The 2012 seminal book, Why Nations Fail by Nobel Laureates Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, concludes that the success or failure of nations hinges primarily on their institutions—not geography, culture, or other factors. It’s an insightful theory, but my experiences on the ground suggest there’s a layer of complexity that their research doesn’t fully address.

Last month, heavy rains washed away a bridge leading to our construction site, cutting off our community and many residents from the city and its essential facilities. In response, the residents ingeniously constructed a makeshift bridge each day—knowing it would be swept away by the end of the day, only to rebuild it again the next morning. This repeated effort wasn’t a testament to resilience; it was a glaring example of institutional failure. First, for not building a safe, permanent bridge, and second, for being unable to repair it promptly once it failed.

Ironically, while this bridge lay broken, a stronger, supposedly better bridge was under construction at the same location. Our community partners and construction workers assured me that the new bridge could be completed within a month. When I pointed out that concrete curing alone takes 21 days—and that columns, roads, and other components would push the timeline to at least 4-6 months—I was dismissed as overly cautious. Yet here we are, months later, and the bridge remains incomplete.

This wasn’t an isolated incident. In August 2024, a bridge at our San Mateo site was destroyed by a typhoon. Again, I heard promises that it would be rebuilt within a month. Now, in January 2025, construction still hasn’t resumed, leaving us stranded and progress stalled.

At BillionBricks, our mission is to provide housing for the poorest and most vulnerable communities—homes designed to withstand natural disasters. Over the past decade, my team and I have poured our lives into this mission. We’ve solved countless challenges, raised millions of dollars, and forged partnerships across every level of society. Yet, despite all this progress, I find myself powerless against obstacles I can’t control. I’m left asking questions I don’t know how to answer: Where does the problem begin? And who is responsible for solving it?

The authors of Why Nations Fail argue that institutional failure is at the heart of these issues. But institutions don’t exist in a vacuum—they are built and run by people. If we keep blaming abstract entities like “the government,” “corporations,” or “institutions” for inefficiency, greed, and corruption, we obscure the accountability of the individuals behind them. This tendency to assign blame to faceless systems allows those responsible to hide behind bureaucracy, perpetuating a cycle of inaction and failure.

Each time we point fingers at an institution, we deflect responsibility from the very people who have the power to enact change. This mindset gives us false hope that someday these issues will fix themselves—but they won’t. Not unless we fix the people behind them. If we focus our efforts on empowering individuals, fostering accountability, and nurturing ethical leadership, we can create institutions capable of delivering meaningful progress.

I know I’m treading on intellectually risky ground by questioning two Nobel Laureates and their well-founded theory. But this is my lived reality—one shaped by a decade of toil, where I’ve encountered more failure than success. These broken bridges have eroded not just roads but my own motivation. I’ve tackled countless challenges, but this—this is a problem I can’t seem to solve.