Tiny Fuzzy New Life

Since you’re probably overwhelmed by all the news of death, this week’s Wednesday in the Woods will bring you a little bit of tiny, fuzzy new life.

Among my many roles and responsibilities, Jillian Bommarito, CPA, CIPP/US has designated me as the duckling midwife ‘round here.  And in many ways, midwifery has a lot to do with helping organizations “hatch” from the perspective of investors.

Most eggs either “work” or they don’t.  We’ll skip over the part where they get fertilized, especially with ducks; you can ask your parents about that…

But once fertilized eggs are collected, you wait a few days and then “candle” them, which is just shining a light to check for blood vessels and embryo development.  If things look good, you give the egg the right environment to keep on growing and patiently wait…but if not, then you “recycle” the egg’s nutrients back into your compost or flock.

If the embryo was viable and you give the egg the right environment, then it will normally grow right on up to the part where the duckling emerges.  You know it’s time when the egg starts to visibly move and you see the “pip” - the spot where the duckling first cracks the shell outward.

Most of the time, healthy ducklings emerge through this pip over a day or so on their own.  They break the egg, do a little spin move, and push out on their own.  Like businesses that have a “correct” vision, good execution, and appropriate funding, you don’t need to intervene.

Sometimes, their peers - the ones who hatched earlier - give them a little help, like you can see in the video.  This encouragement can be gentle and encouraging, or sometimes, it can verge on a little too aggressive…This is like when you might introduce an organizations to a larger partner or encourage JV or merger with a bigger peer.  It can work out, but you might need to keep your eye out for bad behavior.

But sometimes, an otherwise-healthy duckling has trouble.  It might pip the wrong end or the humidity or egg condition might cause trouble.  And in cases like that, yours truly steps in as Chief Duck Officer.  The little guy in the video had pipped about 20 hours prior and his activity level had started to drop.  And so, with a little intervention from above - my hand and knife - and encouragement from its older sibling, this duckling made it out into the world.

Most businesses are either viable or not, and you figure it out early.  Ones that are viable and setup for success initially typically “just hatch.”  Sometimes, a little peer encouragement and collaboration can help them hatch a little faster or safely - but there are tradeoffs.  And in extreme cases, otherwise-viable businesses need real intervention.

Either way, hope you enjoyed the little fuzzballs. See you next week.

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