Why Occupy Wall Street, When You Could Start Your Own Company?

Posted in Business, Technology

Over a few weeks, the awfully-organized anarchists (if they were really well organized, would they really be anarchists after all) have turned Zuccotti Park into a real camp that they intend to occupy through winter. Although I can’t disagree with their motivations, Jason Calacanis argues that their techniques are outdated. Why protest on the street when you could do something truly disruptive by starting a company?

The Airbnb kids created a billion-dollar business that has made it possible for anyone to stay on another person’s couch or in their guest house. They’ve royally screwed big corporations — the hotel chains — by democratizing travel while giving individuals the ability to make extra money.

Airbnb is a much more effective protest than shutting down the Brooklyn Bridge.

Airbnb is radical.

Sitting in a park waiting for RadioHead is not radical.

Selling your company for a billion dollars and having RadioHead play your birthday party, which is also a fundraiser for education? That’s radical!

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Protesting in the streets is outdated in an already free society like ours. In Egypt with a clear-cut message like “Mubarak step down?” For sure, protest away. In America with a clear-cut message of… ummm…. what is the message of OWS again? OWS really needs a mission statement!

It’s lame to protest for more jobs when you will so easily create them by starting a company.

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Now get out of your tents, learn to code and make something that changes the world.

You’re 100% right that the system is rigged and the opportunity to be disproportionally rich has never been so easy.

So go get that money that is so easy to acquire and use it to make the world a better place.

Time to pack up your sleeping bag and find a co-working space and build something methinks. Or, heck, stay in the park and build a company down there–it’s cheaper and I’m sure there are a couple of dozen awesome UX designers and sysadmins down there right?

Read the complete post on Launch - Be the 1%: Chamath, Airbnb, Occupy Wall Street and the Choice Millennials Should Make.