In case you missed the announcement, Startup Iceland is teaming up with the Iceland Ocean Cluster to bring #Startupthinking to the Ocean. Before you roll your eyes and say what could you possibly do here. Here is an initiative that gives context to the announcement.
Boyan Slat did not wait for large companies whose livelihood depended on the Ocean to fix the problem or wait for the Government. He thought like an entrepreneur and took the challenge heads on. In 2016, the world’s first ocean cleaning system will be deployed. What is even more inspiring is the fact that he did in less than 4 years. Startup thinking should be applied to all fields of endeavor.
A startup is the largest endeavor over which you can have definite mastery. You can have agency not just over your own life, but over a small and important part of the world. It begins by rejecting the unjust tyranny of Chance. You are not a lottery ticket.
Our task today is to find singular ways to create the new things that will make the future not just different, but better-to go from 0 to 1. The essential first step is to think for yourself. Only by seeing our world anew, as fresh and strange as it was to the ancients who saw it first, can we both re-create it and preserve it for the future.
– Peter Thiel with Blake Masters, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future
The Iceland Ocean Cluster, led by Thor Sigfusson has been looking at everything from the Ocean and asking important questions. Much like a startup does and they have already incubated a number of companies. The partnership is to infuse more startup strategic thinking and enabling the companies from the Iceland Ocean Cluster to go global. I believe there are a number of secrets that we have not yet discovered about the Ocean and I think without Startup thinking we will never uncover those secrets and value. It excites me to work on this project to see what we can accomplish. Keep a look out for further announcements like this.
