Tech startup entrepreneurs and investors face all the challenges of a conventional business plus a host of other perils.
Few restaurant owners wonder if people eat food. Few grocery stores have to convince their clients of their value proposition. Few car dealers have to teach people how to drive a car.
By contrast, tech startups rush into a world that has never seen their product, never defined the need or considered its implications. Startups often change the market landscape by introducing a completely new product category.
Startup entrepreneurs are literally in the business of changing the world.
It takes a special kind of audacity to see the same world we all see, but see it differently. And then, with a vision that no one else shares, undertake to mold the world in a new way.
Why do Startup Entrepreneurs do it?
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For the money.
The rewards are potentially huge. Despite the added challenges and risks, many of the biggest companies in the world were technology startups just a few years ago. Imagine our economy without search engines, smartphones, online video or apps. We’re living during the largest gold rush in history and technology startups are the prospectors searching for paydirt.
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Because we Can.
It has never been easier for a single person with a great idea to change the world. The marketing and distribution of technology over the internet has made it possible for anyone to reach millions of customers with relatively little capital. Who can resist a temptation like that?
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Change is Inevitable.
From the moment we buy a new product we already expect next year’s model to be faster, smaller or do things we never thought we’d want. The idea that change is inevitable is ingrained in our society. No generation in history has been more demanding or expectant of change, so it’s not surprising today’s entrepreneurs want to be agents of change.
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Solving a Problem.
Technology startups are problem factories. For people who like solving difficult problems, life in a technology startup is like Disney Land.
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It’s Fun.
There is something very satisfying about changing the lives of other people, even if only for a moment. When your product or service is used, you know that you’ve had an impact on someone’s life.
Nobody participating in the economy today is unaffected by tech startups. Whether you’re a taxi driver (Uber) or a university professor in an ivory tower (MOOCS), there is a technology startup somewhere plotting to change your world.
If you have a tech startup how are you changing the world?
Photo Credit: John Gateley