What to expect at a start-up event if you are an entrepreneur?
“If there is something you want to build, but the tech isn’t there yet, just find the closest possible way to make it happen,” said FourSquare co-founder Dennis Crowley. It is this sentiment that is echoed at start-up events around the world. Be it the best of Silicon Valley, Malaysia’s Awesomeness Fest or our very own TechSparks, the spirit of awesomeness and the sense of invincibility that is prevalent at start up events is hard to beat. From the aspiring to the successful to the twice failed but still trying entrepreneur there is no place more likely to jumpstart enthusiasm than at a gathering of likeminded people who are trying to make it work like no other. Here you are defined not by your failures or successes (ok may be a little bit by your success) but by your dreams, visions and determination. Here everyone has potential and everything is a possibility. Irrespective of who you are or where you come from, go to a start-up event and feel the world at your fingertips.
Inspiration:
Naturally the most obvious thing to expect at any start-up event is also at the top of this list. And while the term may be cliché, the advice gleaned rarely ever is. Think of thundering speeches and passionate urges from the who’s who of the industry beckoning bright young things to chase their dreams. No matter how many books you have read or classroom lectures you have attended, it will pale in comparison to the real thing. To be seated in the audience and be a vicarious recipient of life’s most hard earned experiences is an invaluable blessing. Half a day spent soaking up such inspiration is worth a lifetime of wisdom gained. To paraphrase one master entrepreneur, “Before you are out of the building, you’ll be out of your comfort zone.”
Community:
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but neither was it built by one man. Albert Einstein said, “One has a feeling that one has a home in this timeless community of human beings that strive for truth.” Dear entrepreneur, these are your people. This is your home. They are fighting for what you all believe in together. Your ideas may be different (and that is a good thing) but your vision is the same. We are all in this together. Build your Rome with people who matter.
Eric Ries said, “The biggest start-up successes - from Henry Ford to Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg - were pioneered by people from solidly middle-class backgrounds. These founders were not wealthy when they began. They were hungry for success, but knew they had a solid support system to fall back on if they failed.” Attending a start-event is a sure shot way for you to get started with building that support system, to be someone’s helping hand when they fail and to have people stand by you when you do.
Competition:
Hope, optimism, passion and support are all well and good but there is only so much inspiration can do. The one thing guaranteed to kick you out of your comfort zone is facing your competition upfront. “When healthy competition prevails, you come out to play and you play to win.” Of the many perks of attending a start-up event is also the horrifying proposition that someone else will fulfil your dream for themselves before you have a chance to do so.
Competition is wondrously good for the soul. Walt Disney said, “I have been up against tough competition all my life. I wouldn’t know how to get along without it.” Ambition, motivation, drive and fire stem from this unique yet innately human value. Competition compels the best version of you to come forward. So go to a start-up event and make someone else nervous while you supercharge yourself to take over the world.
Serendipity:
“Competition makes us faster. Collaboration makes us better.” Any start-up event is a hotbed of bonding, co-creating and collaborating. It is here that you will meet your future co-founders, VC’s and investors. It is here that you will recruit bright young things for your core team. It is here that you will meet people that you would never had the occasion of meeting under ordinary circumstances. And it is here that your idea will fuse with a stranger’s opinion to give birth to a truly original spark. And when you look back and marvel at how many unlikely things occurred that one day to give rise to something that was meant to be- something that has given your life purpose and meaning- you will recall it is serendipity. It may have been luck. But “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” So prepare for that destiny that awaits you. Sign up for that start-up event today!
