{"id":1810,"date":"2018-08-09T17:04:36","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T16:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2018-08-09T18:05:23","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T17:05:23","slug":"inventors-are-from-uranus-investors-are-from-venus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1810","title":{"rendered":"Inventors are from Uranus. Investors are from Venus."},"content":{"rendered":"

Sometimes you trip over a word and it takes on a shape.\u00a0 It bugs you until you look at that shape and see something different.\u00a0 Something unusual.<\/p>\n

That happened to me this morning.\u00a0 I received a note from a friend of mine who was talking about Elon Musk and his investor dilemma.\u00a0 Whilst typing back a reply, I said: “it’s the difference between an inventor and an investor”.\u00a0 And the shape of these two words hit me!\u00a0 They were so similar – and yet poles apart.<\/p>\n

So, as is my wont (an old English word meaning habit or custom that spellcheckers highlight as a mistake, but it isn’t), I set to with the idea that an inveNtor and an inveStor are two opposing forces under tension in any business.<\/p>\n

And whilst deciding that this was, indeed, a good analogy, it struck me that so many letters are shared between these two words. In fact, seven out of eight letters are not just the same – BUT THEY ARE IN EXACTLY THE SAME POSITION IN THE WORD!\u00a0 The only difference is the fifth letter – where one is an “N” and the other an “S”.\u00a0 How can two such similar words have such contrasting shapes positions in business, yet share so much at the same time?<\/p>\n

To use the old analogy\u00a0“Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”, it got me thinking about which planets would inveNtors and inveStors inhabit?\u00a0 I looked up this idea on an astrology website and found that Venus is the bringer of love, beauty and money.\u00a0 So that will do for the inveStor community (though I sometimes find it hard to see how those three words fit nicely into one sentence.<\/p>\n

As for Mars – well that is a non-starter.\u00a0 We needed another planet.\u00a0 And so I typed-in “innovation” to find that Uranus represents\u00a0technology, rebellion and innovation!\u00a0 That will do nicely!<\/p>\n

So, inveStors are from Venus and inveNtors are from Uranus.\u00a0 There you go!<\/p>\n

Yet that wasn’t enough.\u00a0 I further studied the two words to find that the only difference were the two letters: N and S\u00a0 – and suddenly it hit me!\u00a0 They are also polar opposites on the dial of a compass!\u00a0 I was so encouraged to find even more elegance down this particular rabbit-hole!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0North, South or somewhere in between?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Further to discovering this chance pairing, I thought again.\u00a0 Whilst looking at the meanings behind the planets, I came across\u00a0 Mercury, the Messenger God who is know for communication, day-to-day expression and\u00a0 coordination.\u00a0 A vital and often missing ingredient when inveNtors and inveStors cannot see each other’s point of view.\u00a0\u00a0What other letter (in the same place as the N and S) could be a catalyst for change?\u00a0 What could be the Mercury that goes between Venus and Uranus (though I know full-well that is impossible in our particular solar system – but work with me on this!)<\/p>\n

And so I came across the letter “R”.\u00a0 One of the few that makes sense and is a word.\u00a0 An inveRtor.\u00a0 It has a medical meaning, but I preferred the one used in electricity – which converts AC to DC current and back again.\u00a0 An inveRtor is a converter of energy from invention to investment.\u00a0 Perfect!<\/p>\n

So, in summary, we need more inveRtors in business to go between the impossible stances that inveNtors and inveStors take when they stand-off in their own worlds of creativity and resolution.\u00a0 A few more inveRtors that will be comfortable in the space between what is impossible and what is possible.\u00a0 A few more inverRtors that will help\u00a0 inveNtors like Elon Musk save the planet with his fantastic ideas to make the world’s transportation system run on electricity without making all the inveStors run a mile!<\/p>\n

As it was such a great rabbit hole to go down (and it is Thursday and I have not written Thursday Thoughts for a while), I thought I would write-up the story.\u00a0 More to follow soon!<\/p>\n

Please do leave a comment below if you see any other strange or fantastic happenings on the road from invention to investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes you trip over a word and it takes on a shape.\u00a0 It bugs you until you look at that shape and see something different.\u00a0 Something unusual. That happened to me this morning.\u00a0 I received a note from a friend of mine who was talking about Elon Musk and his investor dilemma.\u00a0 Whilst typing back … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Inventors are from Uranus. Investors are from Venus.”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[78,106,42,76,80,48,66,68,101,51,65,45,22],"tags":[120,119,117,121,118],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DQGK-tc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":243,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=243","url_meta":{"origin":1810,"position":0},"title":"Great Inventor Dies","author":"Lorne Mitchell","date":"21\/10\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"There are very, very few people who invent truly new shapes and ideas that come mainstream and change the way people think within their own lifetime.\u00a0 However, Benoit Mandelbrot (who died last Thursday) can be said to be one of these very, very few.\u00a0 He both named and created the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lornemitchell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/mandelbrot_set-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1693,"url":"http:\/\/www.lornemitchell.com\/?p=1693","url_meta":{"origin":1810,"position":1},"title":"Give Thanks! 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