Why Do You Want To Start A Company?

We live in the modern age. Everything is at our fingertips. Information. People, entertainment.

Our world is fantastic if you think about it. At no point in history have we had so many options.

You want to become a billionaire? You can. You want to become an actor? No problem.

You want to write a book? Put pen to paper.

Life used to be very restrictive. If you grew up rich, then you most likely die rich. If you grew up poor, it was practically impossible to climb the social ladder to make anything of yourself. If you were a man then you had to follow your father’s profession and learn his craft — whether it was farming, a notary, or a blacksmith. If you were a woman, you had even less options. At the most,
you could marry some rich person and expect to have lots of children.
Nowadays we can travel the world, start a company, or become a doctor.

People have so much freedom these days and so many opportunities.
So the question becomes, in this marvelous age, do we really need another app? Do we need another way to communicate with each other? What can technology give us that we don’t already have? What inventions do we need to make our lives better? Can technology make us any happier (or sadder) than we already are?

The answer is complicated. Facebook is a wondrous tool to reach a new audience, connect with family and friends across the world. Yet, it’s also another tool for bullying and social media can lead to depression, meaningless, and loneliness. Technology and invention for its own sake isn’t
all its cracked up to be. We need to be smart about what we aim to create and not just make something to put a stamp on it.

So how can we have a impact in the world? If you start a new company, will it make anything better? Or will we just be trying to eat smaller pieces of the same pie? There are many companies you could happily work for, climb the corporate ladder, collaborate together instead of compete with one another.

Despite everything, our world still has a lot of problems. We’re still have a lot of hate, a lot of famine, and not to mention global warming might destroy the world. We have incredible power to create as well as destroy.

I want to challenge you to think larger than the next app. Because let’s face it, we don’t need a new first person shooter. I recently read North Americans have billions-worth of unused electronics sitting around their households.
What we do need is the next Elon Musk who wants to explore space; we need people who think differently about the world and are willing to be bold enough to try and fix today’s problems. We need people who are willing to stand out on a limb and are willing to fall face first into the abyss below. Because we’re not going to solve anything by doing the things we’ve always done. We’re not going to solve global warming by creating new things. We’re going to solve it through difficult, soul-breaking innovation.

We’re going to write a book on this subject. If you’re not going to put your heart and soul into your creation go read a John Grisham novel instead. I guarantee it will be a lot more entertaining and a better use of your time.

But if you’re willing to get through the pages of this book and you’re willing to let it all hang out then continue on. You’ll find building a start up is like anything else in life. You’ll learn much about humanity, about the world, and about meaning. You’re going to understand things in away nobody else does. You’ll feel like you’re on a different plain than the people around you, taking
the bus, ordering pizza, or going to the movie theatre.

I don’t know exactly where you’re journey will take you or what you’ll do along the way, but I promise you it will be worthwhile. It will take you places you never thought possible. And I challenge you, not to be narrow minded about your startup, but think about how it can improve your own understanding of the world and everything around it.