Regulatory Hacking

A Playbook for Startups

By: Evan Burfield, J. D. Harrison

Narrated by: Evan Burfield

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Named by Inc. magazine as one of the Ten Best Business Books of 2018

Every startup wants to change the world. But the ones who truly make an impact know something the others don't: how to make government and regulation work for them.

As startups use technology to shape the way we live, work, and learn, they're taking on challenges in sectors like healthcare, infrastructure, and education, where failure is far more consequential than a humorous chat with Siri or the wrong package on your doorstep. These startups inevitably have to face governments responsible for protecting citizens through regulation. Love it or hate it, we're entering the next era of the digital revolution: the Regulatory Era.

The big winners in this era - in terms of both impact and financial return - will need skills they won't teach you in business school or most startup incubators: how to scale a business in an industry deeply intertwined with government.

Here, for the first time, is the playbook on how to win the regulatory era. "Regulatory hacking" doesn't mean "cutting through red tape"; it's really about finding a creative, strategic approach to navigating complex markets.

Evan Burfield is the cofounder of 1776, a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm and incubator specializing in regulated industries. Burfield has coached startups on how to understand, adapt to, and influence government regulation. Now, in Regulatory Hacking, he draws on that expertise and real startup success stories to show you how to do the same. For instance, you'll learn how...

• AirBnB rallied a grassroots movement to vote No on San Francisco's Prop F, which would have restricted its business in the city.
• HopSkipDrive overcame safety concerns about its kids' ridesharing service by working with state government to build trust into its platform.
• 23andMe survived the FDA's order to stop selling its genetic testing kits by building trusted relationships with scientists who could influence the federal regulatory community.

Through fascinating case studies and interviews with startup founders, Burfield shows you how to build a compelling narrative for your startup, use it to build a grassroots movement to impact regulation, and develop influence to overcome entrenched relationships between incumbents and governments. These are just some of the tools in the book that you'll need to win the next frontier of innovation.

©2018 Evan Burfield (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Regulatory Hacking is a must read for Local Gov Leaders

Emerging technologies and disruptive business models are a fact of the growth of today's economy economy. Evan Burfield gives relevant and timely advice to not only startups but local gov policy makers and regulators.

Required reading for every social entrepreneur

After running a social venture for 4 years myself, I find the lessons learned through experience and the direction for the future accurately laid out in this book more than in any other reference I've found online. yet, the writing style is accessible enough to enjoy as an audiobook that I could finish in a couple of weeks of traveling to conferences and client sites without getting lost. I also own the hardback edition, and will use the charts and templates for building an influence map myself as an immediate homework assignment.

For the courageous entrepreneur

I loved this book! It details recent stories on how other entrepreneurs have hacked their way into gov-tech and more. I loved the examples and the insightful advice that the book provided.
I highly recommend this book!

A cheerful handbook of rent seeking

I can't get over how blatant the encouragement to get the government to force people to buy your product as a business strategy is in this book. Haven't finished not sure if I will.