What Startups Can Learn From Haruki Murakami
I'm a big fan of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami.
The genius of Murakami is in his discipline,
focus and determination. I see him as a virtual Zen master - an embodiment of wisdom,
passion, skills and exceptional will. The elements of his work and life story are inspirational and (here's where ReadWriteWeb comes in) particularly
applicable when you're running a startup. Therefore in this post, we take a look at what modern technology startups can
learn from this Japanese literary master.
The inspiration for this post comes from an autobiographical article by Murakami in the New Yorker Magazine (which Karen Teng, VP of Engineering at my own startup, pointed out to me).
Find Your Passion and Commit to it
Murakami was a late bloomer,
writing his first work at age 29. One day while watching baseball he realized his destiny was to be a writer. At the time he
owned a jazz bar,
yet the experience at the baseball game had a lasting effect. He started to write and
over the next few years his life changed.
Whether you're a blogger or software engineer, you've experienced the same feeling: a blog post that has to be written; a piece of code that needs to exist. These moments of clarity are precious and we should follow them whenever possible.
Murakami faced a choice between his business and a career as a writer. Though the future was uncertain, he made a commitment to writing and sold his jazz bar. Soon after focusing on writing full-time, he realized his fiction suffered because he was out of shape. Murakami quit smoking and started running. Today he is a marathon man and runs every day.
Each startup always faces choices. Making a commitment, focusing, and then giving it your all, is the key. There are always obstacles, but if you know what you're after you can overcome them.
Stick With What You Know
I'd read Murakami novels before
his autobigraphical piece. Now I realize how much of him is in his novels. His books
frequently talk about jazz and one novel,
South of the Border, West of the Sun, is about an owner of a jazz bar. Murakami loves cats and uses them
to create
unique, mesmerizing imagery. Most of all, Murakami writes about love, passion
and loneliness.
A few years back, I decided to make a real estate investment in Florida. Excited, I did a lot of research and was talking about it to my father-in-law, an experienced businessman. His advice: stick with what you know. While initially disappointed, I then realized he was right. I am a software engineer and a tech entrepreneur. I should be betting on my startup instead.
Many individuals and companies make the mistake of jumping into areas they know little about. A few succeed, but most never make it. It is better to start a company around the topic you're an expert in or know a lot about. This will give you an edge and ensure you're not wasting your time.
Start Even and Finish First
Murakami's
life is a routine. He rises early around 5am
and goes to bed by 10pm. He declines late-night dinners and outings. He runs and works on his books
daily. He achieves his magic by pushing equally every day.
When Brad Feld, an early stage technology VC and a marathon runner, recently completed his 11th marathon, he re-learnt this lesson during the run. In the recap on his blog he wrote:
I started strong. Too strong. Rule #1 of the marathon is to hold plenty back at the beginning so you have it left at the end. I went through the halfway point (13.1m) at 2:20, on track for a sub 4:45. I tightened up at mile 15 and slowed a notch, thinking I still had a shot at sub 5:00. At mile 19 I went down another notch and was now slogging through 13-minute miles. At this point I knew I wouldn't break 5:00 and my goal shifted from "break 5 hours" to "finish this thing".
The first time I realized this lesson was watching Cathy Freeman win gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She won by running like a robot, with uniform speed through the entire course.
Startups are intense. Run too fast and you'll burn out. Many young entrepreneurs think startups are like sprints, when you just race from the start to the finish line. In fact, startups are more like marathons, so pace yourself.
Never Settle and Always Seek Creativity
Perhaps the most striking
thing about Murakami is his creativity. My favorite Murakami book is Wind-up Bird Chronicle, a mesmerising "experiential" piece of
fiction. As you read you experience a world of mystical images, ideas and characters.
Each Murakami novel is different. The author never settles, constantly seeking new ways to express himself. Remarkably, he says writing is not easy for him. Such creative work is carefully crafted. It seems like an outcome of pure passion, but it is not. The author seeks to break the methods he created yesterday and move on towards unexplored territory.
Passion and creativity are the two most important factors for a startup. Without these key ingredients, there is no success. But just like the artist needs to reinvent himself, so also do startups. It won't be the original wave of creativity that will carry you through, instead it will be the quest and the will to never settle that will make your dreams come true.
Conclusion
The beads of sweat drip off my face as I run up the hill. It is a mild summer Sunday in New Jersey and I enjoy my regular running route. With each step, the pieces of this post crystallize in my head. I know I have to write it, because Murakami can make a difference in your startup life too. Steadily as I climb I think about this man, his will and his magical fiction.
My iPod starts playing a faster beat, but I do not speed up. I've done this many times on this course to my dismay, so now I know better. I treat this course like a startup. It is a mini marathon where I run evenly and ponder these cool and creative things in my head.
And now please tell us what writer you find inspirational and helpful in your startup life.
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Excellent post Alex and it's inspired me to look for Murakami books in the library next time I visit.
I have many favorite authors that have inspired me over the years, perhaps most recently Michael Lewis, Tom Wolfe, and others who write non-fiction using fiction techniques. That was certainly inspirational to me when I first started RWW, even if it wasn't evident in the blog at the time.
Right now, I am finding a lot of inspiration in exploring Neil Young's back catalog of music. The way he always changes, is steadfastly independent, seeks new creative ways to express himself, experiments with different styles and topics, tunes out the 'music of the day' and follows his own beat -- this and more inspires me in what I do in my worklife.
I'm interested to read the comments to this post, as I have been looking for new books to read :-)
"Startups are intense. Run too fast and you'll burn out." That's so right...Persistence is critical in startups adventure - there are might be downs and ups, but as long as you think you are doing a right thing, stick with it and work hard on it consistently and PACE YOURSELF.
We started http://happytutors.com very stroung in March, we had 100 registered members per week and now it's relatively slow - and to be honestly we felt a little bit tired however we always remind us that we should just do what we should and what we can at this stage - improve the site and provide more value-added info for our customers - and we will have a bright future.
HappyTutors.com
~Connect Tutors with Students & Parents~
Alex Iskold :)
Nice post, Alex. I'm a big fan of Murakami, too, and Wind Up Bird has to be my favourite. Wish more of his essays were available in translation, but until then I struggle by very slowly with my dictionary.
I think another aspect of the Murakami spirit that applies to the startup world is his total refusal to play the salaryman game so prevalent in Japan (and elsewhere). Murakami has never set foot in an office cubicle (at least as an employee), and by taking on the world on his own way and taking chances on his beliefs, he's managed to succeed in carving out his own place in the world. Maybe never having been spoiled by corporate clock watching has helped him to be as self disciplined with his time and talent as he is, but there's definitely something to learn there. That comfort and complete acceptance of what some might see as a crazy gamble or eccentric lifestyle is something a lot of startup folks will likely connect to.
I agree with you, but wouldn't there be times when you have to give it 110%? I guess what's important for a startup entrepreneur is to have some time for winding down, after those "sprints", so that on average you can be on an even speed.
I saw Richard's tweet about Murakami and came right over. I discovered Murakami only about a year ago, and like Alex, have been alternately plowing and lolling through his amazing books.
What I take away from Murakami that could be applied to startups, is to have perspective, let your knowledge and memories instruct you, and not lose sight of any beauty that gives your life meaning. In "After Dark," one of the heroines points out that memories "are the fuel that life burns on," and without the time to make them, we literally and figuratively lose ourselves. A similar theme echoes in "Windup Bird Chronicles" and even "Kafka on the Shore," where the hero must find meaning through connections to people he loved, through art and memory.
But here's the lesson for startups: amidst all the 20-hour days, the dog-and-pony shows for term sheets and investors, the meetings, the interviews and questions about the next burn rate or next hire... remember that some day, *these* days will be a memory. And your company is just that... your company. It's not you. Get reality checks with friends or family, take breaks now and then to make sure you're on track. Otherwise (yet another Murakami theme) the way back to yourself can be long and twisted.
Thanks for the post, Alex. And to think I've been reading these books and "startup" never occurred to me once.
Alex- Thanks for sharing.
These are great things for anyone to keep in mind working on a project they are passionate about. Listening to those moments of clarity in life and in the life of a project can be the difference between fulfillment and regretting you never followed up on your dreams.
I find that having a regular reflective practice makes me more open to those moments of clarity and allows me to recognize them as well. I'm a runner too. Do you often find it to be a reflective practice? When do ppl find they get those moments of clarity most?
Funny to see this article come across my feed, as my future Father-In-Law, Phillip Gabriel, happens to be Haruki Murakami preferred translator as all the books are originally in Japanese!
Keep up the great work.
I agree there are some striking similarities in the properties of successful startups and Murakami books.
"Find Your Passion and Commit to it"
There are 3 very important keywords here:
- Find - how can you really even begin what you want to accomplish in life without knowing what it is
- Passion - do something you enjoy and will put your whole heart into
- Commit - the more difficult of the three. you've gotta stay committed to be successful
I'm just 4 months into working with a start-up - www.completelynovel.com and have only recently discovered Murakami. I have a lot to learn about both but from what I've seen so far, I can definitely see the necessity of commitment and routine...it's far too easy to be working until 2 in the morning when you first start!
Thanks for sharing. I didn't know Haruki Murakami. Now I know I have to read some of his books.
Murakami was also one of the best Reversi human players. I guess some concepts apply in such a setting too.
Super post, Alex.
We started up about a year ago, and are going to be in stealth mode for another couple of weeks before we launch our SaaS platform.
I speak for my team, in the following learnings:
a. Manage, Mentor, Motivate: Startups have high aspirations, but few promises. Things rarely work out exactly the way you envision things on Day 1, so along the way, it is important to manage(team, time, relationships, goals), mentor(foster a learning culture, share information regularly), and motivate(share key responsibilities, inspire).
b. Aim small, miss small: We spent a lot of time trying to build up the biggest, best, and most comprehensive platform in the world. Somewhere along the way, we realized we'd taken upon a beast, and our startup was turning into a science experiment.
Luckily, we have enough devils advocates in-house, and were able to react and change gears quickly.
The result: we have a product(albeit not the beast we wanted) ready, a few customers already signed up, and we're ready to rock and roll.
c. It doesn't need to be perfect on Day 1: It needs to work well, and it shouldn't let your customer down, but it doesn't need to be 100% perfected to your standards.
Yes, we all want to put our best foot forward, but web services are constantly in a state of evolution. In fact, if you don't keep evolving, you're as dead as ....dead.
So- get the basics right, test the hell out of your product, launch it, and then iterate...iterate...iterate.
d. "start even": easier said than done. Chances are that your competition is ahead of the game, and starting even(getting some market traction) is a challenge in of itself. So know your competition, and plan your game so you can "Start even".
Price is always an excellent advantage. All other things being equal, we could probably out-price our competition out of the market.
Simplicity of user experience is another. Make adoption, and regular usage of your product so incredibly easy that it's a pleasure, and a no-brainer, to use it.
e. Immerse yourself: half-ass involvement will bring you half-ass results. If you're doing it, then DO it. All the way. For blood and glory. Passion is useless without perseverance. Breathe only after the job is done.
Great post, if not because I'm a huge fan of Murakami's myself. It's always important to get some perspective and looking over at other ways of living or other jobs can help keep focussed.
Cheers!
Great post Alex.
@Mike, nice observation, yes, definitely Murakami defies corporate structure and has a huge entrepreneurial spirit.
@Merredith, nice visuals for importance of memory and balance and focus on family - definitely valuable lessons for startups.
@Avi - moments of clarity happen increasingly more often when you are on the right track. clarity happens when things fit together you "feel" that it is right. When you are unhappy or unfocused these are much more rare.
Alex,
Great post. Thanks for sending me this link. I will apply the long-haul strategy to my new running regimen, as suggested. Thanks for the twitter coaching!
Fantastic post, Alex, I'm a huge fan of Harauki Murakami, too.
I work as a Community Manager for a Social Grocery startup, Zeer.
One of my favorite quotes from Murakami is something May Kasahara says in Wind Up Bird Chronicle
""I don't know-- maybe the world has two different kinds of people, and for one kind the world is this completely logical, rice pudding place, and for the other it's all hit-or-miss macaroni gratin. I bet if those tree frog parents of mine put rice pudding mix in the microwave and got macaroni gratin when the bell rang, they'd just tell themselves, 'Oh, we must have put in macaroni gratin mix by mistake' or they'd take out the macaroni gratin and try to convince themselves, 'This looks like macaroni gratin, but actually it's rice pudding.' And if I tried to be nice and explain to them that sometimes, when you put in rice pudding mix, you get macaroni gratin, they would never believe me. They'd probably just get mad. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you, Mr. Wind-Up Bird?"
--May Kasahara, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
I love this quote and now that I think of it (because of your article, it echoes my sentiments on how I feel working in a start up. You sometimes put in Rice Pudding and get Macaroni Gratin - and there is something magical about that. You commit to a startup and many incredible things are born out of that. It's important to strive for creativity and keep your curiosity and sense of discovery even when things don't turn out as expected.
@Shannon what an awesome quote and analogy - thank you!
Cool post Alex. I'm glad to see your observations about Murakami's creative process and the the artistic process as a whole.
Writings by Hemmingway always contain the essential important bits and nothing more. His style is a lesson in stripping away what is not needed.
Without drawing any further comparisons with Murakami, I too have found that keeping fit helps every aspect of my writing.
Then again, people like Anthony Burgess and William S Burroughs did exactly the opposite, and somehow wrung out creativity from alcoholism and heroin abuse. Maybe it's time to trade in the running shoes for a bottle of hooch and the needle?
Juha, you need to listen to Neil's song 'The Needle And The Damage Done' :-)
But then again, in the journalism trade I believe a love of the bottle is just about a requirement ;-)
Thanks Alex. I reshared this to http://friendfeed.com/rooms/founders
Posted by: Ryan Kuder
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July 30, 2008 2:58 PM
Hi Alex,
I really enjoyed this article. I am also a runner and stick to what some would regard as a fairly strict routine (getting up at 5.15 am weekdays and spending an hour training) as well as running my own small, but growing business. And I'm an avid reader too!
Although I love a good thriller, my favorite books are non-fiction investigative-business thrillers (e.g. one of my all-time favorites, "Barbarians At The Gate") and autobiographies of successful entrepreneurs (everyone from Sam Walton to Anita Roddick to Donald Trump to Frank Lowy to... the list goes on and on).
So I'm going to disappoint in terms of not being able to point to an individual writer. But if there was one book that I found particularly inspiring, it was Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong. If there is one person who captures the traits necessary to overcome the biggest challenges and succeed on a grand scale, it's Lance. And this book is fantastic for showing us how human he is... yes, human with flaws... and how a flawed human can achieve something marvellous (well 7 Tour De Frances's ain't too bad!).
Thanks for a great article.
Not a writer, but an investor inspired me greatly, and gave us plenty of conviction that what we intend to launch (MIVUI.com) early 2009 will have a positive impact on organisations or individuals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xaeVXTSBg
Thank you Guy.
Not a writer, but an investor Guy Kawasaki inspired me greatly, and gave us plenty of conviction that the concept we intend to launch (MIVUI) will have a positive impact on organisations or individuals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xaeVXTSBg
Thank you Guy. Still trying to cut our mission statement into a Mantra. It was too late, we did the mission statement before seeing your presentation...
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=1171
Another about Guy Kawasaki:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIFDsfhuPqU&feature=related
Not a (fiction) writer is what I should have said! Guy Kawasaki is not only an investor, blogger, entrepreneur, but has also authored many books, of which here is one:
http://www.guykawasaki.com/books/index.shtml
I agree - Murakami is a master - few are blessed with his focus and dedication!
This is a fantastic article. I enjoyed reading it and found it very inspirational. Thank you.
Hello Alex:
This is a wonderful post- I do read a lot and get inspired by many business leaders. The recent one that I got completely inspired by is "SOFTWAR" which describes Larry Ellison's journey in building Oracle simultaneously pursuing his other passions as well.
Having been in a start-up and built one to a good level, I feel that the fire should never go off! Its a new day to conquer problems daily and thats the fun of building something- Ofcourse processes needs to be set for scalability but the initial days are pure play passion, creativity and commitment!
I liked the Google story as well in terms of the founders not taking the standard path even while building Google!
I can keep going on and on about books but I agree with the author as well as the choice of books!
Prakash
Good Job.