I'm Steve Case, cofounder of AOL and now Chairman of Revolution & Case Foundation & Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship. Ask Me Anything!

[u/MrSteveCase]

Hello everyone, I'm Steve Case! I'm looking forward to answering any questions@ 4:15pm ET today, Tuesday, April 22, on SocialCitizens. Ask me anything on topics from entrepreneurship and start-ups to technology to philanthropy and beyond! Before we begin, let me tell you why I'm doing this: I chair UP Global, a non-profit organization that empowers startup community leaders and the entrepreneurs they serve worldwide.
Join me in supporting UP Global and you can enter to win a chance to join me for a mentor lunch. We can chat and discuss your business ideas; you can ask me questions and I can share experiences and things that I have learned throughout my career. More details and enter to win at http://www.prizeo.com/steve. All right, let's do this - ask me anything!

Proof that I'm here!

https://twitter.com/SteveCase/status/458700908353040384

Thanks everybody! That was fun!

[u/setauket]

Steve, before I start I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for accessing your personal stuff early in the new millennium. I was just a kid exploring. I paid dearly for my misconduct, as you could imagine being 15 and facing the resulting federal investigation (accessed SteveC, attempted to reset password to account "Eddie" during impersonation in conversation with Matt Korn) .

Now to my question, do you believe the aol hacking scene played any role in the downfall of AOL's inability to flourish with the release of affordable domestic broadband internet? Was too much focus taken off the big picture in growing the company? Just a thought, would like your input.

AOL was an amazing time period in my life, it taught me skills I still use today, and I would like to thank you for your vision.

~Koin

[u/MrSteveCase → u/setauket]

Yikes! Well, I'm glad you got this off your chest! :) The hacking of AOL was a real challenge for us. As AOL grew in prominence, it became a big target. Of course, some of the hackers have gone on to do more productive things. It sounds like that is the case with you, and it also was the case with Mark Zuckerberg! Went I first met him 6 or 7 years ago he said he learned how to program by hacking AIM! But, thankfully, rather than focusing on bring AOL down, he shifted to build Facebook up!

[u/Bartolos_Cologne]

What are your thoughts on the minimum wage debate in America? Particularly, as it pertains to large corporations.

[u/MrSteveCase → u/Bartolos_Cologne]

I am concerned about the hollowing out of the middle class. There is more discussion about income inequality and I think that's healthy as it is a problem and the problem is growing. Raising the minimum wage may be a way to help, by providing more families with a living wage, but there are some downsides, as it could hurt not help job creation in some sectors. So it is a tricky balance. I lean towards supporting an increase in the minimum wage but I think it is even more important that we take steps to rebuild the idea of the American dream which includes giving people the tools to create better lives. That's one of the reasons I'm so passion about supporting entrepreneurs. And I recently agreed to cochair a commission focusing on entrepreneurship and the middle class. The question we're asking is can startups help save the American dream. I hope the answer is yes!

[u/thelandofnarnia]

First of all, thanks for doing this AMA. Interestingly enough, I was actually just reading you and your wife's bios on the Case Foundation website last week, and would love to say thank you for AOL and your work pioneering the internet for public consumption (I still have my account after 15 years, and it certainly changed my life's direction toward tech).

My question then, what is the best way to get your attention at the Case Foundation or Revolution regarding a social good for-profit? My company , which is in Series A, is seeking to change the way shoppers purchase gifts. We want to empower the shopper to benefit a charity of their choice every time they purchase while not paying anything more for doing so. We partner with charities in helping spread our message and are in growth stage after building MVP during the summer and hard launching in Q1 this year.

I'm donating on Prizeo now for the chance to win, but would love to hear from the source what you think is the best way to spark your interest!

[u/MrSteveCase → u/thelandofnarnia]

Thanks for the kind comments! And good luck with your company! I am glad you went to Prizeo. Hopefully you will win and we can have lunch together!

http://www.prizeo.com/prizes/steve-case/a-mentor-lunch

[u/freshleycrusher]

mr. case,

not only do we share a last name, but you and your company seriously changed the course of my life forever. i met all of my past and present business partners on aol, and many lifelong friends through the private room hax0r scene.

i probably spent more time on your employees internal accounts than most people who worked there did, scrolling in public chatrooms and defacing keywords.

all of my first songs were about spamming and hacking your service, and many of my first large programming projects were dedicated to frontending aol. i accessed CRIS and MERLIN, released the master aol tool with o0o and glitch for 4.0, released con-cert to make free accounts using canadian certs, i dunno i could go on forever - aol was my playground.

i seriously don't think i would be anywhere near where i am at today if it wasn't for the experiences you provided me, and i would love to buy you dinner and a beer sometime.

sincerely, bryce case, jr./ytcracker

ps if you ever want to hear some music about the dark side of aol, here's a couple of old school tracks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAhtl1EkAcY dual core and i - i remember https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7ui-o0WWoM - aoflashback

[u/KingOfDaCastle]

You've been a big fish in the DC tech scene for a long time. How has it changed since the AOL days? Do you think DC will ever become a tech hub ala silicon valley (why/why not)?

[u/MrSteveCase → u/KingOfDaCastle]

It has been amazing to watch what has happened in the past three decades. The DC tech scene is very robust and I think it will continue to grow and expand over the years to come. DC played a seminal role in the first wave of the Internet - not just AOL, but communication companies like MCI helped build the on ramps that made the Internet possible. The second wave was companies building on top of the Internet - products, services, apps, etc - and many of the big successes (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc) have been in Silicon Valley. But now we're about to see the third wave kick in. Instead of building the Internet (the first wave) or building on top of the Internet (the second wave) the focus will shift to integrating the Internet into every aspect of our lives and using it to disrupt fundamental things like learning, health, energy, etc I think DC is well positioned to be a leader in this third wave as the partnerships will matter more and policy will matter more, as well.

[u/sparklab]

Thank you for doing this AMA, really exciting. AOL has such a rich history as a transformative business for business and society. Would you be able to offer any words of advice for entrepreneurs looking to build similarly significant, "100-year" companies?