Everyone knows what a unicorn is, right? A one-horned creature that can be either childish and silly or, depending on your views, a mystical, transformational figure. There's room for both. It depends on whom you ask but no one really thinks of them as real.
And then, a few years ago, it happened. Archeologists were poking around in Siberia (as they do) and they unearthed a single-horned, horse-like creature that seemed like it must have been strong, fast, and altogether badass, albeit kind of homely. It was all of these things and, interestingly, also a creature that existed at the same time as people. So, in fact, this mystical, imaginary, and all-the-stuff-of-imagination thing was actually something real that people could see and experience. The Siberian unicorn.
So that brings us to now and to the name of this company of ours. Siberian Unicorn came to be when I was talking to my friend Tom Lillig a few years ago. We were talking about how people really crave real experiences, things they can touch and feel, and how this craving was growing as the world was becoming more digital. People were gravitating towards live music, or Spartan races, or ultrarunning as they spent more and more time on Facebook, or Twitter, or even Amazon. They love their virtual life. It makes them crave bigger experiences, though. We thought Siberian Unicorn was a great metaphor for spanning imaginary and real life. It is.
And then 2020 happened.
All of the challenges of this year have led me back to Siberian Unicorn. Especially here and now, after the Pandemic. As we get through this -- and we will get through this -- people are even MORE hungry for experiences and more understanding that there needs to be digital parts to keep everyone safe. You could hardly get people on Zoom in 2019. Now you can't get them off it, for better or worse.
The Siberian unicorn exists as the edge of the real, a symbol of something strong and even a little mind-boggling. Powerful in body and mind. As real as it is imaginary. And in these ways, the Siberian Unicorn is the spirit animal for the things we do. It refocuses our work and the things we create. It gives them new power.
Welcome to the era of the Siberian Unicorn.
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