Great piece. I am going to suggest a simplification of relentlessly resourceful to simply "relentless."
Startups all share that they some sort of end vision of meeting some unmet market need - e,g, the destination.
But to get to the destination you have to navigate through an infinately complex obstacle course. The obstacles takes the names of: resource constraints, technology limitations, getting distribution, competitors, alternatives, usability, [add 1,000 more items here].
Any one of these obstacles can stop a start-up dead on it's wheels. DOA. Thanks for playing.
So you're right - an entrepreneur does need to be relentlessly resourceful to solve many of these obstacles, and you only get a prize completing the obstacle course and reaching the destination. Second prize gets the set of Ginsu knives.
However, these aren't really all resource problems. Many of them are business design problems, strategy problems or partnership problems (and more).
Don't get me wrong - I love being resourceful, I love being scrappy and am a huge subscriber to the simply economics of a penny saved is a penny earned (note: you also can't save your way to greatness).
I think of the journey like water flowing down a river. It goes around obstacles, it dissolves obstacles, It changes course. When it gets dammed, it find tiny cracks naked to the eye, wedges in, and gets through. It never sleeps, it never debates, it never gives up. It simply seeks the path to the destination.
Startups all share that they some sort of end vision of meeting some unmet market need - e,g, the destination.
But to get to the destination you have to navigate through an infinately complex obstacle course. The obstacles takes the names of: resource constraints, technology limitations, getting distribution, competitors, alternatives, usability, [add 1,000 more items here].
Any one of these obstacles can stop a start-up dead on it's wheels. DOA. Thanks for playing.
So you're right - an entrepreneur does need to be relentlessly resourceful to solve many of these obstacles, and you only get a prize completing the obstacle course and reaching the destination. Second prize gets the set of Ginsu knives.
However, these aren't really all resource problems. Many of them are business design problems, strategy problems or partnership problems (and more).
Don't get me wrong - I love being resourceful, I love being scrappy and am a huge subscriber to the simply economics of a penny saved is a penny earned (note: you also can't save your way to greatness).
I think of the journey like water flowing down a river. It goes around obstacles, it dissolves obstacles, It changes course. When it gets dammed, it find tiny cracks naked to the eye, wedges in, and gets through. It never sleeps, it never debates, it never gives up. It simply seeks the path to the destination.
In a word: relentless.
Cheers,
Mark Rose Co-Founder Spare Change