Results from the Boise Idea Market
What is an idea market? Tac Anderson described it to me as “brainstorming + collaboration + networking + happy hour.” With that description, I of course had to be there. The Boise Idea Market was supposed to have been facilitated by Matt Homann, but as things turned out his flight was canceled, so Tac and local patent attorney Steve Nipper ran the event. Special thanks to Louie’s downtown for hosting us!
The event participants spent time walking around the room making notes on those gigantic post it pads. I brought two of them back the the LGM offices so I could share the results with the local entrepreneurial community. The two topics are: 1) What’s your personal mantra; and, 2) Best business advice you’ve ever received in 10 words or less. here’s the results:
WHAT’S YOUR PERSONAL MANTRA?
- Don’t ask for permission
- Don’t be afraid to change the world
- Ever forward!
- Rock the boat
- Collaborate constantly
- Trust people by default
- Starting my own business seemed like a good idea at the time . . .
- Life is a wild ride
- Thoughts become things - choose them wisely
- Any reaction is better than no action
- My next job will be something I am unqualified for
- Take the high road - do the right thing
BEST BUSINESS ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED IN 10 WORDS OR LESS
- The longer you wait to jump, the harder it is
- Listen, no really listen, no really, really listen
- Don’t procrastinate
- Narrow and deep not far and wide
- Only do what you love
- Protect the downside
- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
- Ready, fire, aim
- Believe you can and will
- Everyone is as freaked out as you, maybe more
- More committed to less commitments
So, that represents the wisdom of the crowd on those topics. If any of you wish to take credit for or explain your advice here, please publish a comment so we can keep the dialog going.
Justin Beller said:
Great event, and I hope we have more of them in the near future!
For those reading this post, I have to say that this only scratches the surface. It went much deeper and there were some interesting ideas that emerged, especially from the group I was a part of that discussed what kind of events does the Boise business community needs. Interestingly enough, we didn’t think it had more to do with events, it had more to do with people KNOWING when and where events take place.
Again, I hope we have more of these in the near future. One suggestion for next time would be to have the group tackle some problems or issues right from the start. For example, a theme of the evening - Identify and select the kind of leadership the Boise tech community needs to accomplish (XYZ).
A little more structure, but not too much. After all, that would defeat the purpose of an idea market.