Creativity and the Startup

Worked on two creative projects today, both in line with the needs of the startup, and feel great about it.

First, my colleague Camille and I discussed how she can evolve our monthly newsletter to maximise reach and impact, and to have fun creating each one. Together we came up with some great ideas about starting with an iconic image/photo for readers to look forward to, and to compile the spoken version of the newsletter into a video with watch-worthy visuals.

Second, I spent part of my evening writing an "Owl-iday Special" which is an annual tradition we started in 2017. I managed to bang out nearly twenty verses of prose in rhyming Christmas classic fashion. A combo of nerdiness, philosophy and tech trends with a humanistic touch. What a delight!

I recognise that the ability to mix creativity with work so fluidly is something I cherish. I don't think most workplaces, startup or otherwise, would value and encourage this as highly as I do. This aspect of my startup life is very positive and healthy.

E-mail Autoresponder

Here's my e-mail autoresponder message similar to the one in Startical 1.0 . Curious to see if it garners interesting responses like the ones received during Startical 1.0: "I would love to do the same … !" "C'est une bonne décision. L'esprit est aussi important que le reste et j'espère que ce Startical te permettra de recharger les batteries comme tu le souhaites." "It’s what we all wish we could do!" "Take a good rest Jeff, you deserve it" "Awesome auto reply"

Borscht

The Sailboat Analogy

Enjoyed a brief morning discussion with Will, picking up where we left off the night before, which I'd describe as the sailboat analogy: You can build a sailboat optimised for specific conditions, but as the wind and seas are variable, what really is optimal? Applied to startups, one might say this is the choice between building: a sailboat optimised for a sprint in specific conditions (i.e. quick exit), or, a sailboat adapted to operate in any conditions (i.e. cockroach), or, something in between My life experiences and upbringing have strongly inclined me to build a robust vessel that can navigate reasonably through any conditions. However, I'm well aware that the shiny, fast sailboat is the one that garners the most attention in the harbour. Few will be inclined to actively seek out the sailboat most likely to weather the worst storm. Then Will brought up a pertinent point: "do we really need to optimise for progress?" In other words, should we p...

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