I’m inclined to agree with much of this. The unfortunate trend I’ve been seeing over the last few years are founders building businesses to scale and sell, rather than actually help people, solve problems, and benefit society. I work with a lot of startups and maybe 2 out of 10 are actually run by decent people who aren’t driven solely by greed and ego. And it gets worse when I think about the composition of founders where Elon Musk-obsessed white males continue to outpace funding while women and POC struggle to get a seat at the table.

All their projections (and valuations) aim not for long-term viability, but for buy-out and this has always disturbed me. They care about numbers at the expense of their brand and actually cultivating real relationships with their customers and making a contribution to the society that pads their paychecks.

Publicly, they shout their altruism because it’s trendy and makes for positive press, but privately most want that golden ticket after hustling for 3–5 years.