The Art of the Quest - Confab 2012

wTHE ART OF THEQuest

#contquest@mthomps

There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselvesas ﬁercely as if they had never happened before. WILLA CATHER

M THEMonomyth

Public Domain image

The Quest moves online.

iWhy Quests?

344 chapters. 4,223 pages. (cc) Jemimus / Flickr

The Dark Is Rising Beowulf The Epic of Gilgamesh The Faerie Queene The Odyssey & Iliad The Lord of the Rings The Chronicles of Narnia Star Wars Harry Potter A Song of Ice & Fire The Dark TowerQuests can sprawl.

They thrive on transparency.

They invite participation.

They have a template.

K THEQuest Object

This is Josh Reich.

Call TOAdventure

QUEST:Build a better bank.

SELL THE QUESTION,not the answer.

SELL THE MISSION,not the product.

One of the more surprising things Ive noticed whileworking on Y Combinator is how frightening the mostambitious startup ideas are. In this essay Im going todemonstrate this phenomenon by describing some. Any oneof them could make you a billionaire. That might soundlike an attractive prospect, and yet when I describe theseideas you may notice you ﬁnd yourself shrinking awayfrom them.Dont worry, its not a sign of weakness. Arguably its a signof sanity. The biggest startup ideas are terrifying. And notjust because theyd be a lot of work. The biggest ideas seemto threaten your identity: you wonder if youd have enoughambition to carry them through. PAUL GRAHAM

One of the more surprising things Ive noticed whileworking on Y Combinator is how frightening the mostambitious startup ideas are. In this essay Im going todemonstrate this phenomenon by describing some. Any oneof them could make you a billionaire. That might soundlike an attractive prospect, and yet when I describe theseideas you may notice you ﬁnd yourself shrinking away Refusalfrom them. OF THE CallDont worry, its not a sign of weakness. Arguably its a signof sanity. The biggest startup ideas are terrifying. And notjust because theyd be a lot of work. The biggest ideas seemto threaten your identity: you wonder if youd have enoughambition to carry them through. PAUL GRAHAM

I think the way to use these big ideas is not to try toidentify a precise point in the future and then ask yourselfhow to get from here to there, like the popular image of avisionary. Youll be better oﬀ if you operate like Columbusand just head in a general westerly direction. Dont try toconstruct the future like a building, because your currentblueprint is almost certainly mistaken.Start with something you know works, and whenyou expand, expand westward. PAUL GRAHAM

p THEProtagonists

Journalist as protagonist

Company as protagonist

Supernatural AidCompany as protagonist

User as protagonist

The most important trait ...

Empathy.

Show us your struggles.

Tell us what you don’t know.

UPlanning THE QUEST

World Domination Plan

Personas

Themes

Questions

Persona Educator Theme Curricula QuestionHow are curricula changing?

QUEST:Write the ultimate guide.

Guide outline I

Guide outline II:More authority.

First post in the series.

TWinningTHE QUEST

My favorite questing engine.

July 2009.

PUBLISHING IS Abeginning,NOT AN ENDING.

APOTENTIALPitfalls

Not everythingmerits a quest.

Fan capture.

Fans FriendsForeigners

Solipsism &ﬁlter failure.

MediaSite™ !"#$%&($)"#*$+,$%-*-$.(&$/*-0)1$Your local news source.NEWS ARTSPLASH SPORTZBUZZ YOURVOICES HOMESLICE GO!Real-Time NewsMemorial Garden dedicatedArtSplash YourVoicesSportzBuzz

#brandcastle

#brandcastlen. A media experience purporting to oﬀer content and storytelling, but in reality obsessed primarily with how a media entity thinks of itself.

What I didn’t talk about ...

We have not even to risk the adventure alone,for the heroes of all time have gone before us — the labyrinth is thoroughly known. JOSEPH CAMPBELL

Thank you. #contquest @mthomps

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The Art of the Quest - Confab 2012

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