# Politics of entrepreneurs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238 "2017-01-26T16:55:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/21 "2017-01-27T19:53:57Z")
Peter Thiel is the only well-known entrepreneur that has been a Trump supporter (other than Zuckerberg’s technology platform) and we can throw in Bezos as a strong well-known libertarian. Look at how many outspoken liberal entrepreneurs on the other side: Buffet, Musk, Jobs, Gates, Google trio, etc. To the extent there were articles about how Silicon Valley felt about Thiel’s defection. Small business owners are by-and-large not entrepreneurs nor necessarily are entrepreneurs whose ventures have succeeded. If you do a search for [Entrepreneur Conferences](http://www.inc.com/andrew-thomas/the-top-30-conferences-for-entrepreneurs-in-2017.html) or meetings, you see many in San Francisco, NYC, Boston, and liberal leaning places but also “women-focused”, “social media”, “living experience”, “24 countries brought together”, “impact efforts throughout the world”, “Tony Robbins and his pal, Hillary Clinton” which are NOT concepts that appear in the GOP platform. Other than the Trump University™, I welcome any examples of entrepreneurial conferences/mtgs/organizations that is conservatively focused. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/22 "2017-01-28T03:08:16Z")
I took three start ups through conception, angel and mezzanine funding. I’m lefty as all get out. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/23 "2017-01-28T04:37:15Z")
Most owners of businesses that are small and from which the owners withdraw all the profits are conservatives. These types tend to be contemptuous of their employees, seeing them as wage slaves. Most owners of start-ups aspiring to do great things that will change the world, constantly looking to bring in new capital to grow while not worrying about whether they are making money, are liberal. These types tend to be supporting of their employees, seeing them as team members. Neither of these observations should surprise anyone. These are very different types of entrepreneurs. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/24 "2017-01-28T04:40:18Z")
[http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120908/ISSUE02/309089998/does-running-a-business-turn-you-into-a-republican](http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120908/ISSUE02/309089998/does-running-a-business-turn-you-into-a-republican) > [@](#): > > About 38 percent of small-business owners say they are Republican, compared with 30 percent Democrat and 25 percent independent, according to a nationwide survey released in August by Yahoo and Ipsos MediaCT. (Small business was defined as firms with up to 100 employees.) However that article discusses how small business owners also fit the demographics of republicans in general. Men were overrepresented, and so were whites among small business owners. Whites and males are more likely to lean GOP. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/25 "2017-01-28T14:23:51Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Most owners of businesses that are small and from which the owners withdraw all the profits are conservatives. These types tend to be contemptuous of their employees, seeing them as wage slaves. > > Most owners of start-ups aspiring to do great things that will change the world, constantly looking to bring in new capital to grow while not worrying about whether they are making money, are liberal. These types tend to be supporting of their employees, seeing them as team members. > > Neither of these observations should surprise anyone. These are very different types of entrepreneurs. Come back with citations supporting your claims. My anecdotal experience is different than yours. (this is me politely telling you that you are quite possibly full of shit) ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/26 "2017-01-29T05:59:43Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Jobs Jobs publicly supported the Democrats, but despite being a buddhist hippy in his youth he really was pretty right wing in a lot of attitudes and was famously stingy about giving to charity. I’d call him “socially liberal, fiscally conservative” so loosely libertarian. If there’s a common thread to entrepreneurs politics, I’d say it’s “pragmatic”. When you start a business you just have to get stuff done, if government regulations get in the way, you find a way to work around them. When a job needs doing, you get the best person to do it who has the right skills and whatever their sexuality, religion or race is really doesn’t matter. Yes a lot of entrepreneurs are idealistic, but they have to be pragmatic to make their ideas happen. I’d also suspect that most entrepreneurs realise that the “rising tide lifts all boats”, so they don’t see business as a zero sum game. A consequence of that is that too much wealth inequality is bad for an entrepreneur, you need a thriving middle class to be able to afford all of your new products and gadgets. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/27 "2017-01-29T08:59:35Z")
I’ve lived for over 33 years on checks Ive written to myself, so I guess I’m qualified. You can’t possibly be confused or arguing that the owner of a Surf Shop might have a different political bent that one that owns a Gun Store? Or worse yet, that diverting money from either of them to the Billionaires is a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2017, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/28 "2017-01-29T23:02:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **coremelt** : > > Jobs publicly supported the Democrats, but despite being a buddhist hippy in his youth he really was pretty right wing in a lot of attitudes and was famously stingy about giving to charity. I’d call him “socially liberal, fiscally conservative” so loosely libertarian. But he did support the Dems, so apparently, he considered the point on which he agreed with the Democrats more important than the points on which he agreed with the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/29 "2017-01-31T03:19:20Z")
> [@Sigene](#): > > Come back with citations supporting your claims. My anecdotal experience is different than yours. > (this is me politely telling you that you are quite possibly full of shit) After more reflection, especially about my own beliefs, I probably was quite off the mark. What seemed so obvious at the time breaks down under careful consideration. Much of it is derived from personal experience, though. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/30 "2017-01-31T13:45:17Z")
I imagine they run the gamut as in other walks of life. I have my own anecdotal experiences based on two successful individuals I know. Both entrepreneurs are extremely intelligent and full of ideas. But one is the sort who resents the fact that he can’t do it all by himself and needs people to realize his ideas (employees) and he tends to treat his people like overhead. He happens to be Republican. The other guy feels his ideas are the starting point but are meaningless without people to make it happen, that they are not a necessary evil. He is quite generous with his benefits and salaries. He tends to run Democratic, but has occasionally voted Republican. Obviously one can’t draw conclusions from this small sample. But it does make sense that if you resent people that you need, that you will not be kind to them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/32 "2017-01-31T15:45:18Z")
Um, okay. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238/33 "2017-01-31T16:00:08Z")
> [@B\_Horlin](#): > > A political entrepreneur refers to a political player who seeks to gain certain political and social benefits in return for providing the common goods that can be shared by an unorganized general public. These common goods that political entrepreneurs attempt to provide to the populace generally include foreign- and domestic-related public policy, while the benefits they hope to gain involve voter support, public recognition, and personal popularity. If you were a modern day Colonel Sanders you could lose money or make money off being a political entrepreneur. I fear for big business supporting the wrong political person or persons in today’s chicken little society. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/politics-of-entrepreneurs/778238.md?page=1)