I had dinner last night with Chris Baggott, one of ExactTarget’s co-founders, and the founder of Compendium, and Bill McClosky, founder of eDataSource and Only Influencers. The war stories of these two entrepreneurs from the digital marketing space as they took risks, built companies, and followed their passions was inspiring and humbling.
Chris told a story about his son, who commented on Chris’ constant search for creation and disruption of the status quo by saying “Dad, you always ache for something new.”
It hit me like a ton of bricks. It’s exactly the way I’ve felt my entire life… this (good) ache internally for newness, for creation, for problem solving. This longing. This muse. It’s certainly what drove me start BuzzBox (an idea which failed miserably!) and then Windsor Circle (which is celebrating several milestones right now!).
My wife would tell you that the list is extensive, and ever growing (and thanks to Laurie for enduring all of the endless exploration of ideas that will certainly change the world!). Most of the ideas will never see the light of day. But some will. And maybe, just maybe, they will make something new and interesting in the world.
So, when the scotch arrived after a nice dinner last night, the toast went up among this table of entrepreneurs (which I felt a little humbled to be among): “Here’s to Aching for Something New.”
Yes. “To aching for something new.” Cheers.
The Next 10,000 Hours 