How Slavery Really Ended in America
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
Some time ago, I saw another article on HN that I value greatly: Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning [1]. At face value, drowning and slavery -- maybe more aptly, revolution -- don't have much to do with startup culture, but there is a more valuable lesson that is shared between them.
As entrepreneurs we are constantly on the lookout for success and failure. However, just like drowning and revolution, these successes and failures don't always look like we expect them to. Success is often the result of applying good principles, rather than setting out to succeed at a specific task. Butler possessed the ability to "feel" those around him. He knew that -- in principle, and as a practical matter -- he would need the support of his men to succeed in defending the fort. Out of those actions, great things happened.
If that isn't a lesson for entrepreneurs, I don't know what is.