No, this is definitely NOT the VC lifestyle. Sure, our man VC Mike looks relaxed, but suffice to say this photo reflects a few spare moments of relaxation before a grueling 4+ hour board meeting.
Pretty much everyone I’ve had the opportunity to chat with is working as hard as ever — both working with their current portfolio companies and looking for new investments in this environment. I subscribe to the theory that pain points will still surface and smart, passionate people will look to solve those pain points.
Therein lies the opportunity for everyone!
In NYC for a couple days this week – as always October feels like about the best time to be in Manhattan.
For awhile I’ve wanted to start my own version of a “friend feed” – the opportunity to give short updates on my catch up chats with friends (and if done over a meal, truly a friend feed).
Had dinner tonite with my former Yahoo colleague Nathan Richardson (former GM Yahoo! Finance and current CEO PaidContent.org). Nathan and I grabbed dinner at the Norwood Club in the West Village – pretty cool place, members only. Nathan beat the closing M&A window by selling PC to The Guardian earlier this year – and continues his expansion in to new conference verticals with tomorrow’s econSports.
Yesterday I caught up with Neal Pilson over coffee. Neal was long time President of CBS Sports, and today is one of most respected and sought after sports media consultants. I was encouraged to hear that he is busy and getting calls for new business. I’ll take any positive economic sign I can get!
Next time you see Neal ask him about how I got us kicked out of the Yale Club!
Seems like a good fit – the marriage between ConnectNext Media (publisher of PaidContent.org) and Guardian News & Media (the news division of the U.K.’s Guardian Media Group). I don’t know much about GMG, but I do know the good folks at PC.org, including my former Yahoo! colleague and friend ConnectNext’s CEO Nathan Richardson.
I hope to have a bit more to add after I catch up with Nathan — but for now I am happy for him, Rafat and Staci. Also happy for the folks at Greycroft – in particular Dana Settle.
Okay, so what are we to make of Twitter exactly? I get the “micro blogging” definition and the fact that at a certain stage of one’s life, being able to text quick messages for one’s friends (er uh, stalkers) to keep track of your every move has some redeeming social value:
“Walking down Church Street”…”Turning left on to Noe Street”…”Walking in to Starbucks”…
But now that I have a full time job, a wife and a couple of kids, do I really want that level of accountability?
“Leaving finance meeting”…”Reviewing build schedule”…”Leaving office now”…”Damn, now I am expected home in exactly 22 minutes!”
And I know it’s not really fair to be asking about a revenue model at this point right? I read a post somewhere that the idea is to charge “power” Twitterers a subscription (only seems fair given power users suck up most of Twitter’s opex).
I’ll keep toying around with Twitter…if anything to curiously watch what it becomes?
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT: Had lunch with Sandy Alderson, CEO of the San Diego Padres. As nice and humble a guy as I’d been told (and always assumed). This was a ‘make up’ meeting since I screwed up the scheduling and missed our meeting down in SD at the Pads-Dodgers game couple weeks ago. Anyway, really enjoyed meeting and talking some baseball and business with guy who built the Bash Brother A’s of the late 80′s.
This is the first of what I hope becomes an ongoing theme on my blog — my own personal “Friend Feed” where I am able to give a short update on what the friends in my life are up to, how they’re doing what they’re doing and maybe even a few links to some of the cool stuff they are doing.
Seems appropriate to start off with my pal Grady Hall, the screenwriter and short film producer (oh, and of course, former Chicago White Sox first round draft pick out of Northwestern University). Caught up with him over coffee in Malibu this morning and got the latest scoop on his Dominican Republic baseball-themed script and his short film he’s finishing up that sounds pretty good. Now Grady told me how much he hates “blogging”, so I am hopeful that once the short is done and being distributed somewhere public I can post it here.
What I admire about Grady – and the other Los Angelinos like him – is the passion to pursue the art of screen writing and producing movies. Yes the odds are stacked against everyone who starts out, but when I catch up with Grady I really get inspired by his drive and commitment to this art form. I have read his script, like it and think it should get picked up. I am looking forward to his short film project – so get me a copy Grady as soon as it’s wrapped up!
The sun is shining per usual down here in PP and I hope it stays that way for the riders in the 7th annual California Aids ride or more formally the AIDS Lifecycle. There’s a realtime blog set up where you can follow the ride as it makes its way 545 miles from SF to LA for a great cause — check out the ride’s blog here this week.
The guy who my family will be rooting for is my pal Jerrell — he’s been doing the ride as long as I’ve known him, which I think means he’s done all of them to date. He’s an amazing guy — and some years he’s done the ride despite not being able to train as much as I know he’d prefer.
If you know Jerrell, you can make a donation and/or root him on at his personal page on the AIDS Lifecycle site…Go J!!!
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