Role Models Are Important. Here’s Some of Mine.

Role models are important.  They are proof to us that we can do what we hope to  some day do.  They’re a source of inspiration.  Also, by paying attention to role models, we can “stand on the shoulders of giants”; if we know of someone that has done something similar to what we aspire to do, we can think about how we can do it better.

I’ve got a few role models, and I want you to know who they are:

• Tim O’Reilly. Tim is the founder of O’Reilly Media, the technology book publisher whose mission is to deliver the knowledge of innovators to the rest of the world.  Tim also believes in “working on things that matter”.  He inspires others to do the same.
• Jeff Bezos. Founder of Amazon, a company that brought to life not only e-Commerce, but other ideas including scalable Cloud Computing where you pay for only what you use (Amazon Web Services) , Artificial Artificial Intelligence (Amazon Mechanical Turk), and other valuable services.
• Peter Diamandis. Creator of the X Prize Foundation.  The X Prizes tangibly set a goal for maverick entrepreneurs to tackle the biggest challenges of the human race.  The Ansari X Prize, which was later won by another inspiring character Burt Rutan, helped push private space flight to the next level with incredible run of SpaceShip One.  We now have Virgin Galactic on the Horizon.
• Richard Branson. A maverick entrepreneur and founder of many companies including Virgin Air, Virgin Records, and now Virgin Galactic.  He’s also an adventurer.
• Ray Kurzweil. An inventor, writer, and futurist who isn’t afraid to evangelize radical ideas on the future.  He’s also a founder of the Singularity Institute.
• Dean Kamen. Dean is an inventor and runs a small invention company called DeKa Technologies. They focus on solving important problems.  Inspired by soldiers that had to have limbs amputated, DeKa developed a prosthetic arm with 15 points of articulation that can pick up a grape (TED Talk video, 5 minutes).  Access to clean water is one of the greatest challenges to underdeveloped countries, DeKa also developed a water purification system (Colbert Report video).  In addition to finding big problems and solving them, Dean Kamen has also started an education program called FIRST with the following mission”“To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders.”

(I feel as if I’ve forgotten another one of my role models. ) These guys have all done great work and embody the embrace of mission.  They’re people you should know about.

Who are some people that inspire you?

-Kevin
5.13.2010