Maybe the Best Way to Change the World Is to Start a Company
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Maybe the Best Way to Change the World Is to Start a Company

This piece from Smithsonian caught my eye today - Young People Mistrust Government So Much They Aren’t Running for Office. It covers a Rutgers professor who studies millennial attitudes towards politics, and concludes that the much-scrutinized generation abhors politics - logging a ten point decrease in sentiment toward government in just the past decade or so.

But I have a different take on why our recent college and high school graduates aren't opting for politics, and it has to do with a far more positive reason: This is the first generation to come of age in an era where "entrepreneur" is not only a viable career option, it's actually a compelling one.

I've never had a real job I didn't make myself - back when I was starting out some 25+ years ago, the only path that seemed to make sense for me was joining a startup (job #1), or making one myself (jobs #2-7). I started out well before the Internet, and before the 1990s boom which brought the idea of a college-dropout CEO to the fore of our cultural conscience. Sure, we had Bill Gates, but he was a complete outlier, not a demarcation of a trend, as Zuckerberg became during the Web 2 era.

Back in the early 1990s, my friends and family struggled to understand what it was I was doing with my life. It was as if I had some kind of undiagnosed disease - I was addicted to risk, and clearly allergic to "real work."

But think of the options a smart kid has coming out of college these days. Not only has company creation become mainstream and entirely acceptable, we've built scores of institutions that teach and enable company creation - from Babson to Slack to Y Combinator. I recently met with Sam Altman, CEO of YC, who told me his company receives more applications to his program each year than Stanford does. How many apps does Stanford get? About 40,000!

Cynicism aside, the main reason anyone wants to get into politics is to make positive change in the world. And I believe thoughtful young people are taking a hard look at our major change-making institutions - government, religion, education, and corporations - and they're deciding that the best way to have an impact is to start a company (or join one). And more and more, those companies are focused on creating positive change in the world. To which I can only say: Right on!

To experience hundreds of companies making positive change check out a NewCo festival - they're happening in New York, Silicon Valley, Amsterdam, San Francisco, Istanbul, and ten more cities this year!

Dr. Artena Moon

Emergency Communication Coordinator at CISA

9y

I like to tell my teenagers, "the career you choose has not even been invented yet"!

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Ishmael Bodumele

Director at MY OWN COMPANY LOGISTICS

9y

Can i be a great entrepreneur without graduating or not educated?

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Dennis May

Marketing Director at Bradafric and Islo Kenya

9y

Am Dennis, am the marketing and member of board of director at BradAfric Ltd, we are in business of Printing, Paper selling, Hotels and Real estate. But more so we want to investing in Education.there is a really opportunity in education sector in Africa, Why? because this year there are more than 10,000 pupils missed out to join high school because there where no school for them to join that is only in Kenya & this why we need this funding to build a chain of schools. Investing in Education is the one of the way to help Africas out of poverty This is not about money only is about help those children how cant afford education, The amount will expect is $ 50,000,000.00 payable in a period of 30 years During this time we invite you to be part of the project if need be for transparency Regards Dennis

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Ed Walsh

Advertising Director at Foreign Affairs

9y

Chelsea, who knew? I guess you did. Hope all goes well

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Parker Ituk

Engineering leader ✔ Interested in IT Software ✔ Project Management, Relationship Management and Consulting

9y

Very insightful!

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