A Problem Too Big to Ignore

I’ve spent the better part of my life building businesses from the ground up. I’ve worked in media, in credit, and now I lead ClearTV, a network that lives in high-traffic public spaces like airports and hospitals. But no matter what city I’m in—whether it’s Los Angeles, London, or Las Vegas—I can’t ignore the same thing that’s become heartbreakingly familiar: homelessness.

It’s a human issue, not just a policy issue. And no matter how many billions we seem to throw at it, very little changes. In fact, in places like California, the state spent over $24 billion in just five years trying to address homelessness—and yet the number of people on the streets only went up. That’s not just disappointing. That’s proof that the system we’re relying on is broken.

I don’t claim to be a policymaker. But I do know how to build things. I know how to invest in ideas that solve problems. And I believe—wholeheartedly—that it’s time we approach homelessness with the same kind of entrepreneurial thinking we apply to every other broken system we want to fix.

What Business Has Taught Me

In business, we don’t keep spending on strategies that don’t work. If a model fails, we pivot. If leadership isn’t getting results, we make a change. And when we see an opportunity to do something better, faster, or smarter—we move quickly to invest in that idea.

That’s exactly the kind of mindset we need to bring to homelessness. Instead of endless public subsidies that get swallowed by bureaucracy, we should be channeling those funds into innovation—into scalable, accountable startups and social enterprises that are built to solve real-world problems.

We need entrepreneurs at the table. People who think in terms of impact and sustainability. People who know how to test ideas, measure outcomes, and scale what works. The private sector doesn’t have all the answers, but it does have the mindset and the urgency this crisis demands.

The Missing Piece: Accountability

One of the things that frustrates me most about the way homelessness is currently being funded is the lack of accountability. In California alone, no one can tell us where all that money went. There’s no clear data, no centralized reporting, and very few metrics to show whether people are actually getting housed—or staying housed.

Can you imagine if we ran a business that way? If we raised millions of dollars and then told our investors, “Sorry, we don’t know exactly where it went, and we can’t say if it worked”? That would never fly in the private sector. And it shouldn’t fly when public money is on the line either—especially when lives hang in the balance.

If we started treating homelessness as a solvable challenge rather than a bottomless problem, we’d demand better tracking, tighter feedback loops, and clear performance benchmarks. We’d expect results. We’d reward innovation. And we’d stop pouring money into systems that produce little more than paperwork.

What Real Innovation Could Look Like

I’m not just talking about apps and tech startups here. I’m talking about full-spectrum innovation—new approaches to transitional housing, job placement, mental health services, addiction recovery, and community integration. These aren’t abstract ideas. They’re already happening, just not at the scale they should be.

There are organizations out there building tiny home villages that offer dignity and safety at a fraction of the cost of traditional shelters. There are companies using mobile medical units to bring healthcare directly to encampments. There are workforce development programs connecting people to jobs the moment they’re ready. And there are community-rooted churches quietly feeding and clothing those in need every single day, without a government contract in sight.

At Joshua’s Collective, a nonprofit effort close to my heart, we support local programs that do this kind of work—with love, humility, and a focus on the individual, not the statistic. It’s not flashy, but it’s real. And it makes a difference. The challenge is scaling these efforts, connecting the dots, and bringing them into the mainstream of how we address homelessness.

A Call for Bold Thinking

I’m not naive about how hard this problem is. But I also don’t believe it’s unsolvable. What we need is bold thinking, new leadership, and a willingness to challenge old models. We need to empower doers, not just planners. We need to create room for experimentation, failure, and fast learning. And we need to stop being so afraid of trying something different.

Some of the most meaningful change in this world has come from people who had no official title, no office at city hall, but who had a fire in their gut to fix something that mattered. We need to give those people a seat at the table—and the resources to build solutions that last.

I’m committed to being part of that shift. Not just through words, but through action. Through media that shines a light on innovation. Through philanthropy that supports real solutions. Through business strategies that prioritize accountability and outcomes.

It’s time to stop pretending we can subsidize our way out of this crisis. It’s time to build our way out. It’s time to think like entrepreneurs—and lead like human beings.

Let’s invest in what works. Let’s listen to the people doing the work on the ground. And let’s make homelessness a chapter we moved past—not one we just keep rewriting with a bigger budget.