As part of UC Santa Barbara’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Jason Nazar, Co-Founder and CEO of Docstoc, recently shared ten lessons that emerging entrepreneurs can learn from superheroes.
Jason’s inspiration for this 6 ½ minute talk was a blog entry he wrote in 2008, which went viral within the startup community. You can check out Jason’s original entry HERE.
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You can watch Jason’s presentation below or on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/fBGT8TVjZXQ
Jason has always been fascinated with superheroes. When he Co-Founded Docstoc, he decided to incorporate superheroes into his company’s Core Values. Each new employee is asked to publicly declare their favorite superhero, which is then added to a large mural on display in the company’s lobby.
Always the serial entrepreneur, Jason is expanding Docstoc’s mission to include not just documents, but a variety of tools that help entrepreneurs run their businesses, such as ebooks and videos. To this end, Jason and his DocStoc team have created a compelling online course entitled, 21 Critical Lessons for Entrepreneurs. In fact, lesson 19 is the video shown below. If you enjoy Jason’s content and style, you might want to check out his online course.
The ten superhero lessons are listed below. Although each of these images is impactful in their own right, I strongly encourage you to check out Jason’s clever elaboration of each of these superhero lessons.
Superheroes Never Give Up
Superheroes Always Get The Job Done
Superheroes Are The Best At What They Do
Superheroes Are Crystal Clear Of Their Purpose
Superheroes Are Not Flawless
Superheroes Don’t Seek Glory… But They Get It Anyway
Superheroes Help Others
Superheroes Can Do It By Themselves But Are More Powerful In Teams
Superheroes’ True Strength Comes From Their Character
Superheroes Accomplish Huge Feats
Jason makes it clear at the outset of his talk that, although superheroes are a lighthearted and fun expression of his company’s core values, he is extremely serious about incorporating them into his “superhero culture.” He tells his employees, “When you come into the company every day, I want you thinking you are that superhero.” Fortunately, Jason does not require his employees to wear capes, masks or tights.
Just like a superhero’s mission, startups are exhausting and demanding. However, by emulating superheroes, startup employees can be inspired to achieve outsized results while remaining helpful and humble. Time to get your superhero on…
