Photo John Collins worked in politics before joining the start-up Coinbase. Credit Zach Gibson/The New York Times WASHINGTON — Last year, the personal butler service Hello Alfred won a top prize in Silicon Valley created for promising new technology start-ups, putting the company on a path toward millions of dollars in investment. This year, the start-up has received attention of a different sort, for being at the center of a national debate about the rights of the workers hired through its service and others like it. Unlike start-ups of years past, though, Hello Alfred has not shied from the political stage. Its leaders have appeared on numerous policy panels and have written op-eds. They have been invited to a White House summit event on the future of labor. And Marcela Sapone, the company’s chief executive, has made two trips to Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers, research organizations and the political press to rethink labor laws for the digital age. “We have old rules about how you act as an employer,” said Ms. Sapone, 29, who started Hello Alfred with a Harvard Business School classmate. “We are a young company but we also have to make decisions early that are ethical and business-oriented, and that means engaging in Washington early.” Photo Marcela Sapone, co-founder and chief executive of the start-up Hello Alfred, has engaged with lawmakers to rethink labor rules for the digital age. Credit Edwin Tse for The New York Times The efforts by Hello Alfred underscore how 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. The examples are […]
