Gary Ong | September 13th, 2021

A startup is really just a combination of great ideas and great execution. We can train for execution, but how do we get great ideas? My conjecture is that the best ideas come from a confluence of different lived experiences, perspectives, and norms. After all, we don’t generate ideas in a vacuum. We get ideas from the things we see, the emotions we feel, and the people around us. If we want truly great and unique ideas, vary the inputs. In other words, find people with diverse backgrounds.

I have been a direct beneficiary of that perspective. Celadyne’s technology happened only when three different fields of science from two different continents converged. But, merging fields and perspectives has its challenges. As a leader, having multicultural roots can make it easier to empathize with different values, priorities and perspectives across employees, stakeholders, collaborators, and investors. One person might say they are worried about the clean energy transition not being equitable. Another might chime in on things we can improve to make employees feel more like family. In each case, I can relate. I can understand.

However, apart from why I think diversity helps for great ideas or for leadership, perhaps there’s a simpler reason to champion diversity in startups. In the end, startups are representations of hope: we look to startups to convince ourselves that there is always someone out there trying to make the world better. So, as a startup, we choose to pursue diversity so that everyone can see themselves in that hope and one day choose to participate in it too.

Image credit: Gert Altmann