Dear Friend,

The Startup Guide is a guide for making a difference in the world during the incredible times ahead. This book shares how you can be part of creating a better world while doing well for yourself and your family.

By way of introduction, I’ll share why I am so excited about the next few decades.

Humans have made great advances since 1800 as we’ve come through the Industrial Age to the Information Age–enabling human population to grow from 1 billion to 7.2 billion in just two centuries.

The Information Age (1975-2015) brought with it the greatest forty years in the history of human progress, leading to substantial increases in life expectancy and per capita income and substantial decreases in infant mortality and the number of people living in poverty around the world.

Now, as we enter the Innovation Age (2015-2055) we stand on the shoulders of giants who have come before us. Synthetic biology is here. Clean renewable energy is here. Global connection is here. The platforms have been built. We now live in the most exciting time in human history, and according to Harvard professor Steven Pinker, perhaps the most peaceful time in human history.

Our next great opportunity is creating a carbon-neutral world in which every human has access to what they need to thrive. Sustainability + prosperity is coming. At we reach grid parity, clean energy will be at a lower cost per kilowatt than fossil fuel energy by 2017. And as Peter Diamandis argues in Abundance, soon we will have a world in which everyone globally has access to their basic needs.

After 200,000 years of homo sapiens being around, within the next 40 years we will create a carbon-neutral sustainable world in which everyone has access to food, water, shelter, education, medicine, electricity, and the internet. The four billion digital natives born between 1980 and 2010 intuitively understand innovation and global connection and will be leading the time ahead–bringing exciting new perspectives to the industrial age thinking of our forebears.

The companies that build a better world for all will prosper. The entrepreneurs who build companies that make a positive impact will prosper. The politicians who embrace the reality of a connected world driven by distributed innovation will prosper.

I look forward to working with you to create a better world in the years ahead.

With love,
Ryan Allis
October 2013
Written in Cambridge, MA & San Francisco, CA