Skip to main content
Entrepreneurship

Big Ideas

By January 22, 2015May 26th, 2015No Comments

Holy Sh!t!

Google (along with Fidelity) just invested a BILLION dollars into SpaceX.

This. Is. BIG!

I find this fascinating; not only because of the actual investment aspect, but because the future is whatever an entrepreneur dreams it or wills it to be.

Before I dive deeper into that, let me first try and wrap my head around the fact that SpaceX is only worth $10 Billion while Uber is worth $41 Billion.

Now, I get how valuations work and I get that building rockets and sending them to space is risky.

But seriously?

THEY GO TO SPACE!

I should note that I’m a huge fan of Uber and other ride sharing apps, checkout my blog on giving up driving.

What makes this investment such a big deal to me is that it not only gives SpaceX the runway it needs to continue it’s mission to Mars (eventually.) It’s that, these guys (including Mark Zuckerberg and his efforts with Internet.org) collectively understand that in order for continued growth, we need to connect “The other 3 billion” with internet.

This investment, among other things, will allow SpaceX (and Google) to bring the internet to the rest of the world and you guessed it, ultimately space (Mars).

I’ve always believed that it’s entrepreneurs who are going to change the world, but now I should rethink that to Galaxy? Or even Universe?

I get that “changing the world” sounds so unattainable to some, but it’s why I do what I do. It’s the opportunity to leave a legacy of good in a world that is sometimes lacking. It’s about solving real problems and exploring the “impossible.”

There’s a quote I heard sometime ago that has always stuck with me.

“In my life…I want to impact a person, commerce and a skyline.”

As I sit here at 37,000 feet, flying to meet with great entrepreneurs in Baltimore, I can’t help but think of what a truly fascinating time in history we live in.

Anyone with a good idea and the passion to execute it has a legitimate opportunity to change the world.

Now obviously, guys like Elon Musk, Larry Page and Sergey Brin aren’t just anyone.

These guys have already changed the world several times over.

They’ve, among other things, (not even close to an extensive list):

  • Changed the way people make payments (Paypal, Elon Musk)
  • Done only what governments have done by putting rockets into orbit (SpaceX, Elon Musk)
  • Indexed and made accessible ALL of the worlds knowledge at our fingertips (Google, Larry Page & Sergey Brin)

My point here is, (and I realize by not doing my research I’m likely making a stretch or two here… So those of you smarter than me and have the time please share!) I don’t think there’s ever been a time in human history where visionaries have had the combination of wealth, knowledge, influence and most importantly TIME.

Generally speaking, most major figures in history didn’t have this combination until it was too late – when they finally reached the top they ran out of time (died).

In contrast, these guys, like many other entrepreneurs of our time, are young and have the means to create the future they want to see.

Elon Musk thinks it’s necessary to go to Mars because if Humans don’t get off this rock we call Earth and become interplanetary, we will go extinct.

Larry Page & Sergey Brin are taking “Moon Shots” and trying to extend Human life expectancy by creating autonomous cars (car wrecks are one of the biggest killers of humans).

These are BIG ideas.

The rest of the world (that will get connected to the Internet because of this deal) sees the world through a much different lens than the rest of us. I can only imagine the types of problems they will find solutions to. Perhaps, things we’ve never even thought of.

The future is whatever an entrepreneur wants it to be. If you’re an entrepreneur out there, what is your vision of the future?

P.S. I’m challenging myself to write more in 2015, I’m not sure how this is going to evolve, but I’m committed to it. I’ll be writing about what we do at Think Big, the projects I’m working on, what I’m reading, startup life, mindfulness, competitive BBQ and whatever else strikes me or I get feedback on. Sign up for my newsletter here or at the top of the page.

Next Post