Startup Weekend sounds like a great experience to me. Simply put, gather together with a group of people with an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset, pool together all of your skills, and build something with purpose in a single weekend. I think Andrew Hyde is on to something here, essentially a startup crash course where everyone walks away a winner. I think the Triangle has a wealth of talent, and this is an opportunity to meet some great people. Of course, my view could change after participating in one. We will see if that is possible in a couple of weeks here…

Paul Graham recently wrote an excellent article on the Future of Web Startups. Two points I want to highlight is the “Straight Pipe” where people will change the way we build businesses and companies and the execution of great ideas. I love the idea of an organization and community where entrepreneurs could gain the tools and resources they need to get up and running. Not that those communities aren’t already out there, you just have to sift through the information carefully. I will be curious to see where people like Paul Graham take this idea, considering he is already helping to head up Y Combinator. As for ideas, you can be sure many people get the same idea over and over. It’s just a matter of execution and usefulness. Does your product fill a need and does it fill that need well?

I picked up “The Dip” by Seth Godin a few months ago and had a chance to sit down and read it a few weekends ago. What an excellent book! It’s short and to the point with some wonderful insight into how we approach choices in life. He equates it to “knowing when to stick, and knowing when to quit”. He further dives into being the “Best in the World” at what you choose to pursue, and ties the idea previously mentioned to what sets us apart from excellence and mediocrity.

I agree with much of what he says and would add my own point that the most valuable asset in our lives is time. The odd thing about time is that nobody knows how much they are given, but what they are given, we should manage wisely. Thus, choosing “when to stick and when to quit” is certainly a thought to consider in all of our life’s endeavors.