3 Things to Understand About Curation in Learning and Startups

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Sep 18, 2023
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3 Things to Understand About Curation in Learning and Startups
Curation has been an essential part of human information recording since the beginning. We have always been shifting, selecting, organizing, and presenting information to give it meaning, relevance, and context. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, included in his principles for the internet that it should allow anyone to access any document, enable everyone to disseminate their own documents, and organize the entire collection of documents. Digital curation is the starting point for individuals to take control of the vast amount of digital content available and organize it into meaningful collections.
Digital curation has proven to be powerful for generating social engagement and discussion. Clay Shirky, in his book "Here Comes Everybody," identified the problem as not information overload, but filter failure. The use of tags and filters was meant to help with organizing and finding relevant information, but it ended up overwhelming individuals with too much data. This situation led to two types of overload: situational overload and ambient overload.
Situational overload can be compared to finding a needle in a haystack. You need a specific piece of information quickly, but it is buried among a lot of other information. On the other hand, ambient overload is like being faced with a haystack-sized pile of needles that you want to engage with. There is so much information that you like and want, and as the filters get smarter, they provide you with even more of what you want. This can lead to feeling overwhelmed and not being able to pay attention to all the relevant information.
In the context of startups and entrepreneurship, understanding the market and the potential customers is crucial. One of the great resources for startup founders is the lecture "Market Wireframing Design." It emphasizes the importance of choosing a project with a larger market size if you have two projects of equal scientific interest. A great market, with lots of potential customers, pulls the product out of the startup. The market needs to be fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled by the first viable product that comes along. The product doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to work. The team's quality is not as important as long as they can produce a viable product.
Working backward from the press release is another valuable approach. Amazon writes the press release before building the product. By doing this, you can figure out what features are news and which ones are noise. This approach helps differentiate your product and focus on the essential elements.
A good founder is capable of anticipating which turns lead to treasure and which lead to certain death. Understanding the history of the industry, the players in the market, and the technologies that can change assumptions is crucial. A good idea means having a bird's eye view of the idea maze, understanding all the permutations and decision trees. Being able to explain why your plan is superior to past companies and current competitors is essential.
Choosing your competitors carefully is also important. Larry Ellison said, "Choose your competitors carefully, as you will become a lot like them." Understanding the market size determines how much money you can raise and how many employees you can support. It also determines the potential for growth and success.
Before concluding, here are three actionable pieces of advice:
- 1. Embrace digital curation in your learning journey. Take control of the vast amount of digital content available to find and organize relevant and useful learning resources easily.
- 2. Understand the market before starting a startup. Choose a project with a larger market size to increase the potential for success and growth.
- 3. Work backward from the press release. Define the essential features and differentiate your product by focusing on what is truly valuable.
In conclusion, curation plays a significant role in both learning and startups. By understanding the principles of digital curation and the importance of market size, founders and learners can navigate through the overwhelming amount of information and make informed decisions. Incorporating strategies like working backward from the press release and choosing competitors carefully can further enhance the chances of success. Embrace curation, understand the market, and always have a clear vision of where you want to go.
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