I don&#x27;t think the public good and making a profit are unable to coexist.  Y Combinator has greatly aided startups, but has made a great deal of money in the process; Stripe and Amazon Web Services are very much the same.<p>To be sure, there are some causes which can operate as charities; but if your goal is to simplify credit card processing for startups, can it be achieved in any manner other than in the form of a corporation?  My own startup falls into the same category: I wanted the world to have a solid, secure, online backup service for geeks, and it turned out that a company was the only natural way for Tarsnap to exist.<p>While I absolutely agree about the importance of open source software -- and that&#x27;s how I&#x27;ve primarily given back to the community -- I don&#x27;t think all the other ways people improve the world are in any way diminished by the fact that they make a profit in the process.