That article is awesome. I've always has trouble articulating my belief in the power of positive thinking without sounding like a hippie.

'... the power of positive thinking ...'

Not so much the power of 'positive thinking' as accepting the 'reality of the situation' and making sure you can get beyond it. Another example of this type of 'conscious acceptance of a situation' can be found in the phrase ... 'there is no land-rover' ~ http://tinyurl.com/35xy9m

It is a compelling story, but I think the lesson is that you need the right *kind* of positive thinking.

I read "Good to Great", it's an awesome book for mature companies, but not really relevant for startups. Though never mentioned, I can sort of see Google fitting the profile of an up-and-coming "great company" according to the author's definition (one that will beat the market over the long term).

The prequel "Built to Last", however, is great for startups. He studied "visionary companies" in that one (including HP, IBM, Merck, 3M, etc.), and includes a lot about *how* a visionary company starts. I heard echoes of Built to Last in Woz's presentation at the startup school, so it's not just old-economy companies that it applies to.

I've heard that story before, but never thought about how it could be applied to startups. Interesting.