Please, stop focusing on the stupid software solutions!

How investors greed has led us to focus too much on problems that do not matter…

We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.

Marketing automation software with integrated AI.

Decentralised social networks.

On-demand hired help platforms.

Anything with blockchain in its name.

I am not saying non of those things are needed. Nor that all the companies building something like that is crap.

However, these and other similar ideas should be an afterthought, not the next big thing everyone wants to build.

Same goes for all the useless new kitchen appliances and other consumer hardware solutions, including electric bikes and eScooters. As well as most wearables…

These are all the “simple” things too many of us start building.

In many cases, they even manage to put together a team and raise initial funding. Not because they are building something awesome. But because of FOMO!

Money is dirt cheap as well! Especially when spreading tickets of 100k to 2M among all sorts of crap that initially does not cost this much to make.

There are no high R&D costs there.

It is getting to the market and scaling that costs there.

Sometimes even that is not too high when looking for a quick exit.

The real innovations, on the other hand, initially cost too much to make. Regardless of the projects impact, whether starting a space exploration company or trying to change education — investors know it costs more to launch the initial prototype.

Or the return is most likely much smaller in the short term.

The problem is not even about what gets funded. Eventually anyone can raise funding in this climate. And that is the problem!

By giving anyone the money, they start producing all sorts of crap, as well as hiring great talent to do that. Not that this talent would really want to build those solutions. They just know there is a chance for a quicker exit and big pay right away. Thus they will do what is important for feeding their families — get a job that pays, regardless of the impact it makes or does not make in the world.

So this leads to innovative but long term companies not having too many candidates to choose from. Still getting the minimum amount of people they need but never reaching to their potential.

Because it is easier for someone to do marketing for anything crypto related.

It takes less time to close sales for any SaaS tool.

Even engineers enjoy the fact they can go home earlier to prep for Dota 2 Championship or taste new beers.

In short, we focus too little on making the high impact things work.

Maybe because it is hard to find them.

Maybe we have made it harder for anyone to decide going after solving those problems.

But in any case, we are not doing enough to shape the world into what it could be, instead optimising metrics that eventually do not matter.

This is why we are now building a global organisation out of Robotex.

To inspire and educate the youth.

To encourage corporations to innovate and expand further.

To find the next 50’000 frontier tech startups and help them make an impact.

Please, prove me wrong that this is nothing like that. Show me it makes more sense to focus on these kinds of less impactful solutions before going for the fence! Or share your supporting thoughts if you may…

Robotex International (November 30 — December 2) is our annual event and the biggest robotics festival on the Planet. Thousands of engineers, executives, students and families come together to be inspired by industry leaders, build robots for various challenges and learn about the latest technology innovations.