The 5 Biggest Challenges Our Startup Culture Must Overcome

By Jason Demers
Founder and CEO, Audiencebloom.
It’s a pretty good time to be an entrepreneur. Startup
funding is abundant. Stories of successful
entrepreneurs make headlines on a daily basis.
Technological innovation has opened the door to
countless opportunities, and more free resources are
available to prospective entrepreneurs than ever
before. All in all, given the support of our capitalist
values and the efforts of seasoned and novice
entrepreneurs alike, it’s fair to say we’ve built a
thriving startup culture.
Related: 4 Big Challenges That Startups Face
But as with most cultures, ours isn’t perfect. We
aren’t doing everything we can to support new
entrepreneurs, nor are we doing our part to create a
culture that’s both efficient and sustainable. There
are serious obstacles that need to be addressed, or
we’re all going to pay the price:
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1. Funding is lumping toward established
enterprises.
As I’ve written before, startup funding is more
plentiful than it’s ever been before -- but that doesn’t
mean it’s available to all entrepreneurs equally.
Instead, it’s lumped together to fund only the biggest,
best-established, most promising businesses.
This makes logical sense for the investors;
they obviously want to invest in the companies with
the highest proven chance of success. However, it
also means disproportionately fewer opportunities
for entrepreneurs who haven’t been able to attract an
initial client base or a following on their own. This is
discouraging to new entrepreneurs, because it
artificially limits the pool of potential innovators who
could be driving our economy forward.
2. Entrepreneurial diversity is lacking.
We’re making some good progress when it comes to
diversity among entrepreneurs, but minority and
women business owners are still disproportionately
absent, compared to white males. Similarly, the high
rate of serial entrepreneurship means that a
surprising majority of new businesses are being
started by seasoned business owners, rather than
new blood.
The end result is limited potential; alternately, new
types of entrepreneurs from many different
backgrounds would lead to new perspectives and
new ideas. Otherwise, we’re bound to our old
standards and a restricted pattern of growth.
Related: The Top 5 Challenges Facing Big Data
Startups Today
3. Replication trumps inspiration.
Unfortunately, our startup obsession has led to the
institution of certain stereotypes, tropes and
structures. Think of the typical startup’s company
culture, and you’ll probably think of a bunch of young
guys and girls in casual, hipster-inspired clothes,
sitting on sofas with Macbooks, and behind them, a
ping pong table in the break room.
But beyond culture, most new startups are merely
reimagined versions of previously successful apps
and ideas: Think of all the social media platforms that
have cropped up, or how many Uber-like businesses
have struggled for relevance. This is because we
nurture replication more than inspiration; we’re
more prone to favor ideas similar to ones we know
are successful than to gamble on something entirely
novel. As a result, our collective inspiration is stifled.
4. Innovation is dying.
In the words of Neil DeGrasse Tyson, “Society has
bigger problems than what can be solved with your
next app.” Basically, the drive to create the
latest and greatest technology often has more to do
with refining the efficiency or entertainment value of
minutiae, like organizing your notes better or finding
more hilarious ways to prank your friends.
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This stands in stark contrast to technological
innovation for solving issues like poverty, hunger and
discrimination, or scientific pursuits like artificial
intelligence development or interstellar travel. This
isn’t to say these pursuits aren’t being addressed or
developed, but they’re certainly less sexy and less
popular than the latest fun app for your mobile
device. If we want to prolong our success as a culture
and a country, we need to do more to incentivize
these kinds of innovation.
5. The stigma of failure.
In our Western, capitalistic culture, there exists a
persistent stigma of failure. To fail is to have
disappointed, and is associated with negative
feelings. Moreover, failure is often seen as
permanent.
Rather than exploring the roots of this cultural
perspective (which are numerous), we should be
examining its effects. Because failure is something to
be feared, fewer prospective entrepreneurs move
their plans forward, fewer existing entrepreneurs
take risks and fewer “failed” entrepreneurs ever try
again. Instead of stigmatizing failure, we should be
celebrating it; only through failure can we learn from
our mistakes, adapt and eventually move forward.
Entrepreneurship isn’t about one person becoming
rich. The Kauffman Foundation describes startups
and small businesses as the single biggest factor
responsible for job creation (and therefore,
economic growth). If there’s a problem in our startup
culture, it means there’s a problem in our economy
which must be corrected if we’re going to continue
along this path.
Related: 5 Challenges Facing Education-Tech
Startups
I love being a part of this culture -- both as an
entrepreneur in my own right and as a supporting
player -- but I can’t address these obstacles alone. We
have to work together if we want to change the
climate.