In business parlance, we call them “entrenchment” and “creative destruction”. Find a niche, dig in. By the time you crossed “valley of death”, someone had already elbowed in to eat your lunch.
As Venture Capitalists scour the globe looking for “the” deal, they find new energy and risk-taking in places like Rwanda, Indonesia and Israel, the new “BRICS“. Emerged out of the ash of the Great Recession, these countries offer a unique proposition: invest in us for we got talent, nerve and market.
Since history can only be understood backward and not forward (a need for spices and to dispel “Earth-is-square” theory drove Columbus to stumble upon America), we can’t manufacture another version of post WWII American Dream. Whatever shape it will take, post-recession wise, one will likely find “gems” in the most unlikely places (GE and MSN in India, or “frankenfish” farmed in China bio-lab).
After reading Sarah Lacy‘s book about start-ups in emerging countries (Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky), I felt as if “Independence Day” were celebrated else where, and not in the US.
Web eco-sphere and capital flow (as in the case of hyper-Brazil) are tilted to smaller countries: lower barriers to entry, greater access to broadband and micro-funding.
To jump-start a project, one needs more than an urge to get rich. In most cases illustrated in the book, it has a cause or personal narrative to underline the efforts. Innovator’s dilemma implies a balancing act between preserving the status quo and feeding the creative urge.
If not, someone else will and will do you in.
It’s called Progress. It’s called evolution. Climbing the pyramid of need and innovation. Unplug the respirator and move into the “incubator”. I have lived on both sides of the world, one more risk-taking, and the other, safety. It’s as if we have reached a plateau in “subduing the Earth”. Columbus, welcome to America, now go home. Take another lesson in adventure and entrepreneurship elsewhere. Maybe we haven’t failed enough. But it’s time to finish the race. Inertia and urge. Let the urge overtake the inertia.
Thang Nguyen 555 