The 1969 movie Easy Rider has a scene in which the character played by Jack Nicholson, George, is by a roadside campfire having a conversation with the character played by Dennis Hopper, Billy. Here is a snippet of that conversation:
George: “They are not scared of you. They are scared of what you represent to them.”
Billy: “All we represent to them is someone who needs a haircut.”
George: “Oh no. What you represent to them is freedom.”
Billy: “What is the matter with freedom? Freedom is what it is all about.”
George: “Oh yes, that is right. That is what it is all about. But talking about it and being it are two different things. It is hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace.”
The irony of this scene is that the movie was written, produced, and directed by Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda. Hopper wanted to focus on counterculture themes, and as a result the film became a landmark in American cinema. This was not a film produced in or with a major studio; it was financed on a low budget, and it was a completely freewheeling production that reflected the counterculture it aimed to portray. The success of this film proved that low budget, director driven projects aimed at younger audiences could be wildly successful. This helped launch a new revolution in cinema in the 1970s, advancing the careers of directors such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
As I was sitting at lunch today with my cofounder, I was inspired to remember this film. I thought about how the concept in this film captures what we are very much about. We are attempting to create a private, secure, and unique tool that allows people to remain free and independent from the big behemoth cloud providers that are trying to take over the AI landscape. The last phrase that George said rings thoughtfully to me. It is hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace.
So we are attempting something that is very much counterculture. When everything is heading toward giant cloud providers owning everything, including your personal memory and history, we are heading in the opposite direction. Investors, experts, and business leaders look at us cross eyed when we tell our story. This makes the days rough sometimes; people are constantly saying that we are fools for trying to take on the giants.
Tell that to David. Tell that to Luke Skywalker. Tell that to every underdog soldier in the night. Tell that to the little pig who built the stone house. Tell that to Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Larry Page, Reed Hastings, Travis Kalanick, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Patrick Collison, and all their partners and friends who also decided to take on industry titans.
Sometimes you need outsiders. Sometimes you need focus, a clear pain point. Sometimes you need speed when everyone else is too slow. Sometimes you need to be free.
