Socrates and The Entrepreneur

The most basic tenet of Socrates’ personal philosophy was to “know thyself.”  This, he believed, was the point from which all understanding begins. This concept, simple in expression but more difficult in execution, lies at the heart of “The Tribe,” an infoChachkie blog post by John Greathouse concerning the assembly of successful startup teams.

“The Tribe,” suggests that startup success is more a function of proper “Core Team” cultivation than the idea upon which the venture is based.  In fact, it likens the core organization of successful teams to that of the most basic human social organizations; hence, “The Tribe.”  The article outlines five basic roles – the definitions of which I have included below.  According to the theory, no one role is more important to the survival of the unit than any other, and without any of them, the unit is not likely to succeed.

The roles are the following:

Hunter - The Hunter defends the Tribe and literally ‘brings home the bacon’. These individuals are highly autonomous, independent and thrive on frequent recognition. When their efforts feed the Tribe, they want everyone to know that it was their efforts.

Skinner - The Skinner makes the Hunter look good. When the Hunter brings back the kill, it is the Skinner who dresses the meat, tans the hides and cures whatever is not initially eaten for the Tribe to subsist upon during the lean times of winter.

Chief - Every tribe needs a Chief, just like every adVenture needs a CEO. The Chief defines and communicates the Tribe’s strategic direction, such as a new valley to forage or a mountain retreat to escape the dog days of summer. The Chief listens to the opinions of the other tribal members, makes decisions that impact everyone and ensures an adequate level of acceptance of such decisions to facilitate their ultimate success.

Shaman - Shamans invent new tools and processes that improve the overall quality of life within the Tribe. For instance, a Shaman will spend his days thinking of a better fishhook, a new tool for cleaning skins or searching for new medicinal plants to cure the Tribe’s ailments.

Tribal Elders - The Tribal Elders spend most their time sitting by the fire dozing off. They cannot be counted on to do any ‘heavy lifting’ nor are they in a position to execute the day-to-day tasks necessary for the Tribe to thrive. However, they occasionally offer bits of sage advice that allow the Tribe to avoid hardships and reap windfalls. As such, the wise Chief knows when to solicit their counsel and when to allow sleeping Elders to lie.


Know Thyself.
How many budding entrepreneurs know themselves as well as they know the industry they’re entering?  Few entrepreneurs that I’ve worked with have spent any time investigating their own capabilities as a fundamental tenet of business plan development.  What problems result from this?

• Entrepreneurs assemble a team of people just like them, leaving the organization devoid of required skill sets and personality types
• Entrepreneurs create organizational bottlenecks by trying to perform too many roles, ultimately doing none of them well
• Entrepreneurs avoid vital tasks for which they are not well suited, fail to recruit someone who is well suited to them, and fail to complete them

The lesson to be learned?  If Greathouse is to be believed, one must apply the same due diligence to oneself as one would the business plan under development. Greathouse includes some self-reflection exercises at the bottom of the blog, which are useful for deducing which role one is best suited to play.  Use the conclusions to drive the strategy for assembling your start-up team – not just targeting education, experience or technical expertise, but also role in the new Tribe.

"Endurance" - A Real Story of Leadership and Survival

Survival has become a hot topic for pop culture.  “Man vs. Wild” has made Bear Grylls an international television star by featuring his ability to extricate himself from any hostile geography.  Grylls makes fans swoon – or wretch – by eating whatever plant or bug he stumbles upon.  They marvel at the tools he whittles out of foliage he finds along the way.  Sometimes, when he’s lucky, he scores “a bit of protein” through cooking small game he captures.  He always makes it to the chopper pickup, the highway or train tracks.  Grylls’ skills are certainly impressive, but let’s paint a bleaker picture.

Strip away Gore-Tex jackets, insulated hiking boots, merino wool long underwear, cell phones, GPS devices and Swiss Army knives.  Do that in your day-to-day life, let alone stranded in a remote place, and life becomes unpleasant.  Now imagine operating in that condition in an environment where there are no plants or bugs, where the only wood comes from the ship which carried you there (which was crushed by ice) where the average temperature is 20-below zero, and where the only thing to eat is a 1000-pound bull seal that you need to kill before it eats you instead.   Imagine there is no civilization for 700 miles, and 600 of that span is the most dangerous sea on the planet.  One final thought, you’re responsible for the survival of all 28 members of your party, yet no one else knows where you are, so there is no hope of any rescue.  Now you’re beginning to understand the situation in which Sir Earnest Shackleton found himself on the ice of the Weddell Sea off Antarctica in January 1915.

While rummaging through our bookshelves I scavenged “Endurance” by Alfred Lansing.  The blurb at the bottom of the cover reads, “One of the great adventure stories of our time.”  I wouldn’t argue with the statement.  The book details the 18-month struggle the crew of the Endurance endured as they attempted to rescue themselves from a seemingly impossible situation at the pole of the earth.

Given how well publicized the excursion was, I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by sharing that the entire party survived and returned safely to England.  What I won’t share are the many trials the crew experienced between being stranded and reaching help.  The book is an amazing story of the strength of human will, and our ability to adapt to virtually anything.  Beyond the adventures and hardships, the book is remarkable in its portrayal of Shackleton, who proved himself not only a hero, but also, more importantly, an astute organizer and leader.   While his method for selecting company members was questionable, his ability to steer even problematic crew toward achievement of the team’s shared task was inspired.  With few exceptions, he is the model for the leader I aspire to be, and I wish I had encountered more like him in my life.

Pick up the book if you find yourself in need of a good weekend read, or if you’re contemplating doing something that you’re not sure you can achieve.  After reading this I believe people – myself included – are long on excuses and short on understanding of their potential to endure.

Lessons from the Garbage Can

My wife Katie and I recently moved to San Francisco.  We're now entering our 2nd week as residents of the city, and it's been an easy transition... with one exception.  San Francisco has some of the most amazing residential sanitation rules one could conceive.  On the threat of a ticket for erroneously sorting our detritus, we've been forced to learn the difference between what is recyclable, compostable and merely trash destined for a landfill.  We now sort items from each of these categories into separate garbage bins in our apartment, then placing them in separate cans for weekly collection.  We actually had to print the city's rules and tape them to our trash bins in order to keep the process working.

Initially, I was annoyed that our waste required so much of my attention, but gradually my attitude has changed.  I've been surprised that more of my trash can be reused than I originally thought.  However, I also generate a lot of stuff that I thought could be recycled, but can't.  For instance, Katie and I are receiving a few wedding presents these days; they are always packed in tons of Styrofoam.  San Francisco recycling won't touch the stuff.  They also won't take plastic bags, which are EVERYWHERE.  Good luck getting through the day without someone handing you a plastic bag.

I'm sure this was the intention of those who drafted the law, but dealing with the stuff that I think should be recycled, but can't, is both frustrating and depressing.  It's forced me to really think about what I generate and where it goes.  This is certainly an interesting case where forced behavior modification has resulted in increase awareness and a change in perception.  I've never been a big fan of legislative interference in people's lives, but this illustrates it can be a powerful tool if used correctly.