Archive: Life Lessons
It starts deep in the pit of my stomach. It’s hard to describe. It’s like a cross between butterflies and sharp fluttering stomach pain. Sometimes, it manifests itself as a pain on the left side of my neck. It feels like a burning, humming sound. The buzz you might hear at a power substation full
Around the time this article is published, a whopping 7000 people will descend on Las Vegas to discuss the future of insurance. For three solid days, people from all walks of life who have joined the insurtech wave will introduce themselves, network, and fight to get heard in a sea of innovation. It’s all happening
About 8-years ago, I boarded a flight from JFK to make my way to an island about 30 miles south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. It was a welcome break. I was attending a small, annual, invitation-only gathering of the northeast’s forward-thinking entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, executives, and researchers. The location and name — Nantucket Conference — were fitting. The island
The truth is when you have the combination of these two (thinking and doing) inside you — whether you believe it or not — you are an entrepreneur. (Photo by christian koch on Unsplash) What do home climate control and missile defense systems have in common? A lot. This is what my friend Dip Patel discovered in circa
Slipping on a banana and breaking your hip is fragile. Getting hit by a truck then getting up to walk to your hair appointment is resilient. But, getting one of your arms cut off then growing a new one the next day is beyond resilient — it’s antifragile. Sh*t happens in startups. (Amen, right?) I can relate.
Once, when meeting with the CEO of a new customer, I pulled out a bottle of ketchup and set it on the table. It was one of these … Once, when meeting with the CEO of a new customer, I pulled out a bottle of ketchup and set it on the table. (Image: istockphoto) It was
It happens rather quickly. Your new investors sign a shareholder’s agreement, a subscription agreement, and a corporate charter. Usually, you create a new class of (preferred) shares. You receive a notification from your bank that the wires from investors have cleared. Your lawyers file the company’s new corporate charter, and a new board of directors
“Crunch, crunch, crunch,” was the sound my gait made as I marched along a distant barren landscape. Here, there were no demanding customers, no competition putting pressure on me. There were no employees anxiously seeking consensus and no investors asking endless questions about our sales forecast. Absent were the industry publications offering views of the
I believe that the life story of everyone on Earth is not just a linear fairy tale with a straightforward beginning and end. Instead, it is a mosaic of mini-stories that come together to create a masterpiece like the work of Antoni Gaudi. When I opened my copy of Michelle Obama’s book Becoming, I half
Never fall in love with your product, keep your ego in check, and love your customers.
Reading is a breath of fresh air for the mind of a busy CEO.