Σύνθεσις is about bringing all together.

Ulysses spent 7 years on Calypso’s island; our sailors have spent the past 7 days in a sheltered environment. Their goal has been one: to select what problem to work on, and start thinking of solutions.

It has now become time, in the next 7 days, for them to build what they have envisioned. They have to craft and refine an MVP, with one central piece of advice: fall in love with the problem, not your solution.

And for the week that just began, one episode of the Odyssey is particularly fitting: when Ulysses has to build a raft to depart from Calypso’s island, after 7 years of captivity.

Calypso helps Ulysses gather the best resources, showing him where the tallest trees are, and provides him with tools to build the raft. But then, it is up to Ulysses to do the hard work and start assembling everything (again, with σύνθεσις of the resources). After he is done, Calypso provides him with provisions and clothing, and sends him off.

Similarly, we provide our sailors with support in building their MVP, by showing them best practices, giving them access to partners’ tools, putting them in touch with great entrepreneurs, and providing access to valuable knowledge. But after that is done, it is up to them to build their MVP, and set sail with it. After giving input throughout the journey so far, they have to conduct σύνθεσις, and assemble everything they have learned and thought of.

Like in the Odyssey, the first version of a product is rarely more than a raft rather than a proper ship. And like a raft, it is built with limited resources. It makes sense: why invest significant resources into building a whole vessel if you don’t know the probability of success? And if your raft is tested and stays afloat, that means there is a good foundation to build upon.

This is why we, like others in our space, have advised the sailors to ship ASAP: because it entails starting to navigate on the raft, starting to get a hang of the winds.

In the coming days, the sailors are builders: they have to construct something that will stay afloat by using what they found before, through a process of σύνθεσις. If they don’t succeed, they may stay trapped on the island for the rest of their time.

But if they are ingenious and resilient enough, the raft will lead them one step further on their way to Ithaca, the final goal.