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I'm not about to second-guess PG, or any other single person. Maybe the capital they have isn't liquid enough; maybe they have other obligations; who knows? An

I'm not about to second-guess PG, or any other single person. Maybe the capital they have isn't liquid enough; maybe they have other obligations; who knows? And it's worth pointing out that doing more awesome things doesn't require wealth. Why don't more poor people clean up their neighborhoods? Why don't more startups choose to solve problems that would really improve peoples' lives? We should never point our fingers at anyone else before looking hard at ourselves. All that said, the accumulation of wealth tends to require a mindset change that is not conducive to working on awesome things unless there's a reasonable chance of those awesome things making even more money, in the future if not immediately. For one example: I recently moved in to a house, which I'm renting, which was a real dump and eyesore in its neighborhood. It was located next door to a nice Victorian bed & breakfast; most of the places in the neighborhood were a lot better by comparison. In the last 7 months I've completely transformed the yards, repaired or replaced plumbing, put interior walls into the garage -- all out of my own pocket -- with the help of my friend & my girlfriend. We often get comments from others in the neighborhood; those with more money tend to ask us if we're planning to buy it, and those with less money tend to just express appreciation that we're doing it. So there ya go.

alnayyir 15y ago
>Why don't more startups choose to solve problems that would really improve peoples' lives? People keep bringing this up, but I never see examples. If I saw one, I'd chase it like an alcoholic that's spotted Jim Beam at the bottom of a hill. To my detriment, and with gusto.
nitrogen 15y ago
For some reason this post by alnayyir is dead: >Why don't more startups choose to solve problems that would really improve peoples' lives? People keep bringing this up, but I never see examples. If I saw one, I'd chase it like an alcoholic that's spotted Jim Beam at the bottom of a hill. To my detriment, and with gusto.
- true_religion 15y ago
  Out of curiosity, what would you think about a startup that aims to protect the 401k investments of Joe Trader? Is that something that would really improve peoples' lives?
  - thaumaturgy 15y ago
    Why not an investment company that invested in startups and small businesses by pooling the resources of Joe Traders? I would assume that, since much of the smart money right now seems to be in startups, the return can't be all that bad, and you'd have a shot at leveraging three different groups in such a way as to improve all their lives, which would be a neat trick all on its own.
    - bastiat 15y ago
      No, this is not where the smart money goes, as I understand the term "smart money." Perhaps you meant something else, like "the money of smart people with whom I am familiar."
    - true_religion 15y ago
      Many companies provide matching funds for retirement accounts, but don't allow you much say in where you invest. You can be given a basket of stocks and told to pick, or told which fund managers you're allowed to use. That aside, individual investors usually like their current funds and are loathe to leave them just for something that promises better results. -- What I envision is a site that simplifies the current technical and quantitative trading tools into something usable by the common trader. That way if your company says pick from stocks A to Z to invest in June, you can decide which stock to pick. For example, don't pick A because seasonal trends dictate they always fall 8% in June. Or don't pick B because it is overbought because it is nearly touching a resistance band and has only broken resistance once in the past 5 years. My examples are from technical analysis, but quantitative techniques work just as well. The tools available are good, but require a lot of theoretical knowledge before use. For a common investor, using a algorithmic tool with fewer options, sensible defaults, and automatically applied backtesting would be a huge step upwards from listening to Fast Money or the musings of their coworkers.
Tichy 15y ago
Wow, I must admit I would probably never invest so much into a place I am just renting. Your landlord won the lottery. Still, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Yes, society is cheering on the people who sacrifice themselves (just watch any movie from the US, that message gets driven home with a sledge hammer). But I doubt that is for the best of the individual. Of course people are cheering if they get something out of you for free.
- thaumaturgy 15y ago
  Hmm. I'm not sure how to respond, honestly. I don't feel like I'm investing into a place I'm renting; I feel like I'm investing into my home, and by extension, myself. Every time I walk outside, I feel like I've accomplished something, even if it's a relatively small thing. No matter how anything else is going in my life, that feeling is still there. If the owners decided to boot us out this month and sell the place for more than they could have otherwise, or even rent it out to someone else now that they can get more for the rent, I still would not feel like I had done something foolish. I still, for a while, will have made a place better. Even if new tenants or owners stopped maintaining it and let it go to ruin, that would only be a decision they have made, and still not change what I had done. It's made the other people in the neighborhood happy. It's made me happy. It's made the landlords happy. Maybe I could have spent the time and money on something else, but that's true no matter what I do. So, why not do something that makes so many people happy? > Yes, society is cheering on the people who sacrifice themselves... On my good days, I think that might be because society is looking for leaders that they can look up to. On my bad days, I think that might be because society has gotten lazy and just wants someone else to take care of it. > But I doubt that is for the best of the individual. It might not be best for many individuals, because it's easy to feel like you're being taken advantage of, or that you're giving up something you shouldn't be. But, for some individuals -- a growing number of them, I hope -- some forms of sacrifice can be so rewarding that it doesn't feel at all like sacrifice. > Of course people are cheering if they get something out of you for free. Sure, but maybe you're getting to do something you enjoy anyway. If you go out for a hike or visit a river or beach, why not pick up some trash while you're out there? If you're going to live in a home, why not improve it a bit while you're there? If you're going to get together with some friends, why not bring some food? And if people cheer you on for that, is that so bad? Anyway, the most powerful motivation, for me, is that I can see as clearly as if I were living in it now a world in which everyone else did things like this -- looked out for each-other, helped each-other up, cleaned up and improved the things around them, and invested in great little bistros and sandwich shops and bookstores and parks and such because they recognized the value of having such things in their community. I've found that it's impossible to tell anyone else what that kind of world looks like, or to get them to believe in it by talking about it. So, instead, I try to make it. One run-down house at a time. :-)

alnayyir 15y ago

>Why don't more startups choose to solve problems that would really improve peoples' lives? People keep bringing this up, but I never see examples. If I saw one, I'd chase it like an alcoholic that's spotted Jim Beam at the bottom of a hill. To my detriment, and with gusto.

nitrogen 15y ago

For some reason this post by alnayyir is dead: >Why don't more startups choose to solve problems that would really improve peoples' lives? People keep bringing this up, but I never see examples. If I saw one, I'd chase it like an alcoholic that's spotted Jim Beam at the bottom of a hill. To my detriment, and with gusto.

true_religion 15y ago
Out of curiosity, what would you think about a startup that aims to protect the 401k investments of Joe Trader? Is that something that would really improve peoples' lives?
- thaumaturgy 15y ago
  Why not an investment company that invested in startups and small businesses by pooling the resources of Joe Traders? I would assume that, since much of the smart money right now seems to be in startups, the return can't be all that bad, and you'd have a shot at leveraging three different groups in such a way as to improve all their lives, which would be a neat trick all on its own.
  - bastiat 15y ago
    No, this is not where the smart money goes, as I understand the term "smart money." Perhaps you meant something else, like "the money of smart people with whom I am familiar."
  - true_religion 15y ago
    Many companies provide matching funds for retirement accounts, but don't allow you much say in where you invest. You can be given a basket of stocks and told to pick, or told which fund managers you're allowed to use. That aside, individual investors usually like their current funds and are loathe to leave them just for something that promises better results. -- What I envision is a site that simplifies the current technical and quantitative trading tools into something usable by the common trader. That way if your company says pick from stocks A to Z to invest in June, you can decide which stock to pick. For example, don't pick A because seasonal trends dictate they always fall 8% in June. Or don't pick B because it is overbought because it is nearly touching a resistance band and has only broken resistance once in the past 5 years. My examples are from technical analysis, but quantitative techniques work just as well. The tools available are good, but require a lot of theoretical knowledge before use. For a common investor, using a algorithmic tool with fewer options, sensible defaults, and automatically applied backtesting would be a huge step upwards from listening to Fast Money or the musings of their coworkers.

Tichy 15y ago

Wow, I must admit I would probably never invest so much into a place I am just renting. Your landlord won the lottery. Still, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Yes, society is cheering on the people who sacrifice themselves (just watch any movie from the US, that message gets driven home with a sledge hammer). But I doubt that is for the best of the individual. Of course people are cheering if they get something out of you for free.

thaumaturgy 15y ago
Hmm. I'm not sure how to respond, honestly. I don't feel like I'm investing into a place I'm renting; I feel like I'm investing into my home, and by extension, myself. Every time I walk outside, I feel like I've accomplished something, even if it's a relatively small thing. No matter how anything else is going in my life, that feeling is still there. If the owners decided to boot us out this month and sell the place for more than they could have otherwise, or even rent it out to someone else now that they can get more for the rent, I still would not feel like I had done something foolish. I still, for a while, will have made a place better. Even if new tenants or owners stopped maintaining it and let it go to ruin, that would only be a decision they have made, and still not change what I had done. It's made the other people in the neighborhood happy. It's made me happy. It's made the landlords happy. Maybe I could have spent the time and money on something else, but that's true no matter what I do. So, why not do something that makes so many people happy? > Yes, society is cheering on the people who sacrifice themselves... On my good days, I think that might be because society is looking for leaders that they can look up to. On my bad days, I think that might be because society has gotten lazy and just wants someone else to take care of it. > But I doubt that is for the best of the individual. It might not be best for many individuals, because it's easy to feel like you're being taken advantage of, or that you're giving up something you shouldn't be. But, for some individuals -- a growing number of them, I hope -- some forms of sacrifice can be so rewarding that it doesn't feel at all like sacrifice. > Of course people are cheering if they get something out of you for free. Sure, but maybe you're getting to do something you enjoy anyway. If you go out for a hike or visit a river or beach, why not pick up some trash while you're out there? If you're going to live in a home, why not improve it a bit while you're there? If you're going to get together with some friends, why not bring some food? And if people cheer you on for that, is that so bad? Anyway, the most powerful motivation, for me, is that I can see as clearly as if I were living in it now a world in which everyone else did things like this -- looked out for each-other, helped each-other up, cleaned up and improved the things around them, and invested in great little bistros and sandwich shops and bookstores and parks and such because they recognized the value of having such things in their community. I've found that it's impossible to tell anyone else what that kind of world looks like, or to get them to believe in it by talking about it. So, instead, I try to make it. One run-down house at a time. :-)