Startup with Purpose—Flourish and Contribute Output and Outcomes of Economic Growth
Startup with Purpose—Flourish and Contribute: The question of who benefits from economic growth is not always defined by those directing the levers of economic development, most particularly governments, big business, financiers and the journalists who write about economics. It is generally assumed that economic growth is good for everyone. In reality, the impact of economic growth on different members of society varies significantly. Part of the reason is that the word ‘growth’ sounds positive, but the way economic growth impacts people in society has tended to be inequitable and hence unfair over many years.
Entrepreneurs are generally encouraged to consider growth as a primary goal. But growth can produce both negative as well as positive results, without a consideration of the potential consequences.
The purpose of economic growth (as measured by GDP) is not always made explicit. In capitalist countries, national political leaders focus on growth for its own sake, without questioning long held assumptions about the outcomes of ever rising output. Nonetheless startups can help reduce inequities of economic growth through a focus on outcomes, rather than output.
Unlike nations, international organizations make more altruistic claims for economic growth. For example, in 1948 the UN Charter determined not only to save us from the scourge of war; but also to reaffirm faith in human rights, including the equal rights of men and women; to establish conditions under which justice and respect for obligations arising from treaties can be maintained; and, to promote social progress and better standards of life in a larger freedom.
UNDP Strategic Objectives
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) was set up in 1965 and exists for a future where no country has to choose between human development and the health of the planet, where prosperity and sustainability advance together, leaving no one behind. However, individual countries and their economic and social leaders do not always have such aims.
At the country level, two nations for example, do have values aligned to those of the UNDP: one is Norway, whose model is based on the fundamental values of democracy, human rights, solidarity, and trust. Another very different country is Costa Rica, whose goals are to be: a vibrant economic partner supporting mutual prosperity; a stable country that promotes shared democratic values, health, and climate goals; and a secure country able to contribute to regional stability.
GDP Ignores Inequities of Economic Growth
National GDP is a monetary measure of the total market value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a specific period, usually a year. It is commonly assumed to be the way not only to measure the economic activity, but also the ‘health’ of a country.
According to Just Capital (2026), only 35 percent of Americans believe capitalism is working for the average person. This is hardly a surprise when you know that Economic inequality is one of the most polarizing issues in American society. One significant cause is that the CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio is about 290-to-1 to 324-to-1 in major companies, and over 600-to-1 for firms employing a significant low-wage workforce (read more here). According to Oxfam, adjusted for inflation, global worker pay fell 12 percent while real CEO pay surged 54 percent between 2019 and 2025.
What is obvious, but seldom attracts attention is that economic growth is all about output (materials), not outcomes (well-being). In the US, the Bureau of Economic Affairs (BEA) is the Federal department that does the measuring. The BEA states that, “Governments of all levels, businesses big and small, and Americans everywhere rely on our numbers. BEA’s work underpins decisions about interest rates and trade policy, taxes and spending, hiring and investing, and more”. Its vision is, “To deliver trusted and innovative economic statistics that keep pace with the global economy and the needs of the American people”.
Reflecting that aim, big business as represented in the US by the Business Round Table, believes the free-market system is the best means of generating good jobs, a strong and sustainable economy, innovation, a healthy environment and economic opportunity for all. Its statement on the purpose of a corporation does declare that “Each of our stakeholders is essential”, but does not commit to any broader social aims.
The US Chamber of Commerce says, “Sustained economic growth provides a foundation for broad-based prosperity by expanding opportunities, increasing incomes, fostering innovation, and enhancing the overall quality of life for individuals and families. It is a critical driver in reducing poverty and creating a society where everyone has a chance to thrive.”
Beyond ‘Growth is Good’
Growth is good is the basic idea behind measuring GDP and hence the plans and actions of most public policymakers and public companies. However, Robert Kennedy famously said in 1968 that GDP “measures everything in short, except that which which makes life worthwhile.” GDP is concerned with material things, not moral matters. GDP indicates nothing about life expectancy, healthcare accessibility and cost, or consequences, income and wealth inequity, education expenditure and achievement, sustainability, community… and many other aspects of a full life. A startup with purpose is concerned with quality of life—the big picture, as well as growth and profitability.
The much vaunted alternative to GDP as a measurement of the quality of life, is GNH, or Gross National Happiness developed by the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan. The four pillars of GNH in the graphic below might well be the strategic aims of a startup with purpose.
Under the four pillars of GNH, it measures the nine domains of: psychological well-being, health, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience—and living standards. GNH has been the country’s goal and part of the constitution since 2008.
In 2011, the UN passed a resolution encouraging nations to follow Bhutan’s goal, declaring it to be “Happiness: towards a holistic approach to development”. Many people consider that GNH reflects the country’s Buddhist core value, seeing it as part of the Buddhist Middle Way, where “happiness is accrued from a balanced act rather than from an extreme approach.”
Founders Role to Diminish the Inequities of Economic Growth and Startup with Purpose
Daniel Susskind, the author of the book Growth—a History and a Reckoning, says that GDP “tells us nothing about inequality, for example, about who actually benefits if GDP gets larger and the economic pie grows: going by GDP, a world where everyone has a modest slice of the pie is indistinguishable from a world where a very few have enormous slabs and there are only crumbs left for everyone else.”
Startup founders have a critical role the reducing the inequities of economic growth. I can hear highly motivated entrepreneurs asking, “What’s that got to do with me?” I think that it is key to developing a flourishing business, since both founders, their business and society will benefit. Therefore, I consider that entrepreneurs who launch a startup with purpose should:
- be concerned about the inequities of economic growth in society as a whole, from a moral point of view, hence: values as well as value; the whole system—the world and all people;
- commit to ensure that the new business: does well by doing good; focuses on outcomes more than output; acts not only on short term needs, but in the interest of future generations.
Strategic Growth Options for Startups
The conclusion reached by David Susskind, is that, “The pursuit of growth is new, mysterious, and dangerous activity for humankind.”
In strategic planning, the assumptions that lie behind strategies for growth matter almost more than the policies chosen to implement them. Also, the means chosen to achieve the results will impact stakeholders, too.
Just and equitable outcomes from economic growth require entrepreneurs to ask themselves about the purpose of the startup’s growth and its desirability. Here are ten questions to consider :
- What’s to be gained for the business and its stakeholders from the pace and scale of growth?
- What are the risks involved?
- What are the benefits to different levels of growth or frugality and which stakeholders?
- What are the growth strategies appropriate for different stages of the business?
- What activities are most likely to fuel or hamper growth—product development; market penetration/diversification; customer satisfaction; partnerships/collaboration, mergers or acquisitions; distribution and location?
- What kind of finance could be appropriate—self-generated; external equity from individuals or professional investors; loans; grants; revenue diversification?
- What kind of legal structure is most suited to the growth strategy envisioned?
- What are the ways to develop productive relationships with all stakeholders?
- What—revenue; margins; ROI/profits; financial distributions to owners, employees, or nonprofits?
- What kind of non-financial features should be grown—personal development, reputational enhancement, stakeholder fulfillment?
When starting my main business back in the 1970s, I remember being encouraged to think that we needed business growth, both in scale and profitability ‘in order to have the ability to replace assets in the future’. However when I went in pursuit of outside equity, though the VC firm even though our startup was a ‘good opportunity’ for them, their wise counsel was that given that our venture was not capital intensive, and our numbers looked good, outside equity might be more of a burden than an advantage.
Quality of Life
Most Americans probably consider that their country to be the ‘greatest’ on quality of life on earth. This is despite the fact that the US was ranked 21st among the World’s Best Countries to Live in for Quality of Life. This conclusion was based on the criteria studied by CEO World Magazine and published in 2025 in their Human Progress Index (HPI). This result does not compute well with the country having the largest GDP in the world in 2025—$30.6T according to the IMF, World Economic Outlook (April 2026).
Quality of Life is based on the basics like the availability of food security, housing availability, education, healthcare accessibility and affordability, life expectancy. Quality of Life is also likely to include things like job security, fair pay and equitable wealth distribution, personal/corporate taxes and their distribution, political stability, personal freedom and fulfillment, happiness, environmental quality. Of course, different people will have their own personal priorities and criteria.
Why should entrepreneurs be concerned about such big socioeconomic issues? Recent research suggests four central provocations: 1) reform the study and pedagogy of entrepreneurship by bringing in the humanities; 2) examine entrepreneurship as a cultural phenomenon shaping society; 3) go beyond the dominant biases in entrepreneurship research and pedagogy; and 4) explore alternative models to entrepreneurial capitalism.
That sounds grand, though my experience tells me that at the practical level, entrepreneurs who are aware of and take into account quality of life issues for existential reasons, will lead the startup with purpose to a greater chance to flourish for longer, and meet the expectations of all stakeholders.
Big Picture Startup Strategy: Contribute and Flourish Through Startup with Purpose
There are nearly six million business registrations applications a year in the United States (according to the
US Census Bureau there were 492,000 in March 2026). Wow! Sadly about half of them won’t last for more than five years.
The reasons are many. One reason most often cited for startup failure is that there was no market need for the product/service offered. That seems strange given that you would think entrepreneurs would above all be good at spotting business opportunities. Perhaps a focus on detail blinds them to the world that surrounds them. Whereas, founders who have a big picture startup strategy will tend to develop a better understanding of opportunities for their venture to flourish, through making a positive contribution to the social and economic well-being of us all.
Entrepreneurship is no longer viewed solely as a driver of economic growth or innovation; it is also understood as a force capable of addressing pressing societal challenges and generating social value. Entrepreneurs who launch ventures that straddle the line between economic and social goals tackle complex social challenges such as climate change, inequality, under served communities and global development, find that such an intent to share the benefits of growth also lead to business success as well demonstrating altruism—through startup with purpose.
The inequities of economic growth as measured by GDP should should be shared equitably to include those who contribute to making it happen, since they are all involved. Entrepreneurship for a better world, an article published by the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, will give you a good insight into why this should be so.
There are other parts of Venture Founders where you may find further reflections on why and how successful startups are as concerned by their own survival as with everyone’s survival, through startup with purpose:
