Go Great or Go Home
The world doesn't simply need big ideas. Great startup communities empower entrepreneurs with a vision to launch something good and build it into something great over time.
February 13, 2012
We know the saying, "go big or go home", right?
I tend to think a lot about big ideas. Big ideas for startups. Big ideas for my city. And the entrepreneur in me wants to make them all happen - right now.
But then I stop to remind myself that there's a huge difference between big ideas and great vision. Lots of people have big ideas, but not everyone has great vision to strategically transform ideas into action over time.
I've been involved in a number of "big" project discussions in the last few weeks - "international" winter festivals without programming, debates on Canada's "number one" entrepreneurial city, and another try at creating Western Canada's "largest" electronic music festival (for the record, I hope this one works).
"Largest", "international", "number one", "world class" - grandiose and exaggerated terms that rarely align to the actual substance of the projects they're attached to.
People tell me about big projects they're working on, big dollars they've raised, big names they've lined up, and big buildings that are years away from breaking ground. I talk to startup entrepreneurs who talk about big partnership opportunities and raising big money, well before they've even launched a first version of their product, or even made their first sale.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for game changing ideas and being the best. I just don't believe everyone needs to go big immediately.
Think about these examples of local entrepreneurs in our city building something great over time, not big in one shot:
- Small restaurants like Elm Cafe and Tres Carnales Taqueria, run by brilliant, innovative and passionate entrepreneurs who are impacting the local food scene by focusing on delivering great food and a great customer experience. As a result, their places are always packed and they're already profitable, and this is only the beginning.
- Successful cultural festivals, like Edmonton's Fringe Festival and Folk Music Festival started small, built a following and transformed themselves into great festivals with the attendance and performers to back it up. And yet we continue to see new festivals rise every year that start big in year one and die in year two. It's not simply because of a lack of sponsor dollars and attendance. They often lack the entrepreneurial vision to build a great festival experience over time.
- BioWare built its first video game here in Edmonton with only $100,000 and a skeleton team. Over the years, the studio honed its skill in developing one great role-playing game after another, each highly praised by consumers and critics alike. With each win, it has evolved into the one of the world's greatest studios in the interactive entertainment industry.
The world doesn't simply need big ideas. The world needs great vision, powered by great entrepreneurs with the ability to execute. It's about entrepreneurs who can outwork, outplay and outsmart the competition, and who question the usual definitions of success. It's about entrepreneurs who can prove it as they build it.
Think about Facebook, which launched in 2004 as a small social network on a single university campus. Over time, Facebook evolved into the world's greatest social network, with more than 845 million users worldwide, on its way to a billion dollar IPO. All while remaining true to the original vision of its founder, and building the company on his terms.
The next great startup communities empower entrepreneurs with a vision to launch something good and build it into something great over time.
The next great startup communities don't care about being the next Silicon Valley, naming headliners to attract international attention, or climbing the ranks on someone's top cities list. Great communities embrace local talent first, working from the inside out to activate local entrepreneurs to take steps towards building something great. That's the start.
So forget about big. It's time to "go great or go home".
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Bonus reading: For more stories about companies who focus on greatness over growth, check out the book Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big by Bo Burlingham.
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