Alexa Clay & Kyra Phillips
Authors of The Misfit Economy
Discussion
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kyra maya phillips
@thisiskyramaya · reader, writer, listener
Hey everyone! We're excited to chat to the Product Hunt community about The Misfit Economy, and anything to do with underground innovation. Join us and ask away!
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The Pigeonhole
@thepigeonholehq · The Pigeonhole
@thisiskyramaya who is the coolest mistfit from classical literature?
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@thepigeonholehq man. hard to decide on just one. I've always been inspired by the mythology of Joan of Arc, Wild West figures, and Russian anti-heroes.
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kyra maya phillips
@thisiskyramaya · reader, writer, listener
@thepigeonholehq Such an interesting question! I love Elizabeth Bennett from Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice (some people wouldn't consider her part of the classical literature canon!). But yeah, Liz Bennett is hilarious, witty and completely fallible. And Jane Austen too, of course!
The Pigeonhole
@thepigeonholehq · The Pigeonhole
@alexaclay @thepigeonholehq Joan of Arc - good choice, although not sure if really a literary figure!
Russ Frushtick
@russfrushtick
Craziest/most unexpected lesson learned while working on the book?
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@russfrushtick I really loved spending time with Amish communities and have tried to integrate a certain luddite or critical perspective into start-up culture and digital tech tools. in my own life too, mastering the value of "off-the-grid" or hermit time :)
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kyra maya phillips
@thisiskyramaya · reader, writer, listener
@russfrushtick Hi Russ! I loved interviewing Somali pirates, who told the story of how a small, lo-fi and informal industry transformed itself into an international, multimillion dollar headline grabbing venture.
Corley
@corleyh · COO @ Product Hunt
Hi there - thanks for joining! I have to admit, I wish I would have read your book before this LIVE Chat - it sounds so interesting. What inspired you to write about the fringes in this way? And what is one thing from the book that you think all of us should apply to the way we think and work.
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@corleyh the genesis for the book was really trying to expand our notions of entrepreneurship to think about all the incredible innovators in the black market and informal economies. it started out a bit as farce - to focus on "deviant" or "vice entrepreneurs" after having worked so hard in the social good / social entrepreneurship sector. but once we got interviewing we realized there was a lot from these marginal economies that we need to transform our mainstream economy
Hash_tag_jeff
@jeffumbro · Book Marketing and PR - get in touch
Hey @thisiskyramaya! How are you? Can you tell us a bit about your process with this book? What were some of the more surprising things you ran into?
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@jeffumbro one of the conversations that most stuck out to me was with King Tone who use to run the Latin Kings, a hispanic street gang in New York. He really pushed back even against the use of our word "gang" and preferred to be called an organization that manages culture and brand like any other. his ability to engage the underworld in a conversation about the future of the Kings and how the group could transition into more of a civic movement like the Black Panthers really impressed me. though not without its difficulties. again and again, the question that surfaced was how to create bridges for underground entrepreneurs and innovators into the mainstream economy without risk of dilution or co-option.
Hash_tag_jeff
@jeffumbro · Book Marketing and PR - get in touch
@thisiskyramaya Who would you say is the biggest misfit company that's successful today?
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@jeffumbro depends how you define it. A lot of BIG energy companies today are pretty "mafia"-like in their tactics. I've been excited by a lot of companies that are part of the B-corp movement. Natura, for example, in Brazil. REI's recent decision to protest black friday in nature is pretty misfit too! I think it's less about COMPANIES though and more about misfit employees within those companies and how they are working to hack corporate culture and create disruptive business models. i've met amazing misfits even within some of the biggest multinationals who are using resources frugally and with great intention.
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@alexaclay @jeffumbro check out www.socintleague.com/toolkits for more resource on being an "insider misfit"
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
Hi Kyra and Alexa, so great to have you both here today. Can you tell us a bit more about The Misfit Economy? Who fits into it and how it came about? Very interested to know a little more. Thanks!
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@ems_hodge for us the MISFIT label is a pretty broad umbrella holding space for "insider misfits" or intrapreneurs who are trying to hack cultures from within, bohemian misfits interested in pealing off from the system (artists), underground and informal entrepreneurs (like Amish camel milk dealers, pirates, hackers, gangsters), and agitators who work to provoke and antagonize the system (protestors) from the outside.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
Hey what would the you (both) of two years ago think of the you (both) today :)?
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@bentossell is there a word for the narcissism of falling in love with your future self? I'd be blown away. this book was a total rabbit hole and hijacked my entire existence for 3 years. i never thought i would have the opportunity to speak to so many different sorts of people and be in deep contact with so many interesting subcultures. i'm blown away and enjoying every minute of it!
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kyra maya phillips
@thisiskyramaya · reader, writer, listener
@bentossell That's an interesting question! I have a two year old tornado so your choice of timeline works well for me here. I guess I never thought I'd meet some of the characters that I met, and that they would teach me so much, not just about business or entrepreneurship but also about life. One ex prisoner I met, for example, showed me the value of stillness and quiet, a lesson which he took from spending time in prison and never shed, even after his release.
Ian of Great Lakes
@greatlakesian · Principal Strategist, Allegorical
Philautia="love of self" (on "word for narcissism/falling in love with self") @alexaclay @bentossell
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
What's the biggest thing silicon valley can learn from pirates?
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@ems_hodge Silicon Valley is already obsessed with a lot of the underdog spirit of piracy. I think there could be more focus on what Silicon Valley could learn from intellectual property pirates to create more IP free zones and open source collaboration. I'd love to see a lot of the private enterprise of the Valley become more focused on creating COMMONS resources. historic pirates were also pretty good at creating egalitarian societies and dividing wealth equally. could more tech platforms be structured as cooperatives? And create more space for self-governance?
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kyra maya phillips
@thisiskyramaya · reader, writer, listener
@ems_hodge Hey Emily! I think what the Somali pirates did best was simply to pay attention. The movement of Somali piracy started in the early 90s, as a response to foreign fishing trawlers who were illegally fishing in the country's waters. Somalia's government collapsed in 1991 after a very deadly and vicious civil war, and as a result, its authorities were unable to effectively police the illegal fishing. So a few fishermen simply turned to attacking the foreign ships, sort of levying an "invisible" tax on them. It started very informally - a few people would get together, attack a ship close to shore, and move on. But then, a civil servant noticed what was happening in these coastal towns. So he put together a business plan and sought investors, after which he founded the Somali Marines, a group of highly trained pirates who began (with the use of motherships) to attack large commercial vessels very far from Somali shores, commanding an average ransom payment of about $2.7 million. This is basically all about being a perceptive and attentive entrepreneur!
Abdessamad Azil
@abdessamad_azil · Entrepreneur and founder of TLBB
@thisiskyramaya how can i get your book, i'm from Morocco !!
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Alexa Clay
@alexaclay · Co-author, Misfit Economy
@abdessamadazil amazon (?) - i'm sure there are also pirated editions :)
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kyra maya phillips
@thisiskyramaya · reader, writer, listener
@abdessamadazil I'm happy to send you one - please just drop me a line: kyra at misfiteconomy dot com.
Abdessamad Azil
@abdessamad_azil · Entrepreneur and founder of TLBB
@thisiskyramaya done, thank you very much ^^