Donna Fenn's upstarts come in 8 garden varieties:
- Extreme Collaborators
- Technology Mavens
- Game Changers
- Market Insiders
- Brand Builders
- Social Capitalists
- Workplace Renegades
- Morph Masters
What are "Extreme Collaborators"? Sounds like a case of serious co-dependency, but really, there are benefits.
According to Fenn, team work comes naturally to members of GenY for 2 reasons:
- The Experience of The Campus
- The Prevalence of Incubators
For the entrepreneur, this dynamic is beneficial in 5 ways:
To overcome weaknesses: Upstarts team up to overcome individual weaknesses while capitalising on individual strengths. This arrangement allows them to compete with established and more experienced players in the field.
- To gain mentorship: Upstarts aren't afraid to look for guidance and ask questions. This puts them on a steep learning curve.
- To create synergy: Upstarts are willing to buddy up if it means expanding their customer base and business quickly.
- To get money: Upstarts will ask for your money and get away with it.
- To crowdsource: Rather than cracking their noggins trying to figure you out, upstarts are willing to ask, "Tell me what you want - what you really, really want?"
