Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
Fueled by lack
Venture capitalists have a trope about backing founders with a chip on their shoulder. Creative work has a similar one: depression or anxiety fuels the work, so people fear that losing it would make them less productive or creative.
Karim Amin, the CEO of Clay, decided he would stop creating from a place of lack, and went around telling people he had everything he needed. Critics say that in a post-scarcity world nobody would do anything. People at Burning Man are still making things, and creating from wholeness may do less damage in the world.
Being loved first
Friends once told him they loved him whether he succeeded or failed. He hadn't expected it to help, and it did: part of his desire to succeed must have been fueled by wanting that love, and once he had it he could think about the business instead of filling that need.
Fundraising
The same applies to fundraising. To raise a hundred million dollars, the idea goes, a founder acts as if the money is already in the bank and isn't needed, which also makes for great negotiation leverage.
How does feeling secure change risk-taking?
Psychologist Mary Ainsworth studied this in young children in the 1970s with an experiment called the Strange Situation. Children who treated their caregiver as a secure base explored the room more freely and returned to the caregiver when distressed. Attachment theory, begun by John Bowlby, built on this finding. Researchers have since applied the same idea to adults, studying how secure relationships affect willingness to explore.
How does Burning Man run without money?
Burning Man is held each year in Nevada's Black Rock Desert, and attendees are asked to bring everything they need. Its principles, written down by co-founder Larry Harvey in 2004, include gifting and decommodification, which means no commercial transactions between participants. Ice and coffee are sold at the event, with the proceeds supporting community causes. Participants build art, camps, and theme villages that are given to the crowd.
Why does not needing a deal strengthen a negotiator?
Roger Fisher and William Ury introduced the term BATNA, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement, in their 1981 book Getting to Yes. A party whose alternatives are strong can walk away from a bad offer, and that gives it leverage. A party with no alternatives has to accept almost any terms. Negotiators often prepare by working out their own best alternative and estimating the other side's.