Following on the success of the first Startup Weekend in Boulder, Andrew Hyde has decided to take the concept on a national tour, and it is coming to DC on Oct 26-28. In case you do not know what Startup Weekend is, it is is an idea, an experiment, a chance gather the tech community and create a company over one jam packed weekend.

Myself, Matthew, Brian and Andy are coordinating the effort along with Andrew’s guidance. Some of the details have been worked out, but not all of them, it is still a work in progress. We have already met once to discuss some of the logistics, and will be meeting many more times to iron everything out. Some of the things that we have decided on: there will be schwag, Andrew has got some things in the works already; food will be provided, we are lining up sponsors as we speak to cover that; everyone who signs up will be able to submit and idea and we will vote on the top 10 two days out and then pitch the ideas and narrow it down to 3 then pick the final and we are off to the races. Those are the known details for now, and like I said more are to come. To stay up to date on what is going on, check out the DC Startup Weekend blog and make sure that you register (if of course you want to participate). It will be fun times, and who knows, we may build the next greatest thing.

Why does it always seem so easy to say “what if” to whatever it is we are doing, it is as if we are talking ourselves out of doing something for the fear of the unknown. What is so bad with the unknown, is it the simple fact that we have no control over it? Consider the following:

• What if Johannes Gutenberg did not have the idea for movable type and the printing press? At the very least, we would be without a bunch of bibles.
• What if Benjamin Franklin had not flown that kite? We may have missed out on one of the greatest discoveries of all time.
• What if Alexander Graham Bell had not invented the telephone? We may still be trying to master morse code.
• What if Thomas Edison had given up when his first light bulb failed? The world would be a much darker place perhaps.
• What if Charles Babbage did not have the vision to create a programmable, mechanical computer? Things would definitely be done differently today.
• What if Rosa Parks had decided to give up her seat on the bus and not stood firm for what she believed in? The United States, at least, would be in a different place than it is right now.

The thing that all these people have in common is that they were willing to take that leap of faith, they were willing to venture into uncharted waters, they were willing to take a chance and try to answer the unknown. The bottom line is that it is better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all. If you never challenge or question the what ifs, where would you be?

I am a firm believer of practicing random acts of kindness, although I am not sure how random they wind up being. In life, as in business, I put my best foot forward in treating everyone as I want to be treated, not because I expect to gain something in return, rather it is (well I believe it is) part of being a good Samaritan, being good natured, whatever you want to call it.

The other day, I was on a flight back from Florida (coming home after attending to an ill family member) and our flight was delayed (surprise, surprise, I was in Florida in the middle of the summer, what could I have expected). Nonetheless, an hour and fifteen minutes later, we boarded the plane. I was sitting towards the front of the plane, and I noticed a family of five board, and they seemed frantic. The father wound up sitting next to me, so I struck up a conversation, and found out they were headed to Naples, Italy (they were just stationed there), and they had a connecting flight in Dulles, with 5 minutes to spare. I offered to help out however I could, giving his son my window seat, and even offering to help carry their bags to the next gate when we arrived so they could make their flight. Now, I did not do this because I thought there would be something in it for me, I did it because if I was in his situation, I hope that someone would do the same for me.

This mindset is not specific to life in general, but can also be applied to the business world. How many times does it take for something bad to go wrong before we stop and say, hey, perhaps if we changed our mindsets and stopped thinking with the “us first” mentality, that maybe, just maybe the outcome would be different. So many times in business we operate with blinders on that we neglect to see that we are being brash, forceful or down right rude to those that we rely on to get things done. The next time you are in a situation where things are not getting done, or your product launch is being held up, take a moment and think about how you have treated others, and if it is not the way you would want to be treated, try changing and see what the outcome is. You may be surprised.

To Ron and his family, I hope that you made your connecting flight and are in Italy now enjoying your new chapter of life.