We all collectively dodged a bullet after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank which threatened to destroy a whole generation of startups. Had the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank not intervened quickly, many companies would have lost their hard-won deposits and the market collapse would have made it extremely difficult for them to access new financing. Many more companies in and outside the tech sector would have struggled as their products and services stopped working because of reliance on these newly defunct tech companies’ products. While the short-term impact would have been dramatic for our entire economy, the long-term impact would have been far greater because it would have likely resulted in an unparalleled mass extinction event covering a whole generation of companies.

Working harder won’t solve poverty, pollution, social inequality, and dozens of other major challenges we face on this planet. If we want to feed, clothe and house 8 billion people, address the host of health, environmental and other issues, good old fashioned elbow grease isn’t going to do it. But if we become effective at commercializing innovative solutions of passionate entrepreneurs, we stand a chance.