103: Seeking inspiration
[After] Entrepreneurs, Artists, Reading and one thing to not read
Happy Saturday to you all. My brain is stuck on “Wordy Rappinghood” by Tom Tom Club (you’ll understand why below). It’s been a busy week of freelance and teaching and entrepreneurialism and I got tickets to see Ghost Note in next month. I hope you are thriving!
While we’re on the topic of overlapping circles and Venn diagrams, let’s not forget Creativity and Entrepreneurialism. Does either realm encompass the other? Perhaps they are an ouroboros. Anyway, on Thursday night I got a lot of energy from attending Beta MN’s State of the State, a showcase of both. Imagine a ten year old, state-wide organization dedicated to nourishing founders, and enabling a community such that all boats rise. That’s their premise, and they appear to be succeeding.
Two observations stand out:
“I have to be profitable, or my family doesn’t get to eat.” I can’t recall which of the female founders said it, but that panel’s focus on profitability was keenly felt. Innovation for the sake of the new doesn’t put food on the table. This group deftly balanced salient cultural insights and potent ideas with a hungry pragmatism—entrepreneurialism at its best.
“Don’t forget artists are also entrepreneurs.” How the arts solves problems isn’t distinct from how entrepreneurs do. We just have a culture suggesting these realms are more distinct than they truly are. I have likely mangled Olaf Kuhlke’s quote (sorry, Boss), but his gist is there. (And did you know our 137-year old fine arts college offers a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurialism, or that MCAD does creative and entrepreneurial work for clients including the Department of Defense? We do.)
What I’m Reading
I’ve been working on a project about writing. So I’ve been reading. That’s what Stephen King tells us to do in his useful On Writing. So did Emerson. And Ueland. And Lamott.
Don’t Read This
Ted Gioia has authored a second annual State of Culture report. To wit: “We’re witnessing the birth of a post-entertainment culture… The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction. Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity.” And he’s not wrong, even if the story he’s revealing is mildly depressing. We have met the enemy, and she/he/they is us.
Definitely Read This
I thought Prof G’s comparison of the GLP-1 effect on humans with AI’s impact on corporations was spot on.