David, Sean,

It’s the eve of our Falling Whistles party and we are all really
excited for this Saturday. I just wanted to let you both know how much
of an inspiration you were when you came to Sewanee, and because I
think its important that you realize the effect you’re having on young
people as you continue your tour. The underlying message of Falling
Whistles is simple: We don’t have all the money and we don’t have all
the answers, but we can still make a cultural change - if we put our
heads together. This day in age it is easy to feel helpless (myself
and my peers included) when it comes tackling worldly problems - such
as the one you are up against. You are not only fighting a distant
war, but also some very serious psychological and societal problems
that run deep in our nation, especially our nation’s youth. Your
message is vital to a generation which in some ways is becoming
increasingly passive and individualistic. As you travel, spread the
word, and speak to crowds, you never quite know who you might be
affecting. So thanks, keep the passion alive and keep up the great
fucking work! I hope our paths cross again in the near future.

Sincerely,
John Clark Cochran

John will be a senior this fall at Sewanee, home of one of our first campus Whistler Societies. A friend to the bike tour crew and current LA intern Chris, John played an integral role in planning on-campus events and fundraisers for Falling Whistles. Because of his efforts, Sewanee raised nearly $2,000 with Kick It For Congo—an outdoor music festival that married a cause with good old fashioned commotion.

For information about starting a Whistler Society on your campus or planning fundraisers, e-mail brittany @ fallingwhistles.com

“Wow—
I just checked it.
We’re so much farther than I thought.
Or we planned.
But currently we have biked 3,288.45 miles,
and will get somewhere around 3,560 miles by the time we get to LA. “

—Will Watson
Falling Whistles ReTour 2010

Hey Folks,

Summer is racing by and our interns are stepping up in ways we could never imagine. Our biggest and most diverse class yet, they’ve helped us move offices, make a movie, and push further and faster than ever before. It’s incredible what we can accomplish when our only limit is our imagination. And although this intern class is near and dear to our hearts, the next semester is fast approaching. Yes, you heard me, that means it’s about time to kick off your college shoes, take off that coat-n-tie and come join our team out here in Los Angeles!

Don’t break out the confetti just yet, but do stay tuned for our fall intern applications! Hot off the press…soon enough.

Take some time to read and enjoy this week’s roundup!

Brittany

Increasing Danger in Easter Congo According to New Survey

After an increase in military attacks between the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda) and the Congolese army, many communities are left questioning the benefits of having a government presence. “The military operations are having a devastating effect on Congolese communities, who are being attacked from all sides. The army is supposed to protect people, but until real root and branch military reform takes place the risks this offensive poses to communities are just too high.” READ MORE (Oxfam).

US Passes New Mineral Bill on Congo

“The United States has passed a legislation that will crack down on companies listed on a U.S. stock exchange, dealing in minerals that fuel violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law next week.” READ MORE (Afrik News).

intern Jess Chen sketched a beautiful rendering of last night’s Summer Thursday. If you’re in the area, won’t you stop by?

Discover Your Inner Entrepreneur
from the Harvard Business Review

“For every aphorism there is an equal and opposite aphorism. How do we reconcile “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” with “Nothing ventured nothing gained?” How do we make peace between “Better safe than sorry” and “He who hesitates is lost?”

The owner’s manual for human life is at best conflicted and confusing, and no one feels this tension more than entrepreneurs. They are often up at night, with visions of bankruptcy and failing in a spectacularly public way dancing in their heads. The faith investors have put in them is a heavy weight most people will never experience. Entrepreneurs venture forth into the unknown, butterflies in the stomach, and wonder — for the sake of their reputation, their security, their children, and even their reputation in their children’s eyes — if they might not have been smarter to have stuck with the bird they had in their hand.

Note to entrepreneurs: If you’re regularly visited by apparitions of doom and are often overcome with the desire to quit and make your way to a safer, more peaceful haven, know that this just confirms that you’re an entrepreneur. Situation normal. You’re feeling exactly the way every entrepreneur who went before you has felt.

But maybe the entrepreneur is not the one who’s actually in danger in the long run. Helen Keller made one of the most profound statements I have ever read: “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”

Historically we’ve associated the daring of entrepreneurship with the for-profit sector, the market, and capitalism. Even our notions about “social entrepreneurship” can fall into that trap. But the fact that someone works in the for-profit sector doesn’t mean he or she is at all entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurship is a thing unto itself. “Entrepreneur” is a mind-set.

This is a crucial thing for the entrepreneur to know, lest you walk into Wells Fargo Bank, or even into Nike, with a partnership idea and expect to meet people of the same mind as you. Generally, you won’t and they’re not. You are pursuing a dream and you measure things through the prism of possibility. The people across the table are in all likelihood pursuing job security and measuring you through the prism of liability.

Which brings us back to Helen Keller. Her statement applies to companies as well as individuals. It’s why, thank God, life is still full of “surprises.” It’s why a little motorcycle-company like Honda could place a bet on tiny cars and topple General Motors, which was unknowingly placing a massively risky bet on stasis. It’s why Virgin could shake up the airline industry and the retail music business, and why Apple could then relegate Virgin’s music stores to the dustbin of history. Somewhere along the way, the entrepreneurial spirit that created these businesses got snuffed out by people who thought their job was all about securing the enterprise, and themselves, instead of constantly re-creating the enterprise, and themselves.

The notion that the risk-takers will win out in the end shouldn’t take us by surprise at all. It’s the law of the universe. But it still does, mainly because gigantic market caps create the illusion of stability, when in fact, if companies aren’t innovating, they’re wildly vulnerable to the ever-manifesting future.

The same dynamic plays out in the nonprofit world, minus the giant market cap. The entrepreneurial teacher who has the right idea and the courage to pursue it will end up revolutionizing education for millions of kids. The entrepreneurial nonprofit development director who is willing to confront cultural norms and fight the power structure within her own organization will re-invent fundraising for the whole sector, and point the way to a new definition of “scale.”

We have to re-shuffle our notions about security. The danger isn’t where we think it is. The danger is in not being entrepreneurial. If you’re not creating the future, then someone else is, and that someone else will change the face of the world as you know it. But that’s not the greatest danger. The greatest danger is arriving at the end of our lives and feeling like we haven’t really lived. Risk is the currency of life. Without risk, there is no life. We have to be willing to risk failure in return for a sense that we are living. And it’s when we’re really living that we really have a shot at changing the world.”