To break in America you need to let America break you in

I remember when U2 released The Joshua Tree.  I had been a fan since very early - they were popular among the other boys in house at school.  The Unforgetable Fire was always blaring out of someone’s study or other, for ages following its release.

Anyway, I remember that in an interview or review or similar (it’s a long time ago I don’t recall exactly) talked a lot about how they recognized that to break into the American market in big way, and take that step up to another level with staying power (that, let’s face it, few if any of their post-punk contemporaries have succeeded), they had to live in America, embrace America.  To understand America well enough to serve the American audience they had to learn what it is, in some small but significant way, to be American.

It’s hard to argue that they weren’t right.  The Joshua Tree was indeed a very American sounding album, and it was just a monster hit.  It elevated them to a completely different plane of stardom.  In the US and worldwide.

I wonder if the same is true for start-up entrepreneurs.

“The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.”

— Winston Churchill