seeks to link recent college graduates with jobs at startups located in 14 US cities that are outside typical hubs like New York and Silicon Valley. The fellowship program seeks to emulate Teach for America , doing for tech startups what the latter organization has done for schools. VFA requires a two-year commitment, after which alumni are offered support if they found their own companies. LeagueSide Balto Software and PathSpot are among the startups founded by VFA alumni.While the idea of reviving struggling American cities by subsidizing the injection of fresh, young entrepreneurial talent is noble, the reality has fallen greatly short of VFA's original intentions. A recent report from Recode found that the nonprofit has created less than 4,000 jobs, a dramatic shortfall from its original goal of 100,000 jobs created by 2025.Further, VFA has fallen far short of its aspiration of emulating Teach for America with respect to participant interest. VFA has only received 2,500 fellow applications so far this year, per Recode, far below the roughly 58,000 annual applications that Teach for America has previously pulled in. The reason, according to the report, is largely due to Yang's insistence that the nonprofit remain headquartered in New York and backed by New York-based charitable contributions, rather than geographically diversifying its footprint.Regardless of whether VFA is viewed as a failure or a success, Yang has remained committed to the ideology of the organization. Its original intent is being echoed in his signature political initiative: the Freedom Dividend.Handing out $1,000 per month to every American over the age of 18 has been Yang's underscoring campaign theme.The Freedom Dividend is a form of universal basic income. The concept is not radically new, but its potential implementation would be unprecedented in the US since the money would be unconditionally distributed indefinitely, unlike existing social support programs. Critics have claimed such a program would discourage work while wastefully giving money to people who don't truly need it. Yang and his supporters argue it would increase motivation and productivity by sparking economic activity, while alleviating personal financial hardships that hinder creative and professional pursuits. His campaign claims that such a program would boost entrepreneurship, based on research by The Roosevelt Institute that points to an approximately 13% boost in GDP over the course of eight years in the case of a universal basic income stipend of $1,000 annually.As it relates to entrepreneurship and venture capital, the Freedom Dividend could have a direct effect on the quantity and quality of startups seeking funding, but it remains to be seen how many people it would enable to take on financially significant pursuits, such as founding a business. It can be safely said that an extra $12,000 per year is hardly enough to replace the need for seed funding; however, it may be enough to kickstart a project, potentially creating a pipeline for early-stage VC firms to invest in a wave of bootstrapping.When Thursday night arrives, Yang's presence at the debate will be uncharted territory for the 44-year-old, whether or not he actually ends up standing next to Biden. While still a long shot, should Yang proceed to win the presidency in 2020, an unprecedented injection of $1,000 per month for every American adult could have a significant impact on the supply of entrepreneurial pursuits striving for VC dollars.