Most entrepreneurs will tell you that they want to "improve the design". Changing the world. Such a noble cause. So if you do not mind (and do not be humble and/or shy) can you please tell how you are or will change the world (or part of it)?
Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
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Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#2Not much to do with entrepreneurship, but I have been part of a group for the past 5 years that teaches at-risk youth about college and general success/happiness in life. We volunteer directly with about 500 kids a year and regularly hear success stories about them pursuing their dreams.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#3I've always wanted to do more to "change the world", but I've found that I am ineffective/unmotivated to do so through direct actions via volunteering. I've tried and I'm not good at it. My wife and I used to have many discussions about this (she's much better at the direct help actions than me).
After I had a nice startup exit in 2001, I found that I could try to change the world (or at least things I can see around me) much better through directed donations and angel investing. That lets me broaden my effect without doing the parts that I am not good at doing. I still like the startup game too. :)
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#4Kiva.org to start. Need to think about the "will" part.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#5At TimeSvr, we want to take advantage of the quality/price arbitrage between developed and developing countries to help busy people save time and get things done everyday. Noble? If we can get people to free up 15 - 30 minutes a day, that's almost between 2 and 4 hours per week they can spend doing something/with someone they love.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#6Cothink.org (in private alpha)
By making tools to encourage service learning, and continuing to pressure universities and colleges focus outward on community projects rather than the current curriculum. Exciting stuff!
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#7I truly, honestly believe that as of today many people just cannot get to their data.
For end users that is having good web/UI tools to help them. Another part of it is allowing programmers to express their ideas about data in a better way - It should feel like you are expressing normal program logic concepts that just happen to be backed by reliable, durable, fast, cached storage.
Theres a renaissance going on now, where lots of ideas from functional programming are filtering out and being adopted..thats wonderful for our craft. We spend a lot of energy comparing one language to another, but pretty much accept without question that SQL as the only-one-true-way of handling data. Or we make a big framework to wrap that in objects, and the framework generates SQL.
Databases could have much much better programming facilities out of the box, including an expressive modern extensible language and event callback mechanisms. It should be easy to just write a usable web site without stepping out of that language - optimizing the common usage scenario.
There must be a better way, it is time to make SQL obsolete.
If your interested in hacking on something like this as open source get in touch,
gord quantblog.wordpress.com
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#8I'm planning to introduce a new type of financial instrument. Basically, it'll be a contract between two parties, whereby a buyer pays periodic payments to the seller in exchange for the right to a payoff if there is a default relating to some asset (e.g. a mortgage).
In the event of default, the buyer delivers the defaulted asset (e.g. the failing mortgage) to the seller for a payment of the original value of the mortgage. I think I'll call this a "physical settlement".
Alternatively, the seller can pay the buyer the difference between the original value of the mortgage and the market price of mortgage. I think I'll call this a "cash settlement".
I think this will provide a way to distribute risk through the financial system. The benefits are numerous. For example, a lender of mortgages can turn around and sell their mortgages on the open market. This should lead to laxer lending practices.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#9With bug.gd, we're going to change the way users and software engineers deal with faults and errors in their applications. In our world, by default, people are going to work together a lot more to solve them and developers are going to know when/where/how their applications failed during user interaction.
The goal is to make sure that no one ever has to repeat research to work around problems that have already been solved.
We feel some of our initiatives could single-handedly lower the computer expertise needed to work with open source software, cutting-edge technologies, and things typically reserved only for early adopters.
We're really excited about the potential here.
Re: Ask Hackers/Entrepreneurs: How are/will you change(ing) the world?
#10How will I change the world?
Longterm:I can't really say what it is just yet, but we've got high expectations of ourselves.
Short term: Why you ask?When you consider some of the other acts up for nomination some of which I'd never heard of until yesterday (tokio hotel?), then you would understand - how can some of these artists (U2 is an exception) be classed as best acts ever when you've got the greats like the stones & beatles weren't even considered?