You Don’t Love Boring Businesses, You Fear Big Ideas
When a founder says, "Boring businesses excite me," all I hear is, "I don't have the ambition or creativity to build something groundbreaking, so I’m content chasing mediocrity and calling it a strategy."
Lately, in my journey through the startup ecosystem, I’ve noticed a peculiar trend. Everyone seems obsessed with “boring” businesses. There’s this ironic excitement about how “boring” is “the new exciting”, as if they’ve stumbled upon some profound truth. They preach that venturing into boring markets is the “right” way to build a venture-backed startup, because otherwise, you’re just entering a “crowded market.”
This struck a nerve with me. Historically, venture-backed startups have been about breakthroughs, rocket ships aimed at changing the world, not just squeezing out a profit. They were about ambition so wild, it made people scoff. But somehow, we’ve rebranded caution as genius and pragmatism as boldness. Instead of dreaming big, we’ve settled for playing it safe, all while pretending it’s the same thing. And maybe that’s fine for some.
This reminds me of that scene in Good Will Hunting, where Will calls out the guy in the bar for regurgitating second-hand knowledge to impress people. Because that’s what this feels like, people dropping buzzwords about “boring markets” and “disruption” as if they’ve cracked the code. But deep down? They’re not fooling anyone.
The truth is, dreaming big is hard. It’s uncomfortable. It makes people question your sanity. But that’s the point. That’s where the magic happens. And if you’re not willing to take the punches, to risk falling flat on your face, then maybe you’re not really building anything at all.
I’ve got thoughts written as a skit, and they’re aimed at reminding people what ambition really looks like.
Oh, of course you’re into "boring" businesses. You skimmed one Peter Thiel blog post or caught half a 20VC podcast and now you’re convinced you’ve cracked the code: “boring markets are where the real money is.” Innovation? Overrated! Just find something no one thinks about, janitorial supply chains, parking meters, dry-cleaning, then slap a SaaS subscription on it.
But let’s be real. This isn’t some genius insight. You just lack the balls to dream big. "Boring markets" are your security blanket. You get to feel like a visionary without actually needing to execute on a real moonshot. Because you know deep down that building something ambitious, something genuinely complex, requires more than the weekend hustle you’re used to. It demands real technical chops, a huge appetite for risk, and the kind of vision that makes people think you’ve lost your mind. And you’re just not ready for that.
So instead, you’re chasing “safe innovation” and convincing yourself you’re playing 4D chess. Newsflash: You’re not disrupting the market, you’re just starting a glorified mom-and-pop business with a Notion dashboard. “Uber for car washes.” “Snowflake, but for dentists.” I’ve heard it all before.
Here’s the thing: you’ll probably make a little money. You might even call it a win. But you’ll never build something that matters. You won’t build something people obsess over, something that shifts the needle, or something ambitious enough to fail spectacularly. And that’s the real shame.
Go ahead, disrupt laundry. Launch SaaS for hardware stores. Just don’t pretend it’s a grand vision. Because if you were truly bold, you’d dream bigger. You’d go for the rocket ship. You’d embrace the moonshot.
The world needs dreamers, not just “entrepreneurs”. It needs those willing to risk failure for the chance to create something extraordinary. So stop hiding behind “boring” and start aiming for the stars.
If you want to build something that actually pushes the boundaries instead of another forgettable B2B SaaS, join The Personal AI Company’s Discord and check out Amurex. We’re building an open-source Jarvis for the world.