Maybe you've seen it already on Reddit or somewhere on Facebook, but if you haven't... find yourself 11 minutes over your morning coffee or at home with your kids in the evening and watch the inspiring story of Caine's Arcade. A nine-year old boy with a dream, endless creativity and energy, a supportive dad, and some wonderful people in the community (the real community and the online community) who helped spread the word.
This is the story of entrepreneurship in its most pure form: an idea for something new and an unwavering determination to do whatever it takes to bring it to life and have others experience it. It's what's driven me in my career as an entrepreneur and what inspires me now in searching for entrepreneurs and ideas to fund as an investor. Caine Monroy tackles all the things every entrepreneur faces: technical challenges, financial or resource constraints, marketing issues, even the skepticism of others or the fear of ridicule by one's peers for failure. What's so refreshing is the purity of the drive in this case... there's no concept of getting rich from selling stock, no debate about IPO vs. selling to Google or Facebook, no thoughts of intellectual property, no lawyers, and ok, and no venture capitalists or board members. There's simply the desire to make the vision come true and to see others enjoy the creation. How wonderful.
I was so moved by Caine's story that I'm making a donation to his scholarship fund and am hoping to go visit Caine with some of my similarly inspired friends and colleagues to learn from him, be inspired again, and remind myself of why I do what I do.
This is the story of entrepreneurship in its most pure form: an idea for something new and an unwavering determination to do whatever it takes to bring it to life and have others experience it. It's what's driven me in my career as an entrepreneur and what inspires me now in searching for entrepreneurs and ideas to fund as an investor. Caine Monroy tackles all the things every entrepreneur faces: technical challenges, financial or resource constraints, marketing issues, even the skepticism of others or the fear of ridicule by one's peers for failure. What's so refreshing is the purity of the drive in this case... there's no concept of getting rich from selling stock, no debate about IPO vs. selling to Google or Facebook, no thoughts of intellectual property, no lawyers, and ok, and no venture capitalists or board members. There's simply the desire to make the vision come true and to see others enjoy the creation. How wonderful.
I was so moved by Caine's story that I'm making a donation to his scholarship fund and am hoping to go visit Caine with some of my similarly inspired friends and colleagues to learn from him, be inspired again, and remind myself of why I do what I do.
