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Throughout history, select periods have been marked by the founding of clusters of institutions that come to shape an era. I believe we are entering such a moment.
The liberal world order faced growing contradictions in the digital age. Donald Trump's 2024 election cemented its demise.
DC politics will remain an important force in coming years. DC was the center of the legacy regime, and forces are aligning for the rapid restructuring of many organs of that regime. The execution of that process remains a critical project.
But I don't expect the succeeding order to be similarly concentrated in DC or the Northeast Corridor. One defining feature of the transition from the managerial age to the digital age will be the disruption of the centralized institutions based in this region in the late American empire. The future will mean not just different values but different structures: the technologies and institutions built today—and the people across America who build them—will profoundly shape this new order.
The Trump Effect:
While Trump is a world-historical figure, his primary role will be cutting back the tentacles of the old regime. He ended the 60-year-old executive order by Johnson that mandated affirmative action, and his victory is driving a broad rollback of DEI across corporate America and government bureaucracies. He seems intent on scaling back aspects of America's weakened global empire and shifting to a stronger hemispheric focus. And he is cementing a realignment that brings a wide range of opponents of managerial liberalism, from Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to middle-American business owners to working-class Americans—into a new GOP coalition.
This legacy system—globalist, managerial, liberal—will not disappear, but it can never again regain the moral status it enjoyed just 5 years ago. And without this influence, it has few paths to hard power.
Macro Dynamics:
A year ago, I laid out three core trends undermining the legacy system: growing global disruption, bureaucratic stagnation, and cultural and political alienation. All arose from core ideologies of the legacy regime: globalism, managerialism, and radical liberalism. While Trump's presidency will check the advance of alienating ideologies in our institutions, it may accelerate the decline of globalism and of bureaucratic systems.
The impact of these trends can be seen in a collapse of trust (societal and institutional), and growing volatility across many domains (political, financial, etc.). Finally, the rise of AI, building on the already-demonstrated power of large algorithmic platforms, drives growing anxiety about the role of people.
How these problems are addressed will shape the future of American civilization. And many of the most ambitious rising founders—those poised to build the defining companies of our generation—are driven by such civilizational questions.
A Positive Vision:
With the right ascendant, the question of what such a movement should aim for becomes central. Criticism must give way to vision. Mere "conservatism" was never a sufficient alternative, and has now lost its place as the defining identity of the right.
The New Right correctly recognizes that, contra some tendencies of the legacy libertarian-conservative right, government can be a force for good and should often be embraced as a tool. But our vision can never be state-centered—Republicans will not simply propose a "Red New Deal" to replace the Democrats' "Green New Deal"—and certainly cannot be pioneered in the legacy federal governmental system.
There are also limits to what we can draw from other countries or historical examples. America is a leading challenger of the legacy regime even as many other Western nations remain captive to it. The internet is driving many of the trends disrupting the legacy order and shaping the digital age, and it is deeply American in ethos and design. Americans will spearhead any digital age vision for the West.
Our vision must cross public and private institutions, and must emphasize both timeless ideals and American cultural values that address the critical macro dynamics described above. I believe three themes can define a successful positive vision:
Ownership: legacy, skin in the game, durability, basis for authority.
Agency: complement to AI, necessary for authority.
Trust: alignment and community, revitalized finance.
These themes build on each other, anchoring a coherent and compelling vision for the future. They reflect deeply and often distinctively American values, and an understanding of the human person (individually and societally) that is one of New Founding’s critical strengths in an era that will be defined by tech-driven disruption and questions about man’s relationship with technology. Together, I believe these themes can guide a transition from a managerial order to a digital age successor—and point to generational entrepreneurial opportunities.
New Founding:
New Founding is a venture firm focused on critical civilizational problems.
From our start, we have built and backed companies at the intersection of major political-cultural trends and outsized business opportunities. Now we see particular potential in companies tackling major, society-shaping problems and opportunities—especially those touching on the themes listed above. Our initiatives include:
Venture fund: Backing early-stage startups across sectors. With our first fund performing well, we're kicking off fundraising for a larger Fund II to back more of these founders and lead more deals.
Direct ventures: Founding/building a select set of companies that strongly leverage our network and thesis.
New Founding has also launched or helped launch aligned initiatives that strengthen its network:
Our network remains a central driver. Since our launch, our intentionally public profile has attracted a broad set of high-agency individuals and helped accelerate all our initiatives.
Both our X account and our podcast have grown as sources of connections and deal flow. I joined the latest episode of the podcast to discuss the themes in this letter; you can watch or listen.
These projects together exemplify key facets of our positive vision, and play into significant strands of the broader movement crossing politics, culture, and business that is transforming America.
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