Last week, our team took a train to the English countryside to see one of our first investors, Fred. We'd never been to Wiltshire before and the area is beautiful. It's filled with low hills, thatch roofs, churches, pubs, and sheep. It is also home to Marlborough College, a 183-year-old boarding school.

Fred showed us around the campus and slowed down as we approached the school's auditorium. He explained that the building is also a memorial. It commemorates students killed during World War I where Marlborough lost enormous portions of its student body. In certain years, more than 20% of graduating seniors were killed.

Much has been written and criticized about Britain's war strategy, but Fred pointed out a different conversation: the moral distance between that world and ours.

A century ago, elite institutions told students that a life of opportunity carried obligation. If you had unusual talent or education, you owed something back. At Marlborough in 1914, this meant military service. These students had a duty to their country. They served and sacrificed for others. They were part of something larger. Today's story is different.

Many of our most talented young people are being taught to "rule the world" for themselves. Today's politicians and technologists are not offering compelling suggestions of what else a life might be for. It doesn't have to be military service, but it should be a larger calling. Sam Lessin argues that AI will accelerate this issue. We won't have a labor crisis, but a crisis of meaning. We believe the core problem is deeper. It's a lack of obligation and duty. Those who struggle for something greater than themselves will not only solve important problems; they will have purpose. We believe that the young founders we back are a blueprint. They're choosing missions that bend towards meaning.