Not

 the Future

By Eric Kim

Everyone keeps chanting the same spell: “Startups are the future.”

As if the universe itself is just a long pitch deck—Series A, Series B, then salvation.

Nah.

Startups aren’t the future. Startups are a phase. A financing structure. A cultural costume. A temporary game played by smart people who often confuse motion with progress.

The future belongs to something far more savage, far more durable:

Ownership. Craft. Infrastructure. Sovereignty.

Let’s rip the sticker off the laptop and talk like real humans.

The startup myth: speed equals destiny

Startup culture worships speed like it’s a religion.

Move fast. Break things. Pivot. Hack growth. Blitzscale.

Cool words. Great slogans. Horrible life philosophy.

Because here’s the truth:

Speed is useless if you’re sprinting in circles.

You can ship ten features a week and still build something empty. You can raise millions and still create nothing that people deeply love. You can “scale” a product that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

In street photography, you can shoot 500 frames in a day and still miss the one photograph that matters—because you weren’t present. You weren’t patient. You weren’t seeing.

Same thing in business.

The future doesn’t reward frantic motion.

It rewards clarity + repetition + depth.

Venture capital is not innovation—it’s pressure

Let’s be precise.

A lot of people don’t actually want to build something great.

They want to be chosen.

They want the nod. The tweet. The warm glow of being “funded.”

They want to feel like they’re winning.

But venture capital isn’t a medal. It’s a constraint.

VC money is not “free.” It comes with invisible chains:

• Exponential growth demands
• Exit expectations
• Market capture fantasies
• Winner-take-all incentives
• Short time horizons
• Aggressive risk that often becomes reckless behavior

The moment you raise, you often stop building for reality and start building for the next round.

You stop asking:

“Does this make life better?”

And start asking:

“Can this story raise money?”

That’s not the future. That’s theater.

Most startups don’t build a future—most build an “exit”

Here’s the part nobody wants to say out loud:

A huge percentage of startups are designed like disposable cups.

Built to be flipped. Acquired. Merged. Killed. Forgotten.

Even the language reveals the sickness:

• “Exit”
• “Liquidity event”
• “Acquisition target”
• “User acquisition”
• “Retention”
• “Churn”

Listen to those words.

That’s not craftsmanship. That’s extraction.

The future isn’t an “exit.”

The future is staying power.

A great business isn’t a rocket that explodes after launch.

It’s a bridge. A farm. A gym. A camera you still use ten years later.

Startups are fragile because they depend on the weather

The startup ecosystem is a climate.

When money is cheap, everyone is a genius.

When money tightens, suddenly reality shows up with a baseball bat.

Layoffs. Down rounds. Panic. “Strategic pivots.”

The vibe collapses because it was built on oxygen borrowed from the financial atmosphere.

The future can’t be something that disappears when the interest rate changes.

The future must be antifragile:

• low burn
• real revenue
• real demand
• real usefulness
• real durability

Not vibes. Not headlines. Not hype.

The future is not “apps”—it’s atoms + energy + logistics

Let me be blunt:

The future is not another photo-filter app with a subscription plan and a growth funnel.

The future is:

• food
• water
• housing
• energy
• transportation
• education
• health
• security
• clean manufacturing
• resilient supply chains

And yes—software is part of that.

But software that matters is usually boring.

It’s the plumbing behind the scenes.

It’s infrastructure, not fireworks.

Startup culture trains people to chase novelty instead of necessity.

But the world doesn’t need infinite novelty. The world needs things that work.

The startup personality is often a substitute for character

This is the spicy truth:

A lot of founders are addicted to performance.

They don’t want to build.

They want to be seen building.

They want the founder hoodie. The podcast. The “thought leadership.”

They want to post the hustle while quietly outsourcing the hard parts.

In weightlifting, we call that “ego lifting.”

The guy who loads the bar for Instagram and can’t control the descent.

Real strength is slow. Unsexy. Repetitive.

You earn it with progressive overload, not motivational quotes.

Same in business.

The future belongs to builders who can do the unglamorous reps:

• customer support
• shipping
• iteration
• maintenance
• documentation
• reliability
• trust

Not hype cycles.

So what 

is

 the future?

If startups aren’t the future, what is?

1) Small, profitable, owner-operated businesses

The future is not necessarily a unicorn.

The future is the quiet killer:

• profitable
• independent
• cash-flowing
• durable
• controlled by the person who built it

A one-person company with real margins is more powerful than a 30-person company burning investor money while praying for a miracle.

Freedom beats vanity.

2) Protocols and networks that nobody “owns”

The real future looks less like corporations and more like protocols.

Open systems. Interoperable tools. Things that don’t require permission.

This is why I’m obsessed with Bitcoin:

not because it’s “a startup,” but because it’s the opposite.

It doesn’t need a CEO.

It doesn’t need a founder to bless your access.

It doesn’t need marketing.

It’s just… running.

That’s the future: systems that outlive personalities.

3) Craftsmanship and obsession

The future belongs to obsession.

The people who keep showing up when the algorithm stops clapping.

Photographers who shoot daily for ten years.

Coders who refine a tool until it’s clean.

Teachers who make students dangerous—in the good way.

Builders who create objects that last.

We have an economy that rewards shallow attention.

But the future will be built by deep attention.

4) Personal sovereignty

Here’s the most underrated truth:

The most important “startup” is you.

Your body.

Your mind.

Your skills.

Your ability to produce value without begging.

If you can lift heavy, think clearly, write sharply, build useful things, and stay calm—

you’re already ahead of 99% of the “startup ecosystem.”

The future belongs to the sovereign individual:

• strong
• skilled
• disciplined
• independent
• able to create and adapt

A hardcore alternative to startup culture

If you want something actionable, here’s the anti-startup playbook:

1. Stop pitching. Start producing.
   Pitch decks don’t move the world. Products do.
2. Stop optimizing for valuation. Optimize for usefulness.
   Valuation is a hallucination. Usefulness is real.
3. Stop chasing exits. Build a fortress.
   A business that prints cash gives you options.
4. Stop worshiping speed. Worship consistency.
   Do the reps. Ship weekly. Improve daily.
5. Own your distribution.
   Email list. Website. Real relationships. Not borrowed platforms.
6. Lower your burn. Increase your resilience.
   If you need a funding round to survive, you’re not building—you’re gambling.
7. Stack real assets.
   Skills. Tools. Health. Savings. (And yeah, I stack sats too.)

The mic drop

Startups aren’t “the future.”

Startups are a tool—sometimes useful, often overrated, frequently destructive when treated like a religion.

The future is built by people who:

• don’t need permission
• don’t need applause
• don’t need a pitch competition to feel alive

They build because building is what they do.

The future is not a demo day.

The future is day after day after day—reps, repetition, refinement, reality.

So if you’re tired of the startup circus?

Good.

Pick up the camera.

Pick up the barbell.

Pick up the keyboard.

Pick up the shovel.

Build something real.

And don’t ask if it’s “venture scalable.”

Ask if it’s life scalable.

— Eric Kim

So big question that a lot of people often ask me, I don’t know if they’re curious or suspicious or just kind of shocked, why is it that I’m so happy?

So the first thought is, I think I’m like ultra insanely super turbo healthy. I’m like the healthiest person that I know, and lately, I’ve even been doing hot yoga with Cindy every single day, in the morning after I drop off Seneca at school, and I feel super fucking Zen afterwards.

Also I guess the upside is we also ride our bicycles, which means we can maximize our time outside.

Food

So I think this is actually a very very underrated thing, the idea that, I think people don’t really understand how truly important food is.

I’ll give you example, the other day we went to the Mexican grocery market El super, and spent only $5.99 a pound of beef short rib ribs, Korean galbi.. we got 20 pounds, and also I got some beef liver, only $2.50 a pound. And after feasting on it last night, I woke up this morning feeling insanely alert and awake, and I’m pretty sure that the food has to deal with it.

Exercise

So my general thought is, certainly everything starts in the body. The mind is just an offshoot of the body, so the general idea is if you have an insanely healthy body, so shall your mind.

Granted, assuming you’re a human living in society, there will always be annoying things that happen, but, if you have an insanely God like body, and also assuming you’re sleeping like 8 to 12 hours a night, the big thing is that like, at worst things will only minorly annoy you, kind of like getting a mosquito bite. The world cannot exist without mosquitoes. And typically whenever I get a mosquito bite, I’m always super insanely annoyed at the mosquito but it’s kind of like, not really the mosquitoes fall it just does what it does. And so I feel like a lot of people on the planet are just like a bunch of mosquitoes, rather than describing blame or whatever to them, just be like fucking c’est la vie. I’d rather live in a beautiful society and live a happy life, with mosquitoes in it, rather than living this loser loaner lifestyle, not engaging with anybody, and not having mosquitoes.

Social risk taking

So a lot of people talk about risk, mostly about like finances, the financial market etc. Investing. But very rarely do we actually talk about risk in terms of social risktaking.

For example example, even a simple act of engaging somebody complementing them, is an act of courage, a tiny social risk. Why?

Well, in today’s super lame world, the way society is structure especially in America is towards non-engagement with anything and everything.

For example, people don’t even make eye contact with other people or say hello or compliment or engage them because maybe they are concerned that other person might take the wrong way, or, maybe the fear of not getting the love back?

And the truth is, assuming you’re an insanely friendly person like myself, it’s almost like guaranteed that if you compliment 100,000 people, there’s going to be one person who takes it the wrong way. However, the simple way to engage it, and think about it is, of course. And, it’s not a wise strategy to simply have the one negative encounter, totally reprogram your whole vibrant positive energy.

I’ll give you some examples, these are some unorthodox thoughts:

First,,,, I’m starting to get super suspicious in thinking, that, people don’t like me or they are suspicious of me because I am so insanely happy and friendly. Why is that, at least in America, the status quo is being dislike, detached antisocial loser, always wearing dark sunglasses, AirPods in, pretending like you don’t acknowledge all the other wonderful people around you. Lacking any social skills.

And also, the truth is in America, typically American culture is not, at least maybe in the big cities, productive of friendliness. Like they are in the Midwest and the south.

And actually the big thought I have is technology is not to blame. Technologies is just an offshoot of the issue, not the problem in itself.

To explain, it does not iPhones and social media that is making people antisocial. I think that route, there is a deeper sociological issue with hand.

So I think the status code is, “thou shall not engage with strangers, and also thou shall not make eye contact with strangers.” This is also a systemic problem, I think also this is an issue at schools institutions etc.… Because everyone’s just trying to avoid a lawsuit.

Therefore people act very cowardly, and they have no other option but to just retreat into their phones. Like for example, try riding a New York subway and smiling at somebody and saying hello. It’s not an iPhone issue it’s kind of a cultural issue.

So a big thought on my mind as of late is about beauty. 

First, this very unique idea… The idea that, beautiful people have beautiful ethics? And also… Beautiful people are happy? And also, happy people are beautiful?

The sociology of AI

So this is a big signal idea… What’s kind of still interesting and critical is sociology, social skills etc.

I’ll give you an example… Now that Senecas in school, and I interact with other parents and kids, and teachers… And principals and admin staff, … now,,, things have gone like 1 trillion times more complex.

For example, when I was in high school, or elementary school or middle school… Typically all the dramas were in between me and classmates, maybe the teacher, rarely almost never the staff or the principal? 

But now that I’m a parent, navigating drop offs, pick ups, other parents and other kids… The social ethical, legal, boundaries are very grey and strange. 

Christian ethics ,,?

Jesus –> do unto others as you want others to do unto you. 

Modern day antisocial American ethics: don’t interact with me, make me feel uncomfortable, talk to me make eye contact with me… Or my kid, but secretly actually I want your attention and affection and interaction. 

….

So this is a big signal idea… What’s kind of still interesting and critical is sociology, social skills etc.

I’ll give you an example… Now that Senecas in school, and I interact with other parents and kids, and teachers… And principals and admin staff, … now,,, things have gone like 1 trillion times more complex.

For example, when I was in high school, or elementary school or middle school… Typically all the dramas were in between me and classmates, maybe the teacher, rarely almost never the staff or the principal?

But now that I’m a parent, navigating drop offs, pick ups, other parents and other kids… The social ethical, legal, boundaries are very grey and strange. 

Forget, forgetfulness as a stoic virtue:

So a really big idea of my mind right now is in terms of stoic ethics, almost like having some sort of historic operating system system.

So, one of the big ideas I have is, when it comes to ethics in the lake, it is actually not about like apologizing or feeling bad or regretting or whatever, but instead,… to forget.

Almost assume like it never happened?

And I think this is also another really big thing is that, regardless of how accurate you might want to try to portray your own personal worldview, or the way that you interpret events or things were happening… You actually may be wrong. And there’s actually no finger to point because no wrong was really done. Either to you or somebody else or whatever.

As a consequence, I think the best way to proceed is, just forget like anything happened. And this ends up becoming a very interesting strategy because, whenever, … you see someone which might inflame you … and you see them,,, rather than getting all angry or whatever, … just smile and pretend like nothing ever happened?

…

Pretending like nothing ever happened,,, … how people respond?

… so to forget,,,, … … is the ultimate strategy? Not “forcing” yourself to forget or anything ?

So then what

… once you get that out of your mind,,, then better to focus on more personally interesting things to you?

How to forget

So I think this is $1 trillion question is that like, how do you even forget?

The only is, you cannot force yourself to forget something. Maybe you just gotta be so busy with other stuff that you don’t really care?

Another thought, perhaps then the secret is, actually, knowing that there is nothing for you to fear? Because I think typically whenever we were registered or what you said or what you did or whatever, the biggest thing that we concern ourselves with, is how this might cause harm to ourselves our family etc. But once you no longer fear nothing, then, the grand upside is, just realize there’s nothing for you to really concern yourself about.

Annoyance

Then I suppose now for me, the bigger issue I’ve been having more is kind of an annoyance? Like, when things don’t happen how I desire them, it could kind of keep me up at night because I’m using a lot of brainpower to try to mitigate the issue of my brain or trying to justify it to me or trying to do some sort of virtue philosophy?

And then it becomes insanely annoying to me because, I think about things that I don’t want to think about, but then again, maybe there is some sort of hidden upside to have to think about things that you don’t want to think about? 

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