Single greatest article in the history of the modern internet: "Are You a Pirate?" 
Michael Arrington deserves a Pulitzer prize for this article. I don’t think I have ever read anything this good and inspirational yet so true.
Risk is what stops us from achieving great things and incubating ideas. This is why people with nothing to lose or no fear are often so successful. The right entrepreneurial mindset should be all about being fearless and risk management on the no-VC-will-ever-fund-my-idea-because-I-am-not-afraid-of-anything scale. Just stop for a second and think about Jason Fried, Tony Hsieh, Kevin Rose, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and especially Elon Musk. Read about what they did and how they started their businesses. There is a common ground between these people, the “I have nothing to lose” mindset.
As Josh Kopelman states - “Risk Tolerance is a Competitive Weapon”.
So You Want To Start A Web Startup?
(Via TechCrunch)
Social Tribes and Entrepreneurship
Tribes are groups of people with predefined similarities or as HBR defines it - groups of people who are passionate about a topic. Tribes can take up many different forms and shapes, just to name a few we could have national clicks, book clubs, bike enthusiasts or gardeners. They all share a common interest, everyone in the group has some knowledge and is found interesting by the others. Naturally, people change hobbies, interests and social status, they leave one tribe to join a different one, one that’s more applicable to them at the time. Some tribes however, change very rarely.
Ethnic tribes are usually shared by people from the same country, all they usually share is a language and heritage, yet they still manage to find each other interesting. It’s this idea of a connection, the fact that you can be among ‘your own’ and speak the language you have always spoken. The foundation of this lies somewhere between 18th century, China and Jewish people. Back in the day when globalization was in its infancy and international trade was a soundly established idea more and more people started to travel and move around. Unfortunately without a universal language, dictionaries, smart phones and free wi-fi , as you would imagine, people found it very difficult to communicate with each other. Without this ability, the easiest option was to find people who are not dissimilar and they usually happened to be from the same country. This tradition is still in place, this is still what happens most of the time. This is what the Chinese do anywhere they go, they stick together, they help each other in distress and they try to recreate what they had at home. Just look at a typical China Town, it’s not a coincidence. The same concept applies to Jews, they always find each other and they always help each other - these are the values they are taught all their lives and that’s what they follow, mainly because it’s easy and convenient.
Tribes are what we want them to be, they are a collection of people, a recreation of a world we want to live in they are things we miss and things we love. Exactly the same theory can be applied to startups. Collection of people with a common interest - check. Recreation or creation of something we want - check. Things we miss and things we love - check. A perfect tribe - very short of a success.
Now think about individuals who do not want to belong to a click, and I am not talking about joining a Facebook group, I am talking about social outcasts, third culture kids and highly motivated individuals. They very rarely belong to tribes they usually don’t belong anywhere at all or drift between them. I was never interested in joining a national group - I left my country when I was 12. Unfortunately I am ashamed of it, ashamed of the people, the place and the social level they represent. Sure they are exception but even when considering my background, I simply don’t fit in. As a third culture kid I can adopt to any situation, join any click if I want to. I am used to it, I am used to be drifting between people, countries and ideas. And after seeing and talking to people who have been in a particular tribe for a long time, I realized that it’s simply not worth it. It’s not worth trusting people and spending time with people purely because of a similar interest or friendliness. Sure friends are important, but they don’t have to be a part of a tribe. Going alone will take you much further, there aren’t people you need to share things with, there aren’t any heartfelt ideas which you have to accept in order not to ruin a friendship, there aren’t any trust or betrayal issues.
I personally think that the same concept yet again applies to startups, it’s good to have trusted people and partners, but the only thing you share should be the passion for the company, friendship, emotional connection and past history tend to be destructive.
Keep your friends, family and business partners separate - this isn’t a tribe sharing ideas, when it comes to money your best friend can become your biggest enemy.
