The Upstarts

And you’ve got to be able to look at market waves and technology waves in a different way than other folks and see it happening sooner, know how to position yourself out there, prepare yourself, pick the right surfboard—in other words, bring the right management team in, build the right platform underneath you. Only then can you ride a truly great wave. At the end of the day, without that great wave, even if you are a great entrepreneur, you are not going to build a really great business.8

Among the throngs that gathered to brave the mid-Atlantic-winter chill, two groups of young entrepreneurs from San Francisco were on the verge of not just watching history but making it.

Upstart

up·start \p-stärt\ (noun)
1. A newly successful person, business, etc.
2. A person who has recently begun an activity, become successful, etc., and who does not show proper respect for older and more experienced people or for the established way of doing things.
—Adapted from Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary