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The Universe is Abundant
We believe the universe is abundant.
As a core value built into our company’s DNA, we feel compelled to share why this value is so important to us and how it shapes the way we operate as a company.
We will never run out of pie
Believing the universe is abundant means not seeing the world as one of scarcity. Instead of fighting for the last piece of the pie, we believe the supply is endless.
It means not living and operating our company from a basis of fear.
It means not being afraid to:
- share our best ideas because there is an infinite number of good ideas
- let more people contribute to and benefit from our success because there is no limit on success
- let people, even competitors, download and see our source code because it’s not our code to begin with, it belongs to the community
Believing the universe is abundant means giving away that which we hold most dear. By contributing to and giving back to the community, we stand to receive an infinite number of riches back in ways we can’t begin to describe or imagine.
We are not afraid because we know that the universe is conspiring for us. It is dropping us hints. It is giving us clues. The universe wants us to succeed.
Believing in an abundant universe means believing there are no limits on what we can do. It also means not being fearful for tomorrow.
The universe conspires for us
Have you ever had something happen that made you feel so incredibly lucky, that you couldn’t believe your good fortune?
It’s the time you desperately needed to sell your car before leaving town, and a willing buyer magically appeared the day before you left.
It’s the time you were considering a career change, but were afraid to make the leap, when you met your future business partner waiting in line at the local grocery store.
It’s the time you reluctantly went out on a blind date only to find your date is the man or women you have been secretly admiring from afar for the last year and a half.
It’s the time you were $150K in credit card debt from funding your first startup and were about to declare personal bankruptcy, when you were acquired for that patent you filed last spring.
Some would chalk up events like these to simple good luck. Others would claim it was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
Things like this happen because we intend them to happen. It is hard work, combined with desire, faith, and thought that enables the universe to help us realize our deepest dreams and desires.
The universe conspires for us.
The alternative
Even if you don’t believe the universe is abundant, consider the alternative – a universe of scarcity.
When you view the universe as one of scarcity, your actions begin to follow your thoughts.
You donate less to charity.
You are less giving of your time to others.
You hoard things and share less.
When you view the world as one of scarcity you begin a self fulfilling prophecy.
Your world becomes scarce because you BELIEVE it to be scarce.
If you see a world of scarcity - you will live in a world of scarcity.
If you see a world of abundance - you will live in a world of abundance.
Giving it away
We don’t believe the universe is abundant purely for altruistic reasons. Operating as if there is no scarcity on money, ideas, and time is also good for business. It’s true when they say the more you give, the more you receive.
Take the story of Buckminster Fuller. Wanting to give something to the community, Buckminster tried to give away significant sums of money to various charities and organizations.
Over time however, Buckminster was surprised to see his bank account balance growing instead of shrinking. People were so moved by his generosity that they wanted to give something back also and asked if he would make donations on their behalf. Hence Buckminster had the problem of not being able to give away money at a greater rate then it was coming in.
“The more you give, the more you receive” is a mantra that has been echoed through the ages and reaffirmed on every corner of the earth for a reason. The reason is because it’s true.
An abundant universe affects how we operate our business
Believing the universe is abundant has affected the setup of our company in several ways.
When MJ incorporated our company, he insisted there would be no founder promotes. Every shareholder, including himself would have to buy their stock just like everyone else. No special grants of shares or options for him or anyone else.
Taking a lead from Marc Benioff of SalesForce.com, The Cambrian House Foundation was setup to donate 1% of profit, time, and equity back to the community.
Our business model hinges on the belief that by giving away our best ideas, and sharing our infrastructure and assets, we stand to gain more than keeping our ideas and assets to ourselves.
We are not worried about others copying our ideas (in fact we would be flattered if they did) as it would validate that we are on the right track. Paul Graham has an excellent essay on why it’s not worth losing sleep over being overly protective of your ideas the way most companies do.
We give away our ideas to the community because we know we stand to gain infinitely more by doing so.
The universe is abundant
Viewing the universe as abundant is what we believe. We know not everyone thinks this way.
We also know that the more closely we partner with those who also see a universe of abundance, the more successful we will be as a community.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Rasmusson (JR)
July 12th, 2006 at 9:34 am
That idea sounds like one from Silva Method Course.
Instead of fighting over a continually decreasing piece of pie,
let’s just bake some cakes of our own.
:)
Am I close with the Silva stuff?
July 12th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
thats true,there’s more than enough ideas and money to go around.
however, why wouldn’t someone steal an idea and implement it himself?
if someone implemented an idea he got from here, you probably wouldn’t even know about it.
July 12th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Wow, it’s a bit odd to find my basic philosophy of life on a company blog. This heralds all sorts of good things for the future!
August 12th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
“however, why wouldn’t someone steal an idea and implement it himself?
if someone implemented an idea he got from here, you probably wouldn’t even know about it.”
That’s the whole point.
Think of it this way. He could create your idea, and leave you to lay back, put your hands up behind your head, shell out $5 bucks for not having to go to the trouble of making it.
September 4th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
i couldn’t agree more about the universe being abundant. i always have everything i need and more. we are never short of anything and my personal mantra is “create the need and the money will come” it’s worked every time. i love giving away money and things and time. i too find that i always have more left than when i started. great post.
September 4th, 2006 at 11:23 pm
Methinks you guys need to watch the “movie” “The Secret”.
www.thesecret.tv
It’s very much about abbundance and the law of attraction. Worth a look.
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:31 am
Wow! i am so glad to see another web to share
the idea of abundance with us all. Thank you,
Guys!
January 5th, 2007 at 11:49 am
This is an abundant world for me. I did lose time to time but always get lot more than what i lose. So I am never afraid of being in a state of tough times.
January 6th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
That’s an awesome attitude to have k singh. I try to think the same way every day.
Appreciate the comment.
JR
March 26th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I guess all the starving children of the world & their parents, single mothers who have problems making ends meet in Canada & elsewhere, the working poor, the homeless really could benefit from this magical mantra of Abundance. If they only knew. Oh well, knowledge is power, eh? I wonder why 90% of the world’s riches are owned by 5% of the world’s people. Ah ha, they must be the group that got a hold of this info first & ran with it. Our planet is abundant with riches, yes, but greedy little bastards would rather spend their profits on themselves, their 20 wives, and funding terrorists while their own citizens are dying preventable deaths. No person that has their wits would preach this crap to those facing hard times. Of course abundance attracts abundance: the rich get richer, there’s no mysterious force at work there. DoctorO.
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March 6th, 2008 at 11:16 am
[…] … which is something I (and Leonie) rather believe. Looks like we are not the only ones – tho I never thought I’d see a software house built on the same principle. […]
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May 21st, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Ideas (good and bad alike) are infinite and indeed seem to grow and grow. The planet and its resources are finite. To say or imply that not to believe in universal abundance of resources and ideas equally means that one has embraced the alternate extreme of a belief in universal scarcity is disingenuous and simplistic. There is a place in between, in fact a lot of room for degrees. The question is what is enough? What is enough wealth? When is it barely enough? If all things are indeed connected then what is the reciprocal effect of this thinking on one another. ideas and emotional passions seems to begoet more of the same - perhaps indeed infinitely. In a finite system such as physical and natural resources if we are all connected then what happens when A fifth of the planet’s population (I.E. USA) uses a third of the finite resources?
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September 19th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Massive value thanks for the post!