Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Happen to be wearing orange today, which is inadvertent, but got me thinking about Y Combinator also, because I got an email from Pitchbook this morning which was absolutely absurd. And I'll get to that in a second. But that's why Y Combinator is on the brain.
[00:00:15] I applied a Y Combinator every quarter.
[00:00:17] I have like 0.00000001% chance of ever getting into Y Combinator for anything.
[00:00:25] But it's a good reminder.
[00:00:28] Reminded of the Patrick Bet David book, choose your enemies wisely. And so applying for the most difficult, statistically speaking, acceptance. I mean, it's harder to get into Y Combinator than it is to get into any Ivy League school.
[00:00:45] It's harder to get a Y Combinator than it is to be a flight attendant for Delta. It's like the hardest thing that you can apply for, I think, in the US at least.
[00:00:54] And so it really makes you focus. It really makes you detail the things that you're saying and how you're saying them and how you're presenting your business and your ideas. So it's just good practice every quarter to go back and see where are we as a company and what are we doing and what's changed and what's the same, what's improved and etc.
[00:01:12] So we just got the rejection letter on Friday. Today is Sunday. And. And anyway, so whenever I wear orange, I think about why Combinator now? And it gets me back into that focus.
[00:01:24] But then that brings me to something else that's been a quote that's been rattling around in my head for now for like a year or two, that is that the universe is not competitive.
[00:01:36] It is creative.
[00:01:38] And as one of the most competitive people that you'll ever meet that I've ever known, I'm very, very, very intensely competitive at everything. And have been since I was little.
[00:01:51] Partly just my inherent wiring and also because an older brother was quite a bit older. And so when he was in high school, I was still basically a kid, but I was good enough that I could kind of almost keep up with them in a fun way for them, but they would kick my ass. And I was competitive, so it made me better.
[00:02:09] But over the years, as a very creative person also, I've realized now, looking back, there's so much truth to that statement of the universe is creative, it isn't competitive.
[00:02:22] And of course, we can debate that all day because you talk about Darwinism and survival of the fittest. What is that if not competition for resources and hence mere survival? Right? It's the competition of life.
[00:02:33] And yet there's just something that really resonates about that idea of the universe being more creative than it is competitive.
[00:02:42] Because if you just create to your utmost, the competition side tends to fall into place.
[00:02:50] Those chips tend to just align themselves when it's supposed to happen the way that it's supposed to happen. The universe has a way of opening doors that would you never could have imagined if you were just in the competitive mindset, just hustling.
[00:03:05] And whether that's, you know, the way the ball bounces for an athlete, because they're just being them and not so worried about the competition aspect, or if it's in business or in art or music or just life in general.
[00:03:17] If you were just being in the moment and fully being, fully living yourself and your purpose and being creative in harmony with nature and the universe and who you are, things tend to fall into place.
[00:03:31] And so this ties together with pitchbook email, because there was an email talking about how ESG funding is down so far this year from last year and years past. And in Europe especially, ESG might be dying, which made me laugh. But the real crux of the email came later, toward the end, and the writer was like, ESG has been so politicized recently, obviously blaming the new administration in the US that it's going to be very difficult for us to continue the good work that's been done by all the environmental companies and activists and mandates that have gone into place.
[00:04:10] And I'm just like, ESG by definition has governance in it. I know, I understand it's corporate governance, but it's also connection with country, national government, governments.
[00:04:23] But also, ESG was created as a political ploy.
[00:04:28] ESG is nothing if not political. From its inception, from its creation, there is nothing rational or strictly competitive or like or creative, either one. It's just purely a political tool of power. So it's not competitive or creative.
[00:04:49] And the reason that that fits in here is because if you are a company that wants to do good for the environment, that's wonderful.
[00:04:58] Then just be creative and do good for the environment and make as much money as you possibly can and do good for the environment.
[00:05:05] But most ESG is wielded as a political weapon by governments and by companies against their competitors. Right? So it's not actually competition, it's not actually being creative. It's just this political war game.
[00:05:20] Because the big corporations, as we all of this has come out in recent years, the more ESG they were, the more DEI they became. The More they could suck off that government teat and get those goodies, get those government subsidies, right? Which is neither creative nor competitive.
[00:05:42] So there's nothing about ESG that is natural, that is based in reality, and it should fail because it is a political weapon.
[00:05:53] So what we need is, we do need a level playing field for competition.
[00:05:59] But more than that, the competition needs to be based in who can be more creative, who can be more innovative, who can create solutions that aren't just what the current thing in government is asking for so that they can get kickbacks.
[00:06:15] The real solutions are innovative, creative, disruptive solutions that truly change things for the better, for people, for consumers, for whatever the industry is, for the planet.
[00:06:30] And if you're creating like that, you're going to naturally be very competitive.
[00:06:36] Whereas if you're just trying to be competitive, the problem is you can never out compete someone who is using a government power weapon in the competition.
[00:06:47] So no matter how competitive your business is, no matter how competitive, your idea, your disruptive solution, your innovation, no matter how competitive it would be and could be the level playing field in a rational world, you will never be able to compete in today's world, because this isn't a level playing field with a rational, competitive, competitive structure.
[00:07:12] This is a weaponized power struggle of a competitive game. But governments don't hold the ultimate power.
[00:07:22] They are still beholden to the rules of this simulation, this world, the laws of physics, they still have to be part of that.
[00:07:32] And they're definitely beholden to the laws of the universe.
[00:07:37] And the universe is creative, infinitely creative, always, perpetually, infinitely, eternally creating.
[00:07:46] And so don't try and compete. Head up straight on with those who are already in positions of authority and leadership in the industry. Because you can never beat someone that is wielding political power against you in a competitive race.
[00:08:05] Just be creative.
[00:08:07] Understand the competition in the sense of being disruptive and innovative. Understand who the competitors are and what they're doing and where you can find things you can do better. Think competitively, but act creatively.
[00:08:22] And at some point you will learn the lessons that you are meant to learn as a human, as a creative human, as a creator, as an innovator, as a person who is looking for those solutions, looking to drive those solutions, but also your company. At some point, the universe will move in your favor and open those doors.
[00:08:42] And then when that happens, you will be able to compete with those who are in those positions that seem unshakable because you're playing a different game.
[00:08:55] You're not competing in a power struggle with earthly government, temporary power.
[00:09:02] You're competing in an infinite spectrum of innovation and creative ideas that you can draw from the ether and create something new and incredible, and that will allow you to compete on a completely different level.
[00:09:19] So thank you, Y combinator, for continually rejecting me and us.
[00:09:24] I'll keep applying because it helps me to stay in that mindset of competitiveness, but also as a constant reminder to play a different game, to play a higher game, a higher nature game of creativity.
[00:09:43] The universe is infinitely creative.
[00:09:45] It is not merely, with man's rules and power struggles, competitive.
[00:09:53] And look who came to say hello.
[00:10:00] The universe is creative, and it only competes with eternal creativity.
[00:10:17] Guess this little guy was on my hat the whole time I was walking down the hill talking.
[00:10:21] It's pretty cool.
