Year of the Startup

I sort of took a couple of weeks off from blogging.  No one reads these anyway.  Still, I can’t stop writing for too long – I still feel a desire to write!

The last two weeks have actually been pretty fun.  I’ve spent time with my family, some time doing church stuff, I got a small contract job (a couple of hours), and I’ve watched a bunch of movies.  There’s not much point in job hunting right now because I go on vacation in two weeks for.  Gee, I guess I’ll just need to rest until then – maybe read a book.

The kids are out of school at the end of this week.  They are pretty excited about that.  Courtney graduates on Thursday (no more middle school!) and Jeff finishes his junior year on Friday.  Alas, Barbara has to work on Monday to close up her classroom.

Because Courtney graduates on Thursday, Jeff and I are not available for band practice.  This means that for the next six Sundays, neither one of us will be playing in the band.  I think this is the longest I’ve ever taken off from the band in nineteen years.  It’s going to be weird.

It’s been a fun and lazy sort of week.  I’ll enjoy this now but in the not too distant future, I’ll need to find meaningful work (read: cash-producing).  I’ve already had friends try to set me up in various jobs and I just got one request to resurrect my old travel agency job.  Really, I just want to do what God wants me to do; hopefully it will be fun, meaningful, and low-stress – exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for in my semiconductor startup job.  I will likely pursue layout contracting and “web” businesses (like that travel job).  I may try to get back to my “multiple streams of income” mantra, which if successful will allow me to do the things I truly desire: travel, write, and spend quality time with my family.

Just think – one year ago yesterday (I checked), I began working full-time for ASD.  One year later, I’m back to being an unemployed bum; now a little poorer, but with a whole year’s worth of business experience.  It’s been a great year!

Time of death – 5/25 at about 9AM.

Some of us will begin to look for work starting on Tuesday.  I can’t reasonably start to look until after I get back from vacation the last week of July.  It’s been fun working for ASD.  We’ll see what God has in store for me next.  I suppose I’ll eventually get my cut from the sale of the assets.  It sure won’t be what I put into the company.

We lost another person in our company today – our only designer.  Everyone is sad.  Tomorrow, we’ll have a meeting to see if it’s worth continuing as a company.  Without a designer, it would be difficult to pull off.

OK, so today’s plan is to make me CFO.  Alright, I can do that job as well as I can do  the CEO job (that is to say, not at all).  It won’t matter if we can’t get cash.  If we do get cash, then eventually, we’d need to find a real CFO – you know, one with experience and an MBA.  Tomorrow, I may be COO or CTO.

A couple of us met with “possible opportunity #2.”  The meeting went well.  I don’t know that anything will come from this, but who knows.

You know how sometimes a strange turn of events takes place that leaves you baffled?  My whole week has been like that so far.  I don’t think the strangeness is over either.  Work is definitely changing – into what is anybody’s guess at this point.  Our numbers are beginning to dwindle, as some have needed to get a paycheck, and we’re almost out of cash.  Without an infusion of cash, the company will need to be shut down or put on hiatus and we’ll need to go look for work.  This week, we’re talking to two companies about doing something together or even getting bought-out by them.  What’s strange is that up until this week, neither of these guys were on our radar; now they could become our “great hope.”

I’m also not entirely certain, but I think I was just promoted to CEO of the company today.  No one in the company has any experience in the position, or desires the position, and I’m the only one with extensive management experience, albeit at the 1^st level manager/supervisory level.  If I do wind up in the position, which suddenly seems likely, I would clearly be out of my depth.  God help us all!  The company is likely to die in a blaze of glory (or with a whimper).  If by some miracle the company does survive, my goal would be to find a worthy replacement so I can get back to a more comfortable management level.

This last weekend was one of the best I have ever had!  I spent much of Saturday helping my son with his English class video project.  Jeffrey’s direction and vision for this video was amazing, and it turned-out well.  It was very funny!

http://youtu.be/1k-Q2xY8JQs

Sunday was spent being part of a improve at Sunday School (fun!) then “shredding” at church  with my son (we had worked really hard on “Reaching for you” and did pretty well), coming home and finishing up the video, then shopping the entire Great Mall with my daughter for bikinis.  I must admit that this was a little uncomfortable with the shopping – It was an absolute blast to go shopping with my daughter, but I was often the only guy in the store, and it just seemed odd to me that I should be picking out little triangle patch outfits for my fourteen-year-old daughter.  In the end though, she bought two absolutely darling outfits.

Kind of cool, but upon exiting the mall, we could see that the sky was dark and “weird-looking.”  It then occurred to me that it was about time for the partial solar eclipse.  Courtney and I looked at the shadows on the ground (all crescents), then looked through our shopping bags to see the sun.  My retinas were a little damaged after that (better now).  It was cool to see.

The fun continues with my son.  Yesterday, we had band practice together.  He got some compliments at the end of practice.  I was very proud of him for all the work he’s put in this week.  Today, we’re going to a “men’s only” bar-b-q.  It should be fun hanging out with the guys.

Oh ya, I also bought Facebook today as an IPO.  I did the same with Google back in 2004 and made a quick 3x on my money.  I’m looking for something similar with Facebook (Long-term, I should be looking at Linkedin for social media rather than Facebook — I think Linkedin will do a lot better over time.  I’m looking for quick cash with Facebook).

I had a fun afternoon with my son today.  First we went to the DMV, and then we practiced music.  The DMV was for his permit.  Alas, he didn’t pass his written test (or his eye exam!), so he’ll need to come back at a later date (and with glasses).  When we got home, I taught him the much more advanced version of “Reaching for you” by Lincoln Brewster on bass.  My son has advanced enough to do most of it too!  He’s really come a long way in a short while.  I think playing almost every Sunday for the last two months has really helped him (gee, forced practice improves his skill – what a concept!).

Today was all about the Tour of California, which rolled into town today.  This is year seven of the event, and I have yet to miss the San Jose leg of this race.  For the first time, the race was starting in Beryessa, so I thought I’d see the beginning of the race (which I have never done).  Also, the finish line was in Livermore, so close enough to drive to.

I decided to park near a friend’s house, figuring that if the place was full of cars, I could use their driveway.  My instincts were right (perfect spot to park), but I didn’t have to use the driveway; I got there just in time to score a shady spot across the street.  For the next two hours, I walked up and down Beryessa road, looking at the event tents, seeing all the equipment and visiting a couple of the team busses.  I got to see Jens Voigt, Levi Leipheimer, Tom Boonen, Chris Horner, Gregory Rast, Matthew Busche, Ben King and Peter Velits up close at their respective busses, then I got to see Peter Sagan, Robby McEwen, and all the afore mentioned racers at the front of the start line.  It’s too bad my camera/iPhone died just after the start of the race.  At the finish line, Sagan, Heinrich Haussler and Boonen were practically a photo finish at the end.  Sagan won (third day in a row!).  I guess the two mountains between the start and the end of the race didn’t affect the sprinters much – it was an all sprint finish!

Jens Voigt

Levi Leipheimer