What makes you think that 'idealism' is what produces unicorns? What makes you think startups are about 'dreamers who find it difficult to subsist in a stifling world'?
I feel like you misunderstand startups. Startups aren't machines designed to let engineers do whatever they want. Startups are businesses that attempt to find and exploit oppertunities in the market. Since technology is new, and poorly adopted in many indistries, it tends to be used to do this.
Or to flip it around - you're entirely welcome to spend as much time as you'd like building 'idealistic' software that challenges the 'status quo'. Nothing is going to 'stifle' that.
However, if you want other people to spend thier time and thier resources supporting and helping you, then you need to find a way to convince them. Startups are one way to do that, but businesses are full of compromise and you may not find it suits the idealism you desire.
I feel like you misunderstand startups. Startups aren't machines designed to let engineers do whatever they want. Startups are businesses that attempt to find and exploit oppertunities in the market. Since technology is new, and poorly adopted in many indistries, it tends to be used to do this.
Or to flip it around - you're entirely welcome to spend as much time as you'd like building 'idealistic' software that challenges the 'status quo'. Nothing is going to 'stifle' that.
However, if you want other people to spend thier time and thier resources supporting and helping you, then you need to find a way to convince them. Startups are one way to do that, but businesses are full of compromise and you may not find it suits the idealism you desire.