Start-Up Leaders Embrace Lobbying as Part of the Job

Today’s tech companies — even the youngest ones — have accepted lobbying as an essential part of doing business.

In addition to knowing the language of computer code, founders are speaking the language of Washington, keenly aware of the potential regulatory battles that could be on the horizon. It is a sharp shift from past generations of tech companies, whose founders almost made it a point of pride to be distanced from, or above, politics and politicians. The antitrust troubles and headaches encountered by the older companies, including Microsoft and Google, play some role in the new thinking. The real change, though, came after Uber, the ride-hailing service, and Airbnb, the home-sharing site — two of the largest start-ups — started facing a barrage of questions about their operations.