Can you imagine for a moment what would have happened if, in 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his team had chosen to believe that it was impossible to reach the moon? Or, what if the pioneers in aviation had settled, thinking that flying was only for birds?

Some of the world’s greatest breakthroughs have been accomplished by people who decided to believe that what seemed impossible, in reality, was attainable. They had the courage to try and aspire to a goal bigger than themselves. They were curious, and wanted to see and believe differently.

Many of these pioneers did not know how they would achieve their dreams and feats, and the vast majority did not have a chance to see their ideas materialize. However, this did not stop them from creating new parameters and methods that others would later use to finish their great work.

"People can establish in their minds ‘magical’ ideas that seem impossible, and through technology and science, make them come true ... and that makes others believe that other things that seem impossible, can become reality."

— Eric “Astro” Teller, Captain of Moonshots at Google X

When you decide to explore a potential solution for a big problem that seems impenetrable, but for which there’s no hard evidence that it is impossible to achieve through technology and science, you are creating a moonshot.

In Silicon Valley, we refer to moonshots when we talk about ideas that are massive, and that are difficult to explain, to quantify, and to plan. Basically, these ideas are so ambitious, that they are challenging to grasp in every way, but not impossible.

How to implement the moonshot mindset?

• Start from scratch and question everything

One of the premises of the moonshot mindset is that you need to be willing to unlearn in order to learn (again). This will help you transform your approach to the problem and your initial idea on how to tackle it, which will impact the means that you choose to execute the moonshot, and the people you’ll attract to unlock it.

If I’ve learned something in the last 10 years of entrepreneurship, is to take a step back, question what I thought I knew, open myself to different ways of doing things (even if they are outside my abilities), to try a lot, to fail a lot, and to ask a lot more questions.

To tackle a moonshot, you have to think radically differently, and you have to start from scratch.

• The bigger the problem, the more opportunities there are

When we started Matternet, we didn’t exactly know how we were going to create a new method of transportation parallel to the traditional systems that require roads and highways, to connect the places that did not have access to that type of infrastructure and that had been disconnected for decades.

But the problem was there: Approximately 1 billion people live in hard-to-access areas, excluded from daily economic and social activities, and unable to access basic services, including essential healthcare. The question we all asked ourselves was: How can we do better? Or at least, how can we do it differently? And we set out to find solutions.

Embarked on that search, we discovered that it was not only a problem that affected 1 billion people without infrastructure, but also affected 4 billion people living in ultra-congested cities and mega-cities (not due to lack of infrastructure, but due to the type of infrastructure we currently build at scale).

With an even more challenging problem, the opportunities to “leapfrog” (meaning to jump, in Silicon Valley terms) all stages of traditional infrastructure development, in both emerging economies and developed markets, became gigantic. And our moonshot grew to take that same size, also expanding the capacity of action of our new startup.

Don’t be afraid to tackle big problems. Big problems are the ones that ultimately allow you to grow outside of your comfort zone, making other people also believe in the possibility of tackling big challenges even if they initially seem impossible.

• Think outside the box

One of my most fundamental learnings when becoming an entrepreneur has been to understand that if the "box" that I’m in is not allowing me to achieve my goal, I can always change boxes without changing my commitment to achieving the goal.

Moonshot mindset is about bringing to the table new methods and disruptive tactics that can help us solve society's largest problems. Certainly, we cannot attain the massive, positive change we want to see in the world using the same old methods.

Thinking outside the box might also entail partnering with organizations that are outside your industry (or that may even be your competition).

Peter Diamandis calls these type of partnerships "unholy alliances", alliances that encourage you to think orthogonally about your strategy. This type of mindset helps you think about seemingly unrelated perspectives, to see what kinds of counter-intuitive collaborations may arise.

There are many examples of unholy alliances:

1. The Sant Joan de Déu Hospital + Miquel Rius joined forces to create a backpack whose compartments make the weight that children carry on their backs balance.

2. Biotherm + Renault created a 100% electric car that not only protects the environment but also the passenger.

3. Deliveroo + Winning Games Australia came together during the pandemic to provide the opportunity for users to purchase entertainment and food at the same time while in lockdown.

• Ask yourself how you can do what you do 10x better     

The 10x thinking is a concept used to define that mindset of improving to the tenth power, or exponentially.

Most organizations generally think of improving their processes or products by 10%, because that gives them similar results with the least amount of risk possible. However, there is the opportunity to improve by 10x, deconstructing our traditional ways of thinking and analyzing problems from different angles.

You don't need to have a new idea to apply the Moonshot Mindset nor the 10x thinking, you can start with any project or business you’re dealing with right now! Ask yourself: How can I do this 10x better? And remember to stay open to non-linear responses and to think outside the box!

Now that you understand the Moonshot Mindset, tell me: What’s your moonshot? How do you plan to accelerate your startup, your business, or your life, exponentially?

Dream big!
Paola