As the other commenter pointed out, three people doing a startup like this can easily provide 10-100x times more value to society when compared to them just being regular employees at a random large corporation.
Easier problems are solved first, and that's fine. There's less risk and so more growth per money invested. Not everything should be invested into super-high risk technology or something. Besides, this company might be bootstrapped.
It's also worth to note that first-world people tend to work on first-world problems. There's nothing wrong with that. It makes sense to work on problems that you're familiar with. I wouldn't start a restaurant since I've zero experience in that industry.
The problem is not that they're fixing a "easy problem". The problem is that for some unknown reason it hasn't been fixed yet.
I don't think the reason is unknown. You already stated the reason: it's an easy problem. Not just an easy one to solve, but an easy one to ignore because it's not just an easy problem, it's a small problem. It causes very little trouble, there is little loss of productivity, there is little to gain by solving it. It hasn't been fixed the way a ding on your car's door doesn't get fixed. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed, but I agree with OC's question, do we have so little other stuff to worry about that we have to go around looking for "problems" so small that most people didn't know they existed until they were told?
Honestly, better waste some time on doing mundane practice, maybe earning some money along the way, than to fail big, ambitious, and spectacularily, with an idea that was brilliant but wasn't pulled off properly due to lack of experience.I see how this is a small easy problem, but hell, it's practice, and if it works, it's funds for the next big thing that comes into their minds.
That's a good explanation, I guess I was thinking more broadly about these kind of small problems (but which are slightly larger than airport pickup), not just about Just Landed.
Easier problems are solved first, and that's fine. There's less risk and so more growth per money invested. Not everything should be invested into super-high risk technology or something. Besides, this company might be bootstrapped.
It's also worth to note that first-world people tend to work on first-world problems. There's nothing wrong with that. It makes sense to work on problems that you're familiar with. I wouldn't start a restaurant since I've zero experience in that industry.
The problem is not that they're fixing a "easy problem". The problem is that for some unknown reason it hasn't been fixed yet.