11.19.2006
Some reflections on the start-up
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Much ink has been spilled over the subject of start-up chemistry, (or alchemy). Luck, timing, wisdom, persistence. Of all these virtues, persistence is probably the most important.
It is usually encapsulated in the observation of Thomas A. Edison that "Invention is 2% inspiration, 98% perspiration." But that is facile. A little more obscure, one could quote the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" which was released in 1976 before many, or most were born. A cult film, you can get it through netflix or blockbuster.
NARRATOR:
The Tale of Sir Launcelot.
FATHER:
One day, lad, all this will be yours!
PRINCE HERBERT:
What, the curtains?
FATHER:
No. Not the curtains, lad. All that you can see, stretched out over the hills and valleys of this land! This'll be your kingdom, lad.
HERBERT:
But Mother--
FATHER:
Father, lad. Father.
HERBERT:
B-- b-- but Father, I don't want any of that.
FATHER:
Listen, lad. I built this kingdom up from nothing. When I started here, all there was was swamp. Other kings said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one... stayed up! And that's what you're gonna get, lad: the strongest castle in these islands.
HERBERT:
But I don't want any of that. I'd rather--
That's the spirit that leads eventually to success. You fail in myriad ways, large and small, and then succeed sometimes. And that's how it works.
It is usually encapsulated in the observation of Thomas A. Edison that "Invention is 2% inspiration, 98% perspiration." But that is facile. A little more obscure, one could quote the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" which was released in 1976 before many, or most were born. A cult film, you can get it through netflix or blockbuster.
NARRATOR:
The Tale of Sir Launcelot.
FATHER:
One day, lad, all this will be yours!
PRINCE HERBERT:
What, the curtains?
FATHER:
No. Not the curtains, lad. All that you can see, stretched out over the hills and valleys of this land! This'll be your kingdom, lad.
HERBERT:
But Mother--
FATHER:
Father, lad. Father.
HERBERT:
B-- b-- but Father, I don't want any of that.
FATHER:
Listen, lad. I built this kingdom up from nothing. When I started here, all there was was swamp. Other kings said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one... stayed up! And that's what you're gonna get, lad: the strongest castle in these islands.
HERBERT:
But I don't want any of that. I'd rather--
That's the spirit that leads eventually to success. You fail in myriad ways, large and small, and then succeed sometimes. And that's how it works.
