The Need for Rest

March 28, 2011 Leave a comment

Renee and I just finished a weeklong vacation (honeymoon) in Cancun.  It was much needed for both of us and incredibly relaxing and just great for us to have time to connect given our hectic lives.  There was a time when I was terrible about taking time for myself and my family – going multiple years in between any real time off – and I’ll never do it again.

I know there will be those entrepreneurs and early stage veterans who will say that doing early stage work is all consuming and you have to do “whatever it takes” and there simply isn’t the ability to take time off from a startup.

I disagree.  I’ve lived on both sides of this fence and there’s one fundamental truth – there will always be more to do than you can get done.  And I’ve never taken a vacation when the timing was right, it never is.  And I’ve also never taken a vacation where my absence resulted in a catastrophic event for the business.  To the contrary, time off rejuvenates, enhances focus and most important, it’s an explicit pronouncement of your priorities, not just to yourself, but to your family.  I learned my lesson the hard way as a result of all those years without taking time to remind my family of my priorities.

And I’m not suggesting that in a startup you can disappear into the ether for 2 weeks at a time.  When I take vacation, I still check email once per day and respond to any urgent issues.  This frequency still allows me to relax and focus on vacation, not work, for the bulk of my day.  That is simply my personal balance and one that works just fine for Renee too.

I do realize there are exceptions and I also realize that startups require obsessive, compulsive, even paranoid behavior, but not enough of any of these to avoid putting vacation plans on the calendar in advance and not enough to repeatedly cancel vacation time.

So take some time off.  Disconnect if even just a little.  Connect with your family.  It will all be there when you get back.

There’s a great article detailing a well respected VC’s struggle with the same issue “Do More Faster”.

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A Great Ride!

March 6, 2011 Leave a comment

I finally had a chance to get out on my bike today after a 2-week hiatus, which is a long time for me.  The combination of work travel and illness has put a real damper on my fitness routine.  My commitment to cycling, running and generally staying in shape is important to me and its taken a back seat lately.  I’m an avid cyclist, it is by far my favorite hobby.  Last year I cycled in France during the Tour de France, an amazing experience I will never forget.  It was a gorgeous day today, 70 degrees and not a cloud to be found.

I did one of my favorite routes today – roughly 50 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation gain over several canyon climbs in the Santa Monica mountain range.  PCH, Topanga, Fernwood, Stunt, Piuma, Saddle Peak.  Being on my bike, alone and suffering, is where I have the largest blocks of time to think.  About work, life, whatever is occupying my energy at the time.  I really enjoy riding alone for this reason.

Today I took a different approach.  I’ve been pretty stressed and preoccupied lately so today I focused my energy on NOT thinking about all the things going on in life.  Rather, I focused on enjoying being outside, my rhythmic breathing, the scenery, getting to the top of the next climb – all the things I’ve been unable to think about over the past few weeks.

It was truly a breath of fresh air.

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It’s a Boy!

February 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Yesterday Renee and I found out that we are having a BOY!  We’re half way through the pregnancy and all is going well.  It’s exciting to think about having a boy and visualizing all the things we’ll do together throughout life.  I guess first things first.  Our final fetal testing happens in a week, the visual ultrasound that looks for physical deformities.  Not that the outcome really matters in our decision process but the peace of mind will be great.  And we’ll get to see some pretty cool close up images of Baby Giraffe.  Clearly the naming process needs to get underway, as “Giraffe” is guaranteed to get him harassed and beat up before he’s a toddler.

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