Sourcing Energy in New Orleans
I boarded the Algiers ferry a few weeks ago on my return visit across the Mississippi River, feeling re-energized. 48hrs in New Orleans helped to restore my energy—reconnecting with friends, jamming to Haitian music on Basin street, exciting my curiosity, and feeding my body, mind, and soul.
It was my first time back in New Orleans since the pandemic started, (save for a 16-hour trip to toast the sale of Lucid at the top of Canal Place.) A lot has changed, in the city itself, and for me professionally. This was the first time I was not running a coworking space, a conference, or anything in particular.
I approached New Orleans with a beginner's mind. Again. In search of inspiration.
Flywheels
I was fortunate to be at a nexus for a lot of tech and startup activity in New Orleans with Launch Pad in the early days of the scene. A frequent question I get is: “Where is that energy today?”
The energy is in the flywheel. With 8 exits last year totaling more than $2 billion, it's natural to start looking to the next wave of startups in New Orleans. I spent time with people who had been part of those journeys, who were beginning to contemplate their next ride. The Web3 movement has taken hold in New Orleans in a big way, and I always like to evaluate the top down and bottom up activity.
A few places on my radar this trip were The Neiux Society, a campus dedicated to ushering a new “Golden Age of Creativity” in New Orleans. Also, I attended the Fresh Mint Fest which has become a model of what conferences are now…goodbye hotel ballrooms, hello gaming, open-bar, and live music (with live NFT minting to boot).
The grassroots energy of New Orleans is always my wellspring. At a local oyster bar, I met a crypto-artist, one of the OG NFT artists in the city. True to the “it's all about the art” spirit, he is already better connected in the Web3 networks than the top-downers.
Openness and curiosity will always win the day. As the rate of technological change outpaces our ability to absorb and adapt (see Thomas Friedman’s Thank You for Being Late), the most important thing we can do is open ourselves to being a lifelong learner.
Big wheels keep on turning, the flywheels have momentum, to feed them they need ideas, energy, participants, and capital.
Networks
One of the most notable companies in Web3, Protocol Labs, doesn’t call itself a company, it calls itself an open-source R&D lab for networks. Web3 is changing the way companies are formed, led, located, governed, and how the economics are distributed amongst their constituents and community. There is so much experimentation going on, in real-time and in New Orleans, it’s mind-blowing. Can a DAO lead a community? Can New Orleans be a talent magnet for distributed companies? Will the culture creators finally own the economics of their art rather than “the industry”?
A key success of networks is the connectivity of the nodes, and New Orleans is a city designed as a network with open protocols. You’ve heard the one about the richest guy and poorest guy in town both go to the same bar to watch the Saints on Sundays.
Nothing is a perpetual motion machine, so without momentum, the flywheel will stall. To build on the success of the 2021 watershed year in New Orleans, we need to keep the networks open, feed them with new energy, reduce friction, and expand participation.
Alignment
The depth of love for New Orleans is its competitive advantage. I’ve never lived in a place before or since that its citizens cared so deeply for. The thing we had in the early days of the New Orleans ecosystem was the north star that came from the recovery of Katrina. Everybody was on the same page, if you were there…you were committed.
The power of everyone rowing in the same direction is tremendous. The destination is impossible to say, but the energy of movement is alive and well. Maintain this alignment, for from afar and in hindsight, the squabbles along the way are just sound and fury.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” — African Proverb
I loved being back in New Orleans, it was great to see so many of you.