Hot take, I know - it's contrary to what everyone else is shouting from the rooftops. But hear me out.
In an era of AI, autonomy and a generation of founders with higher agency and drive than ever before, we are being told more and more that it is easier than ever to chase your dreams and create anything you can imagine.
Part of this, to their credit is true. There are now a lot of tools that simplify what would have previously taken up a considerable amount of time for a new founder, or simplified learning lots of very complicated logistics.
However, with all the urgency and motivational talks around becoming a founder and just "doing the thing" we are throwing more and more founders into a sport that they don't know how to play, where they are expected in many cases to already be a professional.
Because anyone can build a product, you now need to be naturally able to communicate that product, the ability to build a network and garner attention, and ambition to compete in a sea of other founders trying to build around you.
It's created this tension in the industry where although starting has never been easier, feeling like you belong in these spaces has never been harder.
When you're trying to set yourself apart in a newly created sea of competition, the only winners become the loudest, the prettiest and in some rare cases the best. When new founders see this landscape it kills a lot of that motivation, or fuels them to do anything to get to the top by any means necessary.
This is, in my opinion why we've also seen so many dark patterns and borderline illegal tactics coming out of new startups. A lot of founders aren't taking the time to learn business and are instead hinging on vitality, which is turning the industry into a massive expanse of kill or be killed.
There are some founders who are taking the high road, watching from afar and learning from the battlefield of what not to do. To all of them, I commend you and wish you luck. But to new founders joining us, I do not think we have created a space that feels nurturing or welcoming, I think we have created a dog eats dog society that's lucky to still have some nice people in it.