The Startup Community Way

CHAPTER FOURTEENTHINK INGENERATIONS

Startup Community Way Principle

The leaders must have a long-term commitment. Leaders should make at least a 20-year commitment to the startup community and incorporate long-term thinking into strategies and decision making. They should reset the clock each year so the 20-year view into the future is permanent.

The second principle of the Boulder Thesis is that the leaders must have a long-term commitment. Initially, I defined this as a 20-year view, which roughly corresponded with the traditional definition of a generation.¹ My goal with this was to create some texture around what long-term meant, and, as I discussed this with people in various startup communities, I realized that I originally meant a continuous long-term view. I modified “a 20-year view” to “a 20-year view from today” and gave the example that, while I know I have lived in Boulder for 25 years, I don't have a minus-five-year view. Instead, I'm looking forward from year 25 to year 45.

This perspective corresponds nicely with how change occurs in complex systems. Rather than being consistent and constant, change is often either disproportionate (nonlinear) or can appear to be nearly instantaneous (phase transition).² Recent examples include the Arab Spring or the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in the United States, where a few brave people sparked significant systemic changes. These shifts were the result of forces that were building over a long period, but the noticeable ...