{"id":239,"date":"2014-08-06T09:03:10","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T09:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/80000hours.org\/?post_type=career_profile&#038;p=239"},"modified":"2025-10-13T15:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T15:23:20","slug":"tech-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"career_profile","link":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/","title":{"rendered":"Found a tech&nbsp;startup"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":74831,"parent":0,"menu_order":33,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[315,419,1386,1422,1208,1406,1360,322,1318,1362],"class_list":["post-239","career_profile","type-career_profile","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice-strategy","category-career-capital","category-career-paths","category-entrepreneurship","category-exploration","category-founding-a-tech-startup","category-job-satisfaction-career-advice-strategy","category-personal-fit","category-risk","category-skills-skill-building-and-career-capital-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Found a tech startup | Career review | 80,000 Hours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If you want to change the world should you start a startup?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Technology entrepreneurship is a very high-potential path, offering good career capital, with a chance of both high earnings and large direct impact. Overall, we think more people should try this path. However, it\u2019s also one of the most difficult paths, and only suits a relatively small number of people. Consider this career if you think you can develop strong technical skills, as well as the ability to deal with high risk of failure, work very long hours and do something unconventional.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"80,000 Hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-13T15:23:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/og-image1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"If you want to change the world, should you start a startup?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Technology entrepreneurship is a very high-potential path, offering good career capital, with a chance of both high earnings and large direct impact. Overall, we think more people should try this path. However, it\u2019s also one of the most difficult paths, and only suits a relatively small number of people. Consider this career if you think you can develop strong technical skills, as well as the ability to deal with high risk of failure, work very long hours and do something unconventional.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/103229818-GettyImages-477479579.1910x1000.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@80000hours\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Benjamin Todd\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7453684a657f021649e5a325c644c1b\"},\"headline\":\"Found a tech&nbsp;startup\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-06T09:03:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T15:23:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Best for career capital\",\"Best for immediate impact\",\"Featured career profiles\",\"Good for skill-building\",\"Very promising\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career advice &amp; strategy\",\"Career capital\",\"Career paths\",\"Entrepreneurship\",\"Exploration\",\"Founding a tech startup\",\"Job satisfaction\",\"Personal fit\",\"Risk\",\"Skills\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/\",\"name\":\"Found a tech startup | Career review | 80,000 Hours\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-06T09:03:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-13T15:23:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/11\\\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1696},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/career-reviews\\\/tech-entrepreneurship\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Found a tech&nbsp;startup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"80,000 Hours\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"80,000 Hours\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/og-logo_0.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/og-logo_0.png\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":785,\"caption\":\"80,000 Hours\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/80000Hours\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/80000hours\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/eightythousandhours\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7453684a657f021649e5a325c644c1b\",\"name\":\"Benjamin Todd\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e38e0ffb8a6e1935525be41b1e6d3bbce47b3613bb8891f6fad9ca2d5818d744?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e38e0ffb8a6e1935525be41b1e6d3bbce47b3613bb8891f6fad9ca2d5818d744?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e38e0ffb8a6e1935525be41b1e6d3bbce47b3613bb8891f6fad9ca2d5818d744?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Benjamin Todd\"},\"description\":\"Benjamin is the president and cofounder of 80,000 Hours. He managed the organisation while it grew from a lecture, to a student society, to the organisation it is today. He also helped to get effective altruism started in Oxford in 2011. This page lists all of his writing at 80,000 Hours. See [some highlights](https:\\\/\\\/benjamintodd.org\\\/#writing). To get a biweekly update that includes Benjamin's new articles, join our newsletter: [form_newsletter] To follow all his other writing and research ideas, [follow him on Twitter](https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/ben_j_todd). To learn more about him, see [Benjamin's personal website](https:\\\/\\\/benjamintodd.org\\\/), [Instagram](https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/benbentodd\\\/) or [LinkedIn bio](https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/benjamin-j-todd\\\/).\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/benjamintodd.org\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/BenjaminJTodd\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/benbentodd\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/benjamin-j-todd\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ben_j_todd\",\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/Benjamin_Todd\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/80000hours.org\\\/author\\\/benjamin-todd\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Found a tech startup | Career review | 80,000 Hours","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"If you want to change the world should you start a startup?","og_description":"Technology entrepreneurship is a very high-potential path, offering good career capital, with a chance of both high earnings and large direct impact. Overall, we think more people should try this path. However, it\u2019s also one of the most difficult paths, and only suits a relatively small number of people. Consider this career if you think you can develop strong technical skills, as well as the ability to deal with high risk of failure, work very long hours and do something unconventional.","og_url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/","og_site_name":"80,000 Hours","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours","article_modified_time":"2025-10-13T15:23:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/og-image1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"If you want to change the world, should you start a startup?","twitter_description":"Technology entrepreneurship is a very high-potential path, offering good career capital, with a chance of both high earnings and large direct impact. Overall, we think more people should try this path. However, it\u2019s also one of the most difficult paths, and only suits a relatively small number of people. Consider this career if you think you can develop strong technical skills, as well as the ability to deal with high risk of failure, work very long hours and do something unconventional.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/103229818-GettyImages-477479579.1910x1000.jpg","twitter_site":"@80000hours","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/"},"author":{"name":"Benjamin Todd","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a7453684a657f021649e5a325c644c1b"},"headline":"Found a tech&nbsp;startup","datePublished":"2014-08-06T09:03:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T15:23:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/"},"wordCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Best for career capital","Best for immediate impact","Featured career profiles","Good for skill-building","Very promising"],"articleSection":["Career advice &amp; strategy","Career capital","Career paths","Entrepreneurship","Exploration","Founding a tech startup","Job satisfaction","Personal fit","Risk","Skills"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/","name":"Found a tech startup | Career review | 80,000 Hours","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2014-08-06T09:03:10+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-13T15:23:20+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/scott-webb-udZnjsCzsE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1696},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/career-reviews\/tech-entrepreneurship\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Found a tech&nbsp;startup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/","name":"80,000 Hours","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#organization","name":"80,000 Hours","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/og-logo_0.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/og-logo_0.png","width":1500,"height":785,"caption":"80,000 Hours"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/80000Hours","https:\/\/x.com\/80000hours","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/eightythousandhours"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/#\/schema\/person\/a7453684a657f021649e5a325c644c1b","name":"Benjamin Todd","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e38e0ffb8a6e1935525be41b1e6d3bbce47b3613bb8891f6fad9ca2d5818d744?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e38e0ffb8a6e1935525be41b1e6d3bbce47b3613bb8891f6fad9ca2d5818d744?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e38e0ffb8a6e1935525be41b1e6d3bbce47b3613bb8891f6fad9ca2d5818d744?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Benjamin Todd"},"description":"Benjamin is the president and cofounder of 80,000 Hours. He managed the organisation while it grew from a lecture, to a student society, to the organisation it is today. He also helped to get effective altruism started in Oxford in 2011. This page lists all of his writing at 80,000 Hours. See [some highlights](https:\/\/benjamintodd.org\/#writing). To get a biweekly update that includes Benjamin's new articles, join our newsletter: [form_newsletter] To follow all his other writing and research ideas, [follow him on Twitter](https:\/\/twitter.com\/ben_j_todd). To learn more about him, see [Benjamin's personal website](https:\/\/benjamintodd.org\/), [Instagram](https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/benbentodd\/) or [LinkedIn bio](https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/benjamin-j-todd\/).","sameAs":["https:\/\/benjamintodd.org\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BenjaminJTodd","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/benbentodd\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/benjamin-j-todd\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ben_j_todd","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Benjamin_Todd"],"url":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/author\/benjamin-todd\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/career_profile\/239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/career_profile"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/career_profile"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/career_profile\/239\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/80000hours.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}