If the Shoe Fits: Changing the World
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
I have never watched a reality show, other than Extreme Home Makeover (fi that qualifies).
I’m not a glitterati watcher, never watched Paris Hilton, haven’t seen and don’t know or care why Snooki is famous and have no idea why anyone would want to keep up with the Kardashians (whoever they are).
I never heard of Francisco Dao, either, but I totally agree with his recent (contorversial) comments regarding the number of valueless startups.
I wonder whether members of the technology community have lost the ambition to build lasting companies that contribute to productivity instead of another “flavor of the month” social media application.
Dao hits more of my hot buttons regarding the general shallowness of many entrepreneurs, especially in places like Silicon Valley.
Instead of recognizing the entrepreneurs who have quietly risked it all to build something lasting, we get caught up in social media popularity contests and Twitter “influencers.” We too often ignore the men and women who have built companies that provide livelihoods for their employees while we fawn over self-help gurus offering four-hour short cuts. And although we act the part of intellectuals and world changers, most of us are so reliant on social proof that the first question we ask when considering a conference or event is, “Who else is going?”
‘Who else is going’ has been the key social-climbing question since humans first stood erect, so that isn’t new, but the idiotic social scoring systems, most of which are quantity-based as opposed to quality and easily manipulated, have taken shallow to a whole new level.
Going to conferences, hanging out with entrepreneurs or telling people that you’re a “start-up guy” does not put you in the category of those who put all their chips on the table to turn an idea into a reality.
A few weeks ago I offered encouragement to entrepreneurs who are truly out changing the world as opposed to those with yet another social, addictive, mindless/brainless time-waster or app to sell stuff to consumers.
In 1983 Steve Jobs landed John Sculley with his legendary closing question, “Do want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?”
Many of today’s startups are the equivalent of yesterday’s sugar water.
So I ask, are you making sugar water or changing the world?
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