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I've never really liked American Idol but it is the easily the most impactful show on television (other than Swamp People). I've watched X Factor, America's Got Talent, and The Voice. They have nothing on American Idol. What makes it amazing is that it can literally change 25-years of bad living and luck with one golden piece of yellow paper. Of course you rarely see the blood, sweat, and tears (or the police record) in a 60-second tear-jerker story, but this video is the exception.
This girl literally lives in a tent in the woods with her boyfriend Paul Bunyan. But man can she sing. She got as dressed up as she's ever been to audition for the judges and delivered. Next time you're feeling sorry for yourself or your startup, just think about these two and realize how lucky we really are to be where we are doing what we're doing. Make it happen.
For the past 15 years Derek has been building communities. He is the co-founder/CEO of Bevy, a SaaS product that helps companies like Salesforce, Atlassian, Google, Snowflake, and Adobe build virtual and in-person communities. Bevy has raised $60M from Accel, Upfront Ventures, and others. He co-founded Startup Grind, a community of 600 Chapters in 125 countries educating, inspiring, and connecting startup people. Since 2012 Startup Grind has hosted 20,000 events. In 2010 he co-founded Commonred which was acquired by Income.com. Derek also previously worked as a product manager at Electronic Arts. He currently lives in Palo Alto CA with his wife and four children.
