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The Unexotic Underclass

miter.mit.edu

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Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#31

Post by 205guy »

I don't disagree with the article, but I had 2 thoughts form in my mind while reading it:

1) I don't think entrepreneurs (and tech ones at that) have solved any problems, even for the upper classes they cater to. Instead, they have become popular and profitable the old-fashioned way, by creating and filling a need. Even a solution as fundamental as search on the internet is not really helping me lead a better life--though it does make possible the vast stores of knowledge and likely the entire tech sector (including my livelihood).

2) Given 1) above, the entire article essentially seems to encourage people to exploit the under-exploited markets of the unexotic by creating needs there and fulfilling them. I don't really see how entrepreneurs can, for example, fix the bureaucracy of Veteran's Affairs, even if they had a turnkey case-handling solution to sell to them.

Finally, the author of the article had a pedigree as long as my sleeve, but I didn't see any work in the unexotic fields.

Somewhat related thought: where are the non-tech entrepreneurs? Are there solutions that don't require computers anymore? Are there ways to get funding for such a solution?

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#32

Post by elithrar »

205guy wrote: post #31

I don't disagree with the article, but I had 2 thoughts form in my mind while reading it: 1) I don't think entrepreneurs (and tech ones at that) have solved any problems, even for the upper classes they cater to. Instead, they have become popular and profitable the old-fashioned way, by creating and filling a need. Even a solution as fundamental as search on the internet is not really helping me lead a better life--t…

> Even a solution as fundamental as search on the internet is not really helping me lead a better life--though it does make possible the vast stores of knowledge and likely the entire tech sector (including my livelihood).

I disagree. You can spin this many ways. I look at "search" as solving the problem of "easy access to information" - however one must understand that it is not an unsolved/solved problem (varying degrees of "solved" apply here).

Being able to learn new things, research something I'm working on beyond my direct network of friends/colleagues, and engage with others solves a lot of problems for me. All this information also makes it much easier to re-skill or add new skills to my repertoire.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#33

Post by stephengillie »

205guy wrote: post #31

I don't disagree with the article, but I had 2 thoughts form in my mind while reading it: 1) I don't think entrepreneurs (and tech ones at that) have solved any problems, even for the upper classes they cater to. Instead, they have become popular and profitable the old-fashioned way, by creating and filling a need. Even a solution as fundamental as search on the internet is not really helping me lead a better life--t…

Dylan Ratigan left his cable news show to hire veterans to create hydroponic farms in California.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/22/dylan-ratigan-farm-...

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#34

Post by Maxious »

greghinch wrote: post #22

Before you can fix any of the problems that would require you to be a US government contractor, you first have to fix the problems of how US government IT contracts are awarded. There is an entire sub-industry of IT service firms who have perfected the art of bidding on government contracts, and win them regardless of their ability to build the best solution. They just have to present the lowest cost solution that me…

Fix the problems of how US government IT contracts are awarded? There's a startup for that. http://www.dobt.co/

> During the pilot period, RFP-EZ attracted more than 270 businesses that until now had never approached the world of Federal contracting.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/05/15/rfp-ez-delivers-sa...

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#36

Post by jonnathanson »

greghinch wrote: post #22

Before you can fix any of the problems that would require you to be a US government contractor, you first have to fix the problems of how US government IT contracts are awarded. There is an entire sub-industry of IT service firms who have perfected the art of bidding on government contracts, and win them regardless of their ability to build the best solution. They just have to present the lowest cost solution that me…

Palantir is doing a pretty decent job of disrupting this process, at least in one area of government contracting.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#37

Post by alexvr »

You ruined this masterpiece with the Taylor Swift reference. Actually, just kidding. You couldn't ruin this if you devoted a paragraph to explain, out of the blue, that Taylor Swift is a superior musician to Thom Yorke. And if you did, I would probably buy it. I don't praise prose often; but when I do,

... I've got nothing.

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#39

Post by beachstartup »

justzisguyuknow wrote: post #35

"Of the single mothers, the majority is White, 1 in 4 is Hispanic, and 1 in 3 is Black." This does not add up.

i upvoted you because it's a good catch, but it's not necessarily true. there are black hispanics.

"non-white hispanic" is the appropriate term for what you're thinking of, but it's probably just the journalist inflating numbers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hispanic_and_Latino_Ameri...

Re: The Unexotic Underclass

#40

Post by pshin45 »

Brings to mind a great quote by Mother Teresa:

"In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

Likewise, unless you have the clout and badassery of a Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, or Sebastian Thrun, it's unrealistic to expect a given entrepreneurial individual(s) to solve major world problems on their own or in their own lifetime.

All an entrepreneur can really hope for is to be able to at least get the ball rolling, in the short time he/she has on this planet, so that maybe one day someone of a future generation can in turn stand on your shoulders to achieve something great and help finish what you started.

> We need: A Paul Graham and his Y Combinator at the incubator level, to devote one season to the underclass, be it veterans, single moms or overworked young doctors, Native Americans, the list is long: “Help these entrepreneurs build something that will help you.”

I remember reading that YC recently funded "Watsi", its first non-profit. I wonder if this is just a one-off or a sign of much more to come?

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