I later worked for Y Combinator as a partner helping founders make products and services. The best ones made something that touches millions of people now.
While there is a lot of zero sum thinking in startupland and finance/capitalism in general, you have to remember that this is probably the most GROWTH mindset industry in the world. Where else can you, with just your hands and a laptop on the Internet, create something a billion people use?
I'm not saying that is the norm. But when it works, it's still remarkable.
And it can start with you, and everyone reading this.
Keep in mind that if you look back on the things that made you excited to go into startups into 2006 or whenever, probably none of them are true anymore. E.g. the main reason people were excited back then is that there was a huge arbitrage opportunity to take every business that already existed as either brick-and-mortar or web 1.0, and reimagine it using AJAX and web 2.0 design language. In retrospect there were a bunch of other favorable macro trends coalescing at the same time also, but regardless none of these arbitrage opportunities exist any longer.
Serious question: how many software companies have something that a billion people have used?
It's a pretty special industry, for sure. But the odds of it happening are basically zero. I see how selling the dream makes for a good story for young and hungry startup founders to passionately change the world and (cynically) end up as a failed bet in someone else's portfolio.
But it's a bit disingenuous to make it sound like it's commonplace.
At the large tech companies, with a lot less risk and higher salaries.
At companies that already have a billion users?
Touch 20 lives as a teacher and enrich those individuals, or 20 million lives by helping them order groceries over the internet.
It's always simpler, safer and more wise to incorporate.
