The Synthesiser

When I was a child, I was always drawn to exploring book shelves. I would open the pages of found books and move among the stories and histories – feeding my imagination with ideas both within and beyond my grasp. Snapshot captured, and stealthed away for future use. In time I might discard, adapt or build on them. They weren’t concrete you see, they would evolve as I did.

I continue to move through the world in this way; curious and keen to learn. As I draw nearer to a new decade of my life, it’s clear that although the library of mediums has expanded, this methodology remains a constant; capture, record, synthesise.

So it is that I write this (rather overdue) post with news of a recent venture (non-subtle foreshadowing there) that relies heavily on synthesis….

Into the unknown of learning about startups. I have, over the years had friends who’ve worked for startups, I’ve played sport with entrepreneurs hustling on their startups and been exposed to many ideas and stories from books, documentaries, podcasts and articles. As a creative, I have flirted with many ideas in many spaces, sometimes even releasing said ideas into the wild, but I hadn’t considered exploring the founders pathway until recently.

With a sticky idea which wouldn’t go away, I submitted an application to the Tech Ready Women Startup Program, and now, a few weeks in, I feel incredibly grateful to be part of the NSW Cohort. Learning from experienced mentors and witnessing the variety of problems my peers are tackling through innovation has been inspiring on many levels.

It’s fascinating to observe how the creative process evolves and ideas transform. I’m finding that the more interrogation, the more my initial idea tends to shapeshift. Enjoying discomfort, change and challenge – my instinct is to lean in and poke around at the new shape – and then interrogate some more. This of course, may require some tethering, as the goal is to have an MVP (minimal viable product) by the end of the program in July.

My idea is still evolving, and the scope has expanded. I came into the program with one idea and problem to solve, but there’s so much more room, and so many different mirrors to look at it through. It’s equally exciting and intimidating.

The program helps illuminate how to evaluate idea legitimacy and explore solutions to problems, including defining them and whether they need solving; validation can be brutal. Surprisingly, there’s a philosophical aspect; among business structures, spreadsheets and Venn diagrams, there are fundamental questions about the human experience. So, with more to write on this in the coming weeks I’ll sign off with one thought. In an unstable world, the potential in pursuit feels like tasting fresh coffee while a favourite song plays — little sips to synthesise and dream upon.