> Here I was, living the Silicon Valley dream: making the world a better place through technology.
I don’t know how this has become a thing people believe, however widely it might be believed. But if it’s representative of SV or tech innovation at all, it’s either wildly distorted through a wealthy person’s pet futurism project—or held in the imagination of someone aspiring to that stature. SV is about making money, that’s it, that’s the whole story.
The totally overlapping error here was assuming those things—making the world better, and making money—aren’t inherently in conflict. And overlapping that: assuming that a profit driven health care system has altruistic goals as such, rather than in concert with its profit-driving priorities.
This project could have been successful (and could still do if the author or anyone else wants to pursue it). And it could have been a valuable contribution to society.
The author would probably have realized this error if he’d considered entering a global market where health care has different economic incentives. Programs like this which help people are funded by government contracts and grants, not by payment from arbitrary people acting on their arbitrary interests.