Some commonly acknowledged large-scale societal problems include over-population, war, climate change, energy production, lack of electricity and clean water, deforestation, malaria, poverty and famine, and cancer. Entrepreneurs are known as problem-solvers in a market economy. Therefore, why more entrepreneurs are not interested in solving large-scale societal problems? This paper analyzes a discussion thread in an online community specialized in high-technology startups to explore this specific question of entrepreneurial motivation. It concludes that “trivial startups” are a result of particularities of domain-specific expertise, reference points and first-world bias, among other things. In this discussion there is also a value dichotomy in which both sides seem to make sense – on one hand, some founders criticize modern startups for not attempting to solve the societal problems of the world, while others see all startup activity worth undertaking. The end result of the conflict remains unresolved as unpredicted paths of innovation and creation of wealth and employment are properties of trivial applications regardless of whether they solve societal problems directly or not, whereas the opportunity cost of a better society through full focus on societal issues cannot be precisely determined.