I think those are very fair questions. On the one hand I agree a lot of startups can be derivative and may not pass the "how is this making the world better" qu

I think those are very fair questions. On the one hand I agree a lot of startups can be derivative and may not pass the "how is this making the world better" question. But at the same time, that's a much higher bar than most companies are held to... As far as Quora and Posterous as examples, I think their excellent UX do advance the world in that they help people share their thoughts and experiences better/more easily than with previous generations of those ideas.