midVentures Launch

On Tuesday, the Element Bars crew (minus Chris) went to MidVentures Launch, a tech conference promoting midwest start-ups.

It was an okay day, but it would have been nice to have someone there who was smarter than me. As my buddy Confucius liked to say:

"Real Knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance"

Well, I had no clue what anyone was saying or what was going on. I was more ignorant than anyone in attendence on topics pertaining to coding, programing language or routers --that is what Confucius and I call "real" knowledge.

Think Confucius was full of it? Well let me go ahead and quote Plato quoting Socrates:

"At any rate it seems that I am wiser than he is to this small extent, that I do not think I know what I do not know."

BAM!!

That was from Plato's Apology and no, I will not apologize for pointing out the obvious: in a room of people who thought they were smart, I was the smartest. It was not only thinking I was the smartest it was knowing I am the smartest. I know I have no clue how the guys from i-Guide Robotics made a lawn mower drive itself. I know I could not tell you how revered "smart" guy Scott Jones invented voicemail or Cha-Cha. I know that I cannot fathom how much money Groupon's Brad Keywell made in the thirteen seconds he walked from the steps on the side of the stage to the podium. I do not think I know any of this, which makes me wiser.

"Yeah, but can you point to anyone who says this who goes by three names?" You ask:

"To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge"

(I will pause to give you time to reread, that's a tough one)

Henry freaking David freaking Thoreau.

I guess it would be polite to thank midVentures for their well run conference and bringing everyone together in the midwest. While I am at it thank all the speakers and panelist who took the time to speak. Congratulations to Element Bars for finishing in the top 5 companies overall. But to close, I would like to quote the smartest guy at midVentures:

"What in the world is anyone here talking about? I literally have zero concept of what is going on."

Tom Doar