Perhaps the most snow you will ever see in San Diego. I was greeted by this in the morning as I was about to jump in my car and head out to work. (That’s my car’s sun roof)
Speaking of which .. I’m going to Mammoth Mountain, CA this weekend for a taste of some real snow. Woo hoo!! (Let’s see if I come back with no broken bones)
Anyone who fights for their dream, suffers far more when it doesn’t work out, because they cannot fall back on the old excuse: “Oh, well, I didn’t really want it anyway.” They do want it and know that they have staked everything on it and that the path of the Personal Legend is no easier than any other path, except that their whole heart is in this journey. Then, the warrior of light must be prepared to have patience in difficult times and to know that the Universe is conspiring in his favour, even though he may not understand how.
– Paolo Coelho
It’s just after noon on Sunday. I woke up early today (I’ve began for the past few weeks now to not sleep in on weekends) because I have a lot of things to do. Some of the things I have to do, I don’t feel like doing, but I know I have to do. However, I catch myself slacking of a bit, not fully focusing on the task that requires my to concentrate deeply (like writing this blog now!) Gahh!!! And I know this is a self-defeating behavior. Which is why I am putting this up here.
This is my blog, and when I first began writing, I wrote that among other things, I wanted this to be a place for me to collect my thoughts and help me think. Sometimes something as simple writing things down help me focus and collect my thoughts, viewing things from a different perspective better.
Writing forces me to concentrate on what I am thinking about, in one consecutive single-user thought process (no round-robin time quantas need to be assigned). The positive byproduct of this is that I focus more on the topic I am thinking about, and during the writing process, I may discover something flawed about what I had originally intended to write and correct my course before proceeding. Likewise, I may also discover something that I did not originally think about (perhaps an important subtopic to expand upon).
I’ve spent all morning, and haven’t been as productive as I have wanted to. I’m moving, but I’m just not moving frickin fast enough. I realize that distraction, my self-induced ADD, my inability to focus, my tendency for procrastination (because I don’t want to do this!), is a major impediment to my success in everything I do, and will be in anything I do, if I don’t manage this. I am battling this vice of mine, and I know I will win.
I am reminded of what Dave Lorenzo, a business coach, wrote:
We have all heard the expression, “It don’t come easy†in reference to success. This is the truth. Although success may appear to happen in an effortless fashion, someone somewhere worked very diligently behind the scenes to ensure optimal results. You must prepare your mind for the difficult tasks that lay ahead of you as you drive your way toward success. Just as a world-class athlete spends years training his body to take the punishment of intense competition, you must train your mind for the battles you will face on the road to making your goals a reality. Your mental training regime involves challenging yourself with completing increasingly difficult tasks that require you to be alone.
No, I’m not referring to some zen-ish meditation. Check this out.
This is why I love technology. If I recall correctly, humans are the only living things that know how to augment our own capability with tools. And we’ve just taken it to a whole new level by separating our body from our conscious mind. Look at how fast the robot can quickly scan the left corridor and then the right corridor at the T-junction. It’s almost as if the operator is there in person, quickly turning his head from left to right (which he is, just remotely!)
Note to self: perfect cubicle toy for corporate drones.
My favourite Silicon Valley tech reporter has been taking jabs at techies and VC’s alike about lofty valuations or anything that even remotely spells b-u-b-b-l-e — which although it may seem like she is constantly crying wolf, I think she serves as a good check in place to remind us of why the tech bubble happened, lest we get all sugar high and repeat our mistakes again.
Needless to say, I was grinned when I read this on VentureWire this morning.
Valuations of start-up companies in 2007 dipped for the first time in several years, suggesting that a correction may be in the works amid an economic slowdown.The median pre-money valuation for start-ups across all sectors was $16 million, down from $18 million in 2006, according to data released today from Dow Jones VentureSource.
The sagging numbers weren’t pinned to one industry, as valuations fell across the board. Information technology start-ups saw pre-money valuations fall to $15 million from $18.8 million. Health-care valuations dropped slightly to $19 million from $20 million, while the retail and consumer group showed the biggest decline, with valuations ringing in at $10.5 million versus $15 million in 2006.
“2007 was a year of caution,” said Sandy Miller, a general partner at late-stage firm Institutional Venture Partners. “The first half of the year was bullish, but the second half was cautious. [Venture capital] may be the least impacted part of the [current downturn in] the economy, but nobody leaves unscathed.”
Several investors said that certain sectors of the VC landscape – such as Web 2.0 and clean technology – remain overheated, and the downturn in valuations is more of a natural correction than a sign of impending doom.
No tech bubble, hurray 
It’s ok, Kara. You can put your pitchfork down now.
Or maybe not 
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