I’ve spent the bulk of my career working for and with big companies, and have found them to all have structure, hierarchy and process (I mean this in the best possible way).  But they also tend to have a lot of unnecessary meetings, waste and politics (this stuff is not so good).

My big draw to join Spring Partners was the opportunity to help build something from the beginning and to learn how to start a company myself one day, not to mention the potential for hip work environs.  Now, I’m not about to suggest that start-ups don’t have meetings, structure or politics. The big difference is that everyone is responsible for everything. So, what is it that makes someone a “start-up person” anyway?

Granted, I’m new to this whole start-up thing, although I have a bunch of friends who aren’t.  And, while each of us has a slightly different experience, I’d like to make a distinction here:  There’s 0 to 1, and then there’s 1 to 60.  That first mile – when there’s still no product, all the balls are in the air, and everyone’s overwhelmed – takes a certain type of person.  The early-joiners need to not only be willing to take on the risk & uncertainty, but must actually enjoy it. In fact, many a start-up has earned success on the backs of those people, the ones who are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Now, if a start-up is further along – say a year in or older – it’s starting to build clear processes and finite job descriptions to go along with them.  These are the things that create the ability to scale & actually hit miles 2,3,4 and so on. This is also when things really get humming, and the cool benefits you always hear about start to kick in.  But, this is also about the time when those folks who liked the unpaved path start to become bored.  So, which type of person am I?  Not sure yet.  But I do know that I am pretty pleased with the challenges we are facing today.

I don’t need no stinkin’ foosball table to make me feel like it’s all worth it.  I’ll just take the challenge, please.  Meet the rest of us.  (Or maybe join us)

Over the past several years, we’ve all used the Web to get things done and to create, consume and share information and advice. We’ve actively engaged in a wide variety of user-generated activities that’s fueled the explosive growth of social networks, new technologies and fundamentally new ways of interacting with each other.

However, our “social me” – as others including Loic LeMeur have described and visualized it – continues to evolve and fragment, it becomes ever more time consuming and impossible to keep up without making some choices:

The recipe is quite simple (isn’t it always), but the execution much harder. Let go. Let me repeat that. Just let it go. I see Twitter, Friendfeed, and all these other sites as rivers of information, anecdotes, posts, friends. I tap in whenever I feel like it, join the conversation. But I leave when I need to get back to real life. Alexander van Elsas

At the same time, our lives become more complex and demanding and we increasingly have to focus on personal productivity. And while today’s Web world has something for everyone – the problem is, we’re not everyone… you’re you and I’m me. We each have a unique profile and unique needs, and the best way to harness all that the Web has to offer is by helping each of us get things done in the context of our own lives.

And that’s what Spring Partners is all about – using the power of the web to help make each of our lives easier.