Category: Passion

“The industrial age brought compliance and compliance brought fear and fear brought us mediocrity.” – Seth Godin

Great quote today from Seth Godin’s blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com

We were taught from an early age that we are to behave in certain ways and believe certain things and dress in certain clothes. This was all in preparation for a world that promised lifetime employment and being part of something bigger than oneself.

Loyalty was rewarded with promotions and annual bonuses. Conformity was valued over creativity. And if our children had trouble with this, there were medications available that helped them keep quiet and walk in a straight line.

If the rewards didn’t entice you to stay inside the box, then the fear of what would happen if you did was terrifying. Loss of income and benefits, status and lifestyle were all threatened. I remember buying my first home. I told my supervisor and he said “That’s great. The more in-debt you are, the more you love working for (insert your favorite corporation)”. Thus the interstate highway to mediocrity was paved.

Now the truth is on the table. We all have risk. Sixteen years of dedicated employment is a negative on the income statement. Traditional employment is going away.

HOWEVER! We are all free now! Free to think for ourselves. Free to come up with great ideas and see if others would benefit from them. Free to pursue wealth from our efforts – for ourselves.

And freedom from mediocrity.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Fifty is the new thirty” – Seth Godin

Perhaps it’s because I’m fifty. You don’t HAVE to be in your twenties to start your company. Jobs and Gates were but Col. Sanders was 65 when he came up with the idea of franchising his recipe for fried chicken.

Take care of yourself. Take time to keep fit. Do something physically hard…no matter what your age.

“A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.” – Herm Albright

If you can’t be passionate about your ideas and your company, why would anyone else care? I see a lot of researchers present their world-class technologies with the very objective, emotionally measured presentation style. At the risk of passing judgement on that community I often find myself asking why I should care; or even more basic, how is this going to make a difference in the world. This reflects more on my limited technical view of the universe perhaps and to be fair, researchers are out to do good science and the thought of market potential is anathema at worst and at best, not part of the equation.

For the startup, it’s ALL about the big “So What?”. The innovation has to find it’s way into something people will want to buy because they believe it while change their lives.

If you don’t believe it, why should anyone else? Passion counts. Make us believe you know how to change the world. Annoy some research scientists!