• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

Non-profit founder critics

Published: Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Why are people so critical when young people start non-profits?

Time and time again, I hear people say, "there are enough non-profits out there.  Young people should just join what's already out there.  I don't think starting another non-profit is the best use of resources.  I mean, I started my own, but…"

Starting a non-profit is hard.  It takes time, money and resources.  Starting a company is hard.  It takes time, money and resources.

When someone is thinking of starting a company, such as a new mobile app, no one ever says, "you should just join X mobile app company, you'll be able to make more of an impact that way".  Because it's not true.  So why do we say that to would-be non-profit founders?

There are many innovative, sustainably non-profit business models now that do good, while doing well.

Why can't we just accept that like in the capital marketplace, the best non-profits will survive, and the others won't.

The non-profit founders, the founders, the crazy ones - these are the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world - but they need all the help they can get getting there.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Focus with a laser on the things that achieve the most results

    Am I working towards a larger life goal?  Am I learning anything?  Does this help keep a roof over my head? I focused on a number of activities while I...

  • Regaining focus

    During my time at Robogals, towards the end of every year, I would lose focus. Why?  All my major projects for the year would have been wound up.  My...

  • Planning things with integrity

    Planning things with integrity means to plan things such that you have done all you can in your base for things to go as smoothly as possible. It...

  • AI Most Influential Woman in Engineering 2000-2020

    This AI named me the 29th most influential woman in engineering from 2000-2020! It looked up frequency of my name being mentioned alongside an...

  • Tune out everyone

    Being concerned with what people think about you makes you unable to contribute your best work to the world.

  • Sunday Funday

    Spent the entire Sunday working in the garage with Garth Bradbeer and Tom Cooper working on a robotic prototype.  We worked until 1am that night, and...

  • Future is fuzzy

    I used to get anxious about the future.  Whether I could get a good job, where I would live, if I would have enough money to survive. But then I...

  • Perfection is an oasis

    Perfection is unattainable.  You're never going to get something that's perfect, done.  Not with your budget.  Not with your timeframe.  Not so that you...

  • Teleport In Action Video

    After months of careful, hard work by the team, we have launched a new Aubot website!  Have a look at our new website here! In addition to that -...

  • How to choose your projects

    Ask yourself: 1.  What do I want to learn? 2. What do I already know? Then: 3.  Devise a project you’re interested in that involves others - Create a...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top