Archive for October, 2010
Vogel Labs has arrived
October 1, 2010
Through the help of Microsoft, Cooley, and George Moussallem of CitiSchemes, Vogel Labs has arrived. It takes a lot of time and love to build something great. But, after an entire year of work and thought, we’ve taken the first and most important step: we’ve started.
The name is a bit deceiving. Vogel Labs is not a singular place. At its core, Vogel Labs isn’t really a place at all—it’s a community of purposeful people.
The necessity of Purpose
Everything we do in our lives is an expression of our purpose. The company you build, the painting you paint, the book you write, has your name written all over it. It is a reflection of you.
People with weak purpose produce little. People with a strong sense of purpose build the world we see.
We should want to be connected to as many purposeful people as possible. People with a strong sense of purpose are responsible, ambitious, passionate, and understand the importance of lending a hand. (After all, they can’t achieve their purpose without the help of others either.)
While personal networks are very important, through our experience, we’ve learned that networks that are slightly formalized and have the right set of values can be extremely powerful. They build better connections, provide more diverse (and therefore more helpful) connections, and are more scalable.
Thus, Vogel Labs: a community of purpose.
The first Lab
Everyone wants to be a part of a community of great people. However, these things don’t just fall from the sky. It takes work to get them started. They also need a home to provide a stable foundation and keep people in contact with each other. This is where our physical locations—the Labs—come in.
We’re happy to announce that the first Vogel Lab has been opened in east Cambridge. It’s not too far of a walk from Kendall, and not too far from Central Square. The first Lab is very simple and the facilities include desks, a library, whiteboards, blazing fast internet, and other bits of magic. We think it’ll suit the zero stage entrepreneurs quite well, and we hope entrepreneurs will be the founding seed of this community. However, artists and writers will find their way to the first Vogel Lab soon enough.
The way forward
By starting simple, the way forward is even simpler—we’ll go the way the community needs. If we need more space or space in a different location, we’ll just go get more space. The same goes for any of our facilities. We’ll find a way to get what we need. In time, we’ll have facilities for people that, for instance, want to rebuild old cars, fabricate physical things, or teach others a new skill.
A deep connection to Learning
Building a strong sense of purpose is a learning process that takes time, and most people haven’t developed their purpose fully. Sadly, many have never seized the time to develop it at all. We believe the best way to start building a stronger sense of purpose is to simply start expressing a purpose that you’ve chosen. And this gets to the heart of Vogel Labs: a place that helps people get started and push the learning process forward.
At the very beginning, a perfectly valid and natural starting point is the purpose of finding a purpose. To help with these early stages we’ve put together the Vogel Labs Fellowships. We’ll share more about how these work soon.
Becoming part of Vogel Labs
As far as becoming a part of Vogel Labs, we’ll keep things simple. First, send a statement of purpose to purpose@Vogel-Labs.com. A confident paragraph or two should be sufficient. We’ll then start a dialogue to figure out if a membership at Vogel Labs would be a great thing for you.
We are in no hurry to add members to Vogel Labs. Growing a quality community is not something that can be done in a hurry.
Members gain value and must offer value in return. Part of this value payment comes in the form of cash; members will pay a monthly fee that is currently set at $100. However, this fee by no means represents equitable payment to Vogel Labs. The greatest portion of a member’s payment will be their best efforts to aid and improve the community.
Members have access to all facilities and resources.
The Vision of Vogel Labs
The idea that purpose is expressed is worth reiterating, so by default, Vogel Labs is as much about expression as it is about purpose. The end goal, the Vision of Vogel Labs, is a place where a purposeful person can make anything, and have a community surrounding them that will push them farther than they could’ve gone alone.
The development of Vogel Labs is inevitable, and in time, it will reach its vision. This will become clear as the story is told.
Follow us on Twitter @VogelLabs.
Kevin Vogelsang
10.1.2010
The Wall of Champions
