[reason]

People in this space live in a thickly-lined bubble if they think something like Evernote is changing the world. Wisdom is not suddenly bestowed upon you because your note-taking service was recently valued at $1+ billion.

I have always had a really hard time heeding to the advice of rich people who tell you what all the right and wrong reasons to become an entrepreneur are, especially when they start preaching about how it's not about the money, but about the journey.

Also, "don't do it"? I'm sure companies that are having 100x more of an impact in this world than Evernote will ever have were started by people who very bluntly went against that sort of advice. Steve Jobs' "Stay hungry, stay foolish" comes to mind, and I'll side with his blissfully ignorant optimism any day.

[philaquilina]

I think you are thinking of "change the world" in the "topple bad governments, empower the meek, help make this world a utopia" type of way. Evernote is changing the world.

If you make 30 million people's lives just a tad bit easier, then yes, you've changed the world. If you've caused other companies to take note and copy your business strategy/idea and THEY make people's lives easier, then yes you've changed the world.

Yes, he's rich, but I think he's saying that was a side effect of purer motivations. If you're in it to be rich, then you're in it for the wrong reasons. If you're in it create an amazing product and be impactful on a stranger's life, then you're in it for the right reasons.

Just my take. Could be wrong.

[larrys]

"side effect of purer motivations. If you're in it to be rich, then you're in it for the wrong reasons. If you're in it create an amazing product and be impactful on a stranger's life, then you're in it for the right reasons"

"Right reasons". The judgmental-nis of that is what I don't like.

Why do people comment on HN? One reason that I do is because of the good feeling that I get from passing along what I know. I've always liked to teach others what I know online and also offline. Wrapped into that though is the acknowledgement from others that they like what I've said that ends up in the "mental" bank and makes me feel good.

I don't think you can have one without the other. And is there really anything wrong with doing for others even if solely for the "wrong" reason which would be the deposit into the mental bank?

[eli_gottlieb]

If you're in it to be rich, then you're in it for the wrong reasons.

Bullshit! Altruism doesn't involve calculating how much equity to give employees while unsteadily watching your potential valuation numbers.

If you're in it create an amazing product and be impactful on a stranger's life, then you're in it for the right reasons.

That's called open-source, and you don't charge for it.

[niels_olson]

Actually, I think a lot of folks find that to have an impact, you often have to charge for it. Somebody's gotta keep the lights on, and there's a weird tic of human psychology where people associate cost with value. Many an entrepreneur has discovered you can't give it way, yet the more you charge, the more people buy.

[amorphid]

In 2009 I ran out of cash after what I'd describe as a stab at changing the world using a naive & altruistic approach. Now I make money, which is way better :)

[eli_gottlieb]

I'm not saying you can't do well by doing good. I'm just saying that people need to admit they are in business to succeed in business rather than for an altruistic cause. There's a whole sector of benefit-corps, cooperatives, and chartered social enterprises for altruistic causes.

[tensor]

If you are doing well by exploiting people, you shouldn't expect any sort of respect. There are all sorts of charlatans who sell awful damaging products who do well financially. Some more obvious examples are gambling and fake medical products like those holographic armbands or homeopathy.

If your end goal is to make money for yourself at all costs, don't expect any sort of respect or good people to work with.

[FreakLegion]

"Change" has a large semantic field. For example, there's the word "change," and then there's the rallying cry: change. When regular folk talk about changing the world, they're talking about something fundamentally different from what you're talking about.

(Why do so many HN-type entrepreneurs want to make "change the world" apply to toy apps that really do nothing of the kind? There's no reason to feel insecure about building toy apps, so no reason to reframe them as being world-changing, either.)

[pork]

> If you make 30 million people's lives just a tad bit easier, then yes, you've changed the world.

By that reasoning, if I kick a rock on the street and it shifts 10 feet to the left, I've changed the world too.

EDIT: more analogies

* Bic pens have changed the world

* Toilet paper has changed the world

* Shoes have changed the world

[jaredsohn]

Kicking a rock on the street is different than the other examples you gave in that the directly measured impact is minimal.

It is possible that it could cause major change (in a butterfly effect kind of way), but usually it would be hard to measure and predict.

But if you kick a rock and a few days later that rock ends up causing an accident of an "important" person you did in fact "change the world" by kicking that rock.

IMO, the other things that you mentioned have changed the world.

[mcantor]

Dude, if I invented toilet paper or shoes, I would be pretty fuckin' proud.

Just saying.

[jeremyarussell]

I think people are hearing "change the world" and attaching that meaning to two things. First that it must be an altruistic change, and second that it must impact all the world (and hence the entire worlds 7 billion population).

[dkrich]

I completely agree, and it's not because I think he is necessarily wrong. It's just that business rules of any kind are so freaking ridiculous. One person's interpretation of the "right" reasons are no more valid than one person's opinion of the quality of a book or movie.

You say you shouldn't start a business because you want to get rich? I think Sheldon Adelson, Ray Dalio, and Mark Cuban might disagree.

You say you shouldn't start a business because you want to be your own boss? I think Vineyard Vines and 37Signals might disagree.

I think we're in this Steve Jobs era where every successful CEO wants to suddenly espouse Steve Jobs' philosophies as if that will somehow bring them similar successes. But in reality, for every Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, there are thousands of people who yes, just did it for the money. Some succeed, some fail. I'm not sure about the 99% failure statistic, but to just throw that out without any qualification is ridiculous.

I have a good friend who owns a local high-end video equipment rental business. You will never hear of him, but he makes about $250k a year and has an outstanding life. I can assure you he is no rocket scientist and he certainly isn't out to change the world. He just did it and didn't really do much investigating first. I think that's probably the best advice you can give- don't look for generalized advice. It doesn't help you and will probably harm you.

[mhartl]

Evernote is definitely changing the world. I use it almost every day, and my notes are automagically synced across all my devices. I get the impression that I am not alone.

The amount of good a company does is the number of people helped times the average good done per person. If your company is a medical clinic, the number of people is small, and the good per person is large. If your company is Evernote, the good per person is small, but the number of people is enormous. Don't underestimate the value of a company that improves each person's life just a little, but does it by the hundreds of millions.

[jseliger]

Can it be used in a way similar to the fashion Steven Berlin Johnson uses Devonthink Pro: http://www.stevenberlinjohnson.com/movabletype/archives/0002... ?

[taligent]

I am a paying Evernote customer. And let's be honest it doesn't in anyway offer something magical.

iCloud enabled apps (see how well Reminders works on Mountain Lion) are starting to show how well cloud services can work. And Microsoft won't be far behind.

Services like Evernote will be taken down by the onslaught of "automatically synced" apps that is coming. Many of which will be going right for Evernote's jugular.

[dublinclontarf]

I don't know...Evernote is actually the ONLY service online I have ever paid for.

[carguy1983]

I'm 100% sure you're wrong.

[dublinclontarf]

I don't know...Evenote is actually the ONLY service online I have ever paid for.