🎭 Live Mentor Debate

For three years I've been working on a software project that I believe could change how people learn languages. I've shown it to investors twice—both times they said it was "interesting but not ready." My savings are running out. My girlfriend thinks I should get a "real job" and work on this nights and weekends. My parents keep asking when I'm going to "settle down." Even my co-founder quietly took a full-time job last month. The thing is, I KNOW this works. I've tested it with 200 users and the results are remarkable. But I can't seem to communicate the vision in a way that makes others see it. Do I keep pushing, or is everyone right that I'm being delusional? How do I know the difference between visionary persistence and stubborn foolishness? — Unseen in San Francisco

Innovation & Persistence Debate: The line between visionary and delusional. Edison's practical experimentation meets Tesla's idealistic vision.

Debaters:Thomas Alva EdisonNikola TeslaModerated by Stella Sharpe

Penn4

Welcome to this Innovation & Persistence debate. Our central question: "For three years I've been working on a software project that I believe could change how people learn languages. I've shown it to investors twice—both times they said it was "interesting but not ready." My savings are running out. My girlfriend thinks I should get a "real job" and work on this nights and weekends. My parents keep asking when I'm going to "settle down." Even my co-founder quietly took a full-time job last month. The thing is, I KNOW this works. I've tested it with 200 users and the results are remarkable. But I can't seem to communicate the vision in a way that makes others see it. Do I keep pushing, or is everyone right that I'm being delusional? How do I know the difference between visionary persistence and stubborn foolishness? — Unseen in San Francisco" Thomas Alva Edison, you've said "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration—keep iterating until something works" — but I want specifics. Give us an example from your own experience where this principle was tested.

Nikola Tesla

While Mr. Edison’s persistence is certainly admirable, I believe the true visionary must also consider the elegance and efficiency of the solution. Obsessive iteration without a guiding principle can be as wasteful as it is time-consuming. In the matter of this language learning software, perhaps it is not the software itself that is lacking, but the manner of its presentation. Could the vision be more clearly articulated, the transformative potential more convincingly demonstrated? Perhaps a new approach to galvanize those investors would be prudent.

Thomas Alva Edison

Well now, that's a question I've lived! I recall the electric light. Many said it couldn’t be done, that dividing the light was against the laws of nature. I tested over 6,000 filaments, each failure just another step. Some materials burned too quickly, others not bright enough. After years, we found the right filament, and on New Year's Eve, 1879, we lit up Menlo Park. Persistence ain't just working hard, it's not giving up when everyone says you're wrong. You just have to keep testing until you find what works.

Want to join the conversation?