Like millions of others on Tuesday night, I watched President Obama address the nation in his State of The Union Address.
As an entrepreneur, I want to know what the President has to say, not just about tax codes and growing the economy, but about everything.
Because America is still seen around the world as the place where dreams come true.
Where anyone can make it.
And as an entrepreneur, I know I have a small role in making those dreams come true, not only for myself, but for others, too.
So, when the President speaks, I listen.
We who are fortunate to live in this amazing country take that fact for granted way too often.
I see it every day, everywhere I go.
People complaining about one thing or another related to the state of their pocketbooks.
People griping and moaning because their credit cards are maxed out or dried up. Or because there aren’t any jobs.
Really?
President Obama spoke at length about the opportunities this country affords all of us. Those opportunities may no longer look the way they did a generation ago, but with any shift comes new avenues of discovery, possibility, and innovation.
He said, “In America, innovation doesn’t just change our lives, it is how we make our living.”
Amen to that!
By default, entrepreneurs MUST innovate. If we don’t, we perish. Period. There are no bailouts for us, no stimulus packages that will put a band-aid across our gaping fiscal wounds.
Oh no. When things go south, or get crazy, entrepreneurs have to figure things out pretty fast, make decisions that are never easy, and move forward holding a cocktail of faith mixed with moxie.
Obama’s speech was inspirational and laced with tough love. To a certain degree, our blind past devotion to credit and using our homes as ATM’s contributed to the mess we’re in. None of us is blameless.
But to think that America can’t compete in the 21st century despite our financial setbacks is ludicrous. Entrepreneurs made this country great in the past and will continue to make it great in the future. Showcasing Brandon Fisher, the man behind the drilling innovation that saved 33 miners in a Chile mining accident, President Obama made it clear that America can and should be the place for entrepreneurs to create new solutions for a world full of problems.
This story — and others like it — are what all entrepreneurs need to be paying attention to. Inside each of us is a Brandon Fisher, a person with an idea, a solution, a way to make life just a little bit better for someone else. On Tuesday night, President Obama affirmed his faith in America’s entrepreneurs.
That is why, regardless of whether you are a democrat or a republican, an independent, a tea partier, a libertarian, or another, when the President speaks, entrepreneurs should listen.
