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"Hey, I've got a great idea for a piece of software. I just need somebody who can program it..."

I realized, the last time I heard something to that effect, that reactions to this statement split the world into two camps, pretty neatly: On one side are normal, intelligent, well-meaning people, who love good ideas and like having new software to play with; and on the other side are  programmers - who will be inching towards the door by now, trying to find the right way to bow out graciously without having to resort to smoke bombs or chloroform (though all options are on the table.)

Hey, I've got a great idea for a ditch. All I need is somebody who can dig it for me. Interested?

That's what I don't say out loud. And it's not fair, of course - This is a wild frontier, and we wouldn't have it any other way. Ditches do not inspire people from all walks of the human experience to dream of a better future, and bleeding-edge technology has a way of doing exactly that. The fruit of that inspiration is falling off the vine - who cares if it's a little under-ripe, sometimes?
However, ditches don't get flipped for hundreds of millions of dollars, either. There is a certain current of raw greed that seems to ensnare people's imagination, too. As gratifying as it is that all of your friends want to let you in on their million-dollar idea, sometimes it's our job to explain that... well, that not every ditch is a goldmine.

 This is only my mind, today, because it came up just last month in a way that got me thinking. An acquaintance of mine was inspired by the PlentyOfFish success story, and, after letting the idea ruminate in his head for a couple of months and doing some brainstorming with friends, he shared with me the outline of his idea for a website. I listened to what he had to say, I was satisfied that I'd heard him out, but I think he was genuinely surprised when I declined his offer to make me a partner in the project - the tech guy, to join the business guy, the layout girl and the legal guy he'd lined up. But I did manage to bow out, respectfully, without having to chloroform anybody.

 Maybe the dollar signs in his eyes blinded him just a little to what he was actually offering me: as I saw it, months of round-the-clock labor to support a few other people's dream of dot-com-bubble opulence. (To which I can confidently say: Been there, done that, stole the mousepad.) But I also had to acknowledge that he meant what he was saying. He really had done his homework, from a certain perspective. And I guess I felt a little obligated, by that sincerity, to think of a real reason I wasn't interested.

 The reason I came up with, which I don't think i'd ever quite admitted to myself, is that I just don't like gold rushes. I don't like bubbles. (Er, in the economic sense only.) It's a type of risk-taking that doesn't excite me at all, but more personally, I don't enjoy dealing in speculation that seems totally unhinged from reality. I don't like betting against my own better judgement. And I don't like pretending things are worth more than they really are.

 It'd be an absurd statement in any other industry, but one of the most exciting things about the company I work for now is that we provide an identifiable service to an identifiable customer. Sometimes we even get paid for it! The CEO and her husband have an actual, proven multi-million dollar idea, and believe it or not, it took them many years, lots of work and a few false starts to get that idea on its feet. Maybe there is a lot of shovel work in it, from day to day. But I can say that we have a credible plan to grow. And I'm working for people who understand what I can do for them, and what they have to do for themselves. It's a kind of risk-taking that does attract me.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a great idea for a chicken. I just need to find somebody to help me eat it... :)

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Charlie

February 2012

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