tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-366736722024-02-28T07:56:29.699-05:00Zen EntrepreneurRizwan Virk's thoughts on Entrepreneurship, Startups, Zen, Meditation, Dreams, Yoga, Venture Capital, Synchronicity, Science Fiction, Films, MIT and Stanford Business School (MBA)Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-29654621944032673132016-07-25T04:08:00.006-04:002016-07-25T04:08:59.659-04:00Life Lessons from Comic-con: Kevin Smith, Ron Moore, and J. Michael Stravinsky<div class="MsoNormal">
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I just got back from San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) and it was
as usual, a madhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some 200,000
people went through the convention center, and there were great costumes and panels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I could tell you about the various
announcements (the new Wonder Woman trailer for example), those have been
covered by many other sources.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Comic-con is actually a pretty inspiring place for writers and
creative types, who often start as “fans” and end up giants in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the big giant panels (Game of
Thrones, Star Trek, Star Wars, Walking Dead) there are actually a lot of
smaller panels that offer tips for those looking to break into the industry and
to create their own art.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thought I’d write about lessons from 3 well-known writers
who spoke at Comic-Con whose talks you may not have heard about on the latest geek newssite:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Kevin Smith, who
usually has a huge session at Hall H on Saturday night, is of course the writer/director
of Mall Rats and Clerks in the 90s, and just launched a show on AMC called
Geeking Out. </li>
<li>J. Michael Stracinsky is
the creator of Babylon 5 and the more recent Sense8, and a well known writer in
Hollywood. </li>
<li>Ron Moore, recently show
runner of Outlander and Battlestare Galactica, started his career working on
Star Trek: The Next Generation.</li>
</ul>
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While I could write entire blog posts about each of these
guys and what they said at Comic-Con, I thought I’d share one little inspiring tidbit
from each talk:</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">J. Michael Stracinsky:</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the end of his talk, JMS told us that he was once just like those of
us in the audience, sitting at Comic-con looking up to the writers/creators on
the stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did this to encourage
those of us in the audience to “take the leap” and express ourselves
creatively, and see if we can turn it into a career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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He then told us the story of one of his
friends who worked for the state of California until she was 53 years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told JMS that she felt like there was
nothing of her in the work she was doing – there was no creativity, and she
wanted to do something that expressed her personality more, but felt like it was too late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JMS asked her what she was passionate about –
and she said she liked “pets”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was
also into “photography”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He encouraged
her to combine these interests and to do “pet photography”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her objection was that while that would be a good "hobby", it would take years to
establish herself to be able to make a living at something like, this – it
might even take three years, and then she’d be 56 before she was really doing
what she loved as a career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this
point, he paused and told us he asked her this question: “And how old will you be in in 3 years if you don’t pursue this passion project?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“That’s right, you’ll be 56 years old.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told us this story, he said, to remind us
first of all that it’s never too late to get started, but also to remind us
that time is passing and that we should get started on those ideas and stop
wasting time, start doing the things that we love now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ron Moore:</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ron was on a
panel with other writers of Star Trek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, he spent many years working on Star Trek: The Next Generation and then
various other Star Trek properties before becoming a show runner of his
own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells the story of how after he
moved to LA, he was struggling as a writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He started dating a girl that worked on the set of the new Star
Trek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was able to get him a tour of
the set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was so excited that he wrote
up a spec script for ST:TNG and took it with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the tour, he pulled out the
script and asked the guy who was giving the tour if they could get the spec
script to someone that could take a look. The tour guide ended up being Gene
Roddenberry’s assistant, and took the script to the show producers, who liked
it enough to hire him as a writer on the show. It goes to show you, you never know what coincidences or circumstances will lead you to get a break in front of the right person.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kevin Smith:</i></b> Kevin always gives a great talk at the end of
Comic-Con, usually with a few unexpected stories about Ben Affleck and/or JJ
Abrams (whose Star Wars Panel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was just
before Smith’s last year).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kevin said a
lot, but here are a few random inspiring thoughts. You can make a TV show but
getting it on a network may be tough; you can make a movie, but getting it into
theaters may be tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do a podcast and
there are no gatekeepers, you can send it in to iTunes and there it is, and he
encouraged everyone to start their own podcasts, just start recording yourself
and others talking about stuff that you care about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also said that there was a time when Star
Wars wasn’t cool (I remember this time) and no one talked about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grown men were OK talking about sports and
stats, but not about Star Wars and Comic-books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since he had no one else to talk to about Star Wars, he put scenes in
his movies where the characters were sitting around talking about Star Wars.
This inadvertently led to many opportunities for him – but the key was he was
just putting down what he wanted to talk about.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How many times, he asked, have you sat there watching
something on TV or elsewhere and thought, I’m just as smart as those guys, and
could do this as good as they’re doing it? He used to think the same
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told us the story of how he
told his sister, when he was 21 years old, that he told his sister that he was
going to be a film-maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She told him “OK,
then be a film-maker”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He repated that
he “was going to become” a filmmaker, but she insisted that he just start
“being a film-maker”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He started
following the advice and started to think about of himself as a film-maker who
just hadn’t made a full feature film yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He adopted the mindset of a <i>being</i> a film-maker and started making films
about stuff he knew and he was passionate about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that led to him becoming a film-maker and
then being there on stage in front of us at Comic-con, and he encouraged everyone in the audience to do the same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So there you go, Comic-Con is not only a place to see your
favorite actors, or cosplayers dressed like super-heroes, it’s a pretty
inspirational place, especially for those of us who believe we have our own
stories to tell and want to turn our passions into reality.<o:p></o:p></div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-30085363090000063892016-07-20T12:46:00.002-04:002016-07-20T12:49:09.759-04:00Pokemon Go: What Mobile & Gaming Entrepreneurs Can Learn from It<div class="MsoNormal">
If you haven't heard about the success of Pokemon Go, recently,
from Niantic games based on the beloved Pokemon franchise, you would have to be hiding under a rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been downloaded many millions of
times, and has become the #1 top grossing app in both the Apple App Store and
Google Play Store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Millions of players
are wandering around with their phones held up high looking for “poke-stops”
where they can catch a “pokemon”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Many articles have been written about the arrival of AR (augmented reality) and
location based games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The week Pokemon
Go was released I was walking with some twenty-something colleagues to lunch
castro st in downtown Mountain View, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and they
were of course holding up their devices and pointing out not just pokestops but
excitedly chattering about the latest “pokemon” which they were trying to
catch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had a strange sense of déjà vu. In fact, I recalled in
2011, when the founders of another gaming company, had shown me augmented
reality games on the same street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In AR
mode in both Pokemon and this game, you had the camera of the phone on which
showed you the surroundings with the “augmented” elements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their case, they were “bombs” placed by
other players at specific locations around downtown castro st.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the new case, they were Pokestops and
lures placed by other players to catch Pokemon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik14tnA3xkz3BEHkYF9IQJmvI1i9BVM9678wxLo_91qre-ErUgR02c15UaYKdE1jdO_1r_IWZa2zIBWUnSexAsWOyIACz-A-0184HySRaKajY7EcVJYmUsXx98cLTbQ3Wg7FdV/s1600/maxresdefault_PokemonGo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik14tnA3xkz3BEHkYF9IQJmvI1i9BVM9678wxLo_91qre-ErUgR02c15UaYKdE1jdO_1r_IWZa2zIBWUnSexAsWOyIACz-A-0184HySRaKajY7EcVJYmUsXx98cLTbQ3Wg7FdV/s320/maxresdefault_PokemonGo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That company in 2011 was one of a steady stream of
location-based augmented reality games that entrepreneurs showed me for the
next two years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of the things
that you could do with mobile games that you couldn’t do with any other type of
games (Facebook, Steam, Console), they argued, and it was bound to be the future
of mobile gaming. Many investors agreed and put some seed money into these companies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact, at one point (I can’t remember what year), a couple
of guys out Stanford showed me their game which was a location based game where
you captured cute little creatures that had different abilities and then you
battlted other players – it was called Geomon, a play on “Pokemon” and
“Geo” - sounds familiar, doesn't it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What happened to those startups? Most of these location
based augmented reality startups came and went – they’re either out of business
or were acquihired by other companies needing the engineers and their games shut down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While I think it's very difficult am hesitant to compare one startup to another, there
is an important lesson here: Don’t be Too Early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes, being too early can be as bad as
being too late.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you are too early, you need lots of staying power for the
market to catch up with you, and to keep creating products until one of them
hits the sweet spot in the market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
not easy – in fact, most of the companies that pitched location based AR games
to me in 2011 and 2012 ran out of money – they couldn’t convince investors to
keep supporting them, which is the dilemma of the startup entrepreneur that is
too early.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pokemon Go Studio Niantic also released their first
well-known location based game, Ingres, in 2012, then released it to the public
in 2013 on Andoird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Naintic was initially
part of Google, and they were able to keep the company going for a while before
they signed on Pokemon, and they got a $30 million investment before they released
it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now I’m not saying that the AR/location mechanic was the only
reason for the success of Pokemon Go; The other, perhaps just as important
reason was that the IP, Pokemon, appealed to a generation who are now grown up
(but not too grown up) and are heavily into mobile games, so every twenty
something mobile game player probably had good memories of Pokemon and wanted
to try it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention, the fact that
their friends were playing it means it got to the critical mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This expression “critical mass” comes to us
from the world of the atomic bomb, where it defines the amount of mass needed
for a single neutron to set of a chain reaction; the neutron hits the nucleus,
sending off several neutrons, who hit other nucleus, and so on, until it reaches
the point where it becomes a self-sustaining chain reaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But for entrepreneurs who are looking for the “next big
thing” (and there are lots in Silicon Valley right now, particularly looking at
VR, for example), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the real lesson is
that in startups as well as in life, Timing is often the most important
factor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hitting the market at the right
time – not being too early and not being too late – are critical for the type
of product that you have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A related
lesson is that sometimes, the second or third product is the more successful
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Similarly, Angry Birds was famously Rovio’s 51<sup>st</sup>
game., and Draw Something, was the last attempt by the gamemaker OMGPop, which
was sold to Zynga for $200 million.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Finally, leveraging the strengths of your company’s first
product is sometimes a key part in getting out the second or third product
which may be the one which vaults your startup to success!<o:p></o:p></div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-89483144857119149972016-07-07T12:28:00.000-04:002016-07-07T12:46:21.838-04:00 Startup Myth: Will Someone Steal Your Idea?<div class="graf--p" name="d0f5">
I recently was speaking with someone who mentioned that they had an idea for a healthcare/nutraceutical startup. It sounded like a reasonable idea, targeting a niche that was underserved. At the end of the conversion she said, “OK, well don’t tell anyone about this idea!”</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="a084">
I was amused to hear her say that about a healthcare idea. I used to get that in the tech startup world all the time. Since I’m writing a book about Startup Myths, I thought I’d write about this one, since it’s probably one of the most common myths about startups: If I tell someone my idea, they will copy it.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="6260">
The corollary of this myth is that before a prospective entrepreneur tells you their idea, they will pull out an NDA they want you to sign before they tell you what it is. This is often known as the “unsolicited NDA”.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="e8c9">
Let’s get this out of the way right now: Nothing makes you look more like an amateur in the world of startups than the unsolicited NDA. In Silicon Valley, most (if not all) professional venture capital investors and angel investors won’t sign NDAs. Period. </div>
<div class="graf--p" name="4b8c">
I know you think your idea is worth a million bucks. But the truth is that investors are bombarded with ideas for startups. Getting a million dollar idea for a startup isn’t very hard. What’s hard is building a startup to be successful day in and day out. I remember back in the dot.com days thinking that measuring the links from sites was a better way to measure and index websites. So what. I didn’t write a paper on it, I never prototyped it, I didn’t start a company to do that, but Segie and Larry did and they started Google did. Good for them!</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="70e7">
Often, the unsolicited NDA will come from someone outside of Silicon Valley - Los Angeles being a good example. Now, I suppose there are some very limited set of companies perhaps that have a ground-breaking patent that hasn’t been filed yet where there<em class="markup--em markup--p-em"> might</em> a legitimate reason for an NDA, but only if they are going to be filling you in on the details of the patent. Similarly, there are some unscrupulous folks in Hollywood that might steal your “high concept” (here’s a multi-million dollar high concept idea for you Independence Day meets Dolphins … oh wait, that was Star Trek IV, except with Humpback Whales!)</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="d1c2">
But the reality is, if someone simply overhears your idea, it’s highly unlikely that they’re going to go and build it themselves. Doing a startup is hard. Let me rephrase that. Doing a successful startup is very hard. It takes years of your life with very little pay and often no appreciation. Why would you do that with someone else’s idea or dram?</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="a992">
Moreover, in the tech startup world, unless you pitch your idea to people who are knowledgable about the industry as well as to investors and customers, you won’t get the feedback you need to refine your idea. Rarely are startups successful with the very first product — there is usually an iteration that happens before honing in on the “killer product” or “application” of a particular new technology or platform.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="da17">
Let’s use an analogy — I often hear the same thing from people who are thinking of writing a book. They don’t want to tell their idea because they are afraid someone else will run with it. I was at a writing workshop that Reid Tracy, the president of Hay House (one of the most prominent mind/body/spirit publishers), was presenting at, and he tried to disavow the attendees of this notion. He said that as a potential author, you have to tell people about your idea to get feedback and refine the pitch if you ever want to get published.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="2c95">
He also said that 20% of success in modern publishing is about writing of the book and 80% is about marketing the book. Let me rephrase that: 1% is the idea of the book, 19% is about the writing of the book, and the other 80% is about the marketing of the book.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="8300">
Similarly in startups, while the idea is important, validation of the idea by presenting it to the right people is an extremely important part of the process. Also, even if two people have the same idea they may build very different products. Continuing the analogy, suppose you had overheard J.K.Rowling say she’s going to write a book about a “13 year old boy who learns he’s a wizard and goes to a wizarding school”. Would you have written the Harry Potter books? Probably not. I would have written a very different book even if I’d had the same “basic idea”.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="b767">
There is one area that’s worth mentioning here, which applies to book writing as well as tech startups. What happens if you tell everyone your idea and they think you are crazy or stupid or that it’s just a bad idea?</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="cf57">
It’s possible to get discouraged. This is where you have to use your intuition and discernment. Many people have started companies with products or needs that weren’t there yet in the market. First of all, is there feedback valid? Secondly, are you betting that the market will change in the future to make their feedback invalid?</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="997b">
These questions aren’t easy and they require a bit of “fortune-telling”. That said, if you are telling your idea to the right people you will get more valid feedback than invalid, and this can only help you to improve your product or (more importantly) your go to market concept.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="c635">
But, I’ll write more about “pivoting” in another myth-related blog post.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="bef8">
For now, relax. And stop worrying about someone stealing your idea (it’s only 1% of success). Worry more about how you are going to build a product first (the other 19%), and then about how you are going to get your product to market and make it successful (the other other 80%)!</div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-88933818488025418282016-01-25T02:30:00.001-05:002016-01-25T02:31:26.226-05:00Nerds set Twitter on Fire: Did Football screw up the X-Files premiere for millions??<br />
Well the new X-files reboot has finally started. You could probably tell that I was excited about it ( see my last post The X-Files Revival: 5 Things About UFO)<br />
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Finally, just before 7pm pacific I, like millions of others, tuned into Fox - a network that I honestly don't watch that much anymore because so many of the best shows are on cable channels these days. Expecting to see the X-Files, I saw there was a football game on. That's right - a football game!<br />
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So, in one of the biggest sci fi events in years, a public relations and ratings coup for Fox to bring this show back that so many of us are waiting for, and what do we see? Football. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92A2Eh02QNz_dnQfWNi7UqNoo151cgz-FYFUq7ort53jJQGYaR2uFW_b1eBGLNUvMiu2l-Sv1tAgqnmpSCC2MFxLLh9wVSs9fdg8OqD8n-z9wh43O3KciGayzp5mNRPuq0LPO/s1600/xfiles_revival.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92A2Eh02QNz_dnQfWNi7UqNoo151cgz-FYFUq7ort53jJQGYaR2uFW_b1eBGLNUvMiu2l-Sv1tAgqnmpSCC2MFxLLh9wVSs9fdg8OqD8n-z9wh43O3KciGayzp5mNRPuq0LPO/s400/xfiles_revival.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I, like many other X-File fans, am not a big football fan, but it looked like the game was almost over so it wasn't worried. In fact, the game ended on time just before 7pm, so I started looking on twitter to see what people were saying about the X-Files. <br />
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Then 7pm came about, and guess what, the game was over but rather than start the X-Files premiere on time, they were still showing commentary on the game! So basically, the millions of people who tuned into Fox to see the X-Files were treated to commentary on a football game. <br />
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Twitter lit up, and in the old days, pre social media, the geeks among us would have to just grin and bear it while the "mainstream" chided us for not being good consumer-fans of all-american football who jump up and down when their favorite team wins or loses. How can you not like Football - what are you some kind of wimp?<br />
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@aspen_musing shows how fox had the perfect strategy to piss off fandom!<br />
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@Gretchel expressed a lot of nerds feelings towards football vs. the X-Files.</div>
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As we waited, and watched the talking heads go on and on about football ... nerds were on a twitter rampage - see what @see_clair_write said:<br />
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The best tweet may have come form @stevekemple who saw it as a conspiracy from the X-Files CSG (Cigarette Smoking Man) to get millions more to watch football.<br />
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Now some of you might say, what's the big deal ... it's just football! Why was it enough to start a full jocks vs. nerds smackdown?? Look at what @LadyHawkins and @alie_asstrocyte said about jocks vs. nerds.<br />
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But for many of us, it brought us back to high school. Those of you who went to high school before nerds were cool, mind you. Back then, we were made to feel "less than" because we weren't into sports - and football in particular. We liked being on our computer more than watching a bunch of dumbasses grab at each other while hunching over on the football field. We were arguing about Kirk vs. Picard rather than XXX vs. XXXX (OK - see I can't even namey any football stars from my day - maybe OJ Simpson??).<br />
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You see, it wasn't just that Fox had delayed the X-Files premiere, but it was like a slap in the face that they had done it for Football - the one thing most nerds are not into and were made to feel bad because we weren't into it! <br />
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But don't take my word for it - Twitter started to reflect these sentiments really well!<br />
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Plus at that point, we weren't sure if we were going to *miss* the first 20 or 30 minutes of the premiere!<br />
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The real problem for Fox though is that today, many millinoso f people watch shows recorded on their DVR/PVR. And most of us who didn't watch it live simply set our cable box to record it. Now imagine the surprise of people when they put their kids to bed and sat down to watch teh X-Files - what did they see? 20 or 30 minutes of talk about Football!<br />
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Many of these people are pissed off because the DVR only reocred the 30 minutes of the show! That means they missed half of the premiere episdoe! And the next episode is on tomorrow night! That means that unless they can see it on demand, or Fox airs it again, Fox just screwd up the whole mini-series for them!<br />
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Way to go Fox - as far as fuckups go - this was a big one! <br />
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For those of who did manage to tune in, while I'm excited to watch the next episode monday night (I will provide a review once I've seen more episodes), the truth is still out there - thankfully the football season is almost over so there can't be any monday night football, can there???<br />
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<br />Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-60013067183615653602016-01-16T16:10:00.002-05:002016-01-16T16:13:51.417-05:00The Truth Is Out There: 5 Things You Need to Know about UFOs for the Upcoming X-Files Revival<div class="graf--p" name="4dd9">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="graf--pullquote pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="138e">
<em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em">“They’re here, aren’t they?” said Fox Mulder to his secret informant, known to viewers only as Deep Throat. </em></blockquote>
<blockquote class="graf--pullquote pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="eb7d">
<em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em">“Mr. Mulder,” began the old man, in a reprimanding tone, “</em><strong class="markup--strong markup--pullquote-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em">They</em></strong><em class="markup--em markup--pullquote-em"> have been here for a long, long time.”</em></blockquote>
<div class="graf--p" name="22dc">
As many of you know, the X-Files revival starts soon (the new six episode mini-season picks up, appropriately, 13 years after the X-Files went off the air). Just recently, they had a premiere in Los Angeles of the first episode for the new mini-season, and Fox recently released a 1 minute clip online.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="2a43">
For those of you who don’t know, the X-Files was one of the most popular US TV series in the 1990s, at its height averaging 20 million viewers per episode. The main protagonist Fox Mulder, is an FBI agent whose sister was taken from their room when he was a kid, in what Mulder believed was an alien abduction. This fueled his lifelong obsession with paranormal phenomena and uncovering the truth about UFOs, Aliens, and a global conspiracy. I watched the show religiously with friends, staying in on Friday nights when it first came on, before it got <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">really</em> popular and moved to Sunday nights.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="4a30">
Years later, when I became an executive producer on the documentary <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Thrive: What On Earth Will It Take</em>, made by Foster Gamble and Kimberly Carter Gamble, (one of the most watched documentaries of all time), I started to do a little research on this subject on my own. I found out that while many Americans believe in UFOs, there tends to be a lot of misunderstanding about the phenomenon and about the people who’ve had these experiences, particularly in the minds of many of my “scientific” oriented friends.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="3daf">
So, just in time for the X-Files revival here are 5 things you may not know about the UFO phenomenon that inspired the X-Files:</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="3daf">
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<div class="graf--p" name="1999">
1. <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The X-Files wasn’t purely science fiction, according to Chris Carter</em></strong>.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="ab6d">
Like many others fans, I took the X-Files to be “simply” an original work of science fiction, which sprung from the mind of Chris Carter, the show’s creator. While the series is fiction, Carter himself will tell you that that many of the elements are based on real-life accounts.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="7de0">
When I started to investigate on my own, I started to meet people in the UFO community and hearing their accounts. The stories I heard sounded a lot like what I had seen in the X-files. The implants, the eyewitness accounts of triangular craft and bright lights, the cases of missing time, all of these have been reported by numerous witnesses.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="58aa">
In fact, I was told by a mutual friend that Chris Carter discouraged his actors from attending science fiction conventions because the X-Files wasn’t purely <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">science fiction</em>. In preparation for the upcoming revival, if you watch the very first X-files episode, Pilot, and watch carefully, you’ll see that it says, “The following story is inspired by actual documented accounts” at the beginning of the episode. I actually met Chris Carter last year, before they started filming the new season, at a UFO-related event in San Mateo, and it was clear that he was continuing to research what people had to say on this subject — perhaps some of his new research will show up in the revivial.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">2.</em></strong> <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Myth: Only people who wear tinfoil hats and tabloid reporters take UFOs seriously.</em></strong></div>
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One of the persistent myths about UFOs and people who believe in them is that it is a fringe group of people who “live off the grid” and wear tinfoil hats. After having been to a dozen UFO events and interviewing hundreds of people, I haven’t seen a single tinfoil hat (OK I saw one but that was fro teh benefit of reporters who wanted to take a photo of “weird UFO people”). In fact, I have met intelligent people from all walks of life — scientists, engineers, people who worked for NASA, to independently wealthy businessmen and women, to retirees. The only commonality I could find was confidence in what they’ve seen and experienced, and strong belief that the “truth is out there” and that it should be investigated more seriously.</div>
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There are many well-known people who have had UFO sightings, and many who support finding out the truth. . In Los Angeles, Dan Akroyd is a well known proponent of UFO research. John Podesta, who served as an advisor to President Obama and Chief of Staff to Bill Clinton, has been very vocal about his interest in the subject and his desire to get the truth out, a process known to UFO enthusiasts as “Disclosure”. John Podesta tweeted in 2014 that his biggest regret in working for the Obama white house was that he was unable to secure disclosure of top secret UFO files.</div>
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In fact, Hillary Clinton, was recently asked about UFOs by a reporter in Conway, New Hampshire while campaigning there. Mrs. Clinton said she believed we might have been visited by aliens in the past, and that if elected president, she would get to the bottom of it.</div>
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And UFOs are not just for tabloids. Leslie Kean, a serious investigative reporter, received a copy of a report from retired French generals that said that they believed the UFO phenomena was real and should be investigated seriously (called the “COMETA” report). Kean’s book, <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">UFOs: General, Pilots ,and Government Officials Go On the Record,</em> is a great book for those who know nothing about the phenomenon or are inclined to dismiss it out of hand. There have been many pilots, many members of the military, and many other government officials who have been willing to speak on and off the record and Ms Kean does a great job of presenting finally about this phenomenon. It’s a shame that this myth is so prevalent that many “serious” scientists and engineers won’t even take the time to read books like Ms Kean’s.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">3.</em></strong> <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Myth: There is no evidence of UFOs.</em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0453">
Many skeptics say there is no evidence that UFOs exist. They’re not quite right. First of all, there are tons of photographic evidence of odd “unidentified” objects flying over both rural and urban landscapes. The next argument is that these pictures are all photoshopped — a charge that doesn’t hold up when the photos are from the 60’s and 70’s — I’ve seen some of these older photos, some taken by the members of the military, and they are very convincing. Moreover, when there are multiple witnesses that corroborate the photographical evidence (like in the Phoenix lights incident — more on this one below), the skeptic’s view that they are all doctored doesn’t really hold-up.</div>
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And then there are literally thousands of eyewitness reports –ranging from places like O’Hare airport to Rendlesham Forest in the UK (in a famous military sighting).</div>
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If that isn’t enough evidence for you, Emeritus Professor of applied physics at Stanford, Peter Sturrock says, “radar evidence” is physical evidence, and there have been multiple sightings where radar evidence was available that corroborated what pilots say they were seeing.</div>
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This includes a well-known incident over Alaska in 1986, where a Japan Air Lines pilot, Kenju Terauchi, was flying near Mt. McKinley when he reported seeing a UFO: “Then there was a kind of reverse thrust, and the lights became dazzlingly bright. Our cockpit lit up. The thing was flying as if there was no such thing as gravity. It sped up, then stopped, then flew at our speed, in our direction, so that to us it looked like it was standing still. The next instant it changed course. There’s no way a jumbo could fly like that. If we tried, it’d break apart in mid-air. In other words, the flying object had overcome gravity,” Terauchi said.</div>
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John Callahan, the FAA Division Chief of the Accidents and Investigations branch, had the data, which covered more than a half hour. Callahan has testified many times about what he saw, “As far as I’m concerned, I saw a UFO chase a Japanese 747 across the sky for over half an hour on radar.”</div>
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If that’s still not enough to convince you that there is “some” evidence, in the abduction area, there have been physical objects (known as “implants”) that have been pulled out of abductees bodies, and X-rays also count as physical evidence. In the cases where doctors surgically extracted them, the metallic objects somehow evaporated, in other cases they were able to preserve them and find that they a unique “anomalous” structure and were meant to be housed inside the human body.</div>
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Whether you believe in aliens or not, these implants had to have been placed there by someone. The question is who? It’s unlikely abductees would have the surgical skill to put them there themselves — so the question remains, who put them into their bodies? This question remains unanswered. In the original X-files, implants were a not insubstantial part of the story, and whenever the government got a hold of one, as at the end of the first episode of the X-Files, in a scene reminiscent of <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Raiders of the Lost Ark</em> or <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Warehouse 13</em>, they put it away in the midst of a giant government warehouse, to be lost.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">4.</em></strong> <strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Myth: Sightings only happen in the countryside, only in the US, and only since we started flying airplanes.</em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="5163">
Again, these are myths. There have been anomalous objects reported in the sky well before the modern era of airplanes, going back to the 1500s and beyond. In their wonderful book, “Wonders in the Sky”, Jacque Vallee ad Chris Aubeck have catalogued these sightings. Jacquee Vallee, a long time French UFO researcher, was in part the inspiration for the French scientist in <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Close Encounters of the Third Kind, </em>made by another UFO believer, Stephen Spielberg. In one of the most famous pre-airplane incidents, in 1561 a number of spheres and disks, which were red, blue, and back, were seen to come out of two vertical cylinders over Nuremberg, Germany. The residents of the town reported that these objects seem to fight each other — there’s even a well-known drawing of this image. </div>
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In recent times, lest you buy the myth that sightings only happen in remote places, one of the most famous sightings was the Phoenix Lights. In 1997, an estimated 10,000 people saw a set of triangularly arranged lights not just hovering but moving over the Phoenix metro area from North to South. There were numerous photographs of the incident, and a great book (along with a documentary) by Lynne Kitei, M.D., called called The Phoenix Lights. </div>
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At first, Arizona Governor Fife Symington III made fun of the sighting and the military tried to dismiss the lights as “military flares”. But this theory didn’t hold water — the lights stayed equidistance apart, as if they were part of a single, large craft. Later, the Governor admitted that he was lying, and that he too had seen some kind of large anomalous craft in the sky that night. You don’t have to take my word for it — you can go interview people who were living in Phoenix in 1997. One witness told me she looked up, and the stars dimmed and then weren’t visible — it was definitely some type of large craft and not individual flares.</div>
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There have been other mass sightings, in Mexico City, in Russia, in South America, and elsewhere. UFO sightings are not a modern phenomenon, they are not a US-only phenomenon. UFOs are a global phenomenon, and as his secret informant told Agent Mulder at the end of the second episode of the X-Files<em class="markup--em markup--p-em">, </em>“They have been here … for a long long time”</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">5. Are UFOs top secret military craft that defy gravity?</em></strong></div>
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In the second episode of the X-Files, Deep Throat, and in many episodes later in the series, witnesses at the edge of military bases see UFOs at night performing maneuvers that seem to defy the laws of inertia and gravity. These scenes are actually based on many eyewitness reports of objects and lights that hold stationary in the sky, have no apparent sound, then “jump” horizontally or vertically to a new position in the blink of an eye. The fact that these sightings have occurred often near military bases has led many, particularly in the skeptic and scientific community, to assert that UFOs are <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">really</em> top secret military craft that the public does not know about.</div>
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This of course, begs the question, do we have top secret military craft that defy the known laws of physics and gravity? If so, why doesn’t the so called “scientific community” know about the science between how these craft work, why are they being hidden, and why aren’t they more curious about them?</div>
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A respected NASA scientist, Paul Hill, decided to collect reports from eyewitnesses during his 25 years working for the space agency. He wrote a book (which he wasn’t allow to publish while working for NASA, so his daughter published), called “Unconventional Flying Objects” that was published by his daughter, in which he categorized these maneuvers (“sudden reversal of direction”, “acute angel turn”).</div>
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If these are top secret military vehicles, where did they get the basic design and aeronautic principles from? The disc-shaped object and its ability to seemingly defy gravity, which have led the UFO community to call these “anit-gravity technology”. Mark McCandlish, an accomplished aerospace illustrator who has illustrated top secret military aircraft based on descriptions for the covers of magazines like Popular Science, was baffled when friends in the military told him they had stumbled into hangers that had round, bell shaped craft that were hovering over the ground. It seemed like a scene out of <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Independence Day</em>, not just the X-Files. McCandlish drew out the components of the ARV, or Alien Reproduction Vehicle, as it’s been called, and his drawings are readily available on-line. It resembles many reports of UFOs, including rumors of the Nazi Bell — new type of Bell-shaped flying craft that the Nazis were supposedly working on at the end of World War II.</div>
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As in the X-Files, many of these facts are unknown to the general public, or they are ridiculed by so-called “experts” who subscribe to some of the myths. In fact, the premise of the show was that a scientist, medical doctor, Dana Scully was brought in to de-bunk Mulder’s “wild” paranormal and UFO-related theories. As she became more involved in the investigations, she came upon more and more items that could only be classified as “unexplained”.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="4fe1">
Professor Sturrock of Stanford, who did research on the attitudes of astronomers and members of the American Institute of Aeronautic and Astronautics found that the more time people spent reading this subject, the more they would come to the conclusion that there needs to be more serious scientific study of UFOs. Because it’s not a “fashionable” area for university research to get funding, it’s usually ignored.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="6b67">
Similarly, too many of my friends in the scientific and engineering circles, tend to dismiss UFO lore and stories as simple “crazy stories by crazy people” without having done any research of their own. The less research they’ve done, the more likely they are to dismiss UFOs out of hand. It’s very easy to ridicule or demean a group of people on the internet — but if you take the time to get to know the people that are making these claims, if you, like Dana Scully in the X-Files, you might just find, that the Truth is Out There!</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="9d97">
I’ll leave you with another great quote from the second episode of the X-Files to ponder while we ait for the X-Files revival to begin on January 24:</div>
<blockquote class="graf--pullquote pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="948d">
<i>“Mr. Mulder, why are those like yourself, who believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life on this earth, not dissuaded by all the evidence to the contrary?” asked the secret informant.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="graf--pullquote pullquote graf--startsWithDoubleQuote" name="065d">
<i>“Because, ” began Fox Mulder, pausing for a second, “ … all the evidence the contrary … is not entirely dissuasive.” </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="graf--pullquote pullquote" name="d167">
<i>The old man nodded to Mulder in acknowledgement, and walked away quietly.</i></blockquote>
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Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-20057438115433855582016-01-10T00:47:00.003-05:002016-01-10T13:45:59.104-05:00The 7 Things I most disliked about the new Star Wars movie!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
OK, I’m done with my political rants and back to writing
about sci fi and film.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course by now everyone’s seen <i>Star Wars 7: The Force
Awakens</i> (at least any serious nerd will have), and most reviews were
positive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before I continue, let me get this out of the way: I actually really enjoyed the
latest installment of George Lucas’ epic from a long time ago and a galaxy far,
far away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I’ve
already seen it twice in the theaters – once with my co workers and once with
my nephews (who are all under 10 years old) – and will probably see it again
before its theatrical release is over.<o:p></o:p></div>
<center><img src="http://www.theforceawakensblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Latest-The-Force-Awakens-Trailer-Description.jpg" width="75%"/> </center>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There have already been many good reviews and articles
listing what to like about the new movie, so I don't think you need to read another one (a few things to like: Daisy Ridley as Rey, Harrison Ford's return as Han Solo, the banter between Po and Finn, the realistic
feeling sets, the lack of CGI, the music, etc.). I thought I’d go a different
route; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in showing my appreciation for
the film, I’m actually going to list 7 things I didn’t like or that they (J.J. Abrams and company), didn't do well
in The Force Awakens.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why? Because I, like millions of fans, have been waiting a
long time to see another Star Wars movie, and there were things I was hoping to
see that I didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t worry Star
Wars fans; Disney has made over a billion dollars from the film already, so I
don’t think my little blog entry will hurt!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
SPOILERS AHEAD!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
you haven’t seen the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Force Awakens</i>
yet (and that means you're probably on another planet or just plain don’t like
science fiction or action films), then I suggest you stop reading here!<o:p></o:p></div>
<ol>
<li><div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BB-8 is
“Cousin Oliver</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">” – but I wanted to
see more R2D2 and C3PO!</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK, I know, I know, everyone loves BB-8
because he’s the new “cute” droid, so how could I possibly not like the cute
little guy?
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; margin-left: .25in; left-indent: 0.25in;">
Well, I didn’t dislike him, exactly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s just to me he felt a bit like Cousin Oliver in the Brady Bunch – those old enough to remember the Brady Bunch will
recall that when the little kids (Bobby and Cindy) started growing up, the
producers felt they needed to add a cute new small kid into the show to keep
their audience happy, and voila, here was little cousin “Oliver”!</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in;">
The same thing happened in Harry Potter, as Harry and Ron
and Hermione were growing up, cute little Colin Creevy showed up (same
with Ender’s Game, where Bean became the next Ender). </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in;">
But C3PO and R2D2 weren’t children who were
“growing up”, so there was no reason that they couldn’t be used in the same way
as they had been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>George Lucas’s
original idea of having not one robot (as an accessory to the heroes), but rather
two “droids” who made up an interstellar "odd couple" was brilliant: it played well
and added quite a bit of humor to the original trilogy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the prequels, this humor was mostly missing and I think it’s because the droids were an after-thought (Jar Jar
Binks was the new cousin Oliver in the Phantom Menace, which kind of backfired).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in;">
If you watch Star Wars (err I mean Episode
4, A New Hope), the first 10 minutes are about R2D2 and C3PO bickering with
each other about what to do – from Princess Leia giving the plans to R2, and
C3PO’s insistence that R2 had no “secret mission”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in;" >
Lucas once said that he viewed the droids
as being the only characters who would be in all three Star Wars trilogies – in
fact, he went so far as to say that in some ways, the films were from the two
droids’ point of view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
In the prequels, this bickering and humor
between the two was sort of missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK
so JJ Abrams did it better than in the prequels, but it still doesn’t change
that BB-8 is basically cousin Oliver. I missed that interaction between C3PO
and R2D2, which was given short shrift. <i>"That little droid is going to cause me a lot of trouble" says Luke. "Oh," answers Threepio, "he excels at that!"</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<br /><br /></li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
repetitive plot.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK so the
resistance (weren’t they supposed to be in charge now? If so, why are they
called the “resistance”?) hid something in a droid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Empire (err, I mean the Nazi-like
First Order) has built a super weapon, and kidnapped the main female
character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men (and wookie) have to
go in to rescue her and to help out the rebels(err, resistance), get this, shut
off the power of the shield so that the rebels (err, I mean the resistance),
can destroy this new Death Star (err, I mean Starkiller base).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the Death Star had the ability to
destroy an entire planet, the Starkiller base can, get this, destroy several
planets at once!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in my best/worst jar jar binks voice: How rude!</i>).
<br/>
<br/>
</li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Death of Han Solo</i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They killed off one of the most beloved characters in all of movie-dom! While
I didn’t dislike how it was done (the father-son thing is very much in action
here and has mythological themes), the actual death was very quick and there
wasn’t much back-story between Han Solo and Kylo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One review I read, which I agree with, is that
there was a moment of shock, and then the filmgoers (and characters) moved on from there,
kinda forgetting about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess I, like
many others, felt that it should have packed more emotional wallop – like the
death of another beloved figure on a bridge in <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Gandalf fell off that bridge, his (apparent) death had the emotional impact of a ton of bricks right there in the gut. <i>Fly you fools!</i> It was hard to recover from, not just for the audience, but particularly for the Hobbits! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Give them a moment, for pity's sake!</i> Not to mention, the Elves ... <i>"What are they singing?" ... "A lament for Gandalf" ... "What are they saying?" ... "I haven't the heart to tell you".</i>
<br />
<br/>
</li>
<li>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The aftermath of the Death of Han Solo.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they return at the end having
accomplished their mission, you would think that Princess<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(err, I mean, General) Leia would hug Chewie,
who was the person that knew Han Solo second best after Leia herself!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But instead, she hugs Rey instead and
Chewie just walks by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really?? This
actually felt like they cut some scene that was supposed to be there, or they
deliberately had her hug Rey, as a clue that Rey may indeed be related to Leia
after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But still, come on, Chewie
was Han Solo’s life-long companion, and Leia was his ex, you think they would
be the ones to miss him the most? This isn't a case of wookie discrimination (i hope - hug the nearest human!), since Chewie hugged her first in the earlier scene. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought this star wars was supposed to be more about the characters and less
about special effects?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fail.<o:p></o:p></i>
<br />
<br />
</li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kylo Ren taking Rey prisoner.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as Princess Leia was taken prisoner in
Star Wars (err, I mean Episode I, A New Hope, again) by Darth Vader, at some
point Kylo Ren decides to take Rey as his prisoner rather than getting the
droid BB-8 who had the “plans he was looking for” (or at least the map),
because she had seen the starmap once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Really??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s one thing for Kylo
to suck out of Po’s head that he put the map to Skywalker (more on this macguffin below) into the droid BB-8, it's entirely another for
Kylo to pull out the details of a starmap from Rey’s head when she saw it only
for a brief few seconds!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK, so I realize it
was a plot device to get her and Kylo alone so he could, inadvertently, Total
Recall the Force out of her, but still … even Recall had a better premise than
this! <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i>
<br />
<br/>
</li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The map to Luke Skywalker and all that jazz.</i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK, I understand that this was the main macguffin
in the movie (a "macguffin" is a “plot-enabling device” that pushes a film’s characters forward towards some arbitrary goal), but I’m not sure it made a lot of sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Luke was supposed to go searching for the first Jedi temple, but it
looks like here he knew exactly where it was, and left a map to it with Artoo, before
he <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s been living on that little island for
what, 10 or 20 years? Really? What happened to his spaceship? Did he send it
back with Artoo after he found the temple? Anyways, suffice it to say while I
appreciate the macguffin to move the plot forward and to bring back Luke
Skywalker in the second film (not to mention that the starmap projection looked cool), I wish there had been more of Luke in the first film, and perhaps a better explanation for what he’s really been doing out there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It was
only, you know, the point of the plot of the whole film!<o:p></o:p></i>
<br />
<br />
</li>
<li><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">How quickly Rey’s Force skills develop</i></b>.
OK perhaps they will explain this further in the sequels, but even Luke
Skywalker (remember him, the guy who took down Darth Vader and the Emperor),
needed training from old Ben Kenobi before he could do anything. Anakin, the chosen one, needed training too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rey not only is able to look into Ren’s mind
(OK I could buy that) but suddenly does a Jedi Mind Trick on Daniel Craig’s
Stormtrooper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke Skywalker’s light
sabre calls to her like some kind of Force psychometry, and then she is able to
best Kylo Ren, out of nowhere?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, I
liked Daisy Ridley’s performance as Rey quite a bit, but this all seemed a lot
to swallow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Even for a galaxy far, far away!<o:p></o:p></i>
<br />
</li>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
And there you have it – 7 things I didn’t like about the
Force Awakens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s funny that I’m
writing this because as I said, I actually like the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite a bit, especially comparing it to the
Phantom Menace and Return of the Jedi, both of which I saw again recently.<o:p></o:p></div>Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-33490839424515715612015-12-20T05:38:00.002-05:002015-12-20T05:38:17.991-05:00Finally, Something American Muslims and Jews can agree on: Stop the Hatred and Bigotry … Stop Trump!<div class="MsoNormal">
Growing up in the US as a Muslim-American (not a term I had
even heard or ever identified with until recently, since I’m not particularly
religious – more on this in a later post), I had many Jewish-American friends
and colleagues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We usually got along
great, and this translated into my professional career in Silicon Valley as
well - at one point, for example, when I was running an outsourcing company with
an office in Pakistan, we did work for a company started by a Jewish American,
with an office in Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that sounds
like a recipe for disaster, it wasn’t - as everyone was professional and things
generally went well. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But like many American Muslims and Jews, I’ve found that
there is one area where we almost always tended to disagree - and that was
about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, namely, the policies of the Israeli
government, the responses of the various Palestinian factions, settlements, etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over time, the arguments about this intractable conflict,
with its long history and everyone on both sides insisting they are “right”,
went online and into social media. Just
as in the real world, I found that we rarely agreed on this issue either.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I was pleasantly surprised to find myself on the same
side of an argument with many of my Jewish friends recently, when I wrote about
my fears of the cheering white Christian crowds supporting Trump’s ideas of
racism and bigotry, and how it echoed Hitler’s rise to power and his party’s
de-humanizing of the German Jews. It is
my contention that this de-humanizing was a necessary step before an atrocity
like the Holocaust, or atrocities like slavery, genocide, ethnic cleansing can
occur.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Like some of my Jewish friends pointed out, the analogy
isn’t exact (i.e. Jews weren’t doing terrorist bombings in Germany, and no-one,
not even those of us invoking the Hitler analogy, <i>literally</i> expect anything as terrible as another Holocaust to occur
here in the US). Still, I was surprised
to find that many of my Muslim friends and many of my Jewish friends agreed and
shared the same concerns about the rise of Trump and more importantly, about
the unleashing of racism and bigotry that seemed to be simmering just below the
surface, and exploited by Trump, could be extremely dangerous.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wasn’t the only one who made this analogy - it’s become
more and more common over the last month. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, this echo
started well before the current rise of Trump campaign. Not only does it go back to his insistence
that Obama isn’t a ‘real’ American and wasn’t qualified to be President because
he wasn’t born in the US (even though no one doubts that he had a white
American mother and a foreign father, just like Ted Cruz, who also had a white
American mother and a foreign father, and who
was also not born in the US).
Though Trump led the birther movement against Obama, you don’t see him
or his supporters saying a word about Ted Cruz’s birth certificate. What’s the
difference between Obama and Cruz? Take a look.
Pretty clear that racism was playing a big role here.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>The echo got stronger with his sweeping anti-immigrant
comments earlier this year (using the crimes of some immigrants as an excuse to
generalize the hatred), and it really started to sting when he went against all
Muslims after the San Bernardino and Paris terrorist attacks. Each of these were making de-humanizing of an
ethnic minority “respectable” amongst a group of people in this country who
always had some racism under the surface.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>As I said, I’m not the only one making this analogy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, The New York Daily news put <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a cartoon of Trump chopping off the head of
the statue of liberty (see image <a href="https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/674399797860790272" target="_blank">here</a> ) while they and invoking a new version of a famous quote from German pastor<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Martin
Niemöller</span> who spent seven years in a concentration camp because
of his anti-Nazi veiws:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak
out --<br />
Because I was not a Socialist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak
out --<br />
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak
out --<br />
Because I was not a Jew.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left
to speak for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the Trump version, it was about Mexicans first and then
Muslims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who’s next?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Once a country goes down this path, things that seemed
unthinkable even a few years ago are given serious consideration, such as
labeling members of an entire ethnic group or an entire religion as
“undesirables” who need to prove themselves as patriots or “real Americans”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Dana Milbank, from the Washington Post, wrote a column
recently about the kind of racist and bigoted emails that Trump supporters have
been sending him ever since he pointed out that Trump was bigoted and a racist. “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-brings-bigots-out-of-hiding/2015/12/18/8a02e4ac-a587-11e5-9c4e-be37f66848bb_story.html" target="_blank">Trump brings bigots out of hiding</a>”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Dana Milbank isn’t Muslim.
He’s Jewish. But when you tell
people it’s OK to be hateful towards one religious or ethnic group, you pretty
much tell them it’s OK to be hateful towards any other religious group of
“foreigners”, even if they're American (because they're not "real" Americans according to the Trump supporter logic).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And once it becomes acceptable de-humanize an entire group
(ethnic, religious or otherwise), any law or behavior that an angry majority wants to impose on the minority is
acceptable and "lawful".</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>It took this country more than a hundred years AFTER the
civil war to get out of the hatred towards African Americans, and many of the
Jim Crow laws in the south weren’t just directed at blacks – “No Blacks and
Jews” was a very common sign. Why?
Because that’s what a vocal majority wanted.
The United States even turned away several ships of Jewish refugees form
Germany in the late 1930s and 1940s because of xenophobia against jews and fears of "German Inflitraters", similar to the Syrian refugee fears that Trump and others are fanning.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>A number of mainstream Jewish groups have condemned Trump’s
proposals. According to forward.com: “The
American Jewish Committee’s director of policy, Jason Isaacson, noted the
timing of Trump’s statement, which called for “a total and complete shutdown of
Muslims entering the United States,” coincident with the Jewish holiday of
Hanukkah.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As Jews who are now observing Hanukkah, a holiday that
celebrates a small religious minority’s right to live unmolested, we are deeply
disturbed by the nativist racism inherent in the candidate’s latest remarks,”
Isaacson said. “You don’t need to go back to the Hanukkah story to see the
horrific results of religious persecution; religious stereotyping of this sort
has been tried often, inevitably with disastrous results.” Read more <a href="http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/326331/jewish-groups-blast-donald-trump-plan-to-bar-muslims/#ixzz3uqsU0yGg" target="_blank">here</a> . </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Many in the world said, “Never Again”, after the extent of
the German atrocities towards Jews and other “undesirable” groups was
revealed. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not saying that Trump is
as bad as Hitler was, but I’m saying that he’s opening the doors to racial
hatred in a large group of angry people and making it OK to “de-humanize”
minority groups, which his supporters are doing in droves. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Social media is serving to fuel the fire amongst this angry but vocal group, and his supporters are putting out ever more demeaning and de-humanizing posts first
towards Hispanic immigrants and now towards Muslims and their faith. I’ve even had to turn off my social media
posts from many of my far-right friends because of so many hateful and racist
posts they were sharing. When I try to call them out on it – they get angry and
say “I’m not a racist – I’m sick of this crap.” I’ve got an idea – if you want to stop being
called a racist, stop putting racist and bigoted posts de-humanizing people
that don’t look or worship like you do!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Since we’re using a Nazi analogy, what do the Neo-Nazi and
white supremacist and openly anti-semitic groups think of Trump?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>These groups were already super-excited when Trump was going
after Hispanic immigrants, ranting about how Trump’s critics were, according to Stormfront
radio co-host Don Advo, “are people living
on the pieces of silver that they get from their Jewish paymasters so that they
can preside over our extermination, our disposition, and our ultimate
disappearance from the face of the earth.”.
Andrew Anglin, who edits the neo-Nazi website <i>The Daily Stormer,
</i>said that Trump’s opponents were simply
“Jewish groups are entirely obsessed with flooding America with brown
people.” Read more on <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/meet-the-prominent-white-nationalists-fired-up-to-support-do#.if6nMbnE6" target="_blank">buzzfeed</a>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once Trump announced his anti Muslim plan, the neo Nazis
went from simply excited to doing orgiastic somersaults. Anglin for example, wrote,
“Glorious Leader Calls for Complete Ban on All Moslems.” Read more here on the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-neo-nazi-support_56660b92e4b079b2818fcd36" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Really? Trump is now considered, at least in spirit, the Glorious Leader of the Neo Nazi White Supremicists? Need I go
on?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If ever there was a time for American Muslims and American
Jews to put aside their differences it is
now: Let’s band together to stop the
hate, and make sure this country, which we all love, doesn’t go down the
slippery slope that others have gone before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-23968576903181214382015-12-09T15:38:00.000-05:002015-12-09T15:38:30.844-05:00The Rise of Donald Trump and his Cheering Crowds — Where Have We Seen This Movie Before? <div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="266e" name="266e" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
When I heard the recent comments by Donald Trump about putting a religious ban on all muslims from entering the US, including American citizens, I was more than a little upset. Not least because I’m a Muslim American citizen who’s worried about my constitutional rights be taken away by cheering crowds of white Christians who know nothing about Islam or Muslims. But it was also because this whole pattern of Trump’s campaign seemed familiar, as if I had see this movie before.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="e7fc" name="e7fc" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
And I’m not just talking about the scene in Episode I of Star Wars where the senate elects a “strong leader” and gives him unlimited power to put down terrorist threats with force!</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="d4de" name="d4de" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
It wasn’t just what Trump said (which is bad enough) that seemed familiar. The really scary thing was the cheers that came from his mostly white supporters in the recent rally in South Carolina. And if that wasn’t enough, I am ashamed to say that a good number of people that are my “friends” with on social media actually have been supporting Trump’s statements, starting with attacks on Obama not being a real American, then towards Hispanic immigrants (as they are known in Trump-land “rapists and murderers”)and now towards Muslims (known in Trump-land as “terrorists”). The recent comments were part of a longer arc, and i’ve watched it not just with Trump but with social media posts recently including pictures of “burning” Korans and otherwise spewing hatred about “sending all Muslims back”. While most of the media condemned his plan, Fox news and certain other outlets were much more gentle towards it.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="3622" name="3622" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
So, I wondered — where have we seen this kind of thing before?? And what did it lead to?</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="aee0" name="aee0" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
There are of course many parallels in world history both here and abroad: ranging from Christians being discriminated by the Roman Empire, the most powerful empire of the day, for their faith, to the internment of US citizens of Japanese origin during World War II, or the “No Blacks or Jews allowed” signs across the south before desegregation. The Japanese internment was of course a moment of disgrace for the United States of America, which was echoed by George Takei recently, who was as child at the time his parents were unconstitutionally put into “camps”.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="e29e" name="e29e" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
But I think the most worrying example was this one:</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="a308" name="a308" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Let’s see, demagogic leader promises to make the country “great” again, and get back at those foreign and domestic elements that were “holding them down”.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="b680" name="b680" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
The leader demonizes an ethnic and religious minority as being the ones who are taking over their jobs and who aren’t “real” citizens. This results in large cheers from his primarily white supporters. Although no party wins a majority of the electorate, his party is in the lead, and he gets put into power.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="c5d3" name="c5d3" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
When a “terrorist” attack happens in the country, he suspends the constitutional rights of all of its citizens. Then he starts to seize and transport the demonized middle eastern minority “away” from their homes a move which “white” citizens generally support.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="5854" name="5854" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Now you might ask why would the electorate support this? Because they are sick and tired of this “ethnic minority”, and they have been indoctrinated in how superior their own culture is to the dirty, filthy minority that needs to be “taken care of”.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="5fa5" name="5fa5" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
While I am describing the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi’s in Germany in the 1930’s, this could just as well be a future history of the rise of Donald Trump and his racist and bigoted minority into power.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="ce8c" name="ce8c" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
When you speak about Hitler these days, it is so loaded that people will automatically dismiss you. Trump is nothing like Hitler, they will say. Jews are nothing like Muslims (or Mexican immigrants). And the USA is not a racist country like Germany was.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="d39c" name="d39c" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Really?</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="7b69" name="7b69" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Let’s see, Trumps’ recent anti-muslim remarks came after his announcement that the government should track “muslims” and have a database of them, which of course came after earlier remarks that Mexican immigrants should be deported — even if they are children that were born here and are natural born citizens.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="d2cd" name="d2cd" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Cue images of the a new Gestapo knocking on doors of Mexican famlies and taking children away from their parents because they didn’t have “proper” papers. Cue images. of rounding up families and putting them on boxcars to “ship them back” to where they belong.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="77a4" name="77a4" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Not enough? Let’s cue images of people being forced to wear arm-bands that show their religion, not unlike Jews who had to wear the Star of David identifying them as part of the “minority” that was out to destroy “pure” German society.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="bb3a" name="bb3a" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
When hatred is allowed not just to exist but supported and cheered by enough of the population — you are on a slippery slope. It starts with demonizing a minority, then enacting laws to make them second class citizens and limiting their ability to do things like practice their religion, and finally, leads to ways to “send them back” and “get rid of them”.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="7720" name="7720" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Don’t think it could happen here in the United States of America? Think again.</div>
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Discrimination and racial hatred is built into American History, and it was supported by some large segment of the population each time. This hearkens back to the killing of millions of Native Americans and holding of millions of Africans as slaves. All a candidate has to do is to touch that vein and ride it.</div>
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George Wallace, another person that you could compare Trump to, ran on a racist agenda and in 1968 got 10 million votes. This was a hundred years after the end of slavery and giving citizenship to African Americans. Lincoln had to send in troops to certain parts of America to get them to relinquish slavery, Kennedy had to send in troops just to get an African American to be able to attend university with white kids a 100 years later. How much would you want to bet that in another hundred years, in 2060, there won’t be some ethnic or religious minority here that is being demonized by the crisis or prejudices of the moment?</div>
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Remember Hitler wasn’t always a reviled figure. There were crowds of white Germans cheering, just like the white Americans we saw on TV cheering Mr. Trump as he talked about ripping up the constitution, denying rights based on a religious test. Hitler called Jews “filthy”. He promised to build up the military and make Germany great again (at least for the white Germans).</div>
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Whenever we say “never again”, somehow, some way, things seem to come back in circles. They say that when one ignores the lessons of history, you are bound to repeat them. Something tells me that if you question most Trump supporters at his rallies, they aren’t particularly good students of World History.</div>
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I’m not saying that Trump is as bad as the Hitler we know of in the history books. I’m saying he’s just like the Hitler that built support from the white majority in Germany by demonizing the minority to get power and promising to “make the country great again”, which is really a euphemism for “make our country white again”. It wasn’t until Hitler started to take advantage of “terrorist” attacks that he really started to build his support and implement his crazy policies, turning into the “Hitler” we know from the history books.</div>
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When many German Jews like Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard, both of whom played critical role in the development of atomic weapons, emigrated to America, they publicly wondered where they would go if the USA succumbed to the Nazis?</div>
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It took a while, but it seems like certain parts of America may be on the verge of succumbing to a Nazi like mentality — leaving first Hispanics and now Muslims wondering, what will happen to us if this guy gets elected?</div>
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And for any other group that is not white and Christian — African Americans, Jewish Americans, Asian Americans — don’t worry, once Trump’s cheering throngs are done with Mexicans and Muslims, they’ll turn their eyes somewhere else. After all, Hitler had a long list of “undesirables” in his book that he would get to.</div>
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God help us all if that happens.</div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-52588431500892322022015-03-14T04:18:00.001-04:002015-03-16T17:39:11.563-04:00Waking Up In the Middle of the Night - Stress Relief for Entrepreneurs: Watch Star Trek and do Yoga<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently, I was having lunch with an entrepreneur friend,
who was back in Silicon Valley from Russia, and we were discussing the recently
released Russian edition of my book, Zen Entrepreneurship, which he had seen
with its Russian title,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Biznes v poze
lotosa,</i> which<i> </i> translates roughly to “business in the lotus position”.</div>
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At some point in the conversation, he asked me what
techniques – meditation, Yoga or otherwise I might recommend for him, because
he found himself “waking up in the middle of the night” worrying about his
business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His business issues were even
making their way into his dreams, he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Was there some way to prevent this?</div>
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My first reaction was of recognition. This has happened to me often, and I’ve heard many other entrepreneurs say the same thing over the years. it occurred to me that this must be very common for most business owners — whether you’re self employed, running a small business, or running a startup that has raised millions of dollars.<br />
It is very hard to “disconnect” from the business, particularly during stressful times. In fact, it might be more surprising if you are running a startup and not worrying about the startup in the middle of the night. This article is about some of the causes and ways to deal with entrepreneurial stress, from both western and eastern perspectives.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The really hard thing about startups<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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I’ve often said that startups are hard, but this doesn’t mean that they are hard work. The thing that makes startups hard is not the amount of hours you have to put in — it’s that you really can’t avoid “taking your work” home with you.<br />
This seems to be true whether your startup is suffering from not having enough money (like many bootstrapped startups) or if you’ve raised millions of dollars in VC or angel funds. In the case of CEOs who have investors, there’s nothing like the sobering realization that they put all that money into you with a certain set of expectations, and those expectations are not being met (since most startups have over optimistic business plans, most startups don’t make their initial numbers).<br />
Even startups that succeed will often flail around for a while before they hit their second (or third) wind. It’s during times like these that stress that’s been building up little by little can suddenly start to feel like an un-liftable weight on your shoulders.<br />
This is compounded by what I call the “self-confidence problem”. Entrepreneurs tend to be people who believe in their own capabilities — and that might have been true in school, where how much they learned was usually a function of how many hours they put in, or even in their previous job, where they were evaluated for a promotion based on their own contributions in relation to other employees.<br />
If something requires hard work, figures the would-be entrepreneur, I can handle that. This usually leads to the belief that working harder can make you more successful. That might be true generally, but when it comes to startups in particular, while putting in long hours is usually necessary, it’s also not sufficient for success. The thing that can be frustrating for so many entrepreneurs is that, sometimes whether a startup succeeds or not is not always under their direct control.<br />
There are plenty of startups where the founders work their tails off, but that don’t make it. There are a million things that can go wrong — you could hit the market too early (or too late), funding which was easy to come by in a boom market suddenly dries up and you find your ship aground prematurely. On the flip side, I’ve seen successful entrepreneurs who had great successful exits because the market was hot, but whose companies would have otherwise failed as stand-alone entities had they come even a year earlier or a year later.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why Startups are Harder than MIT: What Could Go Wrong<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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To solidify this point, I’d say that I worked much harder in terms of number of hours spent when I was a student at MIT than I did at most of my startups. Pulling all nighters, usually because a problems set was due the next morning, or cramming for exams, was common-place. The thing is, even though I was working hard, I don’t think I was ever as stressed out at MIT as I have been in my various startups. OK, I might not always have gotten straight A’s, but I knew that as long as I put in the time, I could get a decent grade.<br />
In a startup, rarely is the result a simple matter of how hard you work (or surprisingly, how much money you spend). Things always have a way of going differently than you expect. If you are the founder/CEO this usually means you’re waking up int he middle of the night worried about some thing or another that either has gone wrong, or could go wrong<br />
What could go wrong? Plenty.<br />
Your first major customer cancels an order. The round of funding you were counting on doesn’t come through. Apple (or Facebook or Google) kicks you out of the app store, which was responsible for 100% of your sales. A co-founder has already vested their stock and suddenly quits. A recently hired, much anticipated, star hire isn’t what you expected, or maybe a long-time super-valuable employee decides to leave for a competitor. You miss your projections, not by a little bit, but by more than a million dollars! Or maybe, a recently-fired employee sneaks into your office and steals your laptop, a fact you only know because the police came in and got the surveillance footage from your landlord, and you have to decide whether to press charges.<br />
Yes all of those things have happened. And that’s just in startups that I have <i>personally</i> been involved with. I’m sure there’s a whole world of startups out there with problems that I’ve never encountered.<br />
Whew! No wonder it’s hard not to be stressed out as an entrepreneur.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brad Feld’s First Rule: You aren’t alone.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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I was recently interviewing well known entrepreneur-turned
VC Brad Feld for my upcoming book, Startup Myths, and I asked him what advice
he’d have for entrepreneurs going through stressful times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His first piece of advice was to remember
that you are not alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many, many
people are going through the same thing with their startups, though they are
not out talking about it.</div>
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Brad was one of the first in the startup/VC community to
talk about depression and the role it’s played in his career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen that many entrepreneurs may find
themselves sliding into “mini-depressions” when they’re trudging along and come
across intractable problems that they just can’t or don’t want to deal with
anymore. (if you haven’t read his blog, it’s at <a href="http://www.feldthoughts.com/">www.feld.com</a> and worth a read).</div>
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Remembering you are not alone is a great first step.<br />
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This reminded me that when I was doing my very first startup in Cambridge, MA, we had a local group of CEOs of local startups that met every so often — I think it was once a month or so. I used to joke that this was “my CEO therapy” group.<br />
The thing was, being able to talk about the things that were going wrong with a group of people who understand and are going through similar things can be therapeutic in and of itself.<br />
I have to admit, sometimes I would come away feeling much better about my current crisis because someone in the group inevitably would be going through something much worse. For example, I remember once I worried about only have runway for a few months of salary left, when I realized that one of the other members of the group didn’t have enough money to make payroll this month!<br />
This wasn’t some startup version of schadenfreude– rather it was the first step to putting things in perspective, which can lead to taking your own problems in stride and realizing that rarely is it “the end of the world”, even if it seems like it right now.<br />
If you don’t have a support group like this, informally or formally, it might be worth looking into joining or creating one. I’m on my fifth startup, and you’d think by now I wouldn’t need other entrepreneurs who are going through similar things to commiserate with. You’d be wrong.<br />
Can’t you just talk to you co founders, investors, or advisors?<br />
Yes and no. I’ve found that even though investors, advisors, and co-founders can be sympathetic, they often don’t understand the stress that a founder/CEO is going through at the moment. Sometimes the thing that you really need to vent or complain about, the thing that’s causing you all this stress, is your investors, your advisor, or even your co-founder!</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Western perspectives and Physiological effects of Stress<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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When I started to think about techniques that could help my Russian friend, I realized that we all have very different ways of getting and dealing with stress. Exercise, everyone will tell you, almost always helps with stress. I agree, but by itself it may not be enough.<br />
There’s a good explanation of the western chemical viewpoint of momentary, flight or fight stress vs. the kind of chronic stress that entrepreneurs live with, in another article I read recently by entrepreneur Hana Abaza (https://medium.com/@HanaAbaza/stress-startups-and-survival-94c48ec921f2).<br />
Since the human body is designed to deal with a stressful situation like a saber-tooth tiger, the chemicals that the body secretes during stressful times are meant to last as long as the “flight or fight” response lasts. Either you get away and survive or you stay and fight the tiger.<br />
Abaza stresses that being in charge of a startup is more like “chronic” stress, and the physiological issues that it can cause. Coincidentally, she also talks about waking up in the middle of the night during her own startup experience 3 or 4 times a week.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Yogic View of Stress<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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Being a mystical as well as practical kind of guy, I believe it’s worth looking beyond just the chemicals to see how we get stressed out and what happens in our mind, body and our energy fields.<br />
It’s pretty easy to see that each person is different and holds their stress differently, resulting in different physiological symptoms. Two people going through the same situation have a very different reaction to how “stressed out” they are.<br />
As an example, I mentioned that I wasn’t really that stressed out at MIT as a student, but some other students took it very differently. Suddenly, not being the smartest person in the room hit at the very core of the valedictorian personality they’d built up over their entire lives up to that point — and this caused more than its fair share of angst, depression and worse.<br />
Wilhelm Reich, who along with Carl Jung was one of Freud’s most esteemed disciples, believed that we hold accumulated stress in the fascia — the connective tissues in between our muscles and our bones. He came up with a therapy that involved learning to breathe as a way to “release” this accumulated stress, which had dramatic physiological results in many of his patients, and many consider him the the grandfather of body-oriented psychotherapy.<br />
Surprisingly, this view coincides very well with the Yogic/Eastern view. From a Yogic point of view, this has to do with our individual personalities, our habitual thought-forms, our karmic tendencies. As we build up stress, we create and hold onto little deformations into our energy fields, called samskaras, which accumulate around our body in previously transparent sheaths called khosas.<br />
Finding ways to relieve that psychological/energetic holding not only reduces stress, it lets go of some of the karmic traces we’ve accumulated, clearing up our energy field and our ability to see the situation clearly. I like to use the analogy of a muddy windshield — it blocks your view of what’s really happening. The clearer it gets, the more easily you can see what’s happening around you, and your role in it, and sometimes that’s enough to give us the perspective to get un-stressed.<br />
In the Buddhist point of view, the ability to let go of all that is locked up in our minds (and by extension our bodies) is what eventually leads to enlightenment.<br />
These samskaras are caused by our “grasping” and “aversion” — reactions we have to the situations we find ourselves in. As we hold these thoughts in both our mind and bodies, we have muddied up our system, leading to a lack of sleep and even dreaming about our problems. One reason we use the term “sleep like a baby”, is that babies haven’t accumulated enough “stress” or “samskaras” to disturb their sleep (at least in this lifetime).<br />
In Tibetan Buddhist traditions, there are two kinds of karma: the “big karma” which might involve bad deeds like killing someone or cheating someone, and “little karma”, which are things that have made their way into our minds which we have a had a strong reaction to — exactly what causes the samskaras in Yogic traditions.<br />
To resolve the “big karma” might require lifetimes of work. However, it’s the little “karmic traces” make their way into our dreams, particularly the ones that seem to be regurgitating things we had been worried about all day. So how do you release some of these karmic traces and reduce some of the stress?</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Some Tips and Techniques From My Own Experience<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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My own personal mantra when I am stressed out in a startup
is “Watch Star Trek, Walk by the Bay, and Do Yoga”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These aren’t meant to be actual techniques
(you might hate Star Trek, not live near the Bay, and find Yoga to be
ridiculous), but rather three different ways that I approach dealing with
stress.</div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Taking walks in Nature.</i></b></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i> </i></b> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There’s a little park in Mountain View, just
down the road from my office, and only yards away from Google, that always
helps me to deal with stressful situations.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It’s called Shoreline and there are paths that are near the San
Francisco Bay, and when I’m walking I can see the mountains to the west (green,
tree covered), the water of the bay, and the mountains to the east (which look
more like the desert).</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There is also a
nice breeze coming in from the bay (OK it’s not always nice- sometimes it
stinks lol).</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The thing is, there’s something about gazing
at mountains and feeling a breeze going through your body and energy field that
has the effect of “loosening up” the things that you are holding – mentally,
emotionally, and in your body.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">What I’ve
noticed is that even if I’m holding a lot of stuff in at the beginning of the
walk, by the end my body is more relaxed and I’ve let go of some of the things
that are bothering me.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">You can find a
place like this in your neighborhood.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Watching Star Trek.</i></b></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">This usually gets a laugh when I tell people about
it.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The truth is, that</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I find we all have certain types of fiction
that not only “take us away” from where we are, but somehow feed our soul.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">For me it’s usually certain kinds of science
fiction or fantasy.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">For you it may be
Sex and the City or Reality TV!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Well
maybe not Reality TV, but you get the general idea.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Find something that you can watch that “feeds
your soul”.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">For me, watching Star Trek
brings back memories of childhood and anticipation of great things in the
future, and somehow links to something deep in my soul – maybe because I’m an
explorer at heart.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Whatever it is, take
an hour every day to watch an episode of a TV show that does it for you or read
something that takes you into this kind of feeling.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Doing Yoga.</i></b></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i> </i></b>
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I’ve already mentioned Yoga. In fact, the original point of Yoga was to
start to dissolve some of the <i>samskaras</i> that we are holding. Too often, in the
west, Yoga and exercise are considered the same thing.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I had one Yoga teacher tell me that I'd probably be sore the next day. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">She was right. I was not only sore the whole
next day, which might work for some people, but didn’t work for me- that's not the kind of Yoga that helps me to release stress. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The key is to find Yoga which an allow you to
do stretching and to release, a kind of meditation for the body which allows
you to gently release the <i>samskaras</i> building up in your body and mind and
energy field.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">You’re not training to be
a boxer or a weightlifter or a football player!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If your Yoga isn’t doing it for you, I’d be happy to recommend some DVDs
or books that have the kind of Yoga.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Meditation.</i></b></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There are many studies showing that regular meditation has health
benefits and leads to stress relief.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There are many different techniques of meditation, but at the heart you
are trying to calm the mind and the tumultuous thoughts that we are all caught
in the middle of. I think of us as one of those snow-globes that has been
shaken up, thoughts are flying every which way and it’s difficult to see. A short
meditation can do wonders for letting the snow settle down and get a clear view of what's happening. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Use Your Work As Meditation.</i></b></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Being mindful at work can have wonders for
not only your concentration but on your level of stress. Rather than worrying
about “making payroll next month” (which may be a real problem that you have to
deal with), when you are writing some code or doing a spreadsheet or having a
meeting, focus your mind and attention on the task at hand.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">I call this “using your work as
meditation”.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Your mind will inevitably
wander.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">You bring it back. This is just
like meditating but it is more about keeping your mind on what you are
doing.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If you do this right, you won’t
be thinking about the million things that “could go wrong” if your startup runs
out of money next month.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">You’ll be
thinking about whatever task you are focused on.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-stretch: normal;"><span style="font-family: Symbol;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Breathing exercises.</i></b></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i> </i></b> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There are many breathing exercises that can
help you to release that which we are holding – i.e. that which is causing us
stress.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If you are finding yourself unable
to sleep, doing a slow breathing exercise is a great way to get back to sleep –
almost any rhythmical breathing exercise can work.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Here’s a simple one I learned recently:</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">breath in fully (even to places that you
don’t normally breath into) expanding your lungs as much as you can, then
breathe out fully, much longer than you normally would.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Repeat 10 times.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">After 10 times, hold your breath for 20
seconds.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Then start the 10 breath cycle
again. If you’re like me, somewhere in the 10 breaths, you’ll lose count of
which breath you are on and end up asleep.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There are of course many different types of breathing exercises – breath
of fire (not recommended for falling asleep), alternate nostril breathing, etc.</span></li>
<li> <i><b>Get a Massage.</b></i> Since stress is being held in the body, it's amazing how great you can feel after having some body work done. This doesn't make your stress go away, but it does let you realize that there's something beyond the stress, so that when you start to feel it again, it ends up being a little less "all-encompassing". </li>
</ul>
<br />
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From an eastern point of view, stress isn’t purely a
chemical thing, it is the result of our thoughts, emotions, and new “reactions”
adding onto the accumulation of <i>samskaras</i> we have in the past (our “karmic
traces”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes I like to think of being an entrepreneur as karma+
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>plan - i.e. we are accelerating our
reactions and building up karmic traces with every stressful situation and our
reactions to it, which is why we so often end up dreaming about our business
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This</span> is why I believe entrepreneurs
need techniques like Yoga and meditation even more than most people, because
the stress that builds up <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can make our
lives hell and being off your game can have much more immediate consequences for an entrepreneur who's running a startup.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, the next time you find yourself stressed out, take a deep breath. Remember you are not alone, and there are other startup CEOs going through what you’re going through. Then, do your own version of my personal mantra: Take a walk by the bay, watch Star Trek, or do Yoga!</div>
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Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-78732104976420430042015-02-01T22:22:00.001-05:002015-02-01T22:23:32.571-05:00Johnny Depp, the Mortdecai flop, and Power of Expectations for entrepreneurs and indie film-makers <div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve written in the past about how <a href="http://zenentrepreneur.blogspot.com/2012/04/angel-investing-top-5-reasons-why-indie.html" target="_blank">investing in indie filmsis like investing in startups</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although
there are also many differences between indie films and startups, today I’d
like to further that analogy by using a very recently released film and its not
so spectacular success.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although most of the buzz in the film industry thus far in
2015 has been about the success (and controversy surrounding) American Sniper,
an equal amount of anti-buzz is being generated inside the industry about
Mortdecai, Johnny Depp’s latest big feature. In this, I thought there was an important
lesson for indie film-makers (and perhaps some startups entrepreneurs too)
about expectations and setting yourself up for failure or success.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The reviews are in
and Mortdecai, is already being called “one of the worst films of 2015” (quite an achievement since we are only 30 days into the new year), and
simply “mortifying”. One article in particular caught my eye, <a href="http://theweek.com/articles/535868/anatomy-flop-horribly-misguided-movie-like-mortdecai-made-into-theaters" target="_blank">“The Anatomy of a Flop”</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Production budget estimates range from $40
million to $60 million; while that’s not astronomical in the world of Hollywood
movies, given that the first weekend gross for the film was only $4 million,
it’s pretty hard to see how Lion’s Gate will make a profit on this film.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The funny thing is, I recall being approached over a year
ago to invest in this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A friend in
the indie film financing contacted me and asked, “ would you be
interested in investing in Johnny Depp’s latest film?” If memory serves, they were hoping to raise the final $10 million or so for finishing the film from outside sources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a very big fan of Depp, I said I wanted more details. I never got many more details beyond the fact that it
was called “Mordecai”, Gwyneth Paltrow was co-starring, and they thought it was
going to be a big hit!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfq5W66mRhFj3X60D4RHwoazQGH-D9JDtOEKmfsktSz2PjTqPnE-ltUXCwbM8npu9ieXnvLBZ_yGBococnczsxdI601ILQtYfaMgr65gmwI5g4URChilmXE_085YY9ozX9YDQ/s1600/Mortdecai_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJfq5W66mRhFj3X60D4RHwoazQGH-D9JDtOEKmfsktSz2PjTqPnE-ltUXCwbM8npu9ieXnvLBZ_yGBococnczsxdI601ILQtYfaMgr65gmwI5g4URChilmXE_085YY9ozX9YDQ/s1600/Mortdecai_poster.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My first hesitation was that I was being approached at all
to help provide “finishing funds” for a film that was funded by a major
Hollywood studios and starred A-level actors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If there's one thing that Hollywood studios have access to – it’s
money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why was I, who usually invested
in and made very low budget indie films, even being asked? It was a red flag, but not a deal killer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The second red flag occurred when I dug in more to find out
what the film was about. I didn’t see the wide appeal of the movie or it being the best vehicle for Depp’s eccentric acting. "But it’s Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow!" repeated my friend enthusiastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
far as I could tell, this seemed to be the only reason to invest in the movie. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I politely declined, since the movie wasn’t really my cup of
tea personally, and I felt weird being a very small investor in such a big
Hollywood production. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had learned that Mortdecai was based on a set of cult
novels from the seventies about an eccentric/rogue art dealer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I like cult novels in general, I
couldn’t see how I, as an individual investor, could possibly make money from
such an expensive production (by most indie film standards, spending $60
million is like renting out Versailles for a full year just to have
accommodations for a weekend trip to Paris).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moreover, given my recent experience with Hollywood accounting and
distributors (which I’ll write more about another time), I realized the only
way an indie investor would see even a dime would be if the film was a huge,
huge hit (of which I was doubtful).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the trailer and TV spots began to appear last year, I
recognized the project, and though I’m a big fan of Johnny Depp and Gwyneth
Paltrow (two of my favorite movies of all time are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ed Wood</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sliding Doors</i>),
the trailers were terrible enough for me to say pretty confidently that I
didn’t even want to bother seeing it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It kind of reminded me of another Depp outing that involved
some kind of spying opposite another Hollywood leading lady: The Tourist, where
Depp played opposite Angelina Jolie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That movie, even though it was a financial success, was forgettable
enough (and in my opinion terrible enough) that I can’t even tell you what it
was about even though I went to the theater and sat through the whole film! If
I strain my memory, I can vaguely remember something about sitting on a train
with Jolie in Europe, and Johnny Depp walking on the roof in his pajamas –
that’s about it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh wait – there was a
surprise ending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or was there? Honestly
it was forgettable enough that I can’t really tell you how it ended.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Tyranny of Expectations<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I bring up this experience not to say “look how smart I was
not to invest in this project” (any VC or angel investor in Silicon Valley
worth his salt has invested in enough bombs, and passed up on enough hits to
know that it’s not entirely a predictable thing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor is my point here about how terrible the
film has turned out - in fact, there are probably a modest number of people who
enjoyed the movie and it’s quirkiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, the fact that Mortdecai is now being
called “one of the worst films of the year” made me more likely to go see it (perhaps
in tribute to Depp’s great performance as Ed Wood, who was voted the worst
filmmaker of all time!)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My point is actually a different one altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that this film, based on an obscure
set of cult novels, was brought to mass market by a major studio spending $60
million dollars set up a certain set of expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who has seen the previews and TV ads
knows that Lion’s Gate must have spent a lot more on marketing – perhaps in the
tens of millions – which means that to just break even the film would have to
do well over $100 million! (not even counting exhibitor fees, distributor's fees, etc.).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even for a passion project of Depp’s (since it was revealed
that he was the driving force between bringing this one to market), it was
marketed to the masses and released on thousands of screens because that’s the
only way for it to match those lofty expectations. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the blockbuster formula used in
Hollywood again and again – get the big stars, pay them a lot, market the hell
out of the film with tens of millions more in TV marketing – and release it on
as many screens as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I want you to consider an alternate scenario:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what if Mortdecai had been brought out on a
very small indie film budget, which is what happens to a lot of passion
projects?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suppose, like most indie film-makers the film had been made
for a few million dollars?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK Depp
wouldn’t have been able to afford to hire Paltrow or Ewan MacGregor, or even
pay himself a multi-million dollar salary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Suppose also that the film had done $4 million in total box office,
bringing out fans of the novels and some subset of fans of Johnny Depp?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The film, even if it was as terrible as it is now, would be
a financial success and not, as many industry insiders are calling it now,
“Johnny Depp’s fifth flop in a row!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
point about this film (and many others) is that perhaps the film might have
done better with lower expectations and found a niche audience of people who
are into these kinds of movies?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now I’ve never met Johnny Depp personally, so have no idea
if he would do a film without his usual multi-million dollar payday, but the
point is that there are some films that are never going to be “mass market”
films. This is why there’s an “indie” film industry – for financing those
passion projects that may not appeal to “mass audiences”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve seen the same phenomenon in the software industry in
Silicon Valley, where investors pump millions of dollars behind teams that try
to grow their initial small product idea into a big company very fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of these efforts fail, partly because of
the amount of money they spend trying to “get there”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not the investors who are to blame, it’s also the
entrepreneurs who eagerly go out and try to raise millions of dollars to become
the next “big thing”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many startup product ideas which would work great
if treated as a small, bootstrapped company; but, when they are treated as if
they could be the next Uber or Twitter or Facebook, they ultimately fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By raising a lot of money in the startup
world, you eventually end up spending it, and if the product hasn’t met the
lofty expectations that you set when raising money, you’re suddenly out of
money and the company dies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moreover, because you raised VC money, you tend to have
hired a very expensive team of VP’s and other key personnel to bring the
product to market, who aren’t going to stick around when the money runs
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hell, the founders have little incentive to stick around
when the money runs out because of the way that VC deals are structured – they
get their money out first, and unless the company/product is a stellar success,
there’s no way that the founders are going to have it be a financial success.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These VC-backed companies, like Mortdecai, I would argue,
are a victim of their own expectations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In many ways, when you raise money for your startup or for
your film, by setting a certain budget, you are implicitly (or explicitly)
creating a set of expectations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If I asked you to jump over a bar, and gave you the option
of how high the “bar” should be set that you have to jump over, what would you
say? If you wanted to be sure you would jump over it, you’d probably say to
keep the bar pretty low and would easily step over it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However, as a startup founder or film-maker, when you raise
money, you are basically being asked how “high” a bar would you like to set for
yourself and your project? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Inevitably, most entrepreneurs and indie filmmakers will set
the bar as high as possible and try to raise as much money as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most indie filmmakers would love to get a $40
million budget for their adaption of an obscure set of cult novels into
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, most entrepreneurs
would love to raise $5 or $10 million or more in their series A financing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In both cases, you’re creating a set of expectations for how
well your film (or startup) will need to meet in order to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not be considered a “flop”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, Mr. Indie Film-maker, and Mr. Entrepreneur, ask yourself
for your next project, how high do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>
want the bar to be set?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-29667219217831192212014-12-22T20:18:00.001-05:002014-12-22T20:31:59.623-05:00The Hobbit and Silicon Valley: Beware of VCs who get Dragon Sickness<div class="MsoNormal">
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I recently watched part 3 of the Hobbit, the final portion
of Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Tolkien’s beloved book. While there are
many aspects of the Hobbit I could write about (it's one of my favorite books of all time), I’d like to explore one that
caught my eye and applies particularly in Startup-Land: Dragon Sickness.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzx9DOoUfI1A0xqr2OowwTLlKJFBj0FGLFvBdo7fncBKyWZYQFWC3RMN3f58W2rYqIK989qDlLDSZd1SEh_e6d9eEOv1VMigt2woOO_B6efGVLLKk4uuSY7LJnZSI9EL2laGQ/s1600/the-hobbit-smaug.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzx9DOoUfI1A0xqr2OowwTLlKJFBj0FGLFvBdo7fncBKyWZYQFWC3RMN3f58W2rYqIK989qDlLDSZd1SEh_e6d9eEOv1VMigt2woOO_B6efGVLLKk4uuSY7LJnZSI9EL2laGQ/s1600/the-hobbit-smaug.jpeg" height="135" width="320" /></a></div>
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I’ve often compared embarking on a startup journey to be a
mythical adventure, not unlike those of Bilbo Baggins and his dwarvish
companions. Though startup adventures usually last longer than Bilbo’s journey
(which was a mere 13 months!), there are a lot of valid comparisons to be
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like many mythical adventures,
startup journeys are fraught with peril; each twist and turn can have life-changing
implications; they bring out odd traveling companions and bedfellows (not to
mention enemies and advisors); and there is often a seemingly unattainable
golden treasure somewhere near the end of the quest!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More importantly, startup adventures can push
you out of your comfort zone, and as Bilbo so aptly complains in an earlier part
of the Hobbit, adventures can “make you late for dinner”!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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In a previous entry, <a href="http://zenentrepreneur.blogspot.com/2013/12/gandalf-venture-capitalist-perfect.html" target="_blank">Gandalf the Venture Capitalist</a>, I focused on some of
the positive aspects of having an investor/advisor who is wise like Gandalf
with you on your journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having the
right investors, particularly those who have personal qualities like Gandalf
can be very helpful on the startup journey, and get you out of many a scrape.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this entry, I’d like to explore the opposite: when an
investor turns out to be someone who’s extremely selfish, difficult to work
with, valuing money above all else, and causes great difficulty on the startup journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While
you can easily get rid of an unhelpful advisor or employee, it’s not so easy to get rid of
an unhelpful investor, particularly if they are a VC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, many investments in Silicon Valley
begin with convertible notes, which have their own special characteristics and
once you’ve entered into them with an investor, you may be stuck with that
investor until the end of the journey.</div>
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Believe it or not, I’ve seen investors (VCs) in Silicon Valley
contract something that looks a lot like the “Dragon Sickness” in the recent
film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the film, the leader of the
company of dwarves that Bilbo is traveling with, Thorin Oakenshield, falls
prey to this sickness when the company finally achieves the quest they set out
on: to reclaim their homeland in the Lonely Mountain, and more importantly the gold
and jewels that it contains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their main
obstacle is of course, the Dragon Smaug, who is a selfish but formidable figure
and who has claimed the treasure for his own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Thorin finally achieves the Quest, in many ways because
of the contributions of others (Bard from Laketown actually kills the dragon,
and Bilbo Baggins rescues and saves the life of Thorin and the company more
than once!), he starts to see things differently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He starts to see himself as “entitled” to the
gold, and won’t part with any of the treasure, in the process, forgetting every
promise he had ever made to people along the way.</div>
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It’s called “Dragon Sickness” because, as Bilbo tells us in the
prologue, “…for dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire …” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it leads to a certain kind of
self-centered madness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the first the
dragon say and later Thorin finds himself echoing: “I will not part with a single gold coin.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It's usually typified by someone whose only goal is to “possess as much
of the treasure as possible” without any context or caring how their
relationship with others are impacted can fall pray to this sickness, just as
Thorin does when he finally takes over the gold. In Thorin's case, it was his relationship with his companions, the residents of Lake-town, and even the elves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s summarize revisit what happened to Thorin and see if this might
apply to anyone we know in Silicon Valley:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Achieve a treasure, largely through the efforts of others, claim as much
of it for yourself as possible, and refuse to give up any part of it, ignoring
previous agreements about sharing.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While some entrepreneurs definitely fall prey to dragon sickness themselves (I may do another entry on this another time), I personally have seen it more with investors in Silicon Valley than in founders. They often forget whatever agreements were made in the past and decide to find a way to maximize their “take” right at the end. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since I moved to Silicon Valley in 2007, I have seen this first-hand
several times, usually when a company is about to be sold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had VCs say they want more of the gold
than they are currently entitled to and want the founders to take less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, they don’t say it that way, like a sneaky, experienced dragon they speak in sweet tones and make it
seem like what they’re proposing is “the right thing to do” even though it
benefits just them and hurts others.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moreover, while a company is not a zero sum game at the
beginning, when a purchase price has been negotiated to sell a company, it does
suddenly become a zero sum game – i.e. each dollar that goes to someone else,
doesn’t go to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They often, though not always, imply that they won’t go
along with the sale unless they are "satisfied".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, many investors
have vetoes over selling the company, and while VCs don’t like to use vetoes
explicitly, investors can cause plenty of harm when a sale is happening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is doubly true if the company is being
sold, or even if the company is not doing well and is about to run out of
money, and needs to raise money quickly at whatever valuation it can get.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had one entrepreneur tell me that he thought that what the
VC was doing was basically extortion. While I wouldn’t call it that, I would
say that someone whose only desire is “purely financial” or "purely transactional" will
do whatever they can to make sure they get “as much gold as possible”, no
matter what.</div>
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There are of course many ways that a bad investor can be
destructive to a startup, but this is one of the most frustrating ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a serpent that you've let into your house, which
starts to eat the company and the team from the inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This usually happens in two instances: when
the company is doing really well financially (and everyone is getting greedy),
and when the company is not doing well and the company needs to either do a
fire-sale or raise money quickly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is why it’s important for entrepreneurs to vet
investors in the same way that VCs vet entrepreneurs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many entrepreneurs are so happy to be getting
“money” that they don’t consider the ramifications of who they’re bringing into
their adventure.</div>
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I’ve often said that it’s pretty easy to tell if a co-founder that you don’t know well is easy to work with in a place like Silicon
Valley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because people here usually
start multiple companies, you just see if that person’s co-founders started
another company with them. If they did, then that person is probably relatively
easy to work with (or at least acts reasonably when things get tough).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, if their
co-founders didn’t start another company with them, it doesn’t absolutely mean
they are hard to work with, but it’s a pretty good indication.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Similarly, you can do the same kind of research on VCs by interviewing
founders of companies they have invested in before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, you have to interview more than
one – preferably one whose company was financially successful and one whose
company failed – you will probably learn much more about the investor from the
failed company than you will from the successful one! Each situation provides a
ripe environment for the dragon to come out, even when they seem entirely
reasonable and on your side when you’re getting your financing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, how can you spot an investor who’s likely to fall prey
to “Dragon Sickness” well before you get to these stages?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not easy, but here are things to look
for in both your own company and others founders experience with investors.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Look
for investors who are looking for an advantage over everyone else.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> I’ve
seen some investors who not only want to invest, but they want a better deal
than the other investors they are investing alongside them. Now, don’t get me wrong, if an investor is
doing services for you beyond just the money, it might make sense to give them
more (perhaps warrants or just pay them for their services). But when an investor, at each juncture, co
investing with others, tries to get advantages over the other investors in his
round, asking for rights they don’t have, that’s a sure sign that they may turn
out to be slimy when push comes to server.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> <b><i>Every discussion is like a zero-sum game. </i></b> When startups first get going, they are not a zero sum game. That's why it makes sense to take investors in the first place, by giving up shares of the company, you are theoretically expanding the pie for everyone. When every part of the negotiation to do a deal feels like they are playing a zero sum game - not willing to give in to anything, you're starting to see their personality seep out. If they are like this when there's plenty for everyone, what will they act like upon a sale of the company, where it really does start to look like a zero-sum game?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Doing
what’s right for them vs. what’s right for the company.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> I’ve
seen many investors push companies to do deals that are right for them but not
right for the company. On the flipside,
I think having board members who are on other boards in the same industry can
be extremely helpful, but the key is whether they “insist” on doing things
their way even if it doesn’t make sense from the founders and other investors
perspective. It’s more about the way
they do this – again speaking in sweet tongues and making it seem like
something is “best” for the company when it’s actually “best” for them.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Not
Participating.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If a VC Fund puts
in money at the beginning, or while the company is doing well, but are
unwilling to support the company in any way financially when the company is not
doing well, this is a sure sign that they will be a tough investor to work with
and will try to manipulate events so that they get “more out” than their fair
share by withholding consent. Like a "fair-weather" friend, the a "fair-weather investor is the worst kind to have. Now, VCs have obligations to their general and limited partners, so they can't always put in more money when they personally want to without their partners consent. But any serious VC Fund, which has set aside money for follow ons, should be willing to put in their pro-rata into subsequent rounds, even if they aren't investing a lot. When VCs don't do this, it scares off new investors and actually <i>hurts the company's chances of raising more money. </i>The new investors start to think, there must be something seriously wrong with the company.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Beware of well-known investors with big egos.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sometimes, an investor, because of their firm
or reputation is known as a "big wig" and has developed a big ego. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> There’s of course nothing wrong with bringing
in well-known investors, it is often a benefit to your company, but sometimes
their reputation and how much money they’ve made in the past belie the
specifics of how they acted behind closed doors. Most hollywood stars, for example, are nothing like their public personas in private. Many comedians aren't funny and many super-likable TV stars are not really nice guys behind the scenes. The same is true with VCs.</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the film the Hobbit, to help break through Thorin’s
<i>Dragon Sickness</i>, Bilbo, the "junior member" of the company, does something to try to get Thorin to do what’s right for the Quest
and to others that Thorin had made promises to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He willfully gives up most of his share of the treasure!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve often had investors ask founders to take less than
their percentage of the company so that they could have “more”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually this comes out of pure greed, which
is pretty common in Silicon Valley investors (and even in some entrepreneurs).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it also comes from ego, which is
sometimes even more common.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Luckily, I and other entrepreneurs have seen situations
where, like Bilbo, some founders are willing to give up a chunk of their piece
of the treasure upon a sale, in order to make rogue investor or founder to go
along with a sale that the founders wanted to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> They are doing it not as a reward to the investor, but for the greater good - they want a deal to get done and no longer want to work with the investor inflected with dragon-sickness, so they're willing to give up something to make it happen. This isn't necessarily a sign of weakness (though dragon-sickness infected people might think so) - it's being practical and thinking of others as much as yourself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, when talking to investors, do your own due diligence on them. Find founders of companies
that they do not recommend you talk to, you can usually get to them through friends
of friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The real question you need to ask yourself is: are you
getting a Gandalf, or are you inviting Dragon Sickness into your little
startup?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had both, and it’s much
more fun to have Gandalf!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-89730210430388260922014-08-06T03:29:00.000-04:002014-08-06T15:50:19.730-04:00My very first Star Trek convention: It wasn’t what I expected, but it sure was fun!<div class="graf--p" name="1d0a">
I recently attended my very first Star Trek convention in Las Vegas. Though I had some professional reasons to be in Vegas, it was a thrill to experience it as a long time Star Trek nerd. </div>
<div class="graf--p" name="cae5">
Not having been to one of these before, I really didn’t know what to expect, expect for the stereotypes I’d gotten from those making fun of Trekkies (or Trekkers, as they prefer to be called), and many of my preconceptions turned out to be wrong! </div>
<div class="graf--p" name="cae5">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQJljFXtOl4SJM67V6qmf2bN2LgRlQGajZMD2t2c_3bdpAarTILivVtZP_tg_WbJFMNvbJ87SwzHv3btR7SoARGY6KvCYE5iVTAfCaD5P43V5ErDo4N14XUp-5mCZKXk1GqYB/s1600/IMG_0808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQJljFXtOl4SJM67V6qmf2bN2LgRlQGajZMD2t2c_3bdpAarTILivVtZP_tg_WbJFMNvbJ87SwzHv3btR7SoARGY6KvCYE5iVTAfCaD5P43V5ErDo4N14XUp-5mCZKXk1GqYB/s1600/IMG_0808.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="cae5">
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<div class="graf--p" name="d3a1">
Here’s what I found:</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0a43">
<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em"><br /></em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0a43">
<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Trekkers are nice and polite. </em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0a43">
I personally found it thrilling to be around people who were into Star Trek as much as me (in fact, I’d say most of them were into it <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">way more </em>than me, which is saying a lot). I’d also say that about 70% of the people I talked to had been to a Star Trek con before, and each had advice about what to do and what to take in. The much smaller contingent of first time convention goers like me were a little overwhelmed.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="939d">
One guy, who had flown up from Austin, remarked how polite people were at the convention, compared to other types of conventions he’d been to. He wondered if it had to do with the Star Trek themes of inclusiveness and respect for others – whether it was other creed or colors or planets or species. Not may non-fans know this, but Star Trek was groundbreaking in the sixties partly because of the diversity of its bridge crew – from a black woman to a Russian (trivia fact: Star Trek featured the very first black/white kiss on TV in history, and as a result was blacked out in many states in the South).</div>
<div class="graf--p graf--empty" name="c488">
I don’t know if it was related to Star Trek philosophy or not, but everyone <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">was </em>friendly and polite. There just weren’t as many jerks (male or female) or posers as you usually see in Las Vegas (except for when you left the convention center and were back in the casinos and clubs!).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGTc8ewf9ySwoYYpCI1_j6WP8y0d2VQ8ZfyTS_RRQpdq3E6I_7S1M3UWttVFMLBR07lspMubJ-ZDVLENJzJOuNMw4XVb28qC_Xn8C38jWq01NctcjINM0U1RyKmd8HJi3TI0k/s1600/IMG_0795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUGTc8ewf9ySwoYYpCI1_j6WP8y0d2VQ8ZfyTS_RRQpdq3E6I_7S1M3UWttVFMLBR07lspMubJ-ZDVLENJzJOuNMw4XVb28qC_Xn8C38jWq01NctcjINM0U1RyKmd8HJi3TI0k/s1600/IMG_0795.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="graf--p graf--empty" name="c488">
<br /></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0f5e">
<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em"><br /></em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0f5e">
<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Everyone had their favorite series, but no one was fighting about it!</em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="0c49">
One of the topics of discussion was always which Star Trek series you preferred. The most popular of course were the original series from the 1960’s and <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Next Generation </em>from the late 80’s/ early 90’s. </div>
<div class="graf--p" name="8073">
Even so, I realized that I brought with me mental images from a classic Simpson’s episode (the one where Homer goes to college) about geeks arguing snottily about why “Captain Picard is better than Captain Kirk!”. OK, I did see one guy wearing a T shirt that had 10 reasons why Kirk was better then Picard, but most of the people who saw it just smiled. As a group, trekkers seemed to way too polite and nice to get into real heated arguments about this. Everyone seemed happy to have a favorite show, and different days of the show focused on a different series. There was more discussion about what our favorite episodes were, since so many people watched more than one show.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="1c46">
Even as a fan of the series, <em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Enterprise</em>, which isn’t very popular among star trek fans (and may be the least popular of all the series), I felt included. </div>
<div class="graf--p" name="a00b">
<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em"><br /></em></strong></div>
<div class="graf--p" name="a00b">
<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Any actor from any episode of the series is a minor “hero” at the Star Trek con. It was fun seeing them, and even a little sad. </em></strong>Speaking of Enterprise, see some of the images of me with actors from the show below – Connor Tinnear who played Trip, the lead Engineer, Anthony Montgomery, who played Travis, the helmsman, and Dominic Keating, who played Malcolm Reed, the chief tactical officer. The three of them were sitting at tables right next to each other, and there was a panel about Enterprise.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="ab88">
Even for someone like me, who has been involved in independent films, it was fun to be able to go up to people whose faces you’ve been seeing in your living room and actually talk to them. I even spent a few minutes talking to Richard Hatch, famous from the Battlestar Galactica series (the original series, and the more recent one). What does he have to do with Star Trek? He’s in a fan film. More on these later.</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="eb28">
There was the guy who played Mark Twain on a classic Next Generation episode, and a panel with guys who had recurring roles on Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and even people who had only appeared in one or two episodes. You could talk to them, get their autographs and pics (for a fee – more on this later).</div>
<div class="graf--p" name="1338">
Someone remarked that it was a little sad that actors that had become so well known were reduced to “hawking pics and autographs” for money at the convention. It was a little sad to see that so many of the actors we loved didn’t seem to have as much on-going success or were in between series, making $20 to $75 per pic as one of their sources of income. But, on the other hand, they got to bask in the adulation of fans of their series, something which every actor probably aspires to and few achieve. That must be fun for them too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcKGuH1kMkViXHmwiL2ns2PRy2z9ObNBoufjQwxbyNqjv2ash7q_0baPIWgOEabmlO2OFFk_Xw2leES2uUGGrXcIpas2zoNgKWKFi-F5YsP3_n0o0CE6THK6CRTgRbxHkDVmU/s1600/IMG_0778.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcKGuH1kMkViXHmwiL2ns2PRy2z9ObNBoufjQwxbyNqjv2ash7q_0baPIWgOEabmlO2OFFk_Xw2leES2uUGGrXcIpas2zoNgKWKFi-F5YsP3_n0o0CE6THK6CRTgRbxHkDVmU/s1600/IMG_0778.JPG" height="320" title="with trip from Enterprise" width="240" /></a></div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">A lot of women like Star Trek. A lot of couples too. And kids. </em></strong></div>
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When I was growing up, the really big Star Trek fans that I knew were mostly geeks, and mostly males. Maybe this is why I expected the convention to be kind of like my old engineering school – 70+% male. </div>
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But it wasn’t. In fact, I’d say the con was split pretty evenly between male and female. And the girls were hot. Or maybe it was just the sixties version of future outfits (short dresses) on Saturday, cosplay day, which game me this impression. OK maybe not Vegas club hot – OK maybe I just have a thing for smart, geeky girls who like to dress up LOL. But there definitely were plenty of interesting costumes to see and admire. The Klingons and a Cardassians were among the best costumes I saw.</div>
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A lot of couples were there too, and these were split half and half between those who were both big star trek fans, and those where one was a big fan and those who dragged the other along to “see what it was like” at their first con. Many of them had matching Star Trek costumes – which was cute. Many of them brought their kids, and it was eye-opening to some of us older fans to realize that a whole new generation of fans existed, even though a real Star Trek series hasn’t been on the air in 10 years!</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">The Captains were the big thing, especially Shatner. </em></strong>While any actor from the series was a hero, the big draws were definitely the “captains”. William Shatner was there and drew the biggest crowd. I wondered how he would be with this crowd. There was a famous parody on Saturday Night Live of him making fun of Trekkies and telling them at a con to “Get a Life!”.</div>
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He certainly didn’t do that, but he was equal parts self-deprecatory, self-congratulatory, and serious. He handled the crowd well, and they seemed to hang on his every word. He made fun of himself and the fans, but in humorous ways that the crowd laughing even when the most embarrassingly adulatory questions were asked such as: “I want you to know that Captain Kirk was my hero and taught me how to be a man, and I aspired to be like him,” Even though he seemed a bit absorbed he went on about some story about breeding horses (he had recently hurt his foot). One fan asked him about Ricardo Montalban, who played Khan, and he had nothing but great things to say about him and Shatner told us how he felt when Ricardo passed away, which made Kirk seem to be a sensitive guy too!</div>
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Two other captains made it, Scott Bakula (Captain Archer from Enterprise), and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway from Voyager), and, though they weren’t nearly as big as Shatner, I got a personal kick out of seeing them – and of course I had to stand in line to get a picture with them!</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Be Prepared to Bring Your Checkbook. </em></strong></div>
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Star Trek conventions aren’t cheap. Actually, it is pretty cheap to get in with “Basic Admission” ($40 a day or so), but a good number of the repeat attendees had “Gold” passes and “Captain’s Chair” passes. These cost many hundreds of dollars. On top of that, every single autograph costs money. For example, I wanted to get two autographs from Scott Bakula, one for me and one for a friend, and had to pay $75 for each one. Plus every single picture that they are autographic costs money. Oh, and you want a pic with an actor, well be ready to shell out at least $20 for that (and over $100 for the more pouplar ones). </div>
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I met some couples who spent many thousands of dollars just on the Star Trek con getting artifacts, not to mention travel and lodging in Vegas. Of course, you don’t have to spend money on these “extras”, but the convention is much less fun if you do. For me, this wasn’t a turn off by itself, but I could see how it might be for some folks, especially if you thought you can just show up and mingle with your favorite actors.</div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Star Trek fan films are all the Rage. </em></strong></div>
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An interesting recent phenomenon is that fans have started to make Star Trek fan-films and mini-series and post them onto the web. For the most part, these are done without permission from Paramount, and are often funded via kickstarter. The interesting thing is that they star real Star Trek actors, which makes them </div>
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I hadn’t even been aware of these films nor had I taken them seriously. I met with Tim Russ, who played Tuvok on Star Trek Voyager (and whom I had met years ago at, of all things, a SETI convention), and he’s directed two fan films, including Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, and the upcoming Star Trek: Renegades, each of which have many Star Trek actors in there. I also met Richard Hatch, who stars as a Klingon in the upcoming fan film, Star Trek: Axonar. There was also buzz about Star Trek: Continuum which was said to be among the best ,and I met a group that shoots episodes of a fan series in the Star Trek universe in Atlanta each month.</div>
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There are of course the big JJ Abrams Star Trek films to keep the franchise alive, but in the absence of a true series, even though these are unauthorized and Paramount/CBS will most likely be clamping down on them, there does seem to be a lot of creativity in this arena! </div>
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<strong class="markup--strong markup--p-strong"><em class="markup--em markup--p-em">Star Trek, the Music, and the Wonder. </em></strong></div>
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Anyone who’s been to one of these conventions will tell you that they’re a bit overwhelming, with so may different things going on. There was one event that actually stood out – and I almost didn’t go. I decided to go at the last minute – it was a concert of Star Trek music. The Nevada pops orchestra was on stage one evening, and it turns out their conductor was a very big fan of Star Trek, and to prove it — he told all kinds of insider Star Trek jokes and lines that he and his wife quote regularly. </div>
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I gotta say, this event stood out because when they played music from the various pictures, from Star Trek: The Motion Picture from 1979, or The Wrath of Khan from the early 80’s, or Star Trek: The Next Generation, or Voyager, it took me right back to those times in my life. </div>
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I felt like a kid again, watching the TV with wonder in my eyes, and that excitement that maybe, maybe someday, I too would get to go the stars! </div>
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For now, the next Star Trek Con will have to do!</div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-24771135367974969822014-02-07T15:43:00.001-05:002014-02-07T15:43:32.890-05:00Knights of Badassdom premiere in San Francisco a great success!We had a full house at the Knights of Badassdom premiere in San Francisco last night. Over 200 people attended the sold out showing!<br />
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The audience loved it's unique blend of comedy and horror and fantasy. Of course, as an executive producer of the film, I'd seen the final cut before, but there's nothing like seeing this film in a theater full of fantasy and horror fans! Hearing the audience laugh and cheer was worth the long wait it's taken to bring this film out. <br />
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Even those who'd never LARPed or played D&D got alot of the jokes, which was awesome! Of course, for those of us who used to play D&D, some of these were priceless. Afterwards, I had one of our younger attendees ask me: What was dungeons and dragons? Was it some kind of video game? LOL!<br />
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Between Peter Dinklage's over the top old english, Steve Zahn's comedic wizard, Jimmi Simpson's pretentious Game Master, Brett Gimpson's viking warrior Gunther, not to mention Margarita Levieva's flesh eating succubus from hell - there were plenty of laughs to go around. Oh and I didn't even mention Summer Glau and Ryan Kwanten - it was a great experience all around.<br />
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Here are some pics:<br />
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People starting lining up 2 hours before so they could get a copy of the poster:<br />
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Of course I ran out of posters very early! If you attended last night's screening and want a poster, email me and I will try to get you one.<br />
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Not only did the cheers come for the stars, but Director Joe Lynch got a huge cheer, and even when my name came up as an Executive Producer, there were cheers all around - which was awesome! <br />
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />We also had a few of the film's investors present, and a few LARPers who were in the film! Overall it was a great time ... if you get the chance, see it on the big screen. If not, then watch it on VOD next week, and for the hardcore fans, Bear McCreary's great soundtrack will be available next week.<br />
And as a bonus, here are some pics of me wearing Ryan Kwanten's armor and, of course holding my favorite prop from the film, the "book"! (guess who the guy fighting the monster in the painting behind me is supposed to be)!<br />
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Thanks to everyone who came out in the rain! Huzzah!<br />
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<br />Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-5775274519875195562013-12-21T21:10:00.000-05:002013-12-21T21:28:36.711-05:00Gandalf the Venture Capitalist: The Perfect Advisor for the Startup Journey?<div class="MsoNormal">
Last weekend, the second part of the Hobbit trilogy of films
by Peter Jackson, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Desolation of Smaug</i>,
was released and, as usual, I think there's great inspiration for entrepreneurs, venture capitalist and investors in the form of Gandalf the Grey.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br />
I’ve been a big fan of the Hobbit since I was a little kid,
and it’s gratifying to see my favorite characters brought to the big
screen. I feel like I’ve been journeying
with Bilbo Baggins in my mind for as long as I can remember, from the soft meadows
of the Shire to the warmth of the Last Homely House of Rivendell, through the
depths of Mirkwood and Laketown, into the Den of the Dragon itself, under the
Lonely Mountain.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the second installment, Peter Jackson introduces a new
scene that chronologically takes place before the Hobbit proper story
began:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the village of Bree, Gandalf
convinces Thorin Oakenshield that he should try to go on a Quest to reclaim
their treasure, setting up the whole adventure in the first place. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This extra scene, and some of Peter Jackson’s commentary on
the extended edition of the first film (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) made
me think more deeply about the role that Gandalf plays in this “unexpected
journey” to claim the treasure: sometimes as an advisor, sometimes as
recruiter, sometimes as a participant, and sometimes as a concerned
stakeholder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gandalf’s multiple hats
(pointy and otherwise) remind me of the roles that a really great
investor/mentor or venture capitalist can play in our own startup journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For many, the startup journey resembles the Quest of Bilbo
and the Dwarves: full of pitfalls, unplanned detours, hair-raising near
misses, and unexpected appearances of both friends and foes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the Quest in the Hobbit, while there is
potentially a lot of real Gold at Journey’s end, a startup adventure is fraught
with the perils of mastering our own emotions: fear and greed, courage and
compassion, stubbornness and open-mindedness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In these films we see Gandalf masterfully guiding the
company, sometimes through persuasion, sometimes through sheer force, sometimes through cunning and guile, and sometimes through what seems like magic, through
rough roads and challenges that could easily have waylaid the company and
marked the premature death of their entrepreneurial journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If Gandalf was a VC, he would be the perfect “older and
wiser” counselor to a team of adventurers (the startup team), stepping in when
he needs to be hands on, and stepping away to let the founders spread their wings,
always available to give advice when needed, all the while keeping his eyes on
the “bigger picture” even as the founders are down in the weeds of the
day-to-day challenges of running a business.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are some specific instances from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hobbit</i> to illustrate what I mean:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"></span></div>
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: bold;"><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i> Gandalf sees an opportunity and recruits a CEO. </i></b><span style="font-weight: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">In the new scene, Gandalf meets Thorin in Bree ("this isn’t an unexpected meeting, is it?"), and convinces the Dwarf prince to go on the journey to reclaim his homeland.</span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">Gandalf is seeing a bigger threat to Middle Earth – a broader market if you will, and he sees that Thorin's background would fit nicely, if he could be convinced to run this one adventure. </span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-weight: normal; text-indent: -0.25in;">An effective VC or advisor keeps his or her eyes on the broader market opportunity, and really great ones will actually encourage entrepreneurs to start companies to take care of specific niches in this broad market.</span></li>
<li><b style="font-weight: bold; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i> Gandalf sees something in Bilbo that others
don’t</i></b><span style="font-weight: bold; text-indent: -0.25in;">.</span><span style="font-weight: bold; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Gandalf decides that the
Company needs a burgler, an everyday sort who can get in and out of the
Dragon's Den without raising suspicion and inviting disaster.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">The others think that Bilbo
doesn’t have the courage or werewithal to go on such a journey (neither does
Bilbo himself!).</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A good VC or angel
investor or advisor can sometimes see things in us (or in team members) that we might not see in
ourselves. I've often thought that that people <i>really</i> knew how difficult running a startup can be (compared to the popular concepts), many would-be entrepreneurs would never start. But as in Zen, not-knowing is a good thing, as it allows us to come up with fresh solutions to the problems that crop up, which is what happens with Bilbo before the end - all because Gandalf saw something in him that he didn't see in himself.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Gandalf convinces people to do things that
will help the journey, whether they know it or not.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In the movies, it’s clear to Gandalf that
they need to go to Rivendell, though Thorin is resistant and doesn’t want help
from the elves.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Gandalf also recognizes
that if Elrond knew the true purpose of the dwarves journey, he might not help
them at all.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Finally Gandalf realizes
that if the dwarves ask the White Council for permission to go on the Quest, it
will be denied.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">In my opinion, this is
one of the great ways that we see Gandalf’s age, experience, and knowledge of
human (not to mention dwarvish and elvish) nature really shines through in the
movies (even if it deviates slightly from the books).</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">He gets Thorin to go to Rivendell out of
need, he withholds enough information from Elrond so that he helps to decipher
the map (a moment that Peter Jackson says gets Thorin to “truly” trust the
wizard implicitly), and then counsels the dwarves to leave before the Council
can tell them no!</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sometimes in startups,
people don’t see the whole picture – they just see their little sliver, and
it’s necessary for someone (preferably someone older and wiser who can see the
big picture) to show them partial views, until they are able to embrace their
role and grasp the bigger picture. </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i style="font-weight: bold;"> Gandalf’s prior contacts get the company out
of many scrapes and keep the Quest alive.</i></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Without Gandalf’s prior contacts, ranging
from Lord Elrond to the Eagles to his knowledge of Beorn, our heroes would
have been toast – literally in the scene with the Goblins and Wargs setting the trees on fire.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> It turns out that in a past life, </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Gandalf had helped out the king of the
Eagles, and this brings the Eagles in to help the company get out of the frying pan and the fire! </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Whether
it’s making an intro that leads to a big customer or to an acquisition, or
bringing in extra cash to keep the company alive, a good VC or advisor utilizes their
rolodex and previous relationships to help out the team in ways they couldn’t do themselves. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Gandalf steps away to let Bilbo and the
company spread their wings.</i></b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">At
certain points in the adventure, Gandalf steps away from Bilbo and Thorin and
the Dwarves, off on urgent business.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It’s during his time away that Thorin and the dwarves really develop
confidence in themselves and particularly in Bilbo.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Moreover, Bilbo develops confidence in himself
and saves the party several times.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">It’s
important that any startup founder or CEO or leader be able to deal with
situations on their own, without always relying on their advisor, mentor.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Sometimes this leads to mistakes, but overall
it builds the courage, character, and inventiveness of the team.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A good entrepreneurial team, no matter how
they start up, should end up with much more wisdom, self-knowledge, and
confidence in themselves by the end of the journey, whether he venture is
a financial success or not.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">A good advisor
or board member knows when to step away, and when to engage more deeply.</span></li>
</ol>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These are only some of the ways that I think Gandalf brings
wisdom, experience, contacts, perspective, and compassion to work in what might
otherwise be seen as a purely selfish journey that ended in failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Bilbo, who doesn’t like “adventures”
because they “make you late for dinner” ends up better off because of Gandalf’s
role as an advisor and mentor to the company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Venture Capitalists, investors and advisors to startups would do well to
watch these films again and pay attention to Gandalf the Grey!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-57712320406815934542013-11-28T20:09:00.001-05:002013-12-01T16:03:23.297-05:00Got Bitcoin? How not to lose them (updated!)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333332; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 31px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">UPDATE: The day after I posted this, the news broke that the well known bitcoin site coindesk was hacked and hackers stole over $1m of bitcoin. Chief executive Kris Henriksen wrote on the Bitcoin Forum: ‘Please be advised that attacks are not isolated to us and if you are storing larger amounts of coins with any third party you may want to find alternative storage solutions as soon as possible.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
A few months ago, I wrote a bit about the difficulties I had
buying bitcoin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, eventually, as a
result of establishing a bunch of wallets and setting up accounts (some
verified, some unverified) in a dozen different bitcoin exchanges and sites, I
was finally able to start buying bitcoin, although in small quantities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a result, I ended up with small amounts of bitcoin in
different wallets spread between my hard drive(s), and various online places or
web wallets.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next question I faced was: once you’ve got some bitcoin,
where should you store it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the expanded coverage of bitcoin due to its dramatic
rise recently, this is becoming an even more important question.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There was a well publicized account recently of an IT professional
in the UK who got quite a few bitcoins from mining a few years ago (until his
girlfriend told him to shut down the computer at night because it was making
too much noise).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earlier this year, he
inadvertently threw away the hard-drive that had the bitcoin on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today the bitcoin are worth $7.5 million!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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So, having all your bitcoin in one wallet on one hard drive
may not be the best place to keep them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, you should backup your hard-drive, that should help, but it’s
not failsafe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if your house burns
down? What if you lose the backup?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
are some bitcoin clients let you print out your private key (or a way to
re-generate your private key) – but what if you lose that piece of paper?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And both of those don’t protect you from someone stealing
your hard drive (or making a copy of the piece of paper with the private key on
there) and then spending those bitcoin for you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what’s a bitcoin owner to do?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the real world of what’s called fiat currency – i.e. USD
and the like -- we don’t store cash (or even gold or securities) at home for
these very reasons – they could get stolen, burned down or otherwise
destroyed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather we use the banking
system to keep track of our money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can
we learn anything from the traditional banking system?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well that would be funny, because the whole point of bitcoin
is to get <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">around</i> the traditional
banking system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, the equivalent of banks would be online wallets or
exchanges where you buy and sell bitcoin, like coinbase and bitstamp and localbitcoins
or mt gox. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seems like a good idea
as well since they have servers (multiple servers, I’m sure) and back up their
data regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there are non-trivial drawbacks to storing your bitcoin
on these sites as well:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Security.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There have been a number of well publicized break-ins and thefts of
bitcoin from servers.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There was one in
Australia where a well known site literally lost millions of dollars in bitcoin
through a breakin – and the best they could offer their clients as an
apology.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Also, all someone needs is your
password and they could break into your account, perhaps this is even easier
than breaking into your house. </span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Web accounts vs web wallets.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Most of these sites don’t actually store your
bitcoin separately from others.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Instead,
they keep track of the bitcoin you have in your account, and store them in
central pools.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Try it – go to one of
these sites and look for the single bitcoin address that holds all of the
bitcoin you have in that address.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">If
they are holding your currency in a pool, again the possibility exists of
something going wrong.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Solvency.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">These sites are run by companies which may or may not be well funded,
and it’s possible they could go out of business. What happens to your bitcoin
then? They’re locked in some address that’s owned by the business.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Are you technically a creditor of a company
that holds your bitcoin and goes bankrupt? I don’t think this is really clear.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Regulation.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">At one point, the US government made it difficult for people to get
their money out of exchanges like Mt. Gox, so it could be a tricky situation
when you use these sites to store your bitcoin, then you sell some of it.</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Scams. In another well known example, there was
a website in China where people deposited bitcoin in web wallets, and the
people who setup the site decided to just take the bitcoin and run with
it.</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unfortunately, there is no FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation) for bitcoin. At least not yet. After all we didn’t have FDIC until so many banks went belly up in the
Great Depression. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, having bitcoin on your hard-drive is kind of like having
cash under your mattress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And storing
bitcoin in online accounts is kind of like putting your money in banks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before </i>the Great Depression.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, again I ask, where should you store your bitcoin?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The right answer, for now anyways, is nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or rather, everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be more specific, don’t store it in just one place or one
type of wallet/account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a fault tolerant system, one part of the system can go
down, but the others can keep going. An old trick used by those with lots of
money when FDIC only insured up to $100K per account was to have different
accounts in different banks, each with $100k in them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I came upon this solution of spreading out my bitcoin by
chance, since I ended up buying bitcoin on different sites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My plan was to transfer all the bitcoin to my
hard-drive, but then as I thought about it I realized having a significant
amount of bitcoin on one hard-drive, even with a backup, is probably not the
best idea, so I left small amounts on various sites and even transferred from
my hard drive to some web wallets.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As more and more people see bitcoin as an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">asset class</i> to store your savings, just
like stocks and bonds, it’s bound to be regulated in some ways (maybe even with something along the lines of an FDIC).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But today, it’s still the wild wild west, and
my advice is, don’t put all your bitcoin eggs in one basket!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-35934326614580914052013-11-10T23:13:00.001-05:002013-11-10T23:13:06.871-05:00Zen and mindfulness during trying times - new book<br />
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My good friend, Ji Hyang Padma, who is the director of
Spirituality and Education Programs and the Buddhist chaplan at Wellesley
University, is releasing her new book today.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The book, <i>Living the Season: Zen Practice for Transformative
Times</i>, contains teachings from Zen and other traditions to assist at times of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in transition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I got a copy recently and found that it’s a great resource when you’re
going through trying times. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As entrepreneurs,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> we often find ourselves going through trying times and transitions -</span> ranging from
times when a new product is a dud, a key employee unexpectedly quits, the
company loses an important customer, an investor loses confidence, and on and
on through the landmarks of the entrepreneurial journey.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think her book and the teachings it gives about
mindfulness, energy, and getting back to nature can be very helpful during
these times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as nature has its
transitions and seasons, so do our personal and professional lives and we can’t
fight this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ji Hyang says about her new book:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“I was inspired to write the book by a growing sense that
our world is going through great change. We can see this through ... environmental changes, as well as through
political, technological and social changes. So I felt inspired to offer a
dynamic, eclectic range of practices with which to navigate these rushing
rivers, in a way that benefits ourselves and others. Our inner life, like the
world around us, experiences natural rhythms and so this book is arranged
according to the four seasons. It is my hope that through this book, readers rediscover the
fullness of their inner resources, and touch a deeper wholeness."</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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You can find out more
about the book at her website, <a href="http://www.natural-wisdom.org/livingtheseason.php" target="_blank">http://www.natural-wisdom.org/livingtheseason.php</a>, and the book is available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Living-Season-Practice-Transformative-Times/dp/0835609197/" target="_blank">amazon</a>. </div>
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Writing this reminds me of an incident that happened when Ji Hyang invited me to co teach a course at Esalen with her, titled <i>Applied Zen: Creating the World Around Us</i>. As we drove down to Esalen, which is located on the Pacific Coast Highway between San Jose and Los Angeles, we noticed a group of cows grazing on some grassland to the west of our road. It was on the ocean and had amazing views, and Ji Hyang quipped that those cows, sitting there grazing, had a million dollar view at their disposal, and all they were doing was eating the grass. </div>
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As we laughed and joked about the "lucky cows" who had no idea how good they had it, it dawned on us that we were all like that. Here we are in our lives, with so many beautiful things happening around us - from the miracle of birth and children growing up all around us, to the indescribable beauty of a sunset which we don't stop and appreciate. Rather than being grateful for these things, we consume our minds with worry and fear and anxiety about our jobs, about our relationships, about making more money, and on and on.</div>
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It's perhaps a natural part of the human condition, but perhaps Ji Hyang's book can remind us that we are all "lucky cows" who forget how good we have it - with incredible beauty all around us and an infinite list of things to be grateful for, if we can only stop eating long enough to reflect and enjoy the view!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-15231272555730260532013-09-06T03:01:00.000-04:002013-09-15T03:32:11.206-04:00Have Money, Will Buy Bitcoins! (Updated Again!)<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>My frustrating journey to buy bitcoins online! </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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OK so by now you’ve probably heard of Bitcoins, the great
electronic virtual currency (actually, it’s what’s referred to as a
crypto-currency) that has promise to become the "future of money".<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire banking system is afraid of
bitcoin because it has the possibility to replace government issued currency;
Law enforcement is afraid of bitcoin because it lets people conduct anonymous
transactions thus raising the spectre of money laundering; paypal and credit card companies are afraid of it because it
allows you to transfer value without paying any commission, and on and on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I won’t get too much into what bitcoin is (you can go to
bitcoin.org or just search for bitcoin and you’ll find tons and tons of sites
online explaining what it is), but let’s just say I’ve been intrigued by
virtual currencies since 2007, when Linden Dollars (as part of Second Life) and
QQ (from tencent) were the “next big thing”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After hearing about bitcoin for months and months, and
hearing that many Silicon VC’s are starting to fund bitcoin related companies (not to
mention that the Winkelvi, of Facebook fame, were big owners of a large amount
of the available bitcoins), I finally decided it was time to get me some.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was almost 10 days ago. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided I would buy some bitcoins online – after all
this is an electronic currency, i'm a computer kind of guy, so why should I have to use snail mail or
sneakernet to conduct an electronic transaction? That would make no sense to me whatsoever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Well, let me just say that in the last ten days, i have gotten lots of bitcoin wallets, but haven't been able to buy a single bitcoin online yet. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes,
that’s right, I have zero bitcoins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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And
not for lack of trying and not for lack of purchasing power – I am ready to
spend money to buy bitcoins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My only
criteria are:</div>
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-I won’t wire money to a foreign offshore bank account or
anyplace that either looks shady</div>
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-I want to do the entire transaction online, so i'm not going to go to a bank to do a physical wire (and in fact, many banks now let you initiate wire transfers online, at least domestically)</div>
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-I don’t want to be identified up the wazoo – I’d like a
semi-anonymous transaction - i'll give you my email but i'm not going to send you photos of my drivers license, etc.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seems simple?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After scouring the internet for
articles on how to buy bitcoins, I started on an my own bitcoin odyssey –
wandering in the ocean of bitcoin paraphanalia and coming up mostly empty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the oldest and most popular bitcoin exchanges is Mt.
Gox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And right on the home page it says
I can “buy bitcoins”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great – that’s
exactly what I’m looking for!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was able to open an account with my email address but then
I had to “verify” my account. To do this they wanted me to photocopy my drivers
license for proof of residency and it felt like I was applying for a mortgage! WTF?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is supposed to be
anonymous currency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, they wanted me
to wire money to some international bank account before they could fully
“verify” me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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OK so I'm not going to start wiring money to some international desitination. So, I decided to go to another popular bitcoin site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instantbits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rumor has it that
the US government has been regulating bitcoin exchanges and shutting them
down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Geez.<o:p></o:p></div>
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What about paypal? I did some research and found that paypal will shut you down if you buy or sell bitcoins. I’d rather not have my
paypal account shut down, so that’s out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So I looked around, and stumbled onto Blockchain, which
promised that I could buy and sell bitoincs easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once again, I was able to get an account and
another bitcoin wallet ( a place to store bitcoins). The problem is, my wallet(s)
are all still empty. How do I get any bitcoins into them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well it turns out according to blockchain
the only way to get money into my wallet on their site was to go to another
bitcoin site – BitStamp and deposit money there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So I sign up for yet another account on yet another bitcoin
site (BitStamp, and yes now I have another empty bitcoin wallet) and they tell
me that I not only have to transfer money to the UK but I have to send it to a
Slovenian bank!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WTF!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I live in the United States, the biggest
economy in the world, and probably where most of the bitcions reside, and I’m
not going to start transferring money to a random Slovenian bank! (Nothing
against Slovenia, by the way, I actually am an investor in a company that has
an office in Slovenia and the employees there are great!).<o:p></o:p></div>
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So finally, I stumble onto Coinbase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coinbase is one of the more “respectable”
bitcoin sites and was actually funded by Union Square Ventures, a very well
known VC firm recently. I had actually vaguely heard of them - they were
located in New York City (I assume this means that Elliot Spritzer or Rudy
Guilani or "whoever the latest opportunist lawyer/politician looking to make a
name for himself in the New York Attorney’s general’s office is" will keep an eye
on them).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since they are backed by
“reputable” people, I decide to sign up for YABA (“yet another bitcoin account”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Hell, I think, maybe they’ll even let me buy bitcoin with a credit
card. No such luck - that would be too easy! The site tells me
that I can’t buy bitcoin with a credit card, only by “verifying” my bank account.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here we go again. But this time, it tells me that I can
verify my account by them sending small amounts of money into my bank
account!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK this is starting to sound a
little bit like the famous Nigerian oil money scam (we’ll transfer money to you
– just give us your bank account information and social security number!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, largely comforted by the knowledge
that Coinbase is VC-backed, I decide to go ahead and enter my US bank
information, thinking that they can “instantly verify my account” and get me buying
bitcoins.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now I’m told that it will take 3 business days to verify my
information!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WTF!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I’m still without any bitcoin and headed
into the labor day weekend and i'm going on vacation for a few days.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I keep searching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe I could buy bitcoin with in-app transactions through google or
apple?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know they take a 30%
commission, but the transactions are completely electronic and I think, OK
someone must have done this. At this point, I don’t even mind paying the 30% commission to
google or apple - i just want to get my hands on at least one bitcoin!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Couldn’t find
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, there’s pretty reliable information out there that Apple will reject any apps that let you buy or sell
bitcoins via in-app purchases (not a surprise, having been in the Apple
ecosystem since 2009, the one thing I know is that Apple will reject anything at any time because they “feel like it”,
but that’s another story altogether).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Google tends to be a little more lax – so it may be possible, but I
couldn’t find an app that does it and in fact there's speculation that Google won't allow it either!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I'm surfing the ocean of outdated bitcoin-related sites with outdated information, I see a random entry on some website that you can exchange
linden dollars for bitcoin. I used to
have a second life account and some linden dollars left over (plus, as I recall, you can
purchase those with credit cards) but when I follow the links they are no
longer available. Hmmm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So after the Labor Day weekend, I get back and continue the
hunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First I look at my bank account to to see if Coinbase
has sent me any money to “verify” my bank account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nothing yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I then stumble onto “localbitcoins”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sounds promising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a list of people who are willing to
sell me bitcions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> There are even some people locally, but still clinging to my fantasy that bitcoin is an electronic currency and that I should be able to buy some somewhere, online, I skip those for now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of the sellers around the country use
paypal but most of them use payment methods i've never heard of, for example, something called “Moneygram”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sign for YABA, and since I don’t want to get
my paypal account banned, I try to buy bitcoin from a seller in Texas who says
that I can send him a “moneygram”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But then he tells me that he needs me to take a “picture” of
my credit card so that he can verify it’s really
me. Huh? Take a picture of my credit card and send it to some guy on the
internet? You’ve got to be joking! This is getting ridiculous.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, I press on doggedly, and actually try to send the guy money through
Moneygram.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out they can’t find him
either, and the only way he can get the money from Moneygram is to go to a
physical shop and pick up the money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kind
of like Western Union. The only problem is when I try to send to him, Moneygram
rejects my transaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not once but
twice!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I look at other buyers on localbitcoins and there are some
that want me to send Cash in the Mail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, Cash in the Mail. As in the Post Office. WTF is this, 1891 instead of 2-013?? It’s
like I’m ordering bitcoins from the Sears Roebuck Catalog …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this point I’m starting to lose hope. I don’t think I’ll
ever get any bitcoins online.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then, the next day, I see two very small deposits of a few
cents in my bank account. Coinbase! Yes, the VC-backed company comes through!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose with the millions they’ve raised
($5 million to be exact), they can afford to send out a few cents to everyone
who gives them their bank account information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yay!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I did
have to share my bank account info (which I don’t like to do), at least I didn’t
have to photocopy my drivers license (or my credit cards) and send them to some
guy called “bitcoindude” located in rural Texas.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I go back to coinbase and “verify” my account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hurrah! I’m finally (about a week into it)
approved to buy bitcoin! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest should
be a snap, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After all, they, like every other bitcoin site out there, have a big visible button on their homepage <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to “Buy” bitcoins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I click on it. The price is like $125 per
bitcoin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Damn that’s expensive, but OK,
I tell them I want to buy several bitcoins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, I don’t even care what the price is at this point - i'm so excited that i'll finally be able to buy this mythical bitcoin thingy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then…. Nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My order is listed as “pending” and it says it may take up to 5 days to
get my few bitcoin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Five Days??<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>WTF??<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thought this was the easiest currency in the world to
transfer from one person to another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought this was an electronic/digital currency that was going to set the world
on fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That all you needed was a hard
drive and some money to get and trade bitcoins. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought this was the future of money?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, it’s now been almost 10 days since I started trying to
buy bitcoins and I have many bitcoin wallets, just no bitcoins!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean Zero. Zilch. Nada.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hell, I could order a book from amazon and get it delivered
to my house, faster than I’ve been able to get bitcoins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m not talking about an ebook – I mean a
physical book. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, Amazon’s
createspace print on demand platform could print a new physical copy of a book
and ship it to me in the time it’s taken me to get bitcoins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, I’m sure one of these days, coinbase will say that my
transaction is processed and finally someone will take my money and promise to
“deliver me bitcoins in a few business days”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But I’m not holding my breath! Until then, i'm stuck floating in this ocean of bitcoin hype.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If they don’t arrive in a few days, I guess I’ll have to
start wandering the seedy streets of San Francisco, holding up a sign “want
bitcoin, will pay!” or stop random passers by wearing trenchcoats and say
“pssst buddy! You got any bitcoin?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
UPDATE: After waiting patiently for 5 more days for coinbase to send me my bitcoins (after I had already given them my bank account information), today (September 10, 2013), the same day that TechCrunch had a panel on how promising bitcoin is, I got this email from coinbase.<br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
From: <span class="gD" email="contact@coinbase.com" name="Coinbase" style="background-color: white; display: inline; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;">Coinbase</span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: nowrap;"> </span><span class="go" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><contact coinbase.com=""></contact></span></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Hi xxxxxx@gmail.com,</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
On Sep 4, 2013 you purchased 5.00 BTC via bank transfer for $631.40.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Unfortunately, we have decided to cancel this order because it appears to be high risk. We do not send out any bitcoins on high risk transactions, and your bank account will not be charged.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Please understand that we do this to keep the community safe and avoid fraudulent transactions. Apologies if you are one of the good users who gets caught up in this preventitive measure - we don't get it right 100% of the time, but we need to be cautious when it comes to preventing fraud.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
You may have more luck trying again in a few weeks. Best of luck and thank you for trying Coinbase.</div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Kind regards,<br />
The Coinbase Team</div>
<br />
Huh? No explanation of why my account is high risk! Just "try again in a few weeks"! Maybe coinbase doesn't have any bitcoins either ... and bitcoins *really* don't exist on the internet - it's like an insider joke to see how much publicity they can get for a currency that doesn't really exist.<br />
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<br /></div>
I gotta tell you - I have never had so much trouble trying to give people money in my life!!<br />
It is now 15 days since I first tried to buy bitcoins; still no luck - all of my many wallets still have zero balance.<br />
<br />
I am going to change tactics and try to buy bitcoins from local sellers in person. This kinda defeats the purpose of an electronic currency in my opinion. I tried contacting a few sellers on localbitcoins.com, but no luck so far. <br />
<br />
<br />
UPDATE 2: After getting frustrated trying to buy bitcoins, I read these article by Robert McMillan at Wired about buying bitcoins:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>"The only way to buy bitcoins is on the street" - <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/?p=47251">http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/?p=47251</a></li>
<li>"How ebay could rescue Bitcoin from the feds" - <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/09/ebay_bitcoins/">http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/09/ebay_bitcoins/</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
I thought ebay might be cracking down on Bitcoin, like they did with other virtual currency/goods for MMORPG's a few years ago, but maybe not. So I went on ebay, and sure enough there are quite a few people selling fractional bitcoin (.05, .1, .25, and 1 bitcoin denominations). The catch? The sellers are trying to get the price bid up as much as possible so that you have to pay more than Bitcoin is trading for on the exchange. I looked for "buy it now", and bought .05 bitcoin for like $15, but this translates into a price of like $300 per bitcoin! Way more than the market of $120-$130 that the exchanges were quoting. Still, I was able to pay using an online payment vendor (most sellers won't take paypal!). My next purchase was .10 bitcoin for $16, a price of $160 per bitcoin and this was one of the few sellers who was willing to take paypal.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, you can buy bitcoin on ebay, but few of the sellers are willing to take paypal, and you'll have to pay *alot* more thanon the exchanges.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
UPDATE 3: Finally, i gave in and tried to find someone to to agree with Robert's article that the only way to buy bitcoins is on the street. I advertised on localbitcoins lookinng to "buy" bitcions, and one of htem found me. We met at a cafe, and I handed him the cash and he sold me 5 bitcions. The catch? Well, this is a pretty slow process and he was only willing to sell a few bitcoin. And for some reason, localbitcions, which advertises a commission of only .0003 bitcoins, ended up taking .05 so I only got 4.95 bitcoin!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I asked the seller how he was able to acquire bitcoin in the first place. He told me he was from Europe and so was able to transfer money to a polish bank account and get into mt. gox (one of the oldest bitcoin exchanges which has been having problems lately). He seemed to share my assessment that it's very difficult to buy bitcion in the US online.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
CONCLUSIONS:</div>
<div>
I was finally able to buy bitcion, but the process was painful and tedious. It took almost two weeks from the time I started until I got some. Buying locally seems to be the best way, but finding people locally who are willing to sell may not be practical for everyone (because I live in Silicon Valley, I was able to find at least one seller). The exchanges are already over-regulated and so concerned with fraud that they are blocking legitimate transactions.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Once you have bitcoin, it is almost instantaneously transferred between wallets. Since I ended up with like 6 empty wallets and only one with money in it, I tried transferring bitcoin around and it is as easy as promised. I gotta say i've become a bigger fan of bitcoin after seeing how easy this process is.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Since bitcoin is a peer to peer electronic virtual crypto-currency, my big question is: why do we need excahnges at all? If all bitcoin clients can read the blockchain and find all transactions, then why can't bitcoin clients use a peer to peer system to make requests to buy or sell? Well, i'll write more about that now that I have some bitcoin and need to figure out what I can actually do with it!</div>
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</div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-16921025018668677702013-08-25T03:01:00.000-04:002013-08-25T03:01:31.389-04:00Fringe Science, Kurzweil’s Singularity, and Six Yogas of Naropa
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of the popular TV
show <i>Fringe</i> about transferring of
consciousness, and it reminded me of a popular topic among technophiles over
the past few years: the coming <b><i>Singularity</i></b>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The term “Singularity” was first used by John Von Neumann
and later by science fiction writer Vernor Vinge as an age of superintelligent
computers which were smarter than humans.
Whether these future computers will be more like Asimov’s benevolent robots,
or more like Skynet (which takes over the world, trying to eradicate humans in
the <i>Terminator</i> vision of the future), is entirely impossible to predict. In fact, the term singularity itself implies unpredictability: in physics it refers to
a point like a black hole which has an event horizon, beyond which it’s
impossible to predict what may happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More recently, the term has been popularized by well-known
futurist Ray Kurzweil (also an MIT alum), who argues that with advances in
computing and medical and nano-technology, we will be able to transfer our brain (and
our consciousness) onto a super-human computer (or computer chip, or other
computing device), allowing us to effectively live forever on silicon rather
than biology! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the episode of <i>Fringe</i> in question (spoiler alert!), the consciousness
of William Bell (played by Leonard Nimoy, best known as Mr. Spock from Star
Trek) is able to find its way back after his physical death, and embeds itself into FBI agent Olivia Dunham. In doing so, Bell’s consciousness “takes
over” Olivia’s body for a time. In an
attempt to preserve Bell’s consciousness, uber-mad scientist Walter Bishop comes up
with a scheme that sounds a lot like Kurzweil’s singularity – he attempts to
transfer the consciousness of the now dead Bell from its organic host (Olivia)
to a silicon-based host – an electronic device set up to receive Bell's neural patterns and thus his consciousness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If this all sounds like science fiction, Kurzweil predicts
that the date of this singularity may be in the “near future”, as in 2045, and
many others agree with him that “The Singularity is Near”! Some, like Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen,
object and don’t think it’s coming anytime soon, but may occur much, much
later. Both do seem to think that that
the answer to “preserving consciousness” after physical death of the brain lies in ever more
sophisticated technology.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In thinking about this type of projection of consciousness
out of the human body to some “other place”, I would say that both Kurzweil and
Paul Allen may be looking in the wrong direction – to the technological future
rather than the past where human consciousness was a more serious study than it is today. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In science, proposing theories without understanding the
existing literature is pretty much a cardinal sin. A few years ago, I went to
talk to professor computer science at Berkeley about doing a PhD thesis on a
particular subject that I was working on in my startup. She seemed very upset, and made clear, in
that sort of academic haughty way, that I hadn’t taken time to review the
existing literature and wasn't giving proper respect to what had already been published in this field! I might be surprised to discover,
she suggested, that many smart people have trod this path before me and that I
might even “learn something” from studying what others have already achieved!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, is there already existing “literature” about the
projection of consciousness outside the human body? Of course there is – anyone who has studied
consciousness seriously through meditation and Yoga will note that the “literature”
is full of instances of projecting consciousness outside the human body –
everything from out of body experiences to near death experiences. Moreover, these
have been going on for hundreds (if not thousands) of years so this isn't exactly a rare phenomenon that no one has taken the time to study (except in recent scientific circles, apparently!).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my opinion, the most promising place to start in the
existing “literature” of human cosnciousness is in the Six Yogas of Naropa.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stories of Naropa, not so well known here in the West, have
been carried down through the Tibetan traditions. Naropa was a academic scholar himself, at the
ancient Nalanda University in Kashmir, who believed his studies had taught him
all he needed to know about consciousness.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to the Tibetan sources, Naropa was surprised to
discover that all of his knowledge didn’t account for much – that the only way
to study consciousness and gain “freedom” from the human body was through subjective
experience, not study and debate, which he (and his fellow academics) excelled in. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After going through many tribulations at the hands of his teacher,
Tilopa (another very interesting and enigmatic figure), Naropa realized the
illusory nature of physical reality and finally achieved liberation by seeing
the true nature of consciousness and how it attaches to and detaches from the
physical body.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Afterwards, he systemized the <i>Six Yogas of Naropa</i> and taught them to, among others, Marpa the Translator, a famous Tibetan seeker who had trudged over the Himalayas to Kashmir to lean from
him. Marpa, in turn, taught Tibet’s most
famous Yogi, Milarepa, the ropes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what do the <i>Six Yogas of Naropa </i>have to do with this
episode of <i>Fringe</i> and the Singularity?
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot, actually. The Six Yogas, which have been taught
primarily in secret over the years, are all about what happens to our consciousness
when we go to sleep and when we die. Lest
modern scientist dismiss these as simply “religious anecdotes”, the Tibetans
have developed elaborate descriptions and models of how this process works,
which in my opinion rivals in sophistication the models of the natural and electrical world that
I learned at MIT (though they are much less reliant on mathematics and more on
“conscious experience”). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two of the Yogas, that of Consciousness Transference and
Forceful Projection, are directly related to transferring the consciousness of
a person who is dying \out of the body to
“somewhere else” so that it can "live on" in the physical world. Interestingly, many modern
listings of the Yogas of Naropa edit out “forceful projection” because it was
considered “too dangerous” for all but the most adept Yogis.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to the literature, adepts at this Yoga were able,
at exactly the time of their death, to “transfer” their consciousness out of
their body and “forcefully project” it into another living "host" nearby. Usually this was practiced with various
creatures (birds, chickens, foxes, etc.) in the beginning. As they became more adept, in scenes that are
reminiscent of modern horror films, Yogis would practice forcefully projecting
their consciousness onto fresh corpses. They would re-animate the dead bodies, while
their “original bodies” would be sitting in a state of suspended animation
until they “returned”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to the Six Yogas of Naropa, written by Tsongkhapa
and translated by Glenn Mullin, the Indian and Tibetan texts were filled with
such anecdotes, and the tradition continued in Tibet for some time with gurus
repeatedly demonstrating it for their pupils, though usually only under the
strictest terms of secrecy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In one of the most famous stories of this kind, Marpa’s own
son, who had learned this art from his father, had an accident on his horse and
his neck was broken. He supposedly used the Yogas of consciousness transference
and forceful projection to leave his body and “transfer” his consciousness into
a pigeon that was flying nearby. He then
had the pigeon fly to the outskirts of the next town (where there were many
dead bodies, since only the rich cremated their bodies at that time), and found
a young man who had recently died and transferred his consciousness into this
recently dead body. In this new, youthful body, he then took on the
name Tipupa (the Pigeon saint) and began to teach the Six Yogas. In an interesting twist of events, years
later Milarepa sent one of his students to go study this particular Yoga with
Tipupa, who was, understandably, the expert!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which brings us back to the episode of <i>Fringe</i> in question and the prospect of “digital immortality” by
transferring consciousness after a singularity.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Could it ever be done?
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In considering this we might learn a little wisdom by
looking into the past (the Six Yogas of Naropa). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we consider our “consciousness” as able to be separate
from our brain, then in order to transfer the “software” of consciousness from
one piece of hardware (our brain) to another, it seems to me that we would need
to find a “compatible” hardware. We
might even need one with a similar operating system. And this is exactly what the Yoga of force
projection is all about - finding an organic host that can carry on our consciousness, even after the physical body is dead.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On this, both the lineage descendants of Naropa and the
writers of this particular episode of <i>Fringe</i>
agree: forget the computer and learn to project consciousness to another, organic
host first. In the episode of <i>Fringe</i> in question, consciousness was
successfully transferred to an organic host (Olivia), but completely failed and was lost
when attempting to transfer it to a technological device. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, it seems to me that before we barge ahead trying to transfer our brain's neural patterns to a physical device, we might want to invite in the experts at consciousness (Tibetan and Indian Yogis) and see if we can learn something from them about how consciousness works both while we're alive and when we die. Once we can reproduce the Yoga of forceful projection in a laboratory setting, we could then move on to how we might project our minds onto a superintelligent computing device.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To those awaiting the singularity, I might suggest, as that professor of computer science at Berkeley
reminded me a few years ago: it pays to study what others have done before
us...we might even learn something!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-43998882845110370462013-08-04T03:29:00.001-04:002013-08-22T21:05:41.297-04:00How to be happy and successful: Find the intersection of the spheres<br />
<i>“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”</i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Buddha<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because I often speak in person and in my book about using meditation
as a tool for self awareness (“clear the mind to see clearly”), and intuition to find your path (“follow the clues to reach the treasure”), I’m often asked for advice
on how to be <i>both</i> happy and
financially successful.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>I’m also asked the same question, though in a
different form, by entrepreneurs about their startups. “How can my startup be both financially
successful and feel like we’re doing something meaningful/unique/making a
difference?”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>It turns out that my answer to this question is the same for
both individuals and for startups.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A Tale of Two Extremes<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First let’s look at two extreme pieces of advice that I ‘ve
often heard given (and followed):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Extreme Advice #1: “Do
what you love and the money will follow.” </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is great advice (and if I’m not mistaken, was the title
of a bestseller long ago) <i>in theory, up
to a point</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But what happens when you start to do what you love and the
money doesn’t follow? The reason there’s
still a self-help industry is because it isn’t always so easy to make a
living doing just what you love.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was reading a book by Dannion Brinkley recently (there’s a
throwback to the nineties, when Dannion was a bestselling author, famous for
having an NDE after being struck by lightning) and he said that one vision he
brought back from the “other side” was a form of spiritual capitalism. In this
vision, everyone would do work that they loved and earn enough income from it
to make a decent living. Again, a great vision, but one that doesn’t
always play out in the real world the way we’d like. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>This is also true for startups/entrepreneurs as well, though
it can seem paradoxical.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Some of the most successful startups did in fact start off
doing something they believed in, and the monetization came around much later
(think twitter, facebook, and Google).
But these are also extreme cases; unfortunately, more often than not
(let’s say 9 out of 10 times), simply focusing on your vision without taking
the time to fit it to the market is also a recipe why most startups go out of
business.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Too often I see entrepreneurs holding on to a vision of what
they want their startup to be, but that vision isn’t producing results and
isn’t generating enough cash to stay as an on-going concern, and they don’t
admit it until it’s too late.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Extreme Advice #2: “Do
what the market needs. Find meaning elsewhere.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a way, this is great advice to be financially successful,
but it leads to a whole different kind of frustration. In the work world, many people have jobs that
do not involve something they are passionate about and provides no meaning
whatsoever – it’s simply a way to earn a paycheck.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a startup, this means doing whatever a customer is
willing to pay for. While this may lead to a successful company financially in
the short term, as an entrepreneur you an feel like you’re “selling out” your
vision and you’re not likely to make a big difference or feel passionate about
what you’re doing. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been in startups which started out as “fun” and
“innovative” but ended up being slaves to the almighty dollar – every decision
that was made had to do with “will it improve our financials or not?”. That’s no fun either and you end up wanting to "quit" your own startup and go do something "fun" and "innovative" again!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>The Middle Way: Find the Intersection of the Spheres<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After reflecting on this question for most of my adult
career, I have come to the conclusion that people are only happy and
financially successful when they can find the intersection of three
spheres. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Sphere #1: What you
love to do, what you want to do. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Suppose you love writing. Or music. Or acting, and you decide you want to pursue
these things full time. One thing to
think about is that something that we “love” as a hobby may not be so
“enjoyable” if it is the sole source of our income – it turns from a “hobby” to
“work”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, it’s useful to create a list of the things we “want”
or that we would be happy doing. For a
startup this is our “ideal vision” of what the world might look like with our product/service,
without regards to the financial question.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I mentioned before, focusing too much on sphere #1 often
leads to unacceptable results in our careers and our startups but it’s a great
starting point.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Sphere #2: What we are
good at? <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Creating a list of what we are “objectively” good at is not
as easy as it seems. This is because we
are often so concerned with sphere #1 and sphere #3 that we don’t stop to
reflect on ourselves. In fact, I often
recommend asking someone else for this list, and we are more likely to get
objective answers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s important to be honest with ourselves here. As an extreme case, suppose I want to be an
NBA basketball player – but the truth is that I’m only 5’6 and not very
athletic and objectively not that good at basketball. In fact, I’m a much better computer
programmer than I am basketball player. Or for that matter, an actor. Orson Scott Card wanted to be a stage
performer and “loved it”, but he realized he wasn’t that good at it. In fact,
the was a much better writer than he was performer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you aren’t good at working with people, should you really
pursue a goal of becoming the top salesperson (or multi-level marketer) in your
region? How many of us set goals that
aren’t appropriate for either our skillset or our DNA (here I don’t mean our
actual DNA, I mean our energetic patterns and what we are intuitively drawn
to - Steve Jobs would call it "fate, destiny, karma"). I’m not trying to be negative here, I’m saying
that each of us has unique talents and aptitudes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In his bestselling book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell says
that it takes about 10,000 hours to become an “expert” at something. The thing he ignores though is that people aren’t
interchangeable; we are drawn to different things and good at different things
naturally. I have a friend who has spent this many hours
rock climbing. She’s an expert. Would I
be an expert too if I spent 10,000 hours rock-climbing? Maybe, but most probably I wouldn’t make it
to 10,000 hours because I’m not that interested in it, and not naturally drawn
to it. You might say it’s not in my karma.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is equally true for startups. I’ve noticed that founding teams in different startups have different DNA (again i'm not talking about actual DNA here, i'm talking about aptitude and experience). As a result, certain business models are just easier
for them to follow. Interestingly, they aren’t always the business models that
they “choose to follow” because they aren’t being honest with themselves..</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As an example, in one of my startups, we were very good at
delivering developer tools that we sold for thousands of dollars and customized
for many thousands more. Why? Well, it
turns out because we were developers ourselves and really understood this
market.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At one point someone (I think it was me!) came up with the
bright idea to build an end user tool and sell it for $49 or so. We went ahead – and while we did an OK job,
building end users products wasn’t really what we were good at – the product
looked very “developer-y” and we couldn’t provide real end user support. The point here is not that you shouldn’t
experiment with different business models or products, it’s that you need a
clear mind to see what you are good at and then<i> play to your strengths</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
VC's will often tell you to "play to win". But you can't "play to win" if you're <i>playing to your weaknesses</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Sphere #3: What the
market is willing to pay for..<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This brings us to sphere #3.
If we are good at something, there’s a good chance that someone will pay
us to do it, and more importantly – keep paying us to do it!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This may seem obvious, but many people set their sights on
doing something that no one is willing to pay for, or they get paid for it once
and despite the fact that they aren’t very good at it- they keep thinking that
others will keep paying them for it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The important point here is to define the “market”
appropriately. In your career, it might
mean local job market – it might mean any company anywhere willing to hire
someone full time – or it might be much more specific: “online e-commerce
companies that are willing to pay consultants for”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a startup, the way you define of market is crucially important. For example, if you are freemium model in
video games, is your market that’s going to pay consumers or advertisers? This is an important distinction. You might find you have a free app that
millions of people will download, but no one is willing to pay for it – that’s where
the advertisers come in.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Usually, an entrepreneur can figure out what’s in sphere #3
by meeting with potential customers.
Very often, they won’t be ready to buy what you are selling, but if you
listen closely, you might hear them say something like: “well, yes, that’s
nice, but if you could do X, I’d be willing to pay for it right now.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By listing items in all three spheres, you can start to look
for the “intersection of the spheres”. Seems obvious? In theory maybe, but in practice, it’s anything but, which is why I recommend you look to people that know you (or your startup) well and ask them what is in sphere #2 - what are you really good at? If you can do this, you can find the sweet spot that can propel your
career or your business to the next level, and make you (and/or your employees)
happy in the process. <br />
<br />
Like the mysterious "one thing" in the movie City Slickers, I can't tell you what lies in the intersection of the spheres. </div>
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<br />
That's for you to find out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-76349576416248825972013-07-26T05:17:00.002-04:002013-07-26T05:17:22.171-04:00Knights of Badassdom - Finally Coming Soon!
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<br />
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The announcement came out today that Entertainment One has
procured the North American distribution rights for Knights of Badassdom, a
much anticipated fantasy/horror/comedy (yes, it’s all three!) film starring Peter
Dinklage, Summer Glau, Ryan Kwanten, Steve Zahn, and directed by Joe Lynch. Though an exact
date of the theatrical and VOD release hasn’t been announced yet, this means that everyone will get to see it soon (I’m told it’ll most likely be <i>at least several</i> months out).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s a link to the deadline article: <a href="http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/knights-of-badassdom-entertainment-one-acquisition/">http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/knights-of-badassdom-entertainment-one-acquisition/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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And the variety article: <a href="http://variety.com/2013/film/news/peter-dinklage-knights-of-badassdom-1200568044/">http://variety.com/2013/film/news/peter-dinklage-knights-of-badassdom-1200568044/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>For those unfamiliar with Knights, the Trailer is here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyougFDZ7zU">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyougFDZ7zU</a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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For those familiar with Knights of Badassdom story, this is
great news which has been a long time coming!
As an executive producer and investor in the film (not to mention a huge fan of Peter
and Summer), I have seen progressive cuts of the film since around the time of the very popular
panel at ComicCon in 2011, and seen it evolve from a very rough cut without
effects into the final form earlier this year and I can say that it came
together very nicely. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyone who understands independent films understands that
they are tough in a way that studios films aren’t. As a startup guy, I know that unexpected
challenges are almost to be expected; and it’s the same for indie films (see my post, <a href="http://zenentrepreneur.blogspot.com/2012/04/angel-investing-top-5-reasons-why-indie.html" target="_blank">angel investing: top 5 reasons why indie films are like startups</a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
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While shooting an indie film is tough, getting popular
actors to join your indie film is even tougher.
What’s even tougher than that is raising money from individual investors
– in this case millions of dollars – often not knowing if or how the film will
be distributed or ever make a profit.
What’s even tougher than that is to build a buzz for your film, and the
most difficult part of indie films? It’s to get a decent distribution partner
to make sure the film can be seen by the fans and that investors actually have
a chance to make their money back. Sadly, most
indie films never get a decent distribution deal and as a result are financial failures.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the case of <i>Knights</i>,
even with such recognizable stars, it was a long process, made more difficult
by so much unnecessary internet chatter about different “cuts”, but the film
came out great, and we’re all pleased to have a distribution partner like
Entertainment One. In addition to acknowledging Joe Lynch (the director), the
writers and the producers from Indie Vest, I’d like to give great shout out to
Dan Heffner (who also produced the wildly popular <i>Saw</i> films) for shepherding the film into its final “cut”, and to
the investors for sticking with it through a very long road, and to Wade
Bradley for overseeing the whole process from one tough challenge to the next.<o:p></o:p></div>
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To the fans who supported Knights and built the buzz around
it – a big thanks and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it when it finally gets released - today
was a good day on a very long journey! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-85021550919212040922013-07-03T00:52:00.000-04:002013-07-03T00:59:03.952-04:00Recent Articles on the Zen Of EntrepreneurshipThere were a couple of articles recently about the content of "Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior", on a few popular entrepreneurship websites here in the US and in Europe.<br />
<br />
I think they provide a good summary of how to apply the principles that the book is about to a startup or to any career path, really. Rather than repeat the content here, you can read them at their original source.<br />
<br />
The first was an article I wrote as a guest contributor for Tech Crunch, probably the most popular startup blog in the Silicon Valley, titled The <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/08/the-zen-of-entrepreneurship/" target="_blank">Zen of Entrepreneurship</a> (Tech Crunch). It outlined four key principles that I think all entrepreneurs can apply to stay more conscious of how they are unconsciously affecting the course of their business, whether they want them to or not.<br />
<br />
The second was on Venture Village, a popular european startup and career success website, titled: <a href="http://venturevillage.eu/the-career-warrior-how-to-achieve-spiritual-and-business-bliss" target="_blank">How To Attain Spiritual and Work-Life Bliss</a>. It tackled the same principles but from a different angle, of how to have more balance and use your intuition in your career.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-67899231379442510072013-06-29T14:09:00.004-04:002013-06-30T18:38:45.190-04:00(Updated) Free copy of Zen Entrepreneurship for Recent and UPCOMING College Grads!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I recently attended a college graduation ceremony here in
Silicon Valley (like most things in my life, I wasn’t actually planning to
attend this particular ceremeony, I just went to campus for a walk at sunset
and found myself in the middle of a graduation ceremony!). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It made me think about the number of young people who have
told me that my book, Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career
Warrior has had an impact on them and how they view the world. I think this new generation is much more
attuned to ideas of integrity, holistic values, and finding and doing meaningful
work in the world than we were at that age. I also think they integrate what we
think of as traditional Eastern and Western philosophies into their lives
naturally, without having to rebel (as the baby boomers did) or look at it just
as a matter of getting ahead in life (as subsequent generations did), and aren’t
caught up in the wave of terrorism and war and religious strife that was
present in the last decade.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>While the book is great for people of all ages who are
looking at making a change in their careers or bring more spirituality in their
work, I think the story particularly calls to young folks who are just starting
out and looking to find their path in life.
Moreover, the story in the book took place when I was 23 and had just
graduated from college and was trying to start my very first business, so I
think people in that age can relate much more easily.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, if you just graduated recently (I’ll leave the
definition of recently up to you, but the last few years is OK), or you’re
about to graduate in the next year (or like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, you
dropped out and have no plans to graduate!), or you’re generally of that age
and are interested in “thinking different”, I’d like to offer you a free copy
of Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior. I remember how tight money was in those days (of if you'd like to send the book as a gift to someone of that age and money is tight!).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just email me at <a href="mailto:zenentrepreneur@gmail.com">zenentrepreneur@gmail.com</a>
and include the following information:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Name of person receiving the book</li>
<li>College name/graduation date/Field of study (or other circumstances if you or the recipient didn't or are not attending college)</li>
<li>A few sentences on how you heard about the book and why you
think you’d like to read it</li>
<li>Address for the book to be shipped to. [For international, be sure to indicate address1, address2, city, state, postal code, and phone number which amazon requires for international shiopments].</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that’s it! I’ll
send you a confirmation email once I have the book sent out to you!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
[UPDATE: I'd like to expand this free offer to all college students who are interested in getting a free copy of the book, not just recent grads! Just send along the information above]. </div>
<!--EndFragment-->Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-75377862905144532812013-06-22T16:44:00.000-04:002013-06-22T17:20:27.757-04:00Superman, Aliens, and Not Fitting In: 5 Moments in Man of Steel that (Unexpectedly) Touched Me<div class="MsoNormal">
Last weekend, I went to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man Of Steel</i>, the new Superman movie directed by Zach Snyder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
always been a big fan of Superman movies – as a kid I watched each of the old
Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve over and over (even the one with Richard
Pryor as a computer genius!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In those
days, superhero movies were few, unlike today, when you can’t drive by a movie
theater without bumping into one (or two playing simultaneously!). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Man of Steel actually touched me in a way that most
other films don’t these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had
nothing to do with the special effects or the over-the-top action sequences in
the last third of the film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather it
had to do with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not fitting in, </i>as a kid or as an adult!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here are 5 very special moments from Man of Steel for those
of us that don’t fit in: </div>
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</span></span></span></i></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Young Clark Kent asks: “Mom, What’s Wrong
With Me?”<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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Early in the movie a young Clark Kent, who realizes he’s
different from other kids and can’t fit in at school, hides in a closet at his elementary school. When his mother (played by Diane Lane) comes to rescue him, you can
sense his inner turmoil when he cries out: “Mom, what’s wrong with
me??”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whether we say it out loud or not, most of us who grow up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">different</i> ask that question at some point
in our childhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my own case, not
only did I not look like the other kids <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i>
have a different religion, I was always drawn to geeky subjects (back when
being geeky wasn’t cool).</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think that one of the reasons that stories of heroes like
Clark Kent (or for a later generation, Harry Potter) appeal to so many kids is
that they reassure us that it’s OK that we’re not “like everyone else”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Secretly, it gives us hope that maybe we have
other abilities – not exactly superpowers or magic – but other gifts that make
us special.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s the ability to
do math or write computer programs, maybe it’s the ability to dress weird and
sing strange songs, or simply the power to imagine whole worlds in our heads
that others can’t see or fathom.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lady Gaga, in her Monster’s Ball concert in New York City,
talked on stage about how she still feels like “a loser kind in high school”
because of the way others treated her - she clearly didn't fit in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
if like me, you were different enough that you couldn’t get a date in high
school, remember words of wisdom from journalist Lester Bang from another film,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Almost Famous</i>: “That's because we're
uncool. And while women will always be a problem for us, most of the great art
in the world is about that very same problem.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2. John Kent asks: What kind of man are you going to be?<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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There’s a great scene where a slightly older (but still
young) Clark Kent is being bullied by school kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His father, John Kent, played by Kevin
Costner, comes up and the kids move away to reveal that Clark is holding on
very tight to a fence and holding back his anger and power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know he just wants to belt those kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you knew he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">very well could</i>!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyone who’s been bullied (whether in the schoolyard as a
kid physically, or as an adult verbally by bigoted or opinionated people) knows
this feeling of wanting to fight back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
a kid this might mean curling up that fist and smashing them in the face. As an
adult it might mean some more sophisticated form of revenge, or maybe, you
still just want to belt them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But like
the teenage Clark, you don’t, because that’s not the kind of person you want to
be.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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As John Kent tells the confused young man at that moment: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“One day, you’re going to have to make a
choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have to decide what kind of
man you want to grow up to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever
that man is, good character or bad, it’s going to change the world.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
believe we all have to make choices like these and collectively how we choose
affects the course of the planet.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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What really touched me about Superman wasn’t that he was
able to punch out General Zod in the skies of Manhattan and save the Earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s that the young Clark Kent saved all
those kids in the schoolbus, even after they had been bullying him and calling
him a freak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That must’ve been
tough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgive, be kind to others, and as
Kevin Costner says, “think about the kind of man you want to grow up to be.”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lois Lane tries to publish a
story about UFO’s in the mainstream media.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man of Steel</i>, when
a respectable reporter, Lois Lane, discovers that there is a UFO and an “alien”
(i.e. Clark Kent before he becomes Superman) hiding in plain sight, she
attempts publish an article in her respectable newspaper, the Daily
Planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The editor refuses to print it,
saying “I’m not going to print a story about Aliens walking among us!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has to turn to some fringe conspiracy website as her only way to get the story out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now of course, this would never happen in real life...would it? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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When respected investigative journalist Leslie Kean got a
call from retired members of European military saying that there was something
to the UFO stories that have been proliferating and that they were putting out
a report about this she got all kinds of warnings from her colleagues (spoken
and unspoken) about the stigma around the subject, which she feared
might be career suicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wasn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fitting in</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily, she kept at it, and eventually wrote
a New York Times bestseller that is a great book the subject for believers and
skeptics alike: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">UFO’s: Generals, Pilots,
and Government Officials Go On The Record.</i></div>
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When the late John Mack, a psychiatry professor at the
Harvard Medical School (and Pulitzer prize winning author), made waves by
writing that abduction phenomenon should be taken seriously back in the
nineties, he was subject to all kinds of “harrumphing” by his colleagues at
Harvard. To paraphrase Alan Dershowitz, a well known Harvard Law professor: There
were certain things that you were and were not allowed to study as a Harvard
professor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angels? That was a fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aliens? Not so much. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angela Hind wrote, "It was the first time
in Harvard's history that a tenured professor was subjected to such an
investigation."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Again, you are free to write or study whatever you like, as
long as it <i>fits in</i>. Sometimes, I feel that to be considered “respectable”, we
are given a modern, socially enforced, equivalent of Henry Ford’s choice about
the Model T: you can have any color you want, as long as it’s black!</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></i></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The young Kal-El escapes from a dying
Krypton.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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The scenes of Krypton in Man of Steel were visually stunning
and moving, a virtual “film within a film”. But there was something else about
this story that moved me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The idea of escaping an advanced civilization during or just
before a cataclysm is really the latest incarnation of a very popular old idea.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somewhere, in our collective
unconscious, as Jung called it, is the mythology of an advanced, dying civilization
and the dual archetypes of the wise “old man” who foresaw its destruction and the
“child” who escapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
patterns repeat themselves in stories that humans have been telling for
thousands of years, ranging from the Lost Continent of Atlantis, Aeneas
escaping the fall of Troy to found Rome, Noah escaping the Flood, the stories of the
Anunakhi from the Sumerian texts, and numerous Native American myths of coming from
“over the water” or “under the earth” after escaping a cataclysm (of fire, or
water) to start a new civilization here in North America.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most popularly it’s called the “Atlantis myth”, and if you imply that it might be something more than that among historical scholars - well, let's just say you won't fit in any longer! In the modern view, civilization and technology advance linearly from simple to complex (like a very straight arrow).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But times like the Dark Ages after the fall
of Rome, the loss of complex building techniques after the fall of Egypt, the
loss of the library of Alexandria put a lie to this myth – the true path of
advancement may be much more circular or spiral.</div>
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Whether it’s simply a collective psychological
archetypal story that appeals to us, or an actual genetic memory of some long
lost event in humanity’s deep past, there is something seriously worth studying
in this collective mythos of an escape from an apocalypse (not to mention, in
this latest version, as in some versions of the Atlantis myth, the Kryptonians
misused the resources of the planet and this was responsible for the
catastrophe). <o:p></o:p>How do we know, <i>for sure</i>, that we’re not living in an extended dark ages after the fall of some advanced civilization like a Krypton or Atlantis? Don't ask. You won't fit in.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaFkuN4__ecOWHgRXMkpMB1Ikq-d5gOSJzaK6bzAABP-oJcCo2BB6Ma_RcpU0ScXoFsQmFtIF95MLc89W5OAxcjLiyNoJgFRZuwniW1UG4PJQ6QlSfHVuLw-1lczFhqHmmNU-/s1600/movies-man-of-steel-henry-cavill-superman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaFkuN4__ecOWHgRXMkpMB1Ikq-d5gOSJzaK6bzAABP-oJcCo2BB6Ma_RcpU0ScXoFsQmFtIF95MLc89W5OAxcjLiyNoJgFRZuwniW1UG4PJQ6QlSfHVuLw-1lczFhqHmmNU-/s320/movies-man-of-steel-henry-cavill-superman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></i></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Come on! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I grew up in Kansas. I’m about as American as you
get!”<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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After being very skeptical of Superman, the humans (all Americans
in this film), seem to realize that he brings them some benefits along with his
“otherness”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this doesn’t stop them
from trying to use surveillance drones on him to find out what “he’s up to”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Unlike Snowden in the recent NSA spying scandal, the
government doesn’t go after Superman <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for
“opting out” of the government spying program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s too bad you or I can’t opt out.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In my opinion, this movie depicts an undertone in America
against those who are “different” going way back:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irish-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Jewish Americans,
Catholic-Americans were all questioned <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about their “Americanness” and had to “prove
themselves”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if, like Superman, a Kyrptonian-American, you
weren’t born here, so much the worse! Hell, in Obama’s case, he was born <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">here</i> but still had his “American-ness” repeatedly
questioned (though after the recent spying revelations, you might argue, like
the New York Times did, that he’s proving himself just fine by becoming, in
effect, George W. Obama).</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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This last scene of the film moved me personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the aftermath of 9/11, I was shocked at
the kind of questioning and looks I got whenever I left the big city, simply
for being a Pakistani-American.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, I
felt I had to be careful and diplomatic, not cause any waves, and not always
say what I was thinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was I
really thinking?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Honestly, I wanted to throw up my hands, as Superman did,
and say: “Come on! I grew up in Michigan. I’m about as American as you get!”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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These five moments in Man of Steel (among others) had a
profound resonance for me (and I hope for others who don’t “fit in”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that’s why I like speculative and
fantastical fiction in general, it allows us to see truths about ourselves
without ruffling any feathers since it’s “obviously fiction”!<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, maybe these 5 moments in the story may not be the same ones
that appeal to the majority of the movie-going audience, or even to traditional
Superman fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, I’m not
talking about Life, Justice, and the American Way here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Or am I? After all, I never was very good at “fitting in”!<o:p></o:p></div>
Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-64680501735988729192013-06-16T16:26:00.001-04:002013-06-16T16:31:33.580-04:00Our Fathers, Our Companies : Thoughts on Father's Day and Entrepreneurship<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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On this father’s day, I have been thinking about my own dad
and his influence on my life and career as an entrepreneur. In fact, the dedication I put onto the new edition of Zen
Entrepreneurship, launched just last week, was: “For my Dad, who brought us from the East, into the West”</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My father was an immigrant from Pakistan, who packed up the
family and brought us, back in the 1970’s, to the auto capital of the world,
Detroit, where he hoped to put his economics background to good use. From that time, he subtly and not-so-subtly encouraged us to think big, be ambitious, and even steered us towards tech entrepreneurship.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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One Saturday in the early 1980’s, in the cold landscape of
North Dakota, where we’d moved to because he couldn't find a decent job in Detroit during the recession, he brought both us into his office. They had
just bought an Apple II computer, and he wanted to show us that this would be
the “next big thing”. I still remember
the first BASIC program that he taught us to write:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">10 Print “Hello”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">20 Goto 10</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Well, after that I was hooked. My brother and I competed to see who could
build the better Tic Tac Toe games on the Apple II at my Dad's office after school. Eventually we got our own Commodore 64 to
program in. The graphics were terrible –
blocky lines that we used to draw X’s and O’s, but I remember my excitement
when I figured out that I could have the computer play against a person (It
didn’t occur to me until I saw WarGames with Mathew Broderick that you could
have the computer play itself!).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My dad also brought out a copy of Time magazine that had a very
young Steve Jobs on the cover with an apple on his head and showed it to us. This was the only cover of Time that I
remember him ever showing us (I just looked up the date – it was February 15, 1982),
and the only cover of any magazine other than Mad that I remember from when I
was kid.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Though my father wasn’t an entrepreneur himself, he always
had an entrepreneurial mindset, and I think this had a lot to do with both my brother and I becoming entrepreneurs. There
was another side to this encouragement, of course - like most Asian parents
that immigrated back then -- there were only a few “acceptable” professions
for their kids: an engineer, lawyer, doctor, or entrepreneur. </div>
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<br /></div>
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When I proudly announced that I was thinking of becoming an actor in high school, I remember him reprimanding me with some practical advice - if you want to be an actor, that's fine, but get an engineering degree so you can have a "real job" and make a living. I listened (it turns out I was much better at computer programming than I was at acting!). The funny thing is that my tech entrepreneurship eventually led me to be an angel investor in startups, which eventually led me to becoming a producer of independent films, so it's call come back full circle. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On this father’s day, I wonder what role encouragement from
one’s dad (or mom, but we’ll talk about that on mother’s day!) plays in
the (unconscious) decision to become an entrepreneur? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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My co-founder in my very first (and most recent) company,
Mitch Liu, had grown up with his dad running a small business in Seattle. I also recall in my book that Mitch’s father
had given us the funding so that we could afford to go to our first trade show, which launched our first product.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Years later, when I was at Stanford Business School, Steve Ballmer came
to speak to to us. He told us that Bill
Gates had wanted Steve to leave business school to join Microsoft full-time.
Steve’s own father wasn’t so sure since the company was just a fledliging
startup at the time. When Steve hesitated,
Bill brought out the big guns to convince him that Microsoft was an opportunity that Steve couldn't pass up: Bill’s father. According to Steve, whenever there was a
serious negotiation in those early days and someone needed convincing, Bill
would make them have dinner with his father, which would usually do the trick!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of Bill Gates' neighbors, Naveen Jain, whom I met
recently, co founder of Intellius and Moon Express, wrote a nice piece about
his children becoming entrepreneurs at a very young age on Forbes: <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/naveenjain/2012/06/17/the-source-of-my-greatest-happiness-have-always-been-our-children/">http://www.forbes.com/sites/naveenjain/2012/06/17/the-source-of-my-greatest-happiness-have-always-been-our-children/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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If their father hadn’t been such a successful entrepreneur and such an influence on them, I wonder if would they have become so entrepreneurial at such an early age?</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Scott Walker, himself founder of Walker Law Group, tells us
a cautionary taleabout his own father, who had started and took a
telecommunications company public, making milions, and then losing them in a great read on this father's day: “3
Lessons for entrepreneurs on Father’s day”: <a href="http://blog.asmartbear.com/three-entrepreneur-lessons.html">http://blog.asmartbear.com/three-entrepreneur-lessons.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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As I think about it today, while I don’t believe that
genetics has anything to do with it, I can say that most of the people that I
know who’ve become entrepreneurs had some serious influence come down from their fathers. So, on this Father’s day, as we appreciate
our Dad’s, let’s also think about the influence we are having on the next generation - it could be a key factor in what direction they end up going down in their own path in life.</div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36673672.post-67866014514756528862013-06-03T13:26:00.003-04:002013-06-08T17:25:00.011-04:00Zen Entrepreneurship : Second Edition Now Available and a Bestseller!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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“I started
meditating, a path of personal growth, because I thought it could help
accelerate my career. By the time I was done, I would begin to view my career
as a way of accelerating my personal growth. I realized I had it backwards.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="usercontent"> -from Zen
Entrepreneurship, Rizwan Virk</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The second, expanded edition of my book, Zen
Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior – was launched on Amazon recently and I'm happy to announce it's become an international bestseller in four countries!<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Buy it on Amazon.com now: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983056919/">http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983056919/</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Special Promotion - Get hundreds of dollars in free gifts: <a href="http://www.zenentrepreneur.com/book">http://www.zenentrepreneur.com/book</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Follow the book on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/zenentrepreneur">http://www.facebook.com/zenentrepreneur</a><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>What is this book about?<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Zen Entrepreneurship reads like 3 books rolled into one: a business tale, a spiritual adventure, and a handbook.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On one level, it’s the story of my very first startup, which
I founded with my good friend from MIT,
Mitch Liu. We didn’t really know what we
were doing, but were very ambitious and to our surprise, the startup took off,
and for a while it was one of the hottest startups on the East coast. We had numerous articles written about us and
Information Week called us one of 8 startups that CIOs of major corporations should watch. One this level, the book can be read as an
interesting “startup tale”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On another level, it’s a book about a path of spiritual
growth. Around this same time, I started meditating and
working with a set of spiritual teachers and learning about “the hidden worlds”. Back in those days, I didn’t care much about spiritual
growth – or topics like dreams, finding my calling in life, karma, energetic
patterns, synchronicity – I just wanted something that would help me mentally
focus and have the mental stamina that a startup requires. What I found was that the two were
interrelated - more than I realized. At this level, you can read it as a "tale of power" of a student being mentored - like The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, or the Teachings of don Juan. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The third level, which is the most important in my opinion,
is that this book is a handbook for bringing spiritual development and your
work into one. The Buddha once said: “Your
work in life is to find your work and give your heart to it!”. Rather than having your personal growth “over
here”, while your work and your career is “over there”, the book describes the “Path
of the Career Warrior”, which is a way to integrate the two paths into
one. In fact, the issues you are
struggling with in your personal life and/or your meditation, are the same
issues you will likely be dealing with in your career. If you have a startup, it’s
even worse!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>What have people said about the book?<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Tales of Power meets the Peaceful Warrior... in Silicon
Valley! It's entertaining, humble, insightful and valuable - not just to
entrepreneurs, but to anyone looking to manifest their dreams and make a
difference in the world.”</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
—Foster
Gamble, Creator and Host, Thrive: What on Earth Will It Take<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“You will come away with insight about yourself, guidance
… and knowledge that you may not be able to acquire anywhere else save the
mountaintops of the Himalayas.”</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
—Bookreview.com<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i> “Riz Virk brings
the wisdom of ancient Eastern traditions into a purely Western setting. The
result is an often hilarious but always insightful book that will change how
you view career success and help you discover and walk your own unique path.”</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
—Marc Allen, author of Visionary
Business, CEO and co-founder of New World Library<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Zen Entrepreneurship changed my life, it confirmed for
me that 'clues' exist in the world around us and are powerful. I shared this
book with every one of my clients from that point forward. Powerful. A must
read... it reinforces that there is a bigger guide within us if we choose to
listen”</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
—Lorin Beller, author of From
Entrepreneur to Big Fish: 7 Principles of Wild Succes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>What’s new in the second edition?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s at least 50 pages of new content based on feedback
from readers in the years since I wrote the first edition The new content transforms the book from a “fun
story tor read” to a handbook, with summaries, principles, and exercises at the
end of each chapter. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many readers have told me they go back to the book every
year to “refresh” on some of the business and spiritual principles described in
the story. The second edition is definitely the one to do this with – this edition
is both a story and a manual for living the 14 principles of the Career
Warrior.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>Where can I get it? What’s
special on June 4<sup>th</sup>!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you buy the book June 4<sup>th</sup>, you will receive a
set of bonus gifts, worth hundreds of dollars from myself and other bestselling
authors, spiritual and business coaches/advisors. This includes a preview of my next book about
synchronicity, Treasure Hunt, an ebook
from Betsy Chaisse, co creator of the wildly popular film, What the Bleep do we
know?, Magical mystical images from visionary artist Ellen Mcdonough, and many,
many more!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Special Promotion is here: <a href="http://www.zenentrepreneur.com/book">http://www.zenentrepreneur.com/book</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Buy it here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983056919/">http://www.amazon.com/dp/0983056919/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>Follow me on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/zenentrepreneur">http://www.facebook.com/zenentrepreneur</a></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Zen Entrepreneurhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212750524593483869noreply@blogger.com0