Andrew Yang sees next big startup opportunity in lowering cost of living

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Entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang proposes a new frontier for startup innovation, centered on a question few founders ask: what if the business model focused on returning value rather than extracting it?

Yang draws inspiration from Mark Cuban, not for his wealth or fame, but for Cost Plus Drugs—Cuban’s venture selling pharmaceuticals at cost. Yang compiled a list of essential sectors.

“Housing, education, food, fuel, transportation, media, and wireless,” Yang told TechCrunch on a recent episode of Equity. “These are the categories where we all spend our money.”

He selected wireless and launched Noble Mobile last September, a mobile virtual network operator offering service at a fraction of traditional carrier costs and rewarding customers with cashback for using less data.

As AI threatens to suppress wages and displace workers, Yang identifies a business opportunity in reducing the cost of living. Alongside Cost Plus Drugs, Noble Mobile, dumb phone manufacturers like Light Phone, and online grocery store Misfits Markets, these ventures represent an emerging category where value is returned to the customer through margins.

“AI will absorb significant value and jobs, and Americans will eventually ask, ‘How do I afford basic necessities?’” Yang said. He believes addressing these needs “more affordably” represents “a highly lucrative opportunity.”

This perspective did not emerge in isolation. Yang first entered the public spotlight during his 2020 presidential campaign, advocating for Universal Basic Income to mitigate AI-driven workforce displacement and wealth concentration. Although the campaign was unsuccessful, its core thesis has grown increasingly relevant.

Yang remains a proponent of UBI, arguing that the value generated by AI companies should be redistributed to average Americans. However, he is less certain whether the government will serve as the vehicle for this redistribution or merely use collected wealth to “plug a hole and pursue unproductive initiatives.”

“There is room for a direct connection between money and people,” he said.

This is where the market plays a role. Yang argues that where policy fails, market incentives can intervene. Noble Mobile is his proof of concept. Since its launch last September, the company has grown to “thousands and thousands” of customers and generates “millions in revenue.”

“We are unit profitable per customer, but we share those profits with subscribers, believing that happiness leads to retention and word-of-mouth referrals,” Yang said.

The pitch is straightforward. Yang noted that average monthly savings of $50, invested and compounded over 40 years, could total $24,000—sufficient for a retirement down payment. In today’s economy, who isn’t looking for ways to improve their personal finances?

Whether investors share this enthusiasm remains uncertain. Despite the real opportunity, capital is heavily concentrated in AI, while consumer-facing businesses with thin margins and social missions face significant hurdles.

“I had at least one investor tell me regarding Noble Mobile, ‘Love you, Andrew, want to work with you — if you could just make this an AI company, we’ll invest,’” Yang said.

The landscape may be shifting, however, because even the most wealthy, extractive companies require an economy where consumers have sufficient purchasing power.

“Concentrating value in the hands of a few individuals and firms is detrimental to everyone,” he said. “Some people I know in Silicon Valley are open to this for various reasons…[such as] not wanting to hire private security.”

Yang encourages founders and investors to tackle problems they are passionate about and build valuable enterprises around them.

“Think bigger and broader about solving problems, and don’t succumb to groupthink, as valuable opportunities exist,” he said.