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I keep seeing announcements for companies formed and funded in the online local space. The most recent announcement surrounding Yodle made me ask the question of the day. Eventually one of these companies will hit -- but as I've mentioned, it's very tough sledding and tough odds.
My friend and fellow blogger Ben Casnocha
asks "Should Everyone Go Through Therapy?". I'd have to answer the
question, yes. It's important to know that I subscribe to the belief
that the examined life is the one worth living. I know it's not the
only way to live -- but it's a core assumption to MY answer to Ben's
question.
I've been a big believer of therapy. I see a therapist
now and have just starting seeing the person more than once a week and
admit that it's been an eye opening experience. I've started to inquire
and explore my unconscious in a way that I never have before. Powerful
stuff that is very difficult to explain in a blog!
I've used
therapists in my marriage and in my work life with good success. It's
always useful to have an outsider "listen" and "reflect" back to assist
in processing.
Ben -- the real answer to your question is another
question -- "Should everyone go through therapy?" ...well, Ben, forget
everyone, do you think you should go to therapy?
We had a really great farewell party last night with lots of past employees from the company attending. It's strange -- I had a little nervousness about having past employees attend the farewell party but in the end it was a great thing to do. I'm really appreciative to all those that were able to make it.
The whole event reminded me that endings are just as important as beginnings. It's usually harder to celebrate at the end of a relationship that didn't go the way you wanted it to (whether that be with a company or with a person) but in fact a celebration is exactly what's needed. Tequila sunrises don't hurt either.
My father-in-law Marvin's dog -- Sweetie -- died Thanksgiving morning. So, when Marvin came over that day he was feeling down. We had a nice Thanksgiving meal consisting of turkey, ribs, mashed potatoes and stuffing. The highlight of the meal was Marvin's eloquent and vulnerable toast to Sweetie. I can't summarize the toast sufficiently here but suffice it to say that he talked about how the dog really lived up to being "man's best friend" and how much he (Marvin) appreciated all the listening that the dog had done over the past years (to him). After dinner, Marvin sat down and I noticed his eyes start to close. My son went over to him and told him to wake up. When I noticed that Marvin didn't react to the wake up request, I walked over and asked Marvin if he was ok. I put my arm on his shoulder. He didn't respond. Next thing I know -- I'm calling 911. Guests are laying Marvin down and putting a cold towel on his forehead. His blood pressure had dropped to 44 or something like that. The paramedics arrived within 2 minutes and he was rushed to the hospital. My wife went with him. Turns out that Marvin had purposefully had a bottle (or 2) of wine AND had accidentally taken his blood pressure medicine twice that day. That combination was not a good one! He's fine now. He's still bummed about Sweetie but we're all thankful for Marvin's health.
This article on The 20 Worst Venture-Capital Investments of All Time is kind of fun and interesting. I remember many of them and suspect you will to.
I had coffee today with another entrepreneur who recently had to wind down his business. We were comparing notes. He had raised 27 million and spent 7 years trying to grow his business and ultimately had to shut it down. I spent 3+ years working on Judy's Book.
The time spent on a venture that is not picking up steam -- that lacks break out momentum -- has real opportunity cost. As an entrepreneur, there are so MANY ideas, and so little time. Time (and energy) are the limiting resources for an entrepreneur. Reminder to self -- pay attention to my investment of time as a real investment with a real cost.
My wife asked me how I was feeling about the fact that the wind down of Judy's Book got so much press in Seattle (Seattle PI, TechCrunch, etc). At first, I admit there was some shame. I felt like a failure and I was ashamed of not succeeding. Lately, however, I've been feeling (in an odd way) somewhat pleased about the public nature of the flame out. From my perspective, the publicity means that people cared about what we were doing at Judy's Book. This feels good.
In addition, the publicity means I don't have to have the awkward and painful experience of telling everyone about the failure. You know -- seeing people in cafes, holiday parties, and in public and being asked "how's it going at work?" and having to tell them some version of -- "oh, I laid everyone off a month ago and am winding down the company". People already know the facts and they come up to me and say "I'm sorry to hear about Judy's Book. What are you doing next?". This is much better in my opinion than having to constantly tell people the same story over and over again. Don't get me wrong -- I wish Judy's Book succeeded. I didn't start the company to end up winding it down. I'm just trying to share some of my feeling about having the wind down being so public.
I was chatting with one of our lead developers at Judy's Book and he told me that he's received about 20 offers of employment in the last week! Many from recruiters and people he didn't know -- but he was amazed and said the market has never been like this before. Given the public nature of Judy's Book wind down, people were coming out of the woodwork to contact him. So for all those people who have emailed me in the last few days about developers -- you need to move faster, much FASTER, the developers were "open minded" and "unemployed" for all of 36 hours max.
This site predatory lending association is worth checking out. You need to understand that it's a joke -- because you may go there and say WTF. If you like it -- please write it up....he's trying to get some blog buzz on the topic.
This is the brain child of Mike Mathieu of AllStar Directories fame. Nice job Mike!
John Cook of the Seattle PI wrote an interesting article about the performance of angel investors versus venture capitalists. It's worth reading here.
