Undergraduate startup(and some other groups) culture is characterized by “Ambition” and “Exceptionalism”. These aren’t fundamentally wrong. But right now, society and the entrepreneurship landscape are rapidly shifting.
With the rise of AI, increased cultural acceptance and encouragement in some groups, the increase in availability of open source resources, and a variety of other factors, it’s getting much easier to get a project from idea to manifestation. Funding is less of a bottleneck due to micro-vcs and the structures that have been build surrounding startup culture (hacker houses, etc). All of these compound, as they allow young people to get more reps. I wouldn’t be surprised if the average college student today is more nimble and independent-minded compared to those two decades ago.
In this landscape, the college student that wants to be a founder and has built an idea in a weekend has much less obstacles.
If we sat around thinking about startups all day, we would not generate good startup ideas. At least, not significantly more than if we actually experienced life. My most personally meaningful and impactful projects have come out of communities I have been involved in, and those that I have an understanding of genuine needs from. Empty building has no essence, and is much less likely to work.
The ease of creation makes ambition obsolete. Ambition and exceptionalism are shiny objects for the early startup founder.
If we really want to build something for the future, something that matters, something that brings genuine utility to the world, we need to leave the startup echo chamber. Go out and understand the holes in people’s lives.
In an era where we can be anyone, and as much as we want to be someone, we should simply choose to be ourselves. When we let go of our ambition, we can see things clearly. We see real utility over the plastic trophies of startup culture, and we can create for humanity.
And, if something blooms, we can then allow our genuine generosity and decency to pervade the world.