Unto The Breach! » Philosophy

Working with TechStars

Tom — Mon, 10 May 2010 04:11:36 +0000

Over the last few years, TechStars has indirectly touched my life in many ways: I was CEO of IntenseDebate, a TechStars graduate; I have invested in a few TechStars companies; I have met some incredibly great entrepreneurs that I continue to mentor and interact with years after the first introduction; I have met a large number of other mentors, and been mentored by many of them; and I have become part of a vibrant community of entrepreneurialism. The impact on me has been profound.

The demonstration of the power of a vibrant entrepreneurial community was not lost upon the rest of the world, either. As news of TechStars, its results, and its community-transforming effects spread around the world, TechStars’ founder David Cohen began to get large numbers of inquiries asking if TechStars could help create something similar in their community.

At the end of last year, David asked if I would help lead the effort to help grow other entrepreneurial communities. I thought about it briefly before giving a resounding “yes!” answer. Here’s why I jumped at the opportunity:

I’m a believer in the power of TechStars and the value it creates. I’ve seen it first hand, and talked to a lot of people that I respect that have also seen it.

The people involved with TechStars are some of my favorite people. It’s fun, stimulating, and rewarding to work with these folks.

The people outside of TechStars that I’ll be helping are some of my favorite types of people: they’re entrepreneurs, both young (mentees) and experienced (mentors). I’ll get to be both student and teacher, often at the same time and from the same person.

I believe deeply in the cause. I’ll go more deeply into this in a future post, but the short version is that I believe that in the long run, enabling people to be more able to create more value is the best way to improve society. From a macro-economic perspective, the world would be far better off if we were all better entrepreneurs.

Rarely in my career have so many things that I’m passionate about been so coincident in a single job, and I’m very excited about this opportunity!

Bring on the entrepreneurs!

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Criteria for My Next Gig

Tom — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:00 +0000

We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
-William Shakespeare

As time marches on, I get increasing clarity about what’s important to me, increasing ability discern to benefits and drawbacks to various opportunities, and increasing pressure to choose wisely. I’m sure that these are all normal things that we all go through, driven by normal maturation and acquired wisdom and even the economics of our stage in life. I also think some progress through this more rapidly than others, with some small minority having a solid grasp on their life’s values and focus before graduation from college, while most learn it later in life, whereas yet others (like many entrepreneurs, including myself) make this journey last a lifetime.

A while back IntenseDebate was acquired, and I found myself between gigs (again). As per usual, I took some time to introspect. I thought I would write down (belatedly) some of the criteria I thought about for my next job. As I read my list, I think it’s fairly predictable, and maybe the most interesting thing about it is what’s not on it. And I must say that perhaps if I’d listened to my mother would have arrived at this place some decades earlier.

Without further adieu, here’s my current list of what’s currently important to me in a job:

• I want my endeavors to make a difference. Life is short and mine is more than half over. No fooling around; get on with it.

• I want my endeavors to make a difference in a way that’s consistent with my personal values. When I was younger, this was important, but perhaps less so than other job attributes such as compensation, potential for learning, and potential networking. As I get on in my career, these latter things are fading while the importance of personal values is becoming almost dominant. (This makes perfect economic sense to me – ie compensation and opportunities are more important when you are younger – so I have no regrets about my career to date.)

• I want to work with people that I enjoy being around. I mean no disrespect to many of the awesome people I’ve been lucky to be around and learn from in my past; the list is long and I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate. However we all know that we spend an enormous amount of time at work with colleagues, and the “no assholes rule” is necessary but not sufficient. The bar is rising, and I increasingly want to enjoy and respect the people that I am surrounded by. (By the way, the Buddhist response to this is not lost on me – I do live in Boulder, after all!)

• I want enjoy what I do. This includes parts of the above, the ability to laugh with others frequently, and it also means the endeavor has to have the capacity to earn respect (at least from my mom if nobody else). I’ve had jobs where there was lots of money to be made but no respect to be gained. (I’m not talking about being an investment banker, but rather about my own experience running a managed service provider). I’ve earned respect from investors, and that’s great and important, but, in my experience, it’s not nearly as cool as getting meaningful accolades from a colleague or especially a customer.

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Whatever it is, begin it now…and enter the Cave of Pain!

Tom — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:51:32 +0000

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decisions, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
- Goethe

Never mind that this quote might not actually belong to Goethe…it is nevertheless the spirit with which I entered the Firecracker 50.

I’ve done this event for the last 2 years, and use it as a warm-up for the Laramie Enduro. I always register in the winter, well before serious training is underway., to avoid getting shut out because of a sell out. This year, it was only months later, in May, that I realized how uncommitted I was to preparing for this race, and I started looking for a partner so I’d only have to do ½ of the distance. Or, perhaps I’d sell my entry and bag out entirely.

A few days before the race, a friend of mine, damn him to hell, encouraged me – in the spirit of Goethe’s above quote – to just go for it. Go for it, he said, and you’ll have a ball! He was right, I erroneously thought, and I committed to do the race solo.

I noticed Goethe at work: instead of ambivalence, there was focus. I was not afraid, I was excited. I paid attention to my nutrition, rest, and sleep. I reviewed old race notes. I gained confidence: I was going to kick some ass. Commitment was cool.

The first 25 mile lap was good. I completed it in 2 hours 50 minutes, 10 minutes faster than my previous best. This was especially remarkable since I’d only put in about 10 hours on my mountain bike all season.

However, I knew I was in trouble, as not only had I not been training much, but also I’d thrown up a bit during the lap and just couldn’t force any nutrition down. Nutrition is the cornerstone of any endurance performance. And sure enough, I bonked at the beginning of the second lap, and spent the next three hours suffering. I thought only about some variation of one of the following themes: “I’m so bonked”; “Damn this is hard”; “I should just quit”; “If I were going any slower I’d be going backwards”. Not once on the second lap did a positive thought such as “this is fun” or “I feel strong” or “this sure is a pretty ride” enter into my head.

I’ve never been deeper into or more alone in the Cave of Pain. The second lap was the hardest 4 hours – yes 4 hours! – I’ve ever spent on a bike.

Perseverance is good, but it’s not so good to be the last one on a sinking ship. The morning after, I’m not sure if I’m a stud or an idiot for finishing.

In any case, for the rest of the weekend, I’m committing myself to eating pizza and ice cream. Bring it on, Mr. Goethe.

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What I've been reading…

Tom — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:11:42 +0000

Lots of interesting reading going on at my house these days…here’s a few interesting snippets:

There aren’t enough hours in the day, and I’m always looking to improve how I spend my time. Here’s Ben Cashnocha’s “information diet”/routine.

I love being an entrepreneur – the challenges and the rewards fit my risk profile and personality. But it’s not a lifestyle for everybody. Here’s a great writeup about common entrepreneurial lifestyle struggles.

We all know that Nancy Pelosi has no integrity…and she’s been caught, on record, lying.

There’s a famous 70-year long longitudinal study of Harvard men, called the Harvard Study of Adult Development. It’s a fascinating study because such studies are rare, and this one was conducted extremely thoroughly. Here’s one researcher’s attempt to ferret out of the data just What Makes us Happy – it’s very interesting reading.

I always thought of Roger Ebert as simply a movie critic. But apparently there’s quite a bit more to him: here’s an excellent short essay by him on death, and life. Wow.

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Inspiration…

Tom — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:25:10 +0000

OK, we’ve all ridden a bike before…but even if you haven’t, this video is awesome. For me, it is a manifestation of excellence, and of the joy and playfulness that can accompany being excellent.

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Entrepreneurial Batting Averages

Tom — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:27:02 +0000

My friend Brad Feld often talks about the important and constructive role that failure has in the entrepreneurial process.

Today’s post-du-jour comes from Will Price, whose mentor has a great perspective on failure. The money quote:

“…the key is to get up in the that batter’s box and take a swing. And all you have to do is hit one single, a couple of doubles, and an occasional homerun out of every 10 at-bats and you’re going to be the best hitter or best leader around.” – John Donahoe, CEO eBay

Identifying and Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities Here’s the deck for the talk I gave last night...

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Gretchen Rubin's manifesto on happiness:

Tom — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:22:24 +0000

Gretchen Rubin‘s Happiness Manifesto

To be happy, you need to consider feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, and an atmosphere of growth.
One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; One of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
The days are long, but the years are short.
You’re not happy unless you think you’re happy.
Your body matters.
Happiness is other people.
Think about yourself so you can forget yourself.
“It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.” — G. K. Chesterton
What’s fun for other people may not be fun for you, and vice versa.
Best is good, better is best.
Outer order contributes to inner calm.
Happiness comes not from having more, not from having less, but from wanting what you have.
You can choose what you do, but you can’t choose what you like to do.
You manage what you measure.

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Recent Read: The Mascot

Tom — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:08:30 +0000

I just finished reading The Mascot: Unraveling the Mystery of My Jewish Father’s Nazi Boyhood. It’s a page burner…and a poignant reminder of how good we all have it. Next time you think life is giving you lemons, remember this story…

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On Fullfillment

Tom — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:52:45 +0000

“three things- autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward- are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying. It’s not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It’s whether our work fulfills us.”

Malcolm Gladwell in “Outliers”

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I am an inconsiderate male no more!

Tom — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:00:18 +0000

After years of being beaten down, I am now enlightened, and in turn can enlighten others.

Toilet seat etiquette

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