Thinking With Brian

First, tonight is the Philly Startup Leaders Fishbowl event where members of the extended Philadelphia startup eco-system will come together to discuss what PSL needs to do to stay (or become) relevant.

Second, Joe Petrucci from Flying Kite published this article.  While I was honored to be mentioned in both the piece and the ensuing commentary by Alex Hillman, they both got me thinking about the nature of "Startup Leaders" versus "Leaders of Startups."

A Startup Leader, is relatively simple to define, though hard to execute.  File some papers with the government, form your LLC, and you're set.  You're leading a startup.  Even this low barrier would probably trigger some push back.  There are people in the community who would say, "I have an idea, and I've started drafting a business plan.  I'm a startup leader."  Doing it well, is more involved.  It often means cultivating a relentless focus on your business.  Investing 100% of your capacity (and more) is the norm.  This mentality can create a "take" view of the world.  The focus can cultivate a world view that says, "If I can't measure the return to my business today, I should be doing something else." 

You'll see the evidence of this world view in people who go to startup events and don't ask about your business.  They are their to pitch, sell, and extract information.  They sometimes get what they asked for, but rarely get what they could have with a different approach.

A Leader of Startups is more amorphous, and also much harder to achieve.  The real leaders of this startup community are people who selflessly set aside time and energy to help guide a group that naturally resists leadership.  Frankly, most people who view themselves as Startup Leaders don't want to be lead by anyone else.  This means that the people who sit at the top of org charts don't automatically become the community's leaders.  Unlike more sheepish flocks, the Leaders of Startups have to earn their stripes by caring and contributing.

Being a Leader of Startups means prioritizing the long haul over the immediate.  It means genuinely caring about the community instead of seeing the community as a faucet for leads and funding. It means giving to someone without immediately identifying the ROI.  At a surface level, this flies in the face of the focus needed to lead your individual startup.  At a deeper level, those who lead successful startups and the community at large know that the activities are not only complimentary, their also inseparable.  For those who grasp this, the real returns are bigger than any bubble valuation.

In my experience, these rare people approach all of their problems holistically.  They take a long view in both business and community that creates sustainability at both levels.  They get that this country and this city were built by leaders who did not distinguish between business, community, and family.  That's why the latest bubble starup leader who fled to New York or San Fran isn't that big a deal.  Those people (gross generalization warning) often are taking the short view.  They're looking at how to build their business, but not how to build something greater.  And trust me, there are definitely things greater than your business.

As Alex put it, in reference to Chris Cera, "This is why I love Chris as a leader. He’s often reluctant, but he knows what he wants for the community he’s a part of." (emphasis added)  Chris, and our other leaders see themselves as "part of" the community.  When you're part of the community, leaving is a sacrifice, not an opportunity.