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134 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

9 Use disruption as a positive force. One of Shaun’s many
artistic residencies was with the Djerassi Resident Artists
Program in California. “In my own studio I have a lot of
equipment welders, overhead crane, all this kind of stuff,”
he says. “I got to California and the director led me into the
studio where I would be working. There was absolutely
nothing in the studio, just polished concrete floor. Of all
the residencies I have been on, that was the most disruptive
to my normal creative habit. I had to spend the first week
of that residency walking and thinking and reflecting upon
what I wanted to do and responding to the emotional and
physical characteristics of the site. I went to the hardware
store with the facility guy’s truck and bought a whole lot of
wood, and bought a chop saw, and bought a cordless drill,
and built this huge installation out in the landscape. And it
never would have occurred to me to do that had I not been
so disrupted from my normal flow. I think that I learned
more about myself on that residency, and made probably
the best work of my life because of that disruption.”

As both Modality’s change of direction and Shaun Cassidy’s cre-
ative lessons illustrate, we can’t fully predict what opportunities will
emerge as our ideas become real. Therefore, the ability to read and
adapt along the ever-changing startup road is vital to early-phase
survival and longer-term growth. And although agility is essential, it
is not enough. Equally crucial is our ability to learn—to shine a light
through the fog of startup uncertainty and gather the relevant lessons
to be found there.

The New Venture Learning Curve

Most founders look back on their startup journey as the most inten-
sive educational experience of their lives. Even serial entrepreneurs,
full of war stories, are amazed at what can be learned with each new
venture. Rather than thinking of learning as a bonus, something to

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