This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Andrew Yang, a 50-year-old entrepreneur based in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.
Most people know me as a presidential candidate from 2020, when I ran on the expectation that AI would eat our jobs, creating a need for a universal basic income. I withdrew in February 2020, after the New Hampshire primary.
I'm now the cofounder and CEO of Noble Mobile, a way for millions of Americans to get cellular data at closer to what we should be paying and also get paid to use your phone a bit less. It's based on what Mark Cuban did with Cost Plus Drugs.
My day-to-day often varies, but there are some things that are fairly common.
I start my day with light exercise around 7 a.m.
I typically wake up a little before 7 a.m. I'm the first one up in my house, so I check on my wife and kids and make sure everyone is where they're supposed to be.
I check my phone first thing — I typically have some messages, so I make sure nothing is super urgent.
I'll go to the gym and do some light exercise, which I consider a non-negotiable part of my routine. I don't lift weights like I used to, when I was trying to figure out how much weight I could lift. Now it's more about getting my body moving.
After the workout, I'll shower and get the kids on the bus.
I head into the office around 9 a.m.
I live on Manhattan's west side, and I walk 15 minutes to the office in the Garment District, where I chose for it to be. Walking to work is a real treat.
I very seldom have breakfast, but if I do, it tends to be something light, like granola and almond milk. There are some days I don't eat until noon.
I have a rule where I'll never put my personal habits above social convention, so if I'm meeting someone for breakfast, I'll eat breakfast even though that's not something I normally do on my own.
As for caffeine, I've convinced myself that matcha is good for me. I'll often get an iced matcha with oat milk if I feel like I could use a bit of a pick-me-up in the morning. That's my ritual drink. I'm a frequent café goer, and Culture Coffee is a regular spot for me.
I use my lunch walks as informal check-ins in the early afternoon
Most days, I have a combination of meetings, calls, and media. I Zoom and then hop in an Uber and head to a meeting or a TV studio.
I have a ritual as a CEO. If I'm having lunch with anyone on my team, I buy. Everyone knows that if they come, lunch is free. On the walk to lunch, I'll get information from them and updates on what everyone is working on.
Right now, we're discussing how to make our company work better for parents and families. On the way to lunch recently, I talked to our CTO about that, and I talked to one of our customer experience team members to see what he was hearing from customers.
Lunch is usually fast-casual, like Cava or Chipotle. Recently, I treated myself and a few colleagues to Luke's Lobster just because I had a hankering for lobster.
I have friends who are foodies who relish preparing something and spending time in the kitchen. I'm not like that at all. I just want food, and I want to eat it, and I just want to move on. I think the short walk to an eatery is a fine use of time, but I don't want to dillydally.
I place a premium on showing up
I typically come into the office when I'm in New York. If I'm working remotely, it's because I'm not in the city or there's something going on with my kids that requires me to be present.
When you're a political candidate, showing up is one of the most direct things you can do. I still feel that. I think that's something I learned before I ran for office, though.
When I was starting Venture for America in 2010 or 2011, someone put me in touch with a guy named Bernie Sucher. He said he was going to Detroit next week, so I looked at his message and responded, "I'll be in Detroit next week."
I had no plans of being there, but I could be there. I flew to Detroit, and we spent the day together. He ended up being one of the founding board members of Venture for America and eventually led us to our chairman.
7 p.m. to 10 p.m.: Dinner and 'Star Wars' with my sons
I try to get home between 7 and 7:30 p.m., when my kids are back from their after-school activities. That's when they're normally eating dinner, and I have my chance to catch up with them. We cook most of the time — generally Asian food or pasta — but sometimes we order Shake Shack as a treat.
Some nights we play some games — Monopoly Deal is a really good card game — or we might watch something together. I've been trying to get my boys into movies and sports that I enjoy.
I vividly remember going to the theater with my dad to watch "Return of the Jedi" when I was a kid, and it was a formative experience. I have my sons watch various Star Wars films so they're familiar with the mythology and canon.
The last show I tried to show them was "The Acolyte," which I didn't like at all. However, it had some excellent lightsaber fights, and my 10-year-old is really into swords, so I thought he'd enjoy these scenes, even if I thought the writing on that series was poor.
We've also been watching a lot of Mets games lately because the Mets have been going down the wire, and that's been frankly very difficult.
At about 9:30, they start getting ready for bed.
I usually work more between 10 and midnight
I sometimes make media appearances or write.
Sometimes, my wife and I watch something more adult — we like soapy dramas like "The Gilded Age" or "The White Lotus." We just finished "The Girlfriend" on Amazon Prime, which was very soapy and fun.
I go to sleep around midnight.
