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People tend to think in very small boxes nowadays. Partly because they are more interested in getting rich quick than in changing the world, partly because they

People tend to think in very small boxes nowadays. Partly because they are more interested in getting rich quick than in changing the world, partly because they have their nose too close to tiny details to see the big pictures. Want to make a mark? Focus on energy production and storage! Want to make a mark? Think about generation ships! Want to make a mark? Design a way to reform government! Mankind does not need another social Web site.

slurgfest 14y ago
These are extra hard problems which have no guarantee of ever paying out, let alone raising money in the near term. This isn't a matter of getting rich quick - even just researching big issues requires sustained cash flow... if you can't provide that out of your own pocketbook then you are going to need to become self-sustaining pretty quick.
- jonmrodriguez 14y ago
  What about scientifically minded philanthropists like the Gates Foundation? E.g., they funded a genetic engineering project to dramatically lower the cost of the antimalarial drug Artemisinin by producing it in yeast instead of the original tree.
  - slurgfest 14y ago
    You are right, the presence of a Gates Foundation will create that. Although, I like your example because while it is an important problem, it is also a reasonably sized and quite specific problem. And it shows that "important" and "big" work is being done by companies that just aren't on the HN startup radar because, well, it is a different sector. I think people in the internet sector make facebook-things rather than antimalarials because they are in the internet sector.
dasil003 14y ago
There is a word for people who only focus on big ideas: crackpots. The truth that every entrepreneur has to face is that it takes big resources to pursue big ideas, and very few people have big resources at their disposal. Even Elon Musk had to blow up PayPal before he could pursue truly big ideas. The vast majority of giant corporations come from executing well on a series of progressively larger operational goals. The trick is figuring out how much you can actually bite off successfully at each stage, and then doing it several times in a row and scaling accordingly. The big ideas can come when you have the money and the influence to execute on them.
- EternalFury 14y ago
  Edison, Ford and the Wright brothers were crackpots, I guess. There is a difference between something that may lead from here to there and something that is definitely never going to lead anywhere. An example of the former: You write some software that re-orients an array of solar panels to make the most of weather conditions in real time. It's not going to crack the "energy production and storage" enigma, but it's a step in the right direction. Next, you may want to study how panel geometry influences energy collection. An example of the latter: You set up a Web site that allows teenagers to compare their gadgets.
  - dasil003 14y ago
    It's a question of resources and expertise.
dirtyaura 14y ago
Internet can be an enabler or a catalyst for big changes. "Another social website" is likely the first step in rethinking the government. Social online education sites can push more people to physics and chemistry to solve energy production and storage problems. They might be even instrumental in that they allow e.g. smart sw entrepreneurs or hedge fund analysts to learn new skills and domains and apply their capabilities where it is most needed. What big problem are you solving?

slurgfest 14y ago

These are extra hard problems which have no guarantee of ever paying out, let alone raising money in the near term. This isn't a matter of getting rich quick - even just researching big issues requires sustained cash flow... if you can't provide that out of your own pocketbook then you are going to need to become self-sustaining pretty quick.

jonmrodriguez 14y ago
What about scientifically minded philanthropists like the Gates Foundation? E.g., they funded a genetic engineering project to dramatically lower the cost of the antimalarial drug Artemisinin by producing it in yeast instead of the original tree.
- slurgfest 14y ago
  You are right, the presence of a Gates Foundation will create that. Although, I like your example because while it is an important problem, it is also a reasonably sized and quite specific problem. And it shows that "important" and "big" work is being done by companies that just aren't on the HN startup radar because, well, it is a different sector. I think people in the internet sector make facebook-things rather than antimalarials because they are in the internet sector.

dasil003 14y ago

There is a word for people who only focus on big ideas: crackpots. The truth that every entrepreneur has to face is that it takes big resources to pursue big ideas, and very few people have big resources at their disposal. Even Elon Musk had to blow up PayPal before he could pursue truly big ideas. The vast majority of giant corporations come from executing well on a series of progressively larger operational goals. The trick is figuring out how much you can actually bite off successfully at each stage, and then doing it several times in a row and scaling accordingly. The big ideas can come when you have the money and the influence to execute on them.

EternalFury 14y ago
Edison, Ford and the Wright brothers were crackpots, I guess. There is a difference between something that may lead from here to there and something that is definitely never going to lead anywhere. An example of the former: You write some software that re-orients an array of solar panels to make the most of weather conditions in real time. It's not going to crack the "energy production and storage" enigma, but it's a step in the right direction. Next, you may want to study how panel geometry influences energy collection. An example of the latter: You set up a Web site that allows teenagers to compare their gadgets.
- dasil003 14y ago
  It's a question of resources and expertise.

dirtyaura 14y ago

Internet can be an enabler or a catalyst for big changes. "Another social website" is likely the first step in rethinking the government. Social online education sites can push more people to physics and chemistry to solve energy production and storage problems. They might be even instrumental in that they allow e.g. smart sw entrepreneurs or hedge fund analysts to learn new skills and domains and apply their capabilities where it is most needed. What big problem are you solving?