Slow Capital

31.10.2009 von Guido.

The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal.

There are now sub-movements like slow travel, slow parenting, slow art, slow sex, etc. All of them promote the idea that we should slow down, relax, and take our time at things instead of “getting it done and moving on”.

Fred Wilson is not much for any orthodoxy but he does appreciate the sentiment behind the slow movement and he’s been thinking about what “slow capital” would be. Here are some basic tenets of slow capital:

1) doesn’t rush to conclusions and doesn’t expect entrepreneurs to do so either

2) flows into a company based on the company’s needs, not the investor’s needs

3) starts small and grows with the company as it grows

4) has no set timetable for getting liquid: slow capital is patient capital

5) takes the time to understand the company and the people who make it up

There’s a reason why Warren Buffet is the best investor of his generation.

My personal opinion on that is that we need to get back into the right set of values, living values. Slow has never been different. It only comes into our consciousness as we have to cope with the speed of information. In order to approach the slow movement we need to change education.

Guido

Geschrieben in slow capital | 1 Kommentar »