In his book Prisoners, The Atlantic's Jeff Goldberg poignantly describes how at the end of his duty as a prison guard in the Israeli desert he asked jailed Palestinian terrorists for their addresses so that he could come visit them were they ever to gain release. It was a distinctly American idea: if he could only spark a dialogue with them then maybe they would understand each other better and perhaps someday in the future something incredible would result.
In a recent speech Jeff self-deprecatingly dismisses this gesture as a "grandiose and juvenile impulse", something from a bygone era of his life. But I wouldn't be so quick to pass judgement. First, Jeff did in fact establish a long-standing and complicated relationship with one of the former terrorist inmates that continues to this day. Who knows where it might lead?
Second, over time I've become a big believer in Grandiose and Juvenile Impulses and wonder where our country would be without them. Was it pragmatic and mature for a junior African American senator to think he could defeat two of the country's toughest political machines to become president? Was it pragmatic and mature for two Stanford computer students to reject an early acquisition offer from Microsoft in favor of building their own independent program that only did web search? Was it pragmatic and mature for Southwest's Herb Kelleher to think he could replace bus service with jets for the same cost?
Indeed, all the successful ventures we've funded began as a grandiose and juvenile impulses. They are the lifeblood of the venture business and tremendous careers, fortunes and communities have resulted from them.
Unfortunately, what happens in economic climates like the current one is that the flow of these impulses turns into a trickle and is replaced by safe bets that marginally improve what's already out there. Could somebody create the microblogging space today with the successful launching and funding of twitter, or would the lack of an obvious business model kill it? In today's environment would the envy and hubris required to build Hulu be enough to garner the corporate backing to launch a Youtube competitor? (Well, probably) I suspect there are multiple grandiose and juvenle impulses that aren't getting acted on right now.
But are we missing the opportunity of a lifetime? Entrenched competitors in every market segment are focused inward triaging their operations, some of the most talented human capital is being purged from businesses en masse, and there's tons of money sitting on the sidelines waiting for an inspiring idea to fund. I'd argue that If we're to get our economy going again, it will be because of the rare individuals with the courage and confidence to act on these impulses and the will to see them through.
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