Startup Lessons from Pioneers on Resourcefulness

“Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without,” an old pioneer adage shared by Gordon B. Hinckley

I love that adage. My ancestors on my mother’s side were Mormon pioneers. Some had wagons. Some walked across the plains (about 1,300 miles) pulling all their belongings by hand in carts.

They were not headed to a tropical paradise. They were headed to a desert – to a place they would be alone. That lonely desert had little to offer. Everything had to be made from scratch through blood, sweat, and tears.

The community learned incredible resourcefulness. They learned hard work. A fitting symbol they adopted for themselves is the beehive as a symbol of industry. There’s a beehive on the Utah state flag, and the state’s nickname is the “Beehive State.” I’ve written about beekeeping and startups previously.

Startups have a lot in common with these early pioneers:

Startup founders often have to go through some very tough initial periods to make the transition from their previous life into full-fledged entrepreneur life (like crossing the plains)
Startups often chart their journeys into new or unsettled markets or business models (like heading to a desert)
Startups often have to make do with little and learn how to extract as much productive value as they can from scarce resources (like having very few possessions and just a wide open expanse of desert with which to build)
Startups often enjoy unbounded visions of what they can do with the limited resources they’ve been handed. Startups are confident in their ability to make something out of nothing. (like turning a desert into a beautiful valley in which millions live)

What examples serve as your inspiration for resourcefulness?

Related articles