First, let’s actually try to understand (a little) the way the world works. Take a step back from anthropocentrism, then take another, and what we have is a Universe as an entropy-maximizing dynamic that evolves according to certain rules. When many, many layers of complexity are added to this Universe you get life, humanity, society, economy, business, conflict, etc. This is called emergence. Thermodynamics emerges from aggregate motion of particles. Art emerges from civilization. etc. New rules appear but underlying rules remain the same. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy goes up, and so it does. At the level of society, we experience this as the appearance of novel problems. From physics to art, problems arise everywhere. Any society that wants to survive this dynamic must be antifragile to this reality — it must feed off of it, it must extract order out of chaos, more order out of more chaos, it must thrive on chaos.
What does such a society look like? It looks like a society of tinkerers and risk takers, restless innovators and adventurous investors. In other words, it looks like a society of startups. It is a society where systems and networks that keep it together are constantly challenged lest they become ineffectual in addressing the deluge of new problems. When those systems and networks — companies, institutions — survive, they become a foundation, a platform for innovation and emergence. But most of them stagnate and fester readily; they evolve to avoid problems through various defense mechanisms instead of solving them, poisoning and eating through the society they are embedded in. It is the job of startups to constantly check them and act as a disinfectant. Disruption is medicine.
Everything else is just wallpaper. Startups are the muscle and bone of a dynamic society. When they are free to grow, a society is free. When they are stymied, a society becomes a slave to another society or goes out of existence. So how do we encourage tinkerers and risk takers? How do we incentivize innovators and investors? What is the climate necessary for the tree of innovation to grow and prosper? And how does AI and generative tech fill the branches of this tree? All of this and more in my next column. For now, rest assured about one thing: the fuel of startups is human drive. Insatiable spirit, endless motivation. Why Ukraine? You don’t fully realize it, but you have it in spades. Let’s start with that, and build the Silicon Valley of Europe.