“The Little Red Hen” is a classic folk tale that tells the story of a hardworking red hen who finds wheat seeds and decides to plant them. Throughout the story, she asks other farm animals for help with various tasks—planting the wheat, harvesting it, milling the flour, and baking the bread. Each time, the animals refuse to help. However, once the bread is baked and the hen asks who will help her eat it, all the animals eagerly volunteer. She declines their offers, choosing to eat the bread with her chicks, who assisted her in the work.
So, too, do startups everywhere struggle to get funding. 100 rejections, etc.
And great products don’t get attention until there’s social proof. Many e-commerce companies understand this - sales take off as more people buy, which gets more reviews, which gets more trust - even if the product didn’t change much between first sale to the last.
The only difference between startups and the red hen is she perhaps had a recipe. She didn’t have to wonder, “is baking bread possible? Will the recipe be delicious?”
It takes a founder’s belief to see what isn’t yet so and build it anyway. Be the founder. Be the hen. Dream big. Go bake some bread even if nobody’s watching.
_________________________
Bryan lives somewhere at the intersection of faith, fatherhood, and futurism and writes about tech, books, Christianity, gratitude, and whatever’s on his mind. If you liked reading, perhaps you’ll also like subscribing: