The Essence
The 1st Dimension
Dear Founder
Let’s have a conversation. A conversation about what’s real, what you think is real, what you hope is real, and what you choose to make real.
Sadly, the majority won’t make it…won’t make it to thrive, won’t make it past survive, won’t make it for many reasons, some beyond our control, most within. And it is within this locus of control that I come to you.
Thriving is your birthright. You have no business staying in survival mode perpetually. Your venturing doesn’t have to feel like a lottery. The ingredients of thrivability lie within you – you came readymade with all you need to thrive. However…for the ingredients to morph into tangible outcomes. You have to be an active protagonist in activating your core. You; the founder, the architect of the vision have a duty, a duty to introspect, to take ownership. For you are taking on the responsibility of creating change in the lives of those whom you seek to serve. Passivity has no place. Unquestioningly adopting hand-me-down practices is not an option if you seek to soar.
You are here now, so No more I Don’t Know. The tools of thrivability are right here for you to actively apply to your mission. If you don’t position yourself, someone else will position you, and you probably won’t like it. Position yourself or be positioned.
To those who seek to soar. Let’s get to work!
The Essence
In the embryonic stage of business, the founder is the most crucial ingredient; the deepest relationship the business has. When the founder is tired, the business is tired, when the founder is energized, the business is energized yet the founder is the most overlooked, most sidelined of them all.
Like the seed, yours is to remain in a state of quiescence- meaning alive but not growing, not physiologically active. The fundamental goal here is to determine the readiness for existence. Yours is to ponder: the quality of your soil. Ask yourself: Am I good soil? And if I’m not yet good soil, what do I need to become good soil? What could and should my existence look like?
An important note: At this stage, this is not about the product or solution or project. This is a solution-agnostic stage. Instead, this is about your ability to carry an entity to full term. It’s your parenting pre-check. This is you putting the oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on others.
You, are taking on the undertaking of building something that doesn’t exist yet, but most importantly- you are responsible for the change you seek to make in the lives of your customers. In the words of Michael Schrage, ask yourself : “Who do you want your customers to become?” Can you really nurture, protect, provide for, tend to an entity? Do you really want to nurture, protect, provide for, tend to this entity? Is this the only path? Is this the highest and best way forward? It’s your job to find the answers to these questions. You cannot be passive. You cannot delegate this out to a consultant. You have to be an active protagonist in assessing & activating your kernel.
We have identified 21 Good Soil ingredients—fundamental attributes essential for a “Good Soil Founder”. Encompassing seven categories; some are more inwardly focused, others are more outward practicalities.
Next...Proceed To The Existence
