The Future

What I see as the inevitable...

The other day I mentioned to someone what I thought was an ‘inevitable future’. I didn’t think too much about it as I thought it was an average thought - one that the masses also believed or at least had thought about. The thought was that eventually - we, as a society, will get to a point where some form of universal basic income (UBI) will be provided to the majority of the world’s population. Though some will not accept this payment initially out of pride or political ideology etc. - over time we will reach a consensus that this payment is the new normal. With everyone having it no one does. This ‘supplemental income’ if you will, leads us, as a global population, to start doing/working/building in absence of the prospective financial output associated with it. Of course, some humans already live their life full time this way, but many do not. This is where the saying work to live or live to work stems from. 

By having all of our needs met I believe there will be an interesting shift in interpersonal dynamics. Work incentives will have to become more creative, as a bonus or a stock option won’t be as enticing. Initial unemployment numbers will skyrocket, but over time people will stop looking for work and that number will gradually lessen, but for the first time in US history it will not necessarily be a positive sign of our economy. It may mean that when presented with a choice - many choose to rest indefinitely instead of work. While this is maybe seen as the cynical view of what may happen to society, in this scenario there is also a positive view to be taken. Having most of your needs covered will allow for uncapped innovation, tinkering and problem solving. We may, after a period of rest and restoration, start to not just solve the problems closest to us, but those farther away, and we may meet those needs without a requirement of financial compensation. We will build in a non scalable way and will think about problems manually as there may be little additional out of pocket expenditure for our side work. 

What does this all mean for the entrepreneurial community? Initially, I was scared for this seemingly inevitable future. Selfishly, I thought capital providers would be less needed, so VCs wouldn’t get to be a part of as many exciting founder journeys, but as I thought about it more I now think that this will lead to an explosion of entrepreneurship. The honed VC skill of discernment will truly be tested, but for those that have sharpened this skill, it may be a future we could only have dreamed of. It is like when you go on a streaming platform without any idea of what you want to watch. If you have no north star, the process may be overwhelmingly poor, but if you go in with focus (which does not mean you ignore other options, but that you come in prepared) you’ll see great content every time. 

Would be fascinated to know how ‘inevitable’ they believe this future or some similar future is to them?