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Cruise's Founder Had Three Rules for His Next Startup. Self-Driving Cars Hit All Three.

By Kyle Vogt · Founder Stories · 1 min read

After Twitch, Kyle Vogt wanted something that scratched an existential itch. He made a checklist. Then a light bulb went off.

Key Points

Whatever you build, you better be willing to commit 10 years
Three criteria: hard technology, positive impact on society, big business
If it works at scale, the positive impact multiplies
The light bulb moment: self-driving cars hit all three

Twitch took eight years. So whatever I do next, I better be willing to commit at least ten years.

The Existential Itch

Twitch was successful. But Kyle Vogt realized he'd built something that mostly entertained people. He wanted more. Something that actually mattered.

He knew one thing from Twitch: building a company takes forever. Eight years to success. Whatever came next had to be worth a decade of his life. That raises the bar on what you choose.

"When you think about committing at least ten years to something, you certainly raise the bar on what you choose to work on."

The Three-Part Checklist

Vogt wrote down three requirements. First: the technology itself must determine success. Hard, juicy engineering problems. That's what motivated him.

Second: direct positive impact on society. Healthcare. Transportation. Saving lives. A clear connection between the product and making the world better. Third: it had to be a big business. Because for positive impact to matter, it needs scale.

"It had to be hard technology, a direct positive impact on society, and a big business. For the positive impact to matter, it's got to be large scale."

The Light Bulb

Vogt tried other ideas first. He even started writing a Gmail clone. Nothing stuck. Then the light bulb went off. Self-driving cars.

It was the most fun he'd ever had in college. The technology had advanced in ten years. Google was the only serious player. He saw room for an entrepreneur to build the minimum viable product. He went all in that day.

"This is the greatest applied AI problem of our generation. If it works, it's a huge business and probably the most positive impact I can have on the world."