I've recently seen some articles (in Forbes, VentureBeat, etc.) talking about the magic trifecta of the "hipster, hacker and hustler" founding teams.
Maybe it's because I grew up in the 90s but I don't really like self-limiting labels, as they've never served me well and definitely isolated parts of my childhood. I live in a "hipster" neighborhood and I am by definition both a "hacker" and a "hustler"**. If there have to be labels, why aren't they based on skills instead of personalities? Oh wait, we already have ever-overlapping job titles and responsibilities so we must reduce people further! Bear with me here, as we dissect the 3 H words in an effort to come to a new understanding.
HIPSTER: To me, "hipster" is anti- preppy/corporate/successful culture in a way that's self-righteous. It’s about being “different” just to be “different”, often sacrificing achievement in the process. My friends – many of whom build or work at startups for a living – reside in this "hipster" neighborhood but while they may be offbeat, they are certainly not self-righteous. These "hipsters" I hang out with are passionate and creative and actually do pursue success. They are proud, as they should be. The people fitting the actual "hipster" definitions (varied though they might be) don't build product and often wallow in their lack of identity and success. I may wear tight pants and live off the blue line, but I pride myself in many of the same qualities that a Fortune 500 CEO does. I am serious and I'm a badass and I don't often take no for an answer. Why would "hipster" be used to define me as a creative? That's not an appropriate label, jeez!
HACKER: One of my favorite movies is "Hackers" and it’s a subculture I was fascinated with for a decade. Hacking something (verb) is pairing stuff together for a quick fix that may or may not be for the long term. Hacking INTO something is a negative thing, or at least it used to be. Hackathon as a noun makes sense, because you're trying to make something jive under specific circumstances that are working against you (time! resources! unfamiliar partners!) but "hacker" as a job position? A label? I don't get it. My thoughts on "developer" vs "programmer" vs "engineer" are more than I can fit in this blog post, but I can tell you that the value this person brings to the table deserves a better name. Sure, if you can write code, you can do a quick n' dirty to make something happen … but the person you want running your (eventual) tech team? It's someone who plays the long game! Not malicious. Not conniving. Thoughtful and excited! A problem-solver.
HUSTLER: Now, we have the "hustler". Again, there is a connotation here that's not-so-great. Sure, we hustle (verb), but a "hustler" is trying to pull something over on someone. I'm a hustler baby, I just want you to know. It's ain't where I been, but where I'm about to go. Seriously, even Jay-Z mulls over what's involved to hustle and get ahead. The finesse of deception is like the Dark Arts portion of business (yes, I really just made a “Harry Potter” reference) and it's not something I care to associate myself with. Startups are in a position to be far more transparent than the businesses of yore, and Gen Y/Millennial customers in particular can tell when something is smoke and mirrors. The jig's up. Get shit done, but don't be a hustler.
We've cleared up my personal associations with these words, and now onward to what these three personality types all have in common. This is where it gets good.
The thing that I love about this city – I'm a born & bred Chicagoan not to mention the daughter of a Chicago tech entrepreneur – is that our startup scene has evolved into an amazing amalgam of MAKERS. Formerly a word for artists and crafters and DIYers, this term has enveloped startup trades because we're all just trying to pursue our dreams in a creative, perhaps nontraditional fashion. Yes, I am proposing one general (albeit affectionate and nondetrimental) label a la "can't we all just get along?" to discourage segmentation, as hypocritical as that might seem. Hear me out.
If you're a hipster, you love to create things. If you're a hacker, you love to build things. If you're a hustler, you love to see things through from the ground up. This is all MAKING. And that's amazing! Moreover, all three of those personalities, through their actual roles (designer, programmer, CEO), love to solve problems and work their asses off (fundamental maker qualities) – so in fact these 3 people are far more similar than we might want to think. This unified love and enthusiasm is the exact recipe for quality product (not to mention jobs! Out of thin-air!). If everyone made an effort to understand where each other is coming from – an empathy for WHY we make things – we could even defeat the "developer drought" or "business founder bias"***. We all have our own motivations, but in the end we need each other. There's no use in having cliques like we're in high school! This isn't the "jock", the "nerd" and the "art geek" being forced to work on a project together. We're grownups and doing a startup is way more awesome than a biology lab. Everyone pulls their weight and everyone matters.
So let's stop limiting through connotative labels and let's start making. We can't afford to be divided if we want Chicago's startup culture to survive.
** If you're wondering about my bias, obviously I identify with all three labels. I've been running a company (Polymathic) for 3 years, I've been writing code half my life, and I went to art school AND “real” school. My development team is focused on empathetic product design because if you're a nontechnical founder coming to build with us, we need to get where you are coming from… and also teach you to appreciate the perspectives that awesome production talent can give you. Again, we all just want to make stuff. It works quite well. We recently launched a new website saying as such, so you should holler. Or, come say hi in person when I grin my way through this awesome panel.
*** Yes, I think there's developer talent that hides from business founders because of potential to clash personality types and styles of decision making. Topic for another day.
