Release Day of Rise Up!
Ian
Have you ever seen or read the 1997 Apple ad, “ThinkDifferently”? Google it, read it, think about it, and let yourself be amazed. Entrepreneurs are the most incredible builders, visionaries, and dreamers I have had the great pleasure to have met in a past life. In this life, I am humbled to be a member of that community. Entrepreneurs scare the hell out of people because they plow under the status quo. This scares people. People fear change. Change destroys and upsets their comfort. However, as Disraeli said, “Change is inevitable, change is constant”.
People have great difficulty understanding the depth of will, strength and belief entrepreneurs have in themselves, their vision and their team. The average person reacts to entrepreneurs with fear, hatred, and scorn. Their fear is visceral. People hate the entrepreneur until their mind is changed. The “tipping point” drops when the size of the community following the entrepreneur “tips” the public opinion needle in their favor. Society then sees the entrepreneur as a great visionary.
We created Rise Up! to illustrate the entrepreneur’s journey of struggle, rejection, alienation and redemption. Every entrepreneur has a unique twist on the story of overcoming adversity. The struggles entrepreneurs have are epic good versus evil, the stuff of Greek mythology. Ian’s story is one of success, intrigue, theft and overcoming the odds … well, if I said any more, I’d give the story away.
So why do entrepreneurs do what they do? It’s not for the press, or the money, although that’s great. They do it for themselves, to bring their dream to fruition. It’s knowing they have accomplished the impossible. It’s terribly difficult to describe the elation of a victory of this depth. You celebrate like it was 1999! You wake up the next day and you are changed. You view the world differently. You ask questions you have never thought about asking. You realize your time is limited. You mentor other entrepreneurs at the beginning of their journey and the cycle continues.
The Scots say, if you haven’t failed three times, you are not an entrepreneur! Are you tough enough to create a company? Are you strong enough to take the heat of being an outcast? Are you smart enough to beat the luddites?
