Ambition, rooted in the Latin term for 'to go around,' signifies not just drive but the resilience to navigate obstacles. Historically, ambition has been viewed differently; in ancient Rome, it was linked to political campaigns, while American ideals embraced it as a necessary virtue. Alexa von Tobel argues that the concept of American ambition has diminished recently, particularly in entrepreneurship due to easy capital access. She advocates for a revival of broader, more optimistic ambition to spur genuine innovation, signaling the need for a reset after periods of incrementalism.
"During a period of capital being effectively free, it became very easy to start companies. We were creating a lot of direct-to-consumer this and that, and building out incremental ideas - because capital effectively was everywhere. But as entrepreneurship became mainstream and capital was easy to access, we just started seeing a lot of incremental ideas."
"Ambition isn't just about drive-it's the unrelenting ability to face a roadblock and, come hell or high water, find a way around it."
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