Building momentum

Building a consensus is hard work, building momentum is even harder. I have been developing a couple of ideas around the Dynamo cyber cluster, CyberNorth, for a few months now. I am sure I have mentioned them before. The first is to create an incubator for cyber startups in the region under the working title of the North East Cyber Resilience Rapid Incubator, or NECRRI for short. It’s a mouthful I know but it is a long story. The other is an online mechanism for trading in cyber services which I refer to as CyberPark.

Both are still at an early stage, a little more than mere twinkles in my eye but not much. I have a brief document for each which I keep building on every time I talk to someone about them.

Talking is something that I have done an awful lot of. Each project requires a number of people and organisations to be involved. They need skills, assets and money that I don’t have and so, once again, I find myself touting the ideas around the region looking for the right people to buy into them. I am spinning a lot of plates and have to keep going back to make sure none of them stop, chasing up on promises.

I know a lot of people and I am getting a lot of interest in the ideas but not everyone can provide the help that they need. Many say to me ‘Have you tried so and so?’ and this leads me off on another round of discussions. Each time I have to tell the story again, tweaking it slightly for the different audiences depending upon their drivers.

A friend of mine told me a story once about a door to door canvasser for double glazing. When asked how he coped with the constant rejection on the doorstep he replied that he would get about one acceptance in a hundred rejections and each time someone said no he knew that he was one call closer to someone saying yes.

This is what is keeping me going, the knowledge that with each tell of the story I am getting that bit closer to getting the projects from ideas to reality. It is hard work yet I am determined to get both of these ideas over the line. Eventually the momentum will carry them through.