Startup America needs to look more like America
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Startup America needs to look more like America
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Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#2As if founders have to be selected or hired by others. Founding means hiring yourself. Founders have to be ready for a protracted struggle against the status quo, not special adoption by it.
I had to laugh when the Founder Institute's admission of Lecole Cole was mentioned as taking some kind of educated chance. Lecole had a proven track record before that experience and didn't need any special treatment. But he absolutely took advantage of every legitimate opportunity that came his way.
"Disruption is fine as long as it's caused by white, male, Ivy-league hipsters in skinny jeans." - as if people sit down and examine new things in light of who made them. Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to.
Those that don't like disruption are the established market players. I'm pretty sure they don't decide to yield their markets because the disruptor looks like them.
One only needs to meet people that have made it to the US that have struggled to achieve elsewhere to get the sense of how much opportunity there actually is here. And those who sit on their hands waiting for the light to turn green are going to have a long wait.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#3As if founders have to be selected or hired by others. Founding means hiring yourself. Founders have to be ready for a protracted struggle against the status quo, not special adoption by it. I had to laugh when the Founder Institute's admission of Lecole Cole was mentioned as taking some kind of educated chance. Lecole had a proven track record before that experience and didn't need any special treatment. But he abso…
> Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to.
You're out of your mind if you think that white men who golf don't have a leg up for all things B2B.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#4As if founders have to be selected or hired by others. Founding means hiring yourself. Founders have to be ready for a protracted struggle against the status quo, not special adoption by it. I had to laugh when the Founder Institute's admission of Lecole Cole was mentioned as taking some kind of educated chance. Lecole had a proven track record before that experience and didn't need any special treatment. But he abso…
> Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to. You're out of your mind if you think that white men who golf don't have a leg up for all things B2B.
you're out of your mind if you think they won't cross the street if they can make a million more.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#5Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to. You're out of your mind if you think that white men who golf don't have a leg up for all things B2B.
you're out of your mind if you think they won't cross the street if they can make a million more.
Things aren't that simple, we're not just dealing with people selling a proven, viable product, we're dealing with how venture capital is acquired and funding secured, especially for ideas which are risky or unproven, which "disruptive" technologies inherently are.
There's the concept of social capital, and how social networks and cultural bias affect that for founders.
It's true that a non-privileged founder who builds the ultimate money-saving, world-changing technology will have a harder time being ignored, but we should never be so willing to handwave such obvious homogeny amongst the elite.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#6As if founders have to be selected or hired by others. Founding means hiring yourself. Founders have to be ready for a protracted struggle against the status quo, not special adoption by it. I had to laugh when the Founder Institute's admission of Lecole Cole was mentioned as taking some kind of educated chance. Lecole had a proven track record before that experience and didn't need any special treatment. But he abso…
> Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to. You're out of your mind if you think that white men who golf don't have a leg up for all things B2B.
You're out of your mind if you think that a pair of hippies could build the world's biggest tech company.
It's always an uphill battle no matter who you are. The world isn't fair; disregard it and startup anyways.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to. You're out of your mind if you think that white men who golf don't have a leg up for all things B2B.
You're out of your mind if you think that a pair of hippies could build the world's biggest tech company. It's always an uphill battle no matter who you are. The world isn't fair; disregard it and startup anyways.
yeah, the last thing you want to do is buy into the notion that the world is aligned against you. Its a self fulfilling prophecy and we do people a disservice propagating the idea.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#8As if founders have to be selected or hired by others. Founding means hiring yourself. Founders have to be ready for a protracted struggle against the status quo, not special adoption by it. I had to laugh when the Founder Institute's admission of Lecole Cole was mentioned as taking some kind of educated chance. Lecole had a proven track record before that experience and didn't need any special treatment. But he abso…
> Customers want value. If a feature will save them $5 a month, they'll trade with martians if they have to. You're out of your mind if you think that white men who golf don't have a leg up for all things B2B.
The article focussed on how the creators of "Facebook," "Google," "MySpace," "BEBO," "Twitter." don't look like the students. You may be right about the golfing set & B2B, but you're adding your own spin.
I just came back from a 'Wall Street' conference down in Orlando : The delegates there came in all shapes, sizes, genders, nationalities and hues. Far more so than the people getting off the plane to go to Disneyland, IMHO.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
you're out of your mind if you think they won't cross the street if they can make a million more.
Things aren't that simple, we're not just dealing with people selling a proven, viable product, we're dealing with how venture capital is acquired and funding secured, especially for ideas which are risky or unproven, which "disruptive" technologies inherently are. There's the concept of social capital, and how social networks and cultural bias affect that for founders. It's true that a non-privileged founder who bui…
Even the dumb, biased people with money have to compete with smart investors that leave no stone, black or white, unturned in their search for opportunity.
Hegemony is simply not there. There is competition in venture capital and against venture capital.
It only takes a minority of investors to make an investment. And most of them are quite used to dissenting and thinking for themselves.
Re: Startup America needs to look more like America
#10I'm not even sure what most of the important people in tech look like, outside of the big-names that get their pictures put on websites.
I like it that way in many aspects, because it provides a clear disassociation with physical externalities and allows a clarity on their ideas, unclouded by whatever biases I have. It's one reason I prefer all-text chat to avatar chats.