No fairy tales

Over a glass of wine at Terroni last night, I told a friend about a woman I'd met at a party. There were a lot of seasoned publishing people there. The words upbeat or optimism don't figure in here at all. The editor was complaining about work, so I asked her if she could do anything at all, what she'd really like to do. Thinking something along the lines of, say, opening a little hotel in the south of France.

Her answer was, to find a man who wants to take care of her so she didn't have to work. Which sort of ended the conversation, because it didn't say what she wanted to do and anyway, I don't believe in unicorns either.

Working with startups, I see founders working like crazy to connect with the elusive magic of funding. It's a little like dating as funders wonder if this one is 'The One.' There is less VC money out there, everywhere, and there are more startups. Every major city has its own ecosystem supporting startups now, helping them become fighters for a shrinking pool of funding. I see the good ones graduate to bigger centres with bigger investors and bigger asks.

Though everyone loves a good fairy tale, there are no happily ever afters that don't take truckloads of hard work and time. Like great artists and athletes, the best make it look easy. And I believe it's why branding is becoming so much more relevant, as each startup needs to zero in on its own magic story that will resonate with investors.