As another commenter mentioned, what makes a better world is subjective, depends on what you value.
I joined my current company because I believe that as our species grows (over huge time scales) one 'world' will not be enough, and that our current manufacturing model is too wasteful and slow to adapt to meet our and our planet's needs, which impacts day-to-day life for all of us.
But we all can't work there. Not only are there not enough jobs at That One Company That's Changing The World, someone needs to provide the tools and services the business is built on; all the ancillary things that allow Us to make progress (computers, operating systems ... vehicles and their fuel ... food for the humans ... waste receptacles and their sanitation ... etc)
How am I changing the world? A) By educating a future generation (my own children) in the ways of the world, by supporting their dreams and showing them how the world must function so they can realize their dreams; and B) by working for a company that provides services to its customers to use to make their employees more productive to grease the wheels of innovation and creativity so their own lives are enriched and their own dreams (and their children's dreams) can be realized.
I’ve had this nagging sense over the past couple of years that the things I’m building have the mission to change the world but not necessarily for the better. I make over 200k writing code (more money then I thought I would when I was in college) and my quality of life is great. But at what cost?
I feel like I should be contributing to society in a more meaningful way because there are real problems to solve in the world.
For example, since 1997 the costs for
- Hospital services is up 200%
- Child care up 125%
- College & textbooks up 175%
- Housing up 55%
Things that are cheaper:
- TV’s (-90%)
- Software (-75%)
- Toys (-75%)
Meanwhile wages have only increased 80%.
I can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong here and if we continue this trajectory my kids will live in a dystopia at some point in their lives.
I’m not necessary looking for a non-profit job, or to go after the problems above, but there must surely be companies out there who’s mission isn’t to make the founding team and investors rich by solving hard problems that don’t really matter.
It would be interesting to be a part of a company like Tesla in the early years for example.
Anyone know where I can find jobs that are going after hard problems that are trying to make the world better?
(Posting from a new account because I don’t want the people I work with to know I’m looking.)
I'm not sure about that. Changing the world is actually very low on my priority list and I'd say most of the other founders I know think likewise.
It's not that I wouldn't love to change the world - I just don't find that a realistic goal to set. My immediate goal is much lower and more egoistic: I need to create something that rakes in enough money to sustain itself and cover my basic living expenses.
Only then will I have the time and mental freedom to pursue one of my world-changing ideas.
The problem with the world-changing ideas is that most of them are so inherently binary. Who can really afford to dedicate themselves at least 6-12 months to an all-or-nothing experiment?
For me the most important attribute of a business model is not the revolution-potential but rather the scalability. I'm going for things that have a chance to pay my bills even when they're only a small success. Call me a coward but I need a leg to stand on before I'll dare to reach for the stars, so to say...
Do I really want to change the world? Yes, I would rather make some improvement in my community and ideally the whole world than make maximum personal income and leave the world just as it now is.
is it making the world a better place as a side-effect or is its main objective make the world better?
I guess in theory as long as you are not making the world a worst place, you must be adding values either directly or indirectly. If your company is successful then it must be satisfying a need, and that need could balance things out in the world, and either directly or indirectly make the world a better place. So in a way many of us are making the world a better place.
But if you ask how important is it to your startup to make the world a better place, or how much emphasis you give it, or is that one of your main goals, then you would probably find some interesting results, and I guess a lot of NOs (if people are honest!)
I agree building a company just for the sake of building a company is as arbitrary and meaningless of an Ithaca as it is to want to work for say Google. However contributing in a meaningful way to improving the world is a noble pursuit and we need more people doing that not less. Whether we are already at max-capacity of useful contributing people is another question. Maybe the type of person who can build frontends for Google AdWords doesn't have the skills necessary to do something better and should be content providing a service and taking care of their family.
Everybody has to find their own path I guess. Also 99.99% of people don't care about improving the world and the world gets by just fine on its own. Or does it (global warming, war, etc.)? Who knows, who cares.
I would love to make a better world, even if I sometimes feel powerless about it.
I used to think that being involved in research would help make a better world, but my research field is typically used to make programming languages or static analysis tools, and that doesn't look like it's making the world a better place.
I used to think that being involved in open-source would help make a better world, and I've worked on Firefox, on Matrix, on Rust, on dozens of smaller projects. While I don't regret it, it's hard to say whether the long-term impact of these projects on the world is positive or negative.
I believe that we can always make things worse, though. That's why I didn't join a web3 company despite salaries I was offered. And I believe that we have a responsibility working towards a smaller footprint.
Just join a company that is doing good for the environment or society - they are both connected so it’s pretty broad. Think in systems, it’s how biology works and the amazing complexities of life. There’s a lot of you out there, looking for “purpose” in life. That’s rad because I find that keeps life interesting. Helping others really puts me in my happy place. Been hard for me to think of other things to do with my time.
There are varying degrees of changing the world, and not all have to have the aspirations of something like "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." If you're creating value by helping someone do their job better, or faster, or with less waste, etc, then you're still changing the world just in a relatively smaller way. Perhaps a better way to state it would be "making a change on the world". The startups that are upending entire industries (Uber, SpaceX etc) get the most attention, but there are significantly more focused on missions that may directly affect a lot less people, but still improve their lives in a meaningful way.
For me personally this is the best place I could find where the environment pushes me to be better always. It’s the difference between launching something and making $8k in a week and people around you saying “Why so little? What went wrong? How can I help?” instead of “That’s not possible you must be lying”
I for one find it easier to change my environment than to fight my environment.
The part that resonated with how I feel everyone should live this tiny universe.
Just creating an innovative company is a huge contribution to the world.
World would be a much better place if we just go about minding our own business making our own lives easier and not interfering in other people's business.
I joined my current company because I believe that as our species grows (over huge time scales) one 'world' will not be enough, and that our current manufacturing model is too wasteful and slow to adapt to meet our and our planet's needs, which impacts day-to-day life for all of us.
https://www.relativityspace.com/mission
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