Geeks and Suits

During the genesis of Silicon Valley, and the creation of Accidental Empires, there were two dominant sides to start-ups (“geeks” and “suits”). As described by the book’s author, Robert X. Cringely, the reason for Silicon Valley’s creation had a lot to do with Geeks just wanting to create their own empire of innovation and not have to work for status quo business and the “suits” associated with it. The reality is that creating “business empires” takes both, but making geeks wear suits as a means to an end is not part of the formula (for sure).

I bring this up because I was indirectly invited to a “Harvard T Group” here in Cleveland, where entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and consultants share experiences, tackle problems, and wear suits. Evidently, wearing a suit was as important, if not more, than having a great idea. I was invited two hours before the event, and had no time to change from my staple DDC Lab jeans, Gianfranco Ferre white shirt, and BlackCoat uniform. Boy, did I hear about my presence afterward; I was basically told not to show up in anything but a suit if I wanted to be taken seriously. Sheesh, I thought Sweet Lou (Gerstner) dispelled the whole theory around “dress for success” as he restructured a struggling Big Blue, (i.e IBM).

I could be wrong, but there seemed to be an interesting disparity between entrepreneurs and the rest of the people in the Harvard T Group. Would more entrepreneurs show up if wearing suits did not matter? Hmm.

Either way, I can play the game; the dress dilemma is a main reason BlackCoat was created.