A lot about this world upsets me. One thing that really gets me is the pressure small business is under. The government wants small business to revitalise the economy and create jobs however there isn’t a single entrepreneur in government. They say there’s billions put aside, but I don’t know a single entrepreneur who is accessing it. They say they are pressuring banks to lend but I know good businesses who can’t get a basic overdraft. Yes everyone is looking at small businesses, innovators, entrepreneurs, designers, engineers and developers to fix the mess were all in. “Thanks for the kind words, thanks for cheering us on from the sidelines!” Why should people in cushy, stable government and banking jobs put pressure on us? … Obviously they need us. … Then when we do stimulate the economy, when we do create the jobs they will pat each other on the back and congratulate themselves for their good cheering. Predictably, the media will then single out a few of us who succeed and say we don’t pay enough tax, we don’t employ enough people, we don’t buy enough stuff and we don’t fit with their societal norms. As painfully unfair as it is, that’s just the way it is. Sadly we’re not the types who will form a union and we won’t complain. We will get on with it. We will innovate, we will build, we will risk everything and labour night and day. Not because we want the money and the fame but because we don’t know what else to do with ourselves. Something is in our blood, something gets us up early and keeps us up late at night. Something makes us feel more joy from creating than consuming. Something makes us tick differently to them. It’s inevitable. There’s no real choice, you just get on with it hoping that occasionally you meet the odd person who “gets you” and who makes you laugh because you “get them”. It’s tough, and it takes a lot to stay focused on the vision. Occasionally it’s nice to see someone who did well on their journey and to learn a thing or two from them. If my events do any good at all I hope it’s that they connect people and help them to keep going in times that are less than ideal.