Reading 05: Startups

I have never really been as enticed about joining a startup as I think most people are. I am not a big risk taker, so the idea that “startups, like mosquitos, tend to be an all-or-nothing proposition” (Wealth) really freaks me out. While I’m not enticed to join them, I think startups are really cool. I really admire the idea that startups have more liberty to be creative and passionate. However, personally, I get the vibe that startups need exceptionally creative minds, and I sure as hell don’t have that. While I think I am a good worker, I don’t know that I’m passionate enough about innovation to be a good startup candidate. I guess the only thing in my life that I’ve ever had a strong desire to do as a job is work in the video game industry. However, I qualify this by saying that I would have only wanted to work for a bigger company like Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Blizzard, or EA (yeah yeah I know scum of the Earth). While indie game developers would be really cool to work at because the games there are largely passion projects, financial uncertainty really freaks me out. Because of this, I’m more content with working for a long time even though it would be nice to retire early. While it would be nice to have extra free time from retiring early, I also think I’d have a hard time filling it. I like to feel like I’m busy and doing something, so a long term job would at least give me something to do with my time for a good while.

I think the widening income gap is an interesting subject. I feel like if I were worse off than I am right now, I’d probably care more, but as it is right now, I feel like I should be bothered more than I am. I think most of my classmates and I know that we’re probably better off than a lot of people, but we also know that we’re no where near the life that of Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. In his essay, Graham notes that “in the United States, the CEO of a large public company makes about 100 times as much as the average person” (Gap). The problem, I think, that people have with income imbalance is the fact that we may “work as hard” as big money makers but earn much less. I feel like I don’t personally care that I’m going to be earning much less than the likes of a CEO at a big tech company despite also working all day because I don’t feel like my job would have as much importance as that of a CEO. As someone said in class, we’re expendable compared to the big money makers. In his essay, Graham says that “CEOs, stars, fund managers, and athletes all live with the sword hanging over their heads; the moment they start to suck, they’re out. If you’re in a job that feels safe, you are not going to get rich, because if there is no danger there is almost certainly no leverage” (Wealth). A CEO’s individual job can impact the market in a significant way, whereas my individual job wouldn’t. In this regard, I think that I’m okay with the fact that they’re making a lot more than most. What doesn’t sit well with me are the rich people who just indulge in their riches, but don’t do anything for the rest of society. That’s my heart telling me it’s unfair that they have more than others. Though maybe I was raised with the idea “that if a few rich people had all the money, it left less for everyone else” (Gap) and that there’s “a fixed amount of money at any moment” (Gap). It’s weird that it doesn’t sit well with me because that is that rich person’s right. Sure there may have been luck involved with their fortune, but I don’t necessarily think that they are obligated to share the wealth that they earned with the rest of us. As such, I think it would be unfair of us to try to make them do so. Besides, can we all honestly say that we would be willing to give up much if we were in their position? Most of us in college are doing well enough, but I bet that most of us wouldn’t be super willing to take a cut for the sake of those who are worse off than us.

I really have no idea what I think the next big technological platform will be. If I had to make a guess, I’d imagine it would be mobile. Mobile is already big, but I don’t think it’ll slow down anytime soon. The fact that we carry our phones around with us everywhere means that mobile applications can reach us regardless of where we are. This differs from desktop and VR because those are restricted by the peripherals. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d target if I made an application today. This is part of the reason why I don’t think I could ever found a startup. I’m just not creative enough for it. Though if I have to answer, perhaps something geared towards the older crowd since I feel like everyone else focuses on young people. Naturally, that makes sense since the younger people are more tech savvy. However, that doesn’t mean that older people can’t be tech savvy, so they could benefit from applications geared towards them too.