A Moment for Reflection
When I started this blog two years ago, I set out to capture a side of the tech world that I felt was being overlooked: the people behind the scenes — and the sense of community that binds them together.
“Your Startup Sucks”, though silly, was imagined as a good guy’s travelog — a personal narrative probing the winding corridors of NYC’s business world. Its thesis was simple: dogs may eat dogs elsewhere but in NYC, we help each other out. That’s what makes us special. That’s what makes us important.
Over these past two years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet thousands of people: founders, hackers, investors, writers, students, and leaders. Some among them sought success in business; others sought learning and fellowship. Most understood that the two weren’t so different.
Along the way, I’ve come to see starting up as being a bit like falling in love: passionate words whispered over drinks, late nights that turn into long weekends, fleeting moments of absolute (and terrifying) clarity… followed by the harrowing awareness that things will, in all likelihood, not work out in the long run. What then?
As it is with relationships, so it is with startups: the best and only balm for a broken heart is friendship and family. In this game of numbers, one cannot afford to wallow in “failure”; we must rely on one another to help us through the disappointments so that we can dust ourselves off and try again.
Economists are fond of saying that “a rising tide lifts all ships”; it is humbling to belong to a community that so brilliantly embodies this aphorism. We work together, we play together, and we learn together. We share in the good and the bad and we understand this: the journey is everything.
In this new year, I look forward to continuing our journey together — to see what we’ll build and what we’ll say, who we’ll meet and what we’ll do. Most of all, I look forward to sharing another year of ups, downs, ANDs, ORs, and NOTs with you.
Have a happy and healthy 2012!
Recent comments