Origin Story

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Origin stories can be powerful and effective.

I spent the week working on a project to help two founders frame their story.

I told them that a successful origin story has three criteria:

-It has to be true
-It needs to be simple
-It must be memorable

The story shouldn’t be an exhaustive list of the steps that preceded the coming together of the co-founders and the details of everything that was required to launch.

It should be one anecdotal yarn evocative of the character and spirit of the people and culture of the company.

I cited three three widely known examples:

AMAZON: Jeff Bezos left his Wall Street job at D.E. Shaw in 1994 after seeing that internet usage was growing over 2,000 percent a year. He famously took a walk in Central Park with his then boss David Shaw and shared his vision for building an online bookstore. He wrote the business plan during a road trip from New York to Seattle. He named the company Amazon to evoke the vastness of the Amazon River and to appear early in alphabetical lists.

CITADEL: Kenneth Griffin began trading convertible bonds in 1987 as a 19-year-old Harvard sophomore, running a small hedge fund out of his dorm room equipped with a fax machine, telephone, personal computer, and even a rooftop satellite dish he convinced maintenance to wire down to his room for real-time quotes. Between classes, he built a track record that attracted the attention of Chicago investor Frank Meyer, who offered seed capital.

NVIDIA: Jensen Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem over a late-night brainstorming session at a Denny's restaurant in San Jose, sketching the initial design of their revolutionary graphics chip on a napkin. Frustrated by the limitations of existing 2D graphics processors for gaming and workstations, the trio envisioned a dedicated 3D graphics chip that would accelerate rendering and transform computer visuals..

It’s interesting that none of those origin stories include the actual incorporation and launch. Instead, they set the table and provide the context.

They are effective because of what they leave out as much as what they include.

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BRIEF OBSERVATIONS

HAIRCUT: One of the weird things about getting a haircut is that your hair can subjectively feel totally overgrown but objectively not look that different before and after.

DAD DVICE: I think it’s a great idea to write down your rules for success and share them with your children - especially when they are just starting out professionally.

HUMAN CONNECTION: It’s a rare thing to connect with another person. Don’t take it for granted. Nuture it.

PINTEREST: AI slop is everywhere, but I’ve been reading a lot about the enormity of the problem on Pinterest. It seems like an invasive species of weeds arriving in a pristine lake.

LIBRARY BOOKS: He may or may not have told a lie, but George Washington evidently didn’t always return his library books.

Please reach out if you have any thoughts about today’s newsletter. I enjoy hearing from readers. Send me a message if you want to talk or meet up if you are in NYC.

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