This Gen Z Founder Thinks He Can End His Generation’s Love Affair With Socialism

More than half of Americans aged 18-29 hold a favorable view of socialism, according to a Cato Institute survey, and 34% of people in that age group feel the same about communism.

It’s not hard to see why. Student debt has increased dramatically over the last decade, climbing from $500 billion in the early 2000s to $1.7 trillion today. Feeling trapped in debt cycles, many young Americans are turning to the voting booth for relief. In New York, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani won on a platform of taxing the wealthy and redistributing that wealth into free services like buses and childcare.

But not every young American is convinced that socialism is the answer. One dissenter, 24-year-old entrepreneur Steven Wang, has an alternative path: participation in capital markets.

“Rents have skyrocketed. People are feeling these things,” Wang says. “They want representation in the markets.”

Wang believes that shared ownership — not bigger government — is the answer to questions of affordability. And with markets delivering consistent long-term returns, he’s working to make that opportunity accessible to those who feel excluded.

“The solution is not free subsidized housing or grocery stores. It’s having them participate in a chunk of the American dream.”

Wang’s company, Dub, has raised more than $30 million to make investing more attainable for Americans. His platform allows investors to pick not just stocks but financial influencers whose strategies they can follow and replicate.

“It’s no longer thinking about budget screens and picking stocks,” Wang told The Daily Wire. “It’s really following ideas and individuals to drive our investing decisions.”

“I think in many ways we’re building the platform for the future,” Wang said. “For too long, breaking into Wall Street was all about being part of the boys’ club, going to Harvard, getting an MBA,” Wang says. “That’s how you got introduced to hedge funds and that’s how you got a job. We want to break that wide open.”

A Harvard dropout himself, Wang says he’s leveling the playing field for investors, but says his standards are rigorous.

“It’s a pretty high bar to become a premium influencer,” Wang told the Daily Wire. “You need a verified track record, a full background check, multiple interviews, and approval by our investment committee. We also verify that creators are actually executing the strategies they claim. Even after approval, monetization runs through our fiduciary advisor entity, and we actively monitor participants on a day-to-day basis.”

Once approved, Wang’s financial influencers can help everyday users make investments.

A strong believer in AI, Wang warns Americans cannot afford to miss it.

“It’s like the new internet boom,” he says. “People can’t afford to miss out on all the value that will be created from AI in the next five to ten years.”

For Wang, the mission is personal.

“I was born and raised in Detroit. We didn’t grow up with a lot of money, and investing has changed my life.”

Just a month ago, legendary investor Ron Baron, who grew Baron Capital from $100 million $45 billion assets under management, stressed the importance of investing on CNBC.

“The stock market and economy basically double every 10 or 12 years,” he said. “The value of money falls 4 or 5% a year and that’s inflation. Economic growth has been about 2% a year, so about 7% a year growth. That means everything doubles in ten years and the value of your money falls in half every fifteen years. So you have to make twice what you are making today to stay even.”

Wang says if Americans don’t invest, “The wealth gap is only going to accelerate.” But he sees the generational wealth transfer currently underway as an opportunity for younger Americans.

“There’s around $70 to $100 trillion of assets being passed down to new generations,” he said. “And everyone is going to need to make a decision of where that money is going to go.”