trendpreneur

Really interesting debate/blogpost over at TechMeetup as a result of yesterday’s Engage Invest Exploit in Edinburgh. The main points I’m reading is that Edinburgh/Scotland needs more early stage risk money, more mentors/advisors, and a more flexible ecosystem (people willing to join startups, support networks that enable this). And yet someone has to gain; the investors, professional risk-takers, can’t see a return in 3-5 years investing £1m in 20 startups, so they won’t. Guys, Y Combinator took a long punt on funding hackers with ramen money, and it’s paying off.

Also in today’s reading, two lovely nuggets of wisdom from comments on a Fred Wilson piece on the ‘hopes and dreams’ phase (a phase that Scottish businesses either get stuck in, or never experience):

The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.

If you find yourself driving off a cliff, stop driving.

Contradictory, and yet not; there’s a difference between thinking you’re driving off a cliff, and actually doing so.