EMBRACE WEIRDNESS
Boulder is a weird place. In the 1960s when the hippies were driving to the Bay Area from the East Coast, some of them ran out of gas near Boulder. They looked around, liked the mountains, and decided to stay. Boulder’s reputation of 25 square miles surrounded by reality is well earned.
In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard Florida talks about weirdness as a key attribute of innovative communities. He’s gone on to state, “You cannot get a technologically innovative place unless it’s open to weirdness, eccentricity and difference” (New York Times, June 1, 2002).
The Boulder startup community embraces weirdness. You don’t have to look a certain way, dress a certain way, or act a certain way. People can simply be themselves and are accepted for who they are and what they do. All you have to do is wander around for a few days up and down the Pearl Street Mall and you’ll see what I mean.
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