America Is Great

First off this is not a political post but I will come out and say it. Make America Great Again is a stupid slogan. I admit there are problems with the middle class but America is and will continue to be great.

Why? Because of what I wrote two years ago. It’s as relevant today as it was back then.

Startup Land

Two years ago I wrote a LinkedIn article on a train ride home titled “I believe in America.” I was trying to be cute, tying in a Godfather movie reference in there to make a catchy title. I had just spent a few days at the CIC building in Cambridge, MA and just utterly overwhelmed with inspiration. The CIC building is a incubator with every floor bursting at the seams with startups. Even reading what I wrote two years ago still gives me goose bumps.

The CIC boasts that it hosts the most startups in a single location, anywhere on the planet, and I believe them. Floor upon floor is filled with startups, incubators, talent, and raw brainpower the likes of which I’ve never seen. The hallway discussions I overheard, the mathematical proof scribbles on whiteboards, and the presentations I saw as I was rushing to a meeting made me feel like I was witnessing the future of America - and it’s exciting! The startups in that building epitomize the qualities that makes America great, and I was a part of it.

The reality is that a handful of these startups are going to make it. Even a fewer will make it big but most will die. They’ll fade away or explode in a ball of fire. Those are the breaks but isn’t that America? The freedom to take a risk and show the world why you’re idea is awesome. This is why American will remain great today and continue to so tomorrow.

Hug an Engineer and punch a Banker

Howard understands this too and his recent blog post caught my eye.

America is greater than ever in 2016. We live longer, we have awesome drugs, Shake Shack, sushi, uber, free trading, open borders, the social web, Amazon Prime, Google maps, an eye on cancer and Alzheimer’s, and engineers up the ying yang.

You won’t believe how important my iPhone is and how much I use Uber and Google Maps. Entrepreneurs build empires on the back of Apps. Big Data and Data Science will continue to move into the prime time and affect everything it touches. The Blockchain and Fintech will revolutionize business as we know it. The world will continue to connect more, be more open, and be hyper aware of bullshit.

Yes, I’m bullish on America and Tech.

It’s no longer just ok to hug an engineer and punch a banker. It’s ‘hug an engineer, hoard designers, suck up to centimillionaires and punch a banker’.

You got that right Howard.

Update

All I can say is that this is all true after working in a very high tech startup for a while. It’s the brain power that you need to build software that will eat the world.