New Life Goal: Change Culture

This past weekend, I mentored at Startup Weekend EDU. A couple of the groups were pretty amazing, but mostly, I just felt like something was off, like a major point was being missed. Many teams were building small tools, but not something to actually change an industry. Don’t get me wrong, tools are valuable - but it’s not what moves me. Tools are not enough. I’m moved by tools that change systems and create real cultural shifts.

And then, this came out of my hand unintentionally:

You see, it’s not about education per se. It’s about empowering people to control their path, to pursue their happiness. It’s about enabling people to better themselves, to progress. This is what the real game changers in education are focusing on. This is where the real market opportunity lies.

Our generation has been screwed. We were promised jobs that don’t exist, homes that we’ll never own, medical care that we can’t afford. There isn’t much that we can depend on in the long run. But we can better ourselves. We can create our own mobility. We can do what is in our power to move to closer towards our own fulfillment and dreams. This is why the education space is so hot right now. The access barriers are breaking. We’re currently also seeing this with content and ownership. We’ve already seen this with information. Soon, we’ll see this in the health sector as well.

The fulfillment industry doesn’t quite exist yet. I’m not sure if it ever fully will or even if it should exist. We can build products to assist with fulfillment, but the actual pursuit and obtainment of it is so personal and requires a shift in thinking and in the way we perceive the world, a shift in culture.

So, I have set a life goal. Build a business that changes culture.