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Is saving the world a viable startup goal?
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Re: Is saving the world a viable startup goal?
#2Yes, though there's a lot to understand to be able to efficiently save the world; Every little bit and effort helps, though.
Re: Is saving the world a viable startup goal?
#3Depends exactly what you mean by it, but there do seem to be beneficial projects that are best organized as for-profit companies. For example, I doubt a nonprofit would have done as good a job at search or email as Google has.
I wrote about this phenomenon here: http://paulgraham.com/good.html
Re: Is saving the world a viable startup goal?
#4Depends exactly what you mean by it, but there do seem to be beneficial projects that are best organized as for-profit companies. For example, I doubt a nonprofit would have done as good a job at search or email as Google has. I wrote about this phenomenon here: http://paulgraham.com/good.html
Being a not-for-profit company doesn't mean you can't generate revenue / profit and therefore be unable to pay for R&D; I suppose Google couldn't have IPO'd then to fundraise a large amount quickly, so there is that.. What Google had and was important though was a core technology and philosophy of the founders, who then with the additional money were able to take the time to develop and evolve a solid company direction and culture.
Re: Is saving the world a viable startup goal?
#5Contradictory goals? Saving the world generally means selfless work for the common good. Startup generally means creating a new business with the goal of making yourself rich. (I know that will piss a lot of people off.)
But if your goal of saving the world works out, you'll get rich on the speaking fees.