The Thank You therapy

Some weeks ago there was a heated argument over an article on why the Spanish aren’t entrepreneurs. Despite the attention screaming title, the article hit on some good points and, in my opinion, plenty of cliches. We had a rather large thread in Tetuan Valley about the article and what was true and what wasn’t.

Someone in the thread started listing Spanish entrepreneurs as examples of people living the dream, but what really caught my attention was that, even though I knew most of them, I was having a hard time pulling a similar list myself.

The thing is, in Spain doing start-ups is so tough, most people that make it, tend to be loners. They tend to remind silent about their achievements, even cynical sometimes. I can’t blame them. They’ve gone against the machine and won, or at least survived. That can do awful things to people’s minds. Then it hit me. It’s sad that, despite all, no one really thanks this guys. No one got out there and publicly said, hey you know, hat tip to you guys for showing others that start-ups are possible in Spain.

This is, of course, very Spanish. We take things for granted, even the good ones. I think it’s time to start thinking about fixing this. I’ve never heard anyone give Jesús Encinar thanks for his talks, for the company he has built or for the money he’s been investing as a business angel. I haven’t heard anyone give Martin Varsavsky (despite his sometimes, out of tone comments) the credit he deserves for being one of the champions of Spanish start-ups. While he gives us a lot of shit locally, I’ve seen him defend Spain outside our borders as a borderline zelot. Thank you Martin!

Funny enough, a couple of days ago I received an incredible email from a Spanish entrepreneur in Berlin thanking me for giving him the idea that went to become his new start-up. I wasn’t looking for that, I was just trying to help him, but to be honest, it felt incredible. It meant a lot to me. It gave me a sense of purpose, a sense that, despite all, even a small gesture can help and can change someone’s life.

So yes, it’s hard to make it. Yes Spain has a lot of defects, but that’s the reason why we should really sit down and think about everyone that’s trying to fix it. As I’ve said many times before, I don’t care it’s not enough, it’s better than nothing. It’s easy to talk and hard to do, so every single one that’s doing something should be thanked.

Thanking people creates a happy economy. It pushes people to be better, to share more and to feel a purpose. If you’re not thanking people at least twice a day, you probably aren’t thanking enough.

Thank you all for reading this and pushing me forward

Image: http://500px.com/photo/6045727

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