Cheers @Simran! Great round up & glad my point resonated. All too often I come to these sorts of events and there's no mention of true innovation, and when I say true innovation - I mean innovation that *can and does* change the world.
Money as a driver is always important in creating successful, sustainable businesses but when you get that many talented people in a room together I find it such a waste that a mention of social innovation isn't even on the cards. We need a drastic shift in our mindset. Profit should not be the only driver in why people are building (tech) businesses. If we continue to chase profit in this way with no consideration for anything else (environmental and/or social impact) we'll just continue in an unsustainable downward spiral in human development. We each have the ability and responsibility to leave the world in a bit of a better position than how we found it through our ability to build business. And if we collectively have the been given the talent and ability to build businesses that can truly change the world, isn't that what we're all here for? Avis @avismulhall @mmMule_com @LoolooPaper @ThinkActChange On Sunday, December 16, 2012 10:03:34 PM UTC+11, simran wrote: > > Hi All, > > I'm sure many of you were at the Dave McClure event today... > > A few points really resonated (at least this is what resonated and i took > away): > * You don't have to aim to be a billion dollar business > * The "old world" businesses/markets have a lot to offer and many times > are easy wins when you tweak them and take them digital > > Quite a lot also did not resonate, i don't doubt the wisdom of a lot of > what he said, but it reminds me (and reinforces) why you must be very > careful who you take money from. Many a time's it's a scatter gun or > "portfolio" approach that incubators/funds/investors take - and personally > you're a statistic - sometimes that's a fabulous thing and indeed desired > at a certain stage... at seed, hmm... well... (it's their "suddenly taking > notice" only when things are going wrong (and not sharing the passion that > you do) creates much of the issues)... > > The most insightful comment that truly resonated was in fact from Avis > [and i paraphrase] "everyone talks about changing the world, it's not by > worrying about a bunch of numbers and the bottom line that change in the > world really happens"... Avis, you're such a reality check, so often we > fool ourselves into thinking we are changing the world, when in fact we are > only wanting to make a billion dollars and the "change the world" is a > cliche! If you really want to change the world, it has to be a "true" > gold... cudos to Avis who actually practices what she preaches and truly is > making this world a better place :) > > Dave of course missed the mark on many responses - for some reason, he > just didn't actually get the gist of virtually any question that was asked, > but anyway, his comment on the above that he was very interested in "social > good" because he thinks it made a great "marketing tool" made me cringe! i > shudder even at the mention of it again! > > Another interesting insight was from the guy from new inventors - > paraphrasing again "about 5-8% of people that presented on the show > actually went on to be successful, and there seems to be a > strong correlation between a magnetic/dynamic personality and success" - > i've found that to be relatively true as well - an exceptional product is > at the core (if you haven't got that, doesn't matter how magnetic your > personality is!) - but if you do have a good product, a dynamic personality > goes a long way... (perhaps that's why i liked what he said, because it's > my belief too :) > > That brings me to a person who shared (privately) about creating shared > experiences through interactive mass gamification (whether it be using your > mobile to interact with the cinema screen or on the train playing a game > (on a shared screen in the front) with someone sitting 5 seats away... his > process into recruiting founders was brilliant - i'm sure i only got the > high level take of it as it was only a 5 minute conversation, but it had > the essence (although of course, how it's executed really defines it's > value) of really being able to find good founders... a video i highly > recommend on "shared experience" if anyone is really interested is at: > http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html- > i personally feel "shared experiences" usually do and can create the > "moments" that leave you with a smile for the rest of the day (and even > tragic shared experiences, although don't leave a smile, they do bond > people and communities together very strongly). It reminds me a lot of when > the olympics were in sydney in 2000 and how everyone on the trains were > smiling and talking and greeting each other as if we were just one large > village - unfortunately as soon as the olympics ended, everyone seemed to > go back to staring at blank walls and avoiding eye contact - but there's an > essence in shared experiences that can't be avoided, and i suspect, with > the right tools, that attribute can really help change the world! :) > > Anyway, thanks to the organisers for bringing Dave to Sydney... it was a > very interesting evening - having him here created yet another context for > many insights from all members of the community. > > simran. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Vist http://siliconbeachaustralia.org for more Forum rules 1) No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. 2) No jobs postings. 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