Originally Posted by
RustyJames
I re-read Andy’s original post and it reminded me of a discussion I had with my former in-laws.
There was talk at the dinner table about giving or volunteering for charities. I was a bit put-off since it seemed there were daggers being thrown at others for not doing anything to help out. I surprised myself by calmly asking “What are you doing to help out?” There were a few comments about how they think people (others) should do something to help. I calmly piped back in, “No, what are YOU doing? A lot of these organizations could really use help and they are very grateful if you can spare a few hours to help them with anything. It becomes almost selfish because you feel REALLY good afterwards. So, what are you going to do?” I wasn’t accusing, I was asking a sincere question that gave me blank stares in return.
I *think* I understand what Mr Sachs is saying. If you’re not contributing, you’re using up stuff and there isn’t anything being done to contribute something new to the community. No new stuff (products, ideas, etc) is stagnation which is a great way to critically injure a community.
As always, just my 2 cents.
I think your .02 is spot on. My issue is applying what you wrote to making an industry, the custom lugged steel bike industry, viable. Maybe it is a bad assumption on my part, but as a leader in the US market, Sachs' writing is not directed at your average schmo taking a framebuilding course and is directed at those in making a business of it. The motivation to do what you wrote in a charity, or as a hobbyist, is not the same, it is highly varied and personal. A business is about making money first and foremost. Sachs made an investment into Long Chen and expects others to follow suit. But again, a builder and supply chain are 2 entirely different matters and putting the onus on someone already in a very difficult business to dive into another is ridiculous. I've been to the Columbus "factory". I use quotes because it is a couple/three guys and as best I can tell, no where near capacity with 1 shift. This is the business Sachs thinks others should invest? I'm going with Danny DiVito instead.