I am on my way to Boston for MIT’s 100K contest finals. One of the wonderful things about participating as a judge in this is that it made me look at plans for businesses that are completely different from the ones I think about every day. Despite not knowing several of the industries well or at all (especially pharma), it was interesting to see how nonetheless certain questions are still relevant, such as how well the team appears to cover the necessary key competencies. I will be looking to other judges on the panel to provide some industry specific insights. But I find that there was a huge benefit to me from thoroughly reading these plans: a broadening of my own perspective.

One of the distinct dangers of the unbundling of content on the web is that it becomes ever easier to narrow one’s own perspective and read only about subjects one already knows and only opinions that confirm one’s own. So one needs to actively counter that narrowing force.