declaration of independents

Wednesday, August 21, 13

What do these revolutionaries


and these revolutionaries have in common?

1775


April 1775, a year into the American Revolutionary War and nearly a decade after heavy taxes were laid on the 13 colonies. American desired to be free of King George the III and enumerated 30 grievances. The systems that were established to protect and elevate them was failing them.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


Wanted to be Free and Independent. Play by their own rules. But wanted rules none the less.


56 signers in total. A small, yet committed group of individuals bonded by ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

2013


Today’s systems are failing us too.


Unemployment is on the rise. Govt failing to transition self and citizens to digital realities.


Employers failing to pass profits to employees- working harder, doing more while wages decrease. Low skill jobs being automated, while skills not getting upgraded.


Even venture capital is failing us. The system that is supposed to be fueling innovation and change languishes at the bottom of the asset class- over last 10 years you’d be better off with Nasdaq or S&P index funds and with the added benefit fo liquidity.

Rise of The Independents


Similar to Americans declaring independence from Britain, we’re seeing a rise of net natives declaring independence.


Services becoming nation states and rising up against existing govts attempts to reign them in.


Currencies decoupling from countries.


Entrepreneurship as a career trackWork getting reimaginedkickstarter= swarm economiesSmall businesses getting smaller- borrow bikes, drills, hammers, even


Which brings us back to this guy.This is Ben Haggerty, known by his stage name as Macklemore“Thrift Shop” spent 4 weeks at top of billboard charts- only the 2nd unsigned artist to hit #1No label, no marketing team, no budget- totally independent


Historically, startups have had two paths.Bootstrap.


Which generally takes this attitude towards venture capital.


Or, get on the cycle of successive rounds of venture capital. And build for an IPO or M&A event. Note- each milestone of the VC track involves money as end, not means.


75% of Yelp Shares held by investors prior to IPO. 14% of yelp shares owned by employees @ IPODespite changes in the funding landscape like, YC. YC companies have raised nearly $2B. They’ve not changed the market per se, they’ve simply flooded it.

Declaration of Independents


The majority of the world is not online.We need to be establishing the ideals of what this next wave of entrepreneurship should look like.There should be more than two tracks to building companies and the funded path can’t simply be tied to VC’s business model.

declaration of independents

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