Startup Revolution

Greatest Movie Never Made & Lessons Learned
"To fail is only to change the way," says Topo and Holy Mountain director Jodorowsky in this must view documentary for anyone trying to create anything. Such an important documentary I'm double posting here in Startup Revolution and in Design Revolution.

Here is what I posted in Design Revolution, the 30 Lessons in Creativity from watching this magical film:

Greatest Film Never Made
"What is he purpose of life," the director Jodorowsky asks in this must view documentary film for any creative, "to create a soul". The amazing creativity and vision of El Topo's director is shared in a series of linked stories.

Much like any creative's mind, this film flies between the surreal, heroic, mystical and crazy. Stories about Orson Wells and Pink Floyd are rich in "sounds true" detail, but pales in comparison to the "I can't type that fast" advice shared.

Advice such as:

* Be all in.
* Be a prophet.

* When it comes to missions THINK BIG (something important for humanity).
* Start with clear ideas, but find and respect "light of genius".
* Challenge people to find their best.
* Give Morning Motivation speeches.
* Your VISION should become OUR IDEA.
* OUR Ideas become art.
* When you think you are looking at a rock its an object & vice versa.
* Lucky enough to meet a prophet FOLLOW HIM.
* Be supportive of others.

* Transport people. MOVE THEM.
* Look for and work with WARRIORS (life is too short for anything else).
* Imagine and then imagine again.
* No such thing as "too far".
* Let the work rule.
* One man's obsession is another man's art.
* MOTIVATE others.

* If you can Seduce Salvador Dali DO SO.
* Create enigmas.
* If chance puts Dali at your hotel, send him a strange note.
* When you find a clock in the sand discover who lost it.
* Create MOVEMENTS and ART with your life.
* If Dali asks you for a helicopter, GIVE IT TO HIM.
* Dali gets you Giger, Giger gets you Magma (and so on).
* If you can get a meeting with Mick Jagger, TAKE IT.
* If Andy Warhol invites you to the FACTORY, go there.
* Plan everything, Plan Nothing (chance).
* When you see Orson Wells in a Paris restaurant, send wine.
* Live a EULOGY Life not a Resume Life.

That last bullet picks up on a great David Brooks TED Talk I wrote about on LinkedIn yesterday: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140717125545-13925622-are-you-living-a-resume-or-a-eulogy-life 

Hope you are living a Eulogy Life. Jodorowsky sure did. I had to be shoved kicking and screaming on the Eulogy train by the Big C. Glad I got on this train even if it turns out to be the last train from Clarksville :). M

Are you a "plural being"?

If you FAIL it's not import. It's important to try.

Every Startup Is An Elephant High Jumper
Every startup entrepreneur reading this knows what I'm talking about. Everyday team Curagami (http://www.curagami.com) tries to make the graceful dancing and jumping elephants we see so well in our mind, dreams and brainstorms.

We rub the bottle hoping for I Dream of Jeanie.

We know ODDS and OBSTRUCTION are against us. In the boring world of limited possibilities elephants don't dance. In our world elephants sit at the table and worry about their hair before a night of Disco Inferno.

It is not that our dreams are unrealistic. All dreams are unrealistic. No, the real challenge is in turning the crank ONE MORE TIME. When we rode bicycles from Durham to Santa Monica there were days when that single thought was all we (really me since the rest of the team was 20 years younger lol) could think about.

Turn the crank one more time.

Don't give up. Never give up because you can ONLY discover what it looks like to see NO MORE ROAD by continuing to turn the crank. And on that day, the day when you see nothing but ocean, you will have achieved something NO ONE can take from you ever - the knowledge that YES Elephants can jump of the moon as every startup knows.

Here's hoping YOUR startup elephant is a jumper :).

Marty & Team Curagami,
American Tobacco Campus, Durham, NC