Build something that matters

The most highly funded startups by state.

Years ago I wrote an article about building something from nothing.  Years later that doesn't cut it. It isn't enough to just build something. You have to build something significant and profound.

There many startups at Carnegie Mellon University, the world's leading institution for artificial intelligence. When you talk to the people building them, you'll quickly realize that these people rarely think about the business - they are thinking about the technology. These companies consist of a magical sensor, a web of sensors, or stream of data. These companies assume that customers exist who need such magical sensors. Sometimes it is true. Sometimes people really do need that missing piece of data. But many times, only one person needed it. 

Designing the business is altogether different. In many ways, a great business doesn't require a great technology. Often the business model is really old.  Buy low and sell high. Information arbitrage. If you can find the business model that has always worked then accelerate it with novel technology, it will probably work. Why? Because people are usually getting something they can't get somewhere else. They are getting something special. The transaction is faster, but the product actually matters.

So do that. Build things that matter.