heroes and revolutions

Here and here did England help me: how can I help England?---say,
Whoso turns as I, this evening, turn to God to praise and pray,
While Jove's planet rises yonder, silent over Africa.

I recently found an analysis of Cambridge serial entrepreneurs. Pre-eminent scientists turned businessmen serially created wave after wave of the local companies that we see around us today.

Why do we need heroes in these uncertain technology markets? Our historians of science are doing a great job of pulling apart the motivations and methods of icons such as Galileo and Heisenberg, just as historians are revisiting the lives of national icons such as Nelson. We may be thankful that we do not live in times as troubled as theirs, but it seems we all want to see our hero's feet of clay these days. So why the iconography of entrepreneurs?

One of the things that historians are exploring in the lives of Galileo and Nelson is the extent to which these men consciously controlled the media of their time. Galileo's pamphlets or Nelson's naval dispatches sent directly to the press brought them public acclaim, and this gave them the power to carry out their programmes. The thirst for glory that drove Nelson harder and farther than the other captains in his band of brothers brought him wounds and distinction, and the ability to help along his followers in a hard naval service that was one of the few meritocratic options of his day. A less insecure hero of the time, Wellington, commented on the contrast between Nelson's bragging before he really knew who he was talking to and the earnest intelligence that he showed once informed. This understanding increases our appreciation of his true bravery, lack of personal interest and inspired leadership.

Perhaps it is the very uncertainty and importance of these technology markets that makes us keenly interested in the leaders who have navigated those stormy waters before. The literature shows the contribution of successful CEOs who transition that first critical event e.g. Hotmail's founders recoding the e-mail handling engine to deal with rapid scale-up. But what do you think? Do you follow Tolstoy, who wrote "A leader is the wave, pushed ahead by the ship" - or see leaders as key catalysts in the commonwealth. Do you personalize your history?

P.S. What is clear from your comments on Twitter and e-mail is that a lot of younger people feel alienated by the existing system and can't find a way in.

Possibly this is because the web-link to the analysis of Cambridge serial entrepreneurs was written in 2003 and naturally focuses on SERIAL entrepreneurs who started out in the 1960's onwards. So brilliant young role models from more diverse ethnic, societal and gender backgrounds are missing from this analysis, which seems to be dominated by white, middle-class blokes. The Cambridge University Entrepreneur alumni are more diverse - but as yet mostly unproven with a few exceptions like Masabi and Transinsight - despite alumni having created that are now valued collectively at over £42m.

But my point is not whether these specific named individuals are your heroes - but whether you think you need heroes at all. The naming of Nelson Mandela after Horatio Nelson, or the extremely common adoption of the name Cromwell among recently emancipated blacks in the United States, illustrates the power many people draw from these role models. Do we need them in technology markets?

I'll keep cutting and pasting comments for those of you who don't have Typepad to comment - here are a selection:

"@MattSchofield you might like big men on the blog (!) but there's a new generation who barely know and don't care about them...

It's an interesting area. I know a number of people now who left Cambridge, citing an old, grey, out of touch network here and a lack of dynamism or interest in what is going on today, rather than 20 years ago.  I also know some who've stuck around - mostly because they are partially plumbed into London networks, especially for web-type startups.  I've also heard some very dismissive comments about the Cambridge Network at recent Cambridge events, mostly confirming my own recent impressions - and I've found this somewhat saddening, as finding great events in Cambridge now requires tracking a lot of informal arrangements which is hard work, and I don't know how new/less connected people would manage it."

"Regarding your latest blog post, I couldn't comment as don't have an account, but here are some thoughts on the star system & why do we need figures or salient heroes as individuals who manage to do what seems impossible:

Those people who do not have access to economic and cultural capital  (meaning money and high education credentials) need to convince themselves that only working hard, being smart and believing in themselves, they will manage to do something great in their lives...If there have been other people in their same circumstances of life (even if they are a hand full), who have managed to achieve 
great things... They become a source of inspiration that is worth clinging onto, just to make life less miserable...

Most people in the world don't have much capital (in terms of amount) from where to start from to build their future... They look up to working hard & look up to the stars/heroes to manage getting along...

If you are in a position of power, having economic and cultural capital, you don't need to convince your self that just wanting and working hard will help you to achieve your goal. These people know that not necessarily being smart will get you there, nor just working hard or believing in yourself... Therefore, more importance is placed in social capital (mobilizing people/politics), happenstance and luck  (good timing)...

I guess most people in Cambridge are in the second situation... They know they are smart, they have some capital and they know they need to enroll others for their project in order to be successful... So,  many of the entrepreneurs I have known don't like the star system or care about it, as it is suspicious to them that a single individual on its own can achieve too much, individual locus and agency is not they only important thing...

Attributing the good management of media that past heroes have had as a key ingredient of their success in your post... Might be linked to be able to deal with social capital in a skillful way..."

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[Barclay Burns]

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B Burns