A Few of My Learnings From Startup Folks

I was at an event in China last week, the central and key graphic displayed was a huge photograph of Einstein. You know which iconic image I’m talking about -- the one where we see a closeup of his Gandalf-like white hair, all of his wrinkles, and in calm repose as the otherwise epitome of “wisdom.” I bought that all the way until one of the speakers (a rocket scientist) remarked, “Shouldn’t we be looking at a picture of Einstein in his mid-20s ... because that is when he made all of his major discoveries.” It’s true -- his point that Einstein killed it in his 20s, and yet we only think of Einstein-the-great in his older form.

I’ve always intuitively known that discovery strikes us when we are younger. We know so little of what cannot happen; and thus we waste a lot less time dealing with the laws of gravity. And just jump. Sometimes we get lucky and find something new. At other times we just fail, and an older person is quick to tell you, “I told you so.” But it is that one in a million jump that does find something new that breaks past the naysayers’ safe barricade -- breaking the law of “it cannot be done” that enables true innovation to occur.

I saw this all the time in the 90s at MIT when computing was just starting to pick up. Software engineering skills were superpowers that few had. And the laws of what could versus could-not happen were not as yet established. Most importantly, there were so few computing devices in the world that nobody really cared. Thus, nobody in power was spending a great deal of time consciously stopping what could happen with the Internet-to-be-born. It was because the computing field was so young back then -- it was Einstein in his 20s.

So the rocket scientist reminded me that it’s younger people who carry the breakthroughs for where the world is going. Not us older people. We like to think we know, and act like we do. And in doing so, we fail to listen to the next generation because our confidence becomes like a cognitive gravity for how-it-is versus how-it-can-be. 

Back when I was a professor at MIT, I noticed that the best thinkers on the MIT faculty were ones who knew that the students were often smarter than themselves. Said differently, those professors knew that they had plenty of room to learn new things from voices other than their own or their esteemed colleagues. I contrast this with professors I knew who felt that the universe of knowledge was parked in their back pocket, and that they were already a reference on the paper that mattered. 

I feel lucky that my “professors” in learning a different way of seeing the world were Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky -- both graduates of RISD who I got to watch up close break the proverbial 4-minute mile as a new breed of startup. Now past the two year point and having broken free from the gravity of academia, I’ve been a student of the many young entrepreneurs who seek to disrupt businesses in every category known to humankind. This is a little note to myself of what I have learned from them so far. 

• Craft is Vital. Care for the end-to-end experience for consumers is extraordinarily high for many of the entrepreneurs I meet. Whether it be just for authenticity’s sake, or some other unknown and unattainable high standard, I see the younger generation engaged in an intense competition to beat Jony Ive at his game. Whether you call this an emphasis on “design” or “customer experience” or what-not, getting things right matters a lot to these new business creators. 
• Diversity Matters. Regardless of what social media service you might follow, it is clear that the beauty and the ugly of the world is now in field view. How we relate to others matters a lot to this new generation, and consciously working to get it right is what they expect of businesses today. Plastering stock imagery of folks who “look diverse” doesn’t cut it any more (and never did) -- your company needs to live values of inclusion and recognize that the world looks a lot different now.
• Pursue Discovery. Achieving a huge payoff is not their primary goal, which is counter to the press you might read on how “Millennials” creating startups believe they can all become millionaires. Instead, they know all too well that there is no guarantee of lifetime employment, and that they wouldn’t want it anyways. They recognize the value of renewing themselves, and challenging themselves with new experiences. Success to them feels like discovering a new quality in themselves, and the cycle just continues.  

Okay -- I’ve blogged a bit (I guess you can call posting here that) and should get back to the work of doing, instead of reflecting. Before I go, here are a few folks outside the conventional “tech startup” ecosystem that I am learning a lot from and who live outside the usual TechCrunch bubble:   

• Vicky Tsai / TATCHA: designed a line of skincare products that offers improved chemistry derived from ancient Geisha rituals, and at a much higher quality than anything else. Their packaging and branding is always exquisite, and reminds me of the Shiseido of my youth.
• Marissa Vosper + Lauren Schwab / NEGATIVE: designed comfortable underwear for women who are tired of the overdone Victoria’s Secret approach. They have a new Valentine?’s gift promotion running right now that solves the “What are her sizes?" problem in a novel way. 
• Tristan Walker / BEVEL: although a favorite story in the tech community, the Bevel system doesn’t have any RAM in it. It is a shaving system for people with curly hair -- which is key for many folks of color who have long experienced skin irritation. Their new trimmer just launched.
• Max Gunawan / LUMIO : designed a rechargeable, portable lamp that anyone who comes into contact with literally lets out a “gasp” when they come into contact with it. Max has a new mini-version of it that has just come out.
• Elizabeth Weil / PAPERWHEEL: designed a set of letterpress cards that bring tech humor to the comfort and warmth of beautiful papers and delicious textures. It isn’t her day job, but it is clear it drives a lot of her unique thinking in the marketing space. The “You auto-complete me” card is a favorite.
• Ayah Bdeir / LITTLEBITS: designed a bento-box like approach to electronic circuitry parts that teach children how to create robots and other automatons-to-be-invented. They have been featured on Ellen and more.
• Andrew Fallshaw / BELLROY: design a slim wallet that answers the question that seems to rise up on Kickstarter every other week of a great, slim wallet. Turns out it exists in perfect form already. With incredible craftsmanship and environmental friendliness, their line keeps growing.

They all have taught me a lot in different ways about how even non-tech products can aspire to defeat gravity. So I have to go now and put on my old Timetanium jumping shoes ... -JM