For lack of more productive things to do, many scientists, psychologists and sociologists enjoy arguing over which has a greater impact on an individual’s chances for success: their innate abilities (“Nature”) or their environment (“Nurture”).
With each passing decade, the pendulum swings back and forth among the intelligentsia as to which factor has the greatest impact, but for an entrepreneur on The Fringe, the answer is clearly: Yes.
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Gestalt – an organized whole in experience which explains psychological phenomena by their relationships to total forms rather than their parts.
What?
A Venture Capitalist friend of mine once told me that, “Venture Capital is really a game of pattern matching.” He noted that whenever he met an entrepreneur in search of funding, he did his best to match the person (and his team, as appropriate) to a ‘pattern’ he had seen before.
It was the biggest day in the young Beatles’ fledgling career: an audition with Decca Records. However, rather than showcase such high-energy Beatle originals as “I Saw Her Standing There”, or “The One After 909”, Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ Manager, focused the group’s efforts on sappy show tunes and languid pop standards.
The result was a listless audition and the ultimate rejection of the world’s most successful recording act by the otherwise astute Decca Records.
When you complete this reading, you will be able to answer the following question:
VC are to Entrepreneurs as ________ are to _________: