Moonshot

An extremely ambitious, high-risk project aiming at a breakthrough rather than an incremental improvement. From the effort to land on the moon; associated with Google's X lab.

Why it matters

Moonshots can create entirely new markets and outsized impact, but they demand patience, capital, and tolerance for failure that most startups cannot sustain. Knowing whether your bet is a moonshot, and whether you are resourced for one, keeps ambition tethered to reality.

For example

A team bets years and serious capital on self-driving trucks, a moonshot aiming at a breakthrough rather than a small, safe improvement.

Related terms

Zero to One Category Creation Blitzscaling

Go deeper

See how founders actually handle this on Founder life, part of the Starting Up hub.

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