Over a decade ago I tried to start a public speaking business/startup networking enterprise I called "22 Million Strong", because US Census data showed - at the time - that there were 22 million sole proprietor businesses registered in the US, compared to 16k big businesses.

Now, the US Census calls anything under 400 employees a "small business" (cough, cough), so they aren't exactly in tune with 20th century reality yet... but sole proprietors are a different thing entirely.

A lot of them are tax dodges. A lot of them are Etsy businesses and aspiring graphic artists and housecleaners... but they all make a little money here and there.

But it was HARD to start a new business, get a domain, set up a web site, etc. The Nokia Lumia was the big exciting tech in 2013! The iPad had just been launched and people were still pissed off the name sounded like women's feminine hygiene products and slagging it off as a toy for old people.

22 Million Strong was my attempt to make a nationwide business networking group of sole proprietors, based around a common experience of attending a business-building and networking workshop. Help these people get launched - today! - and get the shell of a business plan in place, and a group of fellow local entrepreneurs to form a cohort to support each other in their growth.

I was very excited about this. And - like most small businesses and brand new motorcycles - it crashed after 6 months.

Now, we (read: American workers) have a second chance at real entrepreneurship... but it may just be when every big business adopts the Uber/Lyft strategy and simply makes life shittier for their workers (note: NOT 'employees'), because there's always a single mom in Kansas who will do your work for cheaper.

I don't see how this ends up well for the workers. Like me.

Any time you get the peons fighting each other for scraps, it goes really well for the Bezos strata, and really badly for everyone in the lower tectonic layers...