My Objects of Desire

There are three things I’d like to have before I kick the bucket:

1) A cool 70s vintage leather jacket – brown or black.

2) A leather and suede knife roll for all my chef knives (like Eric Ripert’s).

3) A few boxes of Cohiba Robusto.

Life’s Needs and Wants

I learned during our mini-retirement last year that there are few things that one really needs. The luxury of just being free to follow your passion and do deep dives into your hobbies is the highest of all. Waking up and realizing the you own your own day is a beautiful thing.

I promised myself to try to keep that attitude and perspective on life as I ventured back into the working life. The mental trick I played with my consumerist mind was to pretend that I owned my new venture and my operations needed to be boot strapped. I decided to view my new ventures from an entrepreneurial perspective; it’s not just a job but a mission with a purpose.

But the real trick is to think like a venture capitalist; not all ventures are going to generate positive cash flow or profits. You have to save during the good years to pay for the not so good. Especially in a context where you always employ yourself.

I’ve no plans to work non-stop until I’m 65 and then check out. No Siree, I want to work on meaningful projects and the don’t come around that often. I expect to be unemployed at least 25% of my so called working life, most likely voluntarily unemployed. I like the idea of mini-retirements every second or third year depending on how business goes.

That turns that whole current mortgage business model upside down. It’s based on spending most of your current salary on paying your mortgage for the next 30 years. Talk about not keeping your options open. The key is to keep your burn rate really low at all times and your savings rate high when working. That generates strong cash flow.

The real secret is to stop rewarding yourself with monetary rewards every time you feel great, crappy or unworthy. Buying confidence or satisfaction is effin’ sad.

Crazy Great Times

Nine months into my new gig things are starting to really heat up. We had a fantastic web and client release last week that so far have gotten great reviews from our users. That makes all 24/7 work worth it.

We have also announced our expansion into Europe which is my old home grounds. Europeans will love our service since publisher’s over there are even stoggier then here in the US.

And there are tons more good stuff in the pipe which will keep me busy for the next few months. But that’s life in a startup. You make a bet, break the rules and work smarter and faster then the current incumbents to win. Anyone that’s not living on the edge is just waisting space and time.

2 Months Later

I cannot believe that I haven’t written a post for almost two months. That didn’t even happen when I semi-retired last year. We’ll I’ve been busy as hell, working on getting our client and web releases out as well as charging ahead on what’s next in the product pipeline.

It’s been a very productive and creative period. I’ve rediscovered the earlier Genesis (1969-1975), Rush and Judas Priest thanks to my buddy Sam. I’ve had friends and family swing by almost every weekend and I’ve been reading up on things (scrum, French politics, 70s progressive rock, the Inklings et cetera) as well as getting my Netflix on. I even think we went down to LA for a crazy weekend in May. Hard to remember.