Of course I have an ego...but its also nice when you find soul mates, whose wiring leads them to think similar thoughts to your own. I was introduced (by email) a few months ago to Richard Dale, a partner at Sigma Partners, a Boston based VC fund (www.sigmapartners.com). Turns out that besides many other common life threads (we both were successful ex pat entrepreneurs, turned venture capitalist, exploring spiritual connections to our "for-profit" sides of life), Richard recently started blogging and biking. Now, I have been an avid bicycle rider for some time, but have gotten more serious of late. And Richard also recently started blogging.
Where is all this going? Well, just about the same time I was thinking about Alice's Restaurant and building a movement, Richard was writing about the same thing: http://venturecyclist.blogspot.com/2006/10/vcvc-socially-active-netwo_116137198436217192.html.
Richard turned to Marge Piercy for inspiration, and while I still prefer Arlo Guthrie's formulation, worth repeating Ms. Piercy:
The Long Road
by Marge Piercy
Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
But they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other sane,
can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat a pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund-raising party.
A dozen can hold a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
The connection to start-up life is not to be scared if others have the "same" ideas you -- if it's a good idea others will think of it around the same time. The goal of a start-up is to be the best or one of the best. But there will others...and instead of fearing competition, one needs to celebrate competition. Not easy to love your competitor, but certainly in today's environment "co-opetition" is the rule of the game.
This is not such a new idea...trade associations have been around for thousands of years (that's human time, not Internet time). Today, however, we have the ability to cooperate and collaborate across time zones, continents, cultures, etc. We can break through barriers that previously were thought to be eternal...
Thinking and working together hopefully we can create a better world.
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