28th
Give a Damn
The internet surfaced an old ITP profile of Dennis the other day. Clearly it was written while he was still in school. He described himself back then as follows:
My work focuses on finding the intersection between location-based services, social software and user-generated content on mobile devices. I work towards building applications that people can use today - services that help people find their friends in bars or restaurants, apps that broadcast information about who and what is around you. I’m also interested in using mobile devices to interact with installations in physical space - think window displays and vending machines.
I was struck by a few things. Notably, he was talking about and working on social networking in a BFB (before facebook) era. He was working on location based services in a BGM (before google maps) era. And was working with mobile devices in a BAS (before app store world).
But this post isn’t about singing Dennis’ praise- he has enough people doing that these days. Its about giving a damn about what you’re working on.
You see, when Dennis started working on these problems, which have now achieved buzzwords status, not many people were. They were extremely challenging to even approach. And attacking them as legitimate commercial opportunities was nearly laughable. You had to really care about them to even bother.
There are lots of reasons to start a business and lots of different motivations for doing so. Seeing a hole in a cash rich incumbent’s product road map. Having a partner or customer tell you what they would be willing to pay for. Hearing investors talk about what they’re interested in funding. Seeing an obvious need in a market.
I’ve seen all of these over and over again throughout my career as a VC. Some work, most don’t. But the companies that we’ve seen succeed over and over again are driven by founders who give a damn about what they’re working on. That tackled important problems before they were popular. Some started in small markets that reveled themselves as large over time. Others start off on the wrong track, but finnd their path over time. They can pivot into new markets, but they can’t pivot into caring.
In an age of instantaneous infrastructure and copious customer driven development, giving a damn may be the last bastion of competitive advantage.
Hey thanks for the kind words, Bryce! (and yes, agree that the “we just really want to build this stuff” is the secret sauce that makes foursquare - both the company and the product - work the way it does)
