&gt; What can startups do to increase prosperity for everyone?<p>The greatest thing a startup can do to increase the prosperity of everyone is simply continue trying to be successful, within legal bounds. Every startup is inherently working to lower the cost of living, whether that&#x27;s their stated goal or not. Even a seemingly useless app startup - if it becomes successful - will (1) add jobs to the economy, (2) give employees and their families more purpose and well-being (working brings people fulfillment and joy), and (3) contribute to lowering the cost of living[1].<p>Obviously, some startup industries (education, medicine, etc.) have a more direct influence on this process than others, but they all contribute in indirect ways to increased prosperity overall - even if motivated by purely &quot;greedy&quot;, capitalistic ideals.<p>If basic income were somehow to be implemented by providing basic <i>needs</i> (food, shelter, clothing, etc. rather than currency) without the involvement of other people&#x2F;companies <i>providing</i> those needs, then I believe it could work. The trouble is, even in a world full of automation (and less need for typical jobs), the resources will still be controlled by organizations, governments, and people - and not always the people who have the most need for them. In that environment (and lets face it, certain people, countries, organizations, etc. will always be better suited at doing things than others), the economy <i>is</i> actually zero-sum in the meta sense. No one can consume without another party producing - even if the producers at some point are just owners of machines. And in a competitive economy, things like basic income just become factored into the cost of living, so it&#x27;s kind of a moot point.<p>From another angle, if basic income is ever implemented in terms of currency ($x per month), it will <i>not</i> solve poverty. I have plenty of first-hand experience to tell you that a large number of people will <i>choose</i> to live in poverty (or forgo what most of us consider to be basic necessities) by spending that money in foolish ways (gambling, addictions, frivolous purchases, etc). Those people will not accept responsibility for having wasted the money, and we&#x27;ll be right back to where we are now: people demanding more welfare services from the government.<p>[1] A successful but useless (practically-speaking) app&#x2F;game means that people are willing to pay for it. Paying for a good or service that otherwise would not exist contributes in indirect ways to technological progress (e.g., by gaining more adoption, the technologies powering that app will be in a better position to improve and contribute to aspects of our lives that have more practical value), including more investment into things that <i>do</i> improve our quality of life per dollar spent.