Getting a consortium to change the world is hard.

· Bits and Bobs 8/25/25
  • Getting a consortium to change the world is hard.
    • Doesn't work: 1) Found a consortium 2) come up with a compelling north star
      • The consortium will all be pulling in random directions, giving you a mush outcome or more likely simply no outcome.
    • Does work: 1) Come up with a compelling north star, 2) incrementally add people to the consortium.
      • Incrementally add people who agree with the north star and also understand that growing the consortium will help increase impact.
    • The "add people who are already aligned, incrementally" is the core of this technique.
      • As the momentum of the consortium picks up, more and more people who previously weren't aligned will want to be aligned.
      • It's tempting to go after the biggest players first to join, even if their incentives don't align.
      • But it's much better to get the consortium working with naturally aligned players and build momentum to draw others in later.
    • This repeats fractally; ideally you have a real working prototype or even adoption as more people start glomming on.
    • Seek low stakes but rigorous and varied feedback as early as possible to make sure the north star is compelling: doable and desirable.

More on this topic

From other episodes