Middle School and the Entrepreneur

Posted on December 17, 2011 by peterpioniq

Ah Middle School. You remember it, or have you done your best to put it behind you? My son has now entered this time of awkwardness. He can relate all too well to the recent book series and movie “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” Much like the movie character, Greg Heffley getting “advice” from his older brother, so my son is getting many short pithy commands from his older sister. Commands such as, “Don’t wear those crew socks. They have to be low ankle socks or the no show socks.” “Don’t wear the same sweatshirt as a jacket everyday, or you’ll be known as the kid that wears the same thing everyday.” “Don’t spray too much cologne. Girls like it when you smell good but don’t put on too much.” “Be smart. Girls like smart guys, just like guys like smart girls.” “Why are you carrying that big notebook? Trust me, just carry folders.” “I’ve been through it and I know what I’m talking about.”We were shopping for the new middle school wardrobe together minus the know-it-all older sibling, as my son wearily says, “I wish my sister were here to help. How do I know if this is cool?”

My son has a week of middle school behind him. His days are filled with highs and lows. One day he comes home and he triumphantly explains how he is the locker master and a professional at opening lockers, then the next day he asks me if he could get permission to carry a wrench to school. He had to borrow a wrench from the custodian to get his own locker open! He lost his gym uniform already and explained, “Mom you have to change in front of everyone!” He carries so much to school that he almost needs a cart or something. He contends with a backpack, a lunch box, a viola, and a large notebook that doesn’t fit too well in his backpack. Exiting the car for school, he looks more like he is going off for a week versus seven hours.

Then there is soccer practice. Where his teammate asked if he could borrow his water. My son said, “Well, you could waterfall, I guess.” This kid took my sons water and threw right in my sons face and just laughed. Nice. So, as a mom, I emailed the coach and spoke about bullying and how it needed to stop.

Ah Middle School. But how does this relate to the entrepreneur?

As a wife of an entrepreneur, I see the board members as the older sibling, the “know-it-all” the high school age (apologies in advance to my board member friends). The entrepreneur meets with the board members and starts in on their business plan. Then come the short pithy commands. “Change that, you can’t possibly hit those numbers.” “You don’t need that many on the management team.” “Wait, what is your pipeline?” “That strategy isn’t going to work.”

Much like the middle school age, shopping for the perfect first day of school outfit. The entrepreneur tweaks his presentation over and over again, hoping that it will meet with board approval. He heads to the airport with a suitcase, a suit jacket, a laptop bag loaded down with an iPhone, an iPad, an iShuffle, a possible “leave behind” (depending), an NDA, prescriptions for various aids:  sleep, heartburn, headache and allergy.

The entrepreneur is now ready to meet with…the bully.  You know what I am going to say don’t you, yes, the VC! My entrepreneur has met with so many VC’s that I have lost count over the years. Don’t worry, I don’t send follow up emails on how they have bullied my entrepreneur, but I sure wish I could!

Looking at my entrepreneur, my middle school aged son, even my “know-it-all” high school aged daughter it shows me several similarities and how we can learn from each other. My high school student is still learning stuff after all. Recently, she had a team building off site strategy lesson, working with a group of 13 other students. She commented how exhausted she was at the end of the day from thinking and trying to work together. She solemnly asked, is that what it’s like to work in an office? My answer, yes, that is why Dad is so tired, he does this every day.

So at the door, ready for the next day lies a laptop bag along with a viola, a large binder and a backpack. The days to come will be filled with many stories to share around the dinner table and they may be different “characters” but the feeling of conquering this battle is the same.

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Feast and Famine

Posted on December 17, 2011 by peterpioniq

The weather review for February recently posted in our local newspaper: our area received only one glorious day of sunshine in the entire month of February. I love the sun, so I remember that day well. It was February 19th. My daughter was home sick from school. She needed to go to the med check for possible strep throat. After the appointment, we drove through McDonald’s and ordered a large French fry to split (why is it that when you are sick McDonald’s always sounds good?). The day was much too beautiful to go home and rest on the couch, so we went for a drive.  We road for miles with no destination in mind and spent the time reflecting on the past year—the good and the bad; the feast and the famine.

Famine

As entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial families, we all know too well the famine (gray skies) and the feast (sun-filled days). One of our famine days came like a sudden storm just after we crossed the Mexican boarder on our return from a family missions trip. We had spent five days sprucing up an orphanage and sharing Bible stories with the children. On our way home, we stayed over at the Long Beach Hampton Inn. Our wake up call was not from the front desk, but from my entrepreneur’s cell phone. His business partner was on the other end of the call. The news was not good. Instant famine had hit. Even worse, it was my birthday. My entrepreneur tried to make the day special and put the dreaded news aside as if it were junk email. But the dismal news that his investors had decided to sell his company (taking most of the profit with them) was a sudden blow that darkened our ride home. More than just the gas tank would be drained in the coming days and months. What would we do now? It’s famine time. You never quite know when it will strike.

We have had other famines for sure. They all bring you to an awareness of tested strength.

Feast

Entrepreneurs love the feast. Those are the days when you dine out more often and restaurants that don’t sell a “happy” anything, travel more and actually update your wardrobe. My treasured feast memory was a trip to Shanghai with Peter to see him speak at a business event on marketing. I enjoyed every minute of our travels together (even the lengthy flight). It was exciting to be able to travel to this country with my entrepreneur and proudly peer into his realm.

Another feast was the funding of Scale Computing in June, 2009. After 18 months of income-free living, his company received a $5 MM series A funding round and we received a paycheck. It looked so foreign we almost thought it was junk mail.

Seasons

The season outside has changed, thank goodness. Spring is approaching and as I walked the dog this morning, blue sky and chirping birds accompanied us. The feast and famine life of an entrepreneurial family is difficult. And as an entrepreneurial family, you are never quite sure when the rogue wave of famine will strike, but together you make it through. You recover. You rebuild.

And then you go for  nice long, peaceful ride.


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Real Housewives of Entrepreneurs

Posted on December 17, 2011 by peterpioniq

I did something today that I have never done before.

Skydive, you ask? No. Parasail, perhaps? Nope. It was nothing life changing or even exciting.

I checked my entrepreneur’s calendar to see if he would be home next week. A sigh of relief, no travel, not even dinner meetings are sprinkled in the week’s calendar. Feeling jovial, I think, let’s take a peek into the week after next. Ugh, to my dismay, a full week of travel!

This has been a rough week…it’s only Wednesday.

If there was such a reality show, “The Real Housewives of an Entrepreneur” I believe our household would contain enough drama and humor to keep at least 6 strong seasons of paid advertising.

For the second day in a row, my 13-year-old daughter wants her hair curled. After peer consensus, the hair is preferred curled versus flat ironed (which she can do herself!) I rolled out of bed and was fumbling with my good morning friend, the coffee maker, when I hear, “Oh good, can you curl my hair?” While I curl, she texts. Who is she texting? My guess is the kids that ride the school bus. Boredom is a popular emotion on the bus so my daughter gets the 411 on the morning’s lack of excitement.

It’s ISTEP testing this week. Perhaps state testing is a parental challenge to see if you can neatly wrap up the evenings with an accomplished early bedtime. Then rise early enough to prepare a savory breakfast followed by consecutive on time school arrival.

With a traveling entrepreneur, I am successful with the firstborn’s morning. Now onto the second born, who chooses a savory breakfast of bacon over oatmeal. While the bacon is sizzling in the pan, I go on a scavenger hunt for dirty laundry. I might as well get a load of laundry going while the bacon is dancing in the hot pan. Time to turn the bacon. Splash. I splatter some grease on the stove top and for a split second I day dream about my new kitchen being built and wonder if mornings in my new home will be less hectic. Probably not, but after another splash of grease, at least I am hopeful that I will be a tidier bacon turner!

Everyone has eaten breakfast, even the dog or maybe that is last nights food. I don’t think he is feeling well as he threw up in the car yesterday, which I still need to clean up!

Now back to the morning’s activities. I login to the school’s grade book and assignment tracker to see the progress of my son, who is missing a math assignment. Upon confronting my son regarding this matter, I envision the camera from the reality show zooming in on a tight shot of my son’s comment, the one they would use as the week’s preview to really gain viewers, “I wish Daddy were home so you could get more sleep!” I silently second that motion. But I reply that even if Daddy were home you would still need to get this math assignment finished! Hurry up and do it, then put on your socks and shoes, we gotta go!

With the second child successfully on time for school with a full belly of a savory breakfast over the usual Chocolate Frosted Mini Wheats, I think about the errand to Target consisting of more coat hangers and snacks for tomorrow’s lacrosse game. Being a blink away from shedding one hundred tears I decide to run that errand when I am more put together.

As I walk up the two flights of stairs to our apartment, I can’t wait until our home construction is complete, and no more stairs. I think about what would make me feel better. Shopping? No, I am quickly reminded of a recent purchase, a smart Calvin Klein dress with perfect accessories of dangle earrings and a cuff bracelet. I can’t wait to wear it! But not even shopping today would help.

Saying a prayer, please help me feel renewed. Where is the renewal? I am reminded of Philippians 1:6 (The Message) There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.

I think about my family. The gratitude my kids share for the little things, the glance over at the sidelines for praise from a scored soccer goal. School pick, where just from the walk up to the car, I can tell if it was a good day, or, deep cleansing breath, it was not. Along with the safe return of my entrepreneur from a day’s work or extended travel.

While the cameras aren’t rolling and no reality show documents our day to day happenings, it is with a renewed sense of wonder that we share in this gift of life, the gift of family.

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Plow the Field You’re In, Not the One Left Behind

Posted on December 17, 2011 by peterpioniq

In the Gospel of Luke (9:62), Jesus makes this interesting statement: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom.” It’s an interesting statement whose implications can be more than just spiritual. For the entrepreneur, life is a series of successes and failures. We always feel that if we don’t learn from the past, the future will be nothing but a repeat of the same movie.

Like many others with my DNA, I have an ability to analyze and over analzye spreadsheets and do multiple scenario planning. I’ll do it before the scenario unfolds and then later, after things played out. When my forecasts and plans come in way off course–like not even in the ballpark–my tendency is to re-analyze and “stew” (as my mother used to say) about what went wrong. While this exercise is profitable in a limited sense, it can be highly detrimental if we continue to focus on what we did wrong. Depression can seep in and our confidence gradually eroded over time. After selling my house in Silicon Valley, I spent months wondering if it was the right decision. Would I have made more money if I had held on to it for another year? What if I had been a better negotiator? If I had just started a company a few months earlier would it have been funded before the recession hit? Who knows? And who cares. I shouldn’t. The past is over; the future is ahead of me and the present is where I’ll always exist.

The only way to make a successful future is to work hard in the present. Hence, plow the field you’re in. It does no good to waste cycles wondering if you could have done things better or made wiser decisions. The answers don’t matter. Move forward. Always, always move forward.

A good friend of mine and founder of Scale Computing, Scott Loughmiller has an interesting process he routinely puts in place. He calls it the postmortem. Each week, he leads his development team through the list of things that were completed and those that weren’t. His meeting is short and provides a routine, disciplined mechanism for discovering what went right and then applying those lessons to correct the items that may have gone wrong. In a way, Scott is taking what he learned in one week, moving on to the next week and using those lessons to plow the next field, rather than focusing on how to correct things in history.

While it is true that we can never physically go back in time; it is important to not waste mental cycles doing the same. Plow the field we’re in, not the one left behind. Spend our cycles moving forward; set that hand to the plow and don’t look back.

Questions? Comments? write me at:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Dealing with Life’s Transitions

Posted on December 17, 2011 by peterpioniq

Maybe life is just summed up as transitions.

At least this is how I would define my life, a series of transitions and how to adjust within each transition. For now, as I write, I am sitting at my kitchen table. Same kitchen table, but located in a new area. This summer, we moved to Greenwood, Indiana. We put our Mountain View, California, home on the market on March 6, 2009. Thinking of all of our friends in California, met through social gatherings and through the success and failures of entrepreneurship, really resonates the thought of transition.

Having children certainly puts transitions into perspective, with all of their developmental stages. The thoughts I have today are transitions as an entrepreneur’s wife and a stay at home mom with children, both in constant transition.

Transition defined is a passage from one state, stage, subject or place to another. Also, defined as the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. The second definition uses the word process and to me, that word is of interest. A process can be a natural or involuntary series of changes. So, if I were to highlight three words they would be transition, process and success. Sitting here, I wonder what transition I am in to go from California to Indiana. Then I am reminded of the word process and process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. The process that brings me to this new area is “the big hit,” or to gain success. It is interesting that process and success end in “cess” which means a tax or levy. While “cess” has its original origin in the late 15th century when the Irish were obligated to pay taxes to the Lord Deputy’s household. I would like to use the term tax figuratively and that is a strain or heavy demand.

  • Success = under a heavy demand
  • Process = in favor of a heavy demand

So by being in the process to gain success means I am in favor of the heavy demand and by being under a heavy demand everything should work out. However, I must not forget to insert my summation of life and that is transition. “Trans” means across and across is from one side to the other of something. The etymology of “tion” is the state of being. The definition of transition now makes sense and now I can connect the dots to say that in order to have success, I need to be willing to accept the natural voluntary and involuntary series of changes that take me from one place to another. Since we are looking at the entrepreneurial aspect of life, let me describe that as “the big hit” can be obtained if I am willing to support and love my spouse who is in favor of the pressure and heavy demands associated with gaining the desired achievement.

The word entrepreneur is challenging enough to spell let alone live out. Entrepreneur defined is a person who organizes and operates a business, taking on greater than normal financial risk in order to do so. That definition nowhere near describes the reality of the entrepreneurial family, but that is just it. An entrepreneur is one person, but when that entrepreneur is married and the sole breadwinner of the family, it is now viewed as the entrepreneurial family. I cannot define that in a neatly packaged sequence of words, but I can walk you through my ongoing journey and I hope you find it encouraging.

To face the entrepreneurial life is to face uncertainty and claim a high stake in faith. I have faith in God and that is where I find my peace and calm. I also have faith in the talents of my entrepreneurial husband. I have learned that in this desired achievement, I walk along side of my husband and my children walk along side of their Dad.

Questions? Comments? write me at:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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You Seldom Make a Bad Choice

Posted on December 17, 2011 by peterpioniq

The Gospel of Luke, chapter 19 tells a story of an “unjust” servant. A wealthy man leaves his country for a period of time and delegates his asset management to three people. Each gets one mina to manage. That’s about $300.

Upon his return, he discovers who has the Midas touch. One guy has a 10X ROI, delivering ten mina back for one invested. The second is more conservative and delivers a 5X return. The third is a complete loser. He chose to keep the money buried in his basement. If a year’s worth of inflation were calculated, the last fund manager actually had a negative return.

This story really isn’t about fund management and allocations. Instead, it’s a pointed portrait of the choices we all face each day as they relate to our talents. A thoughtful interpretation reveals three decision categories: best, better and good. The latter might surprise you, but read on.

Best

Perception: High, risk; likely failure, nearly impossible. Good dream, bad choice.

Truth: You were created for a purpose and it will likely appear as unattainable. The more this choice is considered, the harder and less appealing it will look.

This is likely what you were meant to do.

Better

Perception: Less risky; better pay-off; uses some talents, but does not stretch them. It’s not your dream, but it could be a lifestyle.

Truth:  While this choice may provide a stable, predictable lifestyle, the price you’ll pay is a lifetime of regret. You’ll always wonder “what if” and never get the answer to that question.

Good

Perception: Low or no risk. This looks like the safest bet and a good choice for your life.

Truth: Your dream and passion you have been given is completely buried and sacrificed on the alters of stability and, to be direct, laziness.  Regret may follow you for a time, but eventually you’ll sink into the malaise of routine and forget what it was you thought to accomplish.

Summary

A friend of mine once drove his girlfriend through Woodside, CA. It’s a cozy community of Silicon Valley’s successful. He told her that if they were to marry, she should be prepared to fail at least three times before they’d move here.  That’s the right perspective for someone who clearly had chose the best path for his life. He knew it would be a tough journey, but that eventually he’d arrive at his planned destination.

If you have a dream that’s tugging at your talents, don’t bury both in the dirt. Go for it. Push forward. Achieve that 10X return on your life. You won’t regret it.

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Would You Build a Railroad Without a Train?

Posted on November 2, 2011 by peterpioniq

The movie Under the Tuscan Sunhas one of the most memorable movie quotes: “Signora, between Austria and Italy, there is a section of the Alps called the Semmering. It is an impossibly steep, very high part of the mountains. They built a train track over these Alps to connect Vienna and Venice. They built these tracks even before there was a train in existence that could make the trip. They built it because they knew some day, the train would come.

Spoken by the character Martini, this quote isn’t Hollywood fiction. The Semmering Railway was constructed between 1848 and 1854 by nearly 20,000 workers. It has a maximum gradient five times that of other railways. At the time of its funding, a train that could traverse the grade didn’t exist.

But it was built anyway to provide the Austro-Hungarian Empire with a route to the sea. Engineer Carl Ritter von Ghega was chosen to build this unique, technological wonder that included 14 tunnels and 16 viaducts.

Carl didn’t spend much time wondering if the train to ride the tracks would never be built, if the railway would make money, or if the train would be safe enough. He knew that if he provided a vision and a tangible foundation for achieving it, the rest would come quickly.

And it did.

Engineers soon began designing the most technologically advanced train of its time. Freight, then passengers followed later. Nearly 150 years later, Carl’s tracks still stand; his vision achieved.

The Semmering Mindset

Life is like Semmering Railway. There’s a lot that has to be built by faith and vision. Sometimes the grade looks too steep, the mountains impossible to navigate, the forest too dark.

That’s what the path to achieving your vision should look like. If doesn’t, you’re not aiming high enough. True vision seems impossible to attain. It will appear like a lot of work. New education will be required (to various degrees). Easy isn’t an adjective fit to describe the prescribed path. The terrain is venomous, the path notorious and few will reach the ultimate achievement.

It takes a leap of faith.

Governments came and went during and after the construction of the railway. Yet, railway and vision remains. Through several wars and two World Wars, it was sheltered from the enemy only by the weight of its importance.

Action Plan

Sometimes vision requires movement and action before confirmation of its legitimacy is attained. Focus on what you know, learn what you don’, push forward into the mist and believe that the train will eventually come.

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