In a room full of tech fanboys, it's difficult to imagine Biz
Stone being overshadowed by, well, anyone - but government
innovation body
NESTA managed it quite nicely today by seating the diminutive
Twitter founder next to all 6'5" of Stephen Fry - a man who is so
beloved by the British public, he gets to decide who is important
enough to be commemorated by a blue plaque - thereby effectively
giving him control over much of the public's understanding of
British history.
The pair were there to discuss social networking - its uses,
potential, advantages and drawbacks - as part of NESTA's 'Silicon
Valley comes to the UK' season.
It was a bit unfair of them to have seated Fry - eloquent,
well-dressed, really, really tall - next to Stone, who by
comparison looked like a scruffy, stuttering 12-year-old - but what
struck Smarta the most was how the most remarkable ideas come to
the most unremarkable people.
Because while Twitter is being hailed by all and sundry as one
of the most exciting technological achievements of recent times -
so much so that its value now tops $1bn - Stone himself is
difficult to describe as having a particularly inspirational
personality. He practically shrugged off most questions: "We were
just playing around with an idea one of our engineers [Evan
Williams] had had," he said. "We weren't especially emotionally
involved."
Spotify founder Daniel Ek is similar: when the man responsible
for one of the most disruptive music technologies of the past few
years was asked that all-important question, 'what's on your
iPod?',
during a fireside chat a few months ago, his response was
depressing in its lack of creativity. "Um, I really like Coldplay,"
he said. "And U2." The less said about that response, the better,
really.
It seems the saying 'never meet your idols' rings true - but
really, for most of us, it's encouraging. You may not be Fry-esque
in your level of wit and intelligence; and you may not be the most
creative person alive - but as long as you have the right idea, you
still have a very good chance of success.
Comforting, isn't it?