- Startup Archive
- Posts
- Why Larry Page said he’d leave his money to Elon Musk if he got hit by a bus
Why Larry Page said he’d leave his money to Elon Musk if he got hit by a bus
In this panel with Elon Musk, venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson tells a story of Google cofounder Larry Page saying he should leave all of his money to Elon Musk:
“I could give my money to a nonprofit and a lot less would get done than a corporation that’s pursuing things that are directly aligned with things I care about, like getting off of oil and colonizing other planets.”
Page believes in those missions and thinks that “a corporation endowed with the right to do that as its business purpose is the best vehicle out there.”
Jurvetson contrasts this with the approach of Bill Gates who spent the first half of his life building a gigantic for-profit company and the second half working with non-profits.
A “purpose-driven business” could offer the best of both worlds.
In fact, Jurvetson shares that the best-performing startups in his venture portfolio often have compelling missions.
Sam Altman advocates for this approach as well when he argues it’s easier to start a hard company than an easy company:
“The most precious commodity in the startup ecosystem right now is talented people, and for the most part, talented people want to work on something they find meaningful… An easy startup is a headwind; a hard startup is a tailwind. If people care about your success because you seem committed to doing something significant, it’s a background force helping you with hiring, advice, partnerships, fundraising, etc.”