Why Instagrams get built but Hyperloops have not

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If Hyperloop could succeed it would disrupt airline and rail travel as we know it and improve the whole economy with more economical and efficient transportation. There have been many innovative engineering designs and proposals but they are not taken seriously and have not been funded even if they could greatly benefit society and potentially be economically successful.

The entire culture of Silicon Valley, and entrepreneurship around the globe, has taken on a groupthink that prevents truly novel inventions, like the Hyperloop, from reaching the market. The result is a major loss. It’s a loss to our society. It’s a loss to our capital markets. It’s a loss to private investors. And it’s a loss to entrepreneurs.

The age of software is suffocating investment in improved largescale physical changes that require a lot more funding and patience to get to a lower return than software can provide

If we want to have companies like Hyperloop in Silicon Valley, and we want to have less companies like Instagram, we have to stop building startups based on a one-size-fits-all formula. This formula produces companies like Instagram and Buffer. They hit all of the checkboxes, but entirely fail to innovate. Not to mention, they’re boring.

Companies like Hyperloop break all of these rules. There is no MVP, it’s very high risk, there is no angel who specializes in it, it’s a first-time inventor, the company wants to go public, and all the founder has is a scribble on a legal pad to explain how it’s going to work. It goes against all conventional wisdom, but that may be the best investment of our generation.

Bigger societal goals and embracing change

Even though the electrical grid in North America and other developed countries has many known problems only about 1% of the grid is upgraded. There is a large backlog of unrepaired bridges and other infrastructure.

Very little power generation is replaced even though it is well known that existing coal plants are polluting or is an old and inefficient system.

Adopting best practice in infrastructure could boost global infrastructure productivity and save $1 trillion per year within 18 years. This would be a 40% increase in productivity.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks

Why Instagrams get built but Hyperloops have not

by

If Hyperloop could succeed it would disrupt airline and rail travel as we know it and improve the whole economy with more economical and efficient transportation. There have been many innovative engineering designs and proposals but they are not taken seriously and have not been funded even if they could greatly benefit society and potentially be economically successful.

The entire culture of Silicon Valley, and entrepreneurship around the globe, has taken on a groupthink that prevents truly novel inventions, like the Hyperloop, from reaching the market. The result is a major loss. It’s a loss to our society. It’s a loss to our capital markets. It’s a loss to private investors. And it’s a loss to entrepreneurs.

The age of software is suffocating investment in improved largescale physical changes that require a lot more funding and patience to get to a lower return than software can provide

If we want to have companies like Hyperloop in Silicon Valley, and we want to have less companies like Instagram, we have to stop building startups based on a one-size-fits-all formula. This formula produces companies like Instagram and Buffer. They hit all of the checkboxes, but entirely fail to innovate. Not to mention, they’re boring.

Companies like Hyperloop break all of these rules. There is no MVP, it’s very high risk, there is no angel who specializes in it, it’s a first-time inventor, the company wants to go public, and all the founder has is a scribble on a legal pad to explain how it’s going to work. It goes against all conventional wisdom, but that may be the best investment of our generation.

Bigger societal goals and embracing change

Even though the electrical grid in North America and other developed countries has many known problems only about 1% of the grid is upgraded. There is a large backlog of unrepaired bridges and other infrastructure.

Very little power generation is replaced even though it is well known that existing coal plants are polluting or is an old and inefficient system.

Adopting best practice in infrastructure could boost global infrastructure productivity and save $1 trillion per year within 18 years. This would be a 40% increase in productivity.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks