This resonated with me in a big way the other day, especially in light of recent accusations which have been leveled at me from various people I’m close to (which I completely disagree with! and I'll get to that below).
This description of winning startup founders, however, I wholeheartedly embrace:
"We are looking for very specific founder types that we've seen be successful in consumer. Somtimes we call them "savage".
They are obsessive, competitive, disagreeable, opinionated, insanely smart, and neuro-divergent. They are fast, confident enough to take in new information and change, and sensitive to the nuance of psychology and language. They think small on the details and big on the business. A bit angry, a bit crazy."
James Currier, GP NFX
https://www.nfx.com/post/consumer-is-back
It’s taken me many, many years to be comfortable and confident in the paradox I embody from the Nature / Nurture dichotomy.
Because I generally like the person I have become though, when people tell me I have ‘caracter feo’ despite me being a complete saint, I can respectfully disagree and move on without resentment.
I do remember, however, and each slight of that sort -rooted in falsehood and/or their own projections- adds a tiny bit more fuel to the fire to really BE me in all ways.
I know that’s the ultimate lesson I’m here to learn and where any (all?!) impact my life may have will need to come from.
Someone commented on my post Escaping The Swindle Of The Swaddle to drop the disclaimers, and damn, that hits hard (because I am frustratingly aware of that problem, but I don’t always catch it, or sometimes, like there, I decided it needed to stay in).
The timing is perfect though, as it serves to drive the point of James’ message home even stronger: people who are driven and obsessed will be misunderstood by many (most!) and yet they have a responsibility to themselves and their own purpose to BE who they are anyway.
I’ve never publicly talked about a lot of these ideas as they tend to be very personal, but this issue has been front and center for a couple weeks now so I think I may share more of where this contradictory struggle comes from.
Perhaps in putting it out there it’ll be another step forward for me and strike a chord in a positive way for someone else.
The funny thing about what James wrote is that he was providing a road map for founders to understand the characteristics of what they look for in leaders they back with capital - and for me it was an encouragement that went far beyond business, to the core of me being me.
Not because I’m an asshole and want some VC’s permission to be such, either. Lol that’s not my goal at all.
But I do not equate being obsessed, questioning the status quo, having an intense competitive side, and being a little crazy, with anything other than potentially positive outcomes.
Everything we enjoy in this modern world was invented, built, and brought to market by individuals just like that!
Not everyone is wired in such a way, and of course that’s ok - I still treat those people with respect and say my please and thank you’s.
But if you’re on my team you’d better WANT me to be passionately driven toward the goal.
We are not here for vacation - we’re here to learn, grow, and evolve. Individually, which creates a ripple in the pond for the collective consciousness which we are all divinely connected to.
Next!
