A Network of Companies On a Mission to Remake the World
In Search of Daring Ideas
If you want to know what the world will look like in 10 or 20 years from now, look no further than the companies that are being built today.
In 2017, nearly 85 billion dollars of capital was poured into early-stage ventures. This enormous influx of capital was spread across nearly ten thousand companies: that’s ten thousand chances to shape the world our children live in.
The construct of capitalism is meant to ensure that the ideas getting funded are the things our society needs the most. Venture capital trends tell us that we’re betting hard on mixed reality, blockchain, AI, and quantum computing to carry the world forward. Yet, what do we really know about how these innovations will affect our society? And how confident are we that the majority of today’s startups will make a significant, positive impact on the world?
The Daring Collective exists to catalyze companies that are working on society's most challenging problems.
Fellow entrepreneur and long-time friend Evan Baehr and I have often asked the question: why is it so rare to find a company that is actually taking on the biggest problems in society? In response to this prompt, we started the Daring Collective as a way to unite and support founders who are focused on fixing the most complicated problems at the core of our culture and society.
Given that there’s no official government consensus or independent study that quantifiably defines what the highest priority problems currently are, we decided to look at the intersection of where human suffering meets viable opportunities for innovation. From San Francisco to LA and New York to Austin, we spent over six months talking to nearly a hundred startups across a wide array of industries including real estate, education, healthcare, housing, and finance. We listened to founders tell us about the companies they’re building and the challenges they’re trying to solve. We talked to investors about the ideas they’re most excited about and what they are looking to fund. And we analyzed cultural studies and research findings to get a sense for what problems in society seem to be the most pronounced, prolific, and under-addressed. The companies we encountered range from practical to radical, even crazy. After conversations around the origin stories, mission statements, and business models of hundreds of companies, we reached this conclusion: founders setting out to solve fundamental human problems need a lot of support–from capital to talent, brand to distribution.
If you’re trying to solve the loneliness epidemic, restore civility to society, or alleviate the student debt crisis with for-profit solutions, there aren’t many existing competitors ripe to be disrupted. The reality for companies addressing complicated social issues like homelessness or addiction is that its not merely about bringing innovation to upend an antiquated industry. Building better tech, designing an incredible user interface, or crafting a more winsome brand alone won’t be enough. These for-profit companies must solve complicated, sometimes controversial problems while also creating a product, service, or experience that people will pay for. While most companies exist to make a profit on the slow drip of an endless problem, these ventures on a mission to get rid of the problem altogether.
Introducing the first Collective: ten companies on a mission to remake the world.
The Daring Collective is an assembly of ordinary people making extraordinary bets on what the world needs. It is an alliance of entrepreneurs willing to take big problems head on, and who think the best way to do so is through starting a for-profit company.
The Collective serves as a network to support existing founders and to inspire a future generation of entrepreneurs to start mission-focused ventures. To do this, we provide programming around tactical areas like fundraising and narrative development. We produce media and content that spotlights the founders and their ideas. And we host events that bring together entrepreneurs, investors, and talent.
Today, we’re excited to announce the founding members of the Daring Collective. We’ve been honored to get to know each of these founders over the last year and watch as they build companies driven by powerful ideas:
Icon is reimagining housing with advanced robotics that can 3D print a home in 24 hours.
EIC is restoring the American Dream by removing the risks inherent in higher education.
Better Place is North America’s first sustainable forest for cremation burials.
Cabin is a moving hotel that transports you to your favorite places while you sleep.
Roster is improving care for chronically ill patients through community engagement.
Edugate is the world’s first career matchmaking platform for high school students.
The Flip Side is creating a new type of media platform to restore American civility.
Zinsur is a helping enable Americans to afford the rising cost of healthcare.
Craftwork is creating a new community space at the intersection of home and work.
Canopy is empowering families to create a customized and healthy Internet experience.
The goal of the Daring Collective is to be an influential catalyst of community, connection, and capital. As such, we’re always eager to be introduced to founders and companies that would be a good fit for this shared mission.
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