It would be cool if...

When I was younger there were two phrases that drove me to do anything, and my teachers never used either of them, so obviously I wasn’t their favorite student, and in return I attempted not to learn what they wanted. The two phrases were:

• “There is no way you will be able to do that.”

• “Wouldn’t it be cool if (X) happened.”

The knowledge a teacher was attempting to teach me, and the knowledge I wanted to acquire always seemed at odds with each other… so it makes sense that I have learned exponentially more in my “Post-teacher” career, where everyone I talk to is a teacher.

You would think that the triggers for getting me to do things would change over time, or become more “classy, and adult” but it’s still the same. My brain is wired to manage and then upset expectations. I think the lockdown has had me thinking about what drives people, and whether it’s a part of their engine or if it’s just a class they are taking and trying to get an ‘A’ in. I have yet to see someone “Game” success in starting a company… and I have invested in 350 startups.

• The most successful fundraisers are the founders who have lightning in a bottle and can show it

• The most successful products speak to their customers very clearly

• The most successful founders are those obsessed with bettering the lives of their customer

Authenticity at the end of the day is the reason for their success. Authenticity is not something that you learn in school. And so many intelligent people who did amazing in school are not great at starting companies.

We are about to hit a recession. 20%+ employable people will be out of work. That can be scary, or be an opportunity to evolve the system!!!

The opportunity is that we could become an entire country of founders! Wouldn’t it be cool if in America/the World, we all became our own startup? If people stopped thinking for someone else, and started to be a “Founder” of themselves.

But, there’s no way you will be able to do that… :)