Ben Casnocha: The Blog

Friends of Ben Weigh In On My 18th Birthday

18 years ago today I popped out of my Mom, aspirated meconium, went on 100% oxygen, and had a 50/50 chance of living. Oh the suspense....Well, I lived! I recently asked many friends over age 18 to tell me what they did that they most regret or what they *didn't* do that they most regret. I gave them gold stars if they could answer in haiku. It was a lot of fun reading. Thanks to Ian Ybarra for the idea.

A bunch of people responded saying "No regrets!" (One person added to her response: "People who say they have no regrets live an unexamined and superficial life.") A big trend was traveling overseas, something I plan to do this summer.

Here are some samples. Feel free to add your own to the comments and thanks again to those who responded.

---

Chris Yeh, Director of Marketing Symphoniq and co-founder of Silicon Valley Junto

What I most regret--
Not studying overseas.
That world is gone now.

Bud Ovrom, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development to Mayor Villaraigosa, City of L.A.

I turned 18 in june, 1963...

Three months later, on November 22, 1963, my new exhilirating world was turned totally upside down. I was 18 and the best year of my life had just turned into the worst day of my life. If I have any regret from that day it is  that I did not immediately start driving to washington for the funeral. Instead, my closest friends and I stayed glued to the tv in the student lounge (back in those days no one had a tv in their room and the communal grieving was probably good).

I was not then, and am not now, a religious person, but I remember knelling beside my bed that night and promising that I would use my life to try to  make a difference...For the remainder of those college years we were all very active in the civil rights and anti war movements. After graduation I joined the peace corps and then returned to pursue a career in local government. 

The defining moment of my life was when I was 18.

I hope you will also find that moment, but hopefully not at such a young
age and not by such a generationally tragic event. ...I still get up every morning excited to go to work, because I still believe I am keeping that promise, doing something I believe in and feel that I am making a difference.

Ajay Juneja, entrepreneur

When I was eighteen
I helped others way too much
Ignoring the self

Brad Feld, Managing Director, Mobius Venture Capital

Always working hard
Not enough travel world wide
Too few girls in bed

Steve Silberman, Contributing Editor, Wired Magazine

18, thought I was
different than others, but I'm
one passing too, see

never kissed those lips
nor put my head on his chest --
love still new then, sharp

Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures

I don't regret anything about that year of my life.  I left home, never to return for more than a visit, I went to MIT, the greatest school in the world, I spent the winter skiing in the Alps and learned to ski moguls, and spent the summer in Boston and had the time of my life.

Wayne McVicker, author of Starting Something: An Entrepreneur's Tale of Control, Confrontation, and Corporate Culture

Regret that I did... Went to local junior college and worked to save money for architecture school, rather than investigating other ways to get money for school. I lost substantial momentum that took many years to make up.
Regret that I didn't... Invest the time to learn to dance better.

Terry Duryea, former CFO Network Associates, serial entrepreneur

I was a college freshman at UC and because I rowed crew, I did not drink nor had I ever really drank.  But at my fraternity Christmas party (with the crew season over), I got so drunk I did a lot of stupid things (all in fun, nothing serious), ultimately leading to being ill.  The next day I felt horrible and was embarrassed by my actions.  I wasted my precious Sunday with the hangover and took a lot of ribbing from my fraternity brothers.

I regret losing self control and the waste of a Sunday BUT I am glad I did it, because it was a valuable lesson with little cost.  I've never been drunk like that since...and have enjoyed just as many parties without wasting the next day.

Heidi Roizen, Managing Director, Mobius Venture Capital

I can't really say that I thoroughly regret anything I did at 18 --because even the stuff that seemed really horrible back then (like the night I went out with the Harlem Globetrotters and got myself stuck alone with no wallet at 2am in downtown San Francisco) ended up being learning experiences -- and in the case of that particular episode and a few like it -- rather funny stories to tell my kids.

What I most regret I didn't do at 18, is take advantage of ALL the opportunites a place like Stanford afforded an undergrad.  I was so busy working to pay my way  through school, I didn't get to do much extracurricular stuff.  In particular, I never took advantage of the study overseas programs, which were defining experiences for my friends. So my advice to you Ben is, realize that you have opportunities at 18 that you won't have when you are older, recognize when one presents itself, and if you can, do it!

Julie Down, GVA Whitney Cressman

My biggest regret was that when I had an opportunity to study abroad during my freshman year in college that I take advantage of it.  I didn't even talk to my mom about it.  I was concerned with some family stuff that was going on, the outcome of which wouldn't have changed whether I was in the country or not.  I should have at least asked!  It would have been good for me to go but also to express what I wanted.

Deborah Streeter, Bruce F. Failing, Sr. Professor of Personal Enterprise and Small Business Management, Cornell University

When I was 18, I hosted a student from Brazil for a year.  It changed my life quite a bit.  I fell in love with Brazilian music, went to Brazil in my junior year of college and majored in Portuguese. Although I now teach entrepreneurship, the Brazilian connection continues to enrich my life by connecting me to wonderful people and opening up unusual opportunities.

Dick Costolo, CEO, FeedBurner

The thing I did *not* do that I most regret was not spending a year somewhere outside the US before going to college. I generally believe  that spending a year abroad, anywhere abroad, offers you a much greater perspective on the world when you enter college.

I didn't do anything that i regret....i wish i'd done more of everything
that i did do! :)

Dave Jilk, eCortex and Entrepreneur

On the happy side, very easy - I decided to apply to, and after being accepted, to attend MIT.

On the regrets side, I can do a haiku:

regrets at eighteen?
not the right time to decide
anything that big

Trevor Traina, serial entrepreneur and investor

Eighteen meant some drinks
Being with friends for hijinx
Not mature methinks.

Renee Blodgett, PR maven and blogger

Most happy about would have to be "doing a scholarship program abroad - in other words, getting 'out of this country' to gain a different perspective on the states and the world around us."

Les Vadasz, former CEO Intel Capital, director emeritus/executive VP Intel Corporatoin

I was almost 18 when I graduated from High School. I remember that a bunch of us had a great time after graduation ceremony, and we all ended up in our small apartment at late night. Including one of the 2 girls in my class. And we just sit there in the dark, doing nothing but talking... and I know she liked me...

You will remember more what you didn't do than what you did.

David Cowan, Bessemer Venture Partners

For the first time I fell in love, which answers BOTH your questions.

Mark Pincus, founder Tribe, serial entrepreneur

I broke free of my dad's influence!

Tyler Willis, Project New Orleans

When I was 18 I walked away from someone who loved me with all her heart to travel the world and discover what was important. What was important was what I already had. It doesn't belittle what I learned in my travels, but it was the most foolish thing I've ever done.

Warren Katz, CEO Mak Technologies

I regret not living in a foreign country for at least 6 months or a year while in college.

Vida Tolman, Chief Deputy City Clerk, City of Arcadia, CA

I was 16 when applying to university and entered when I was 17. I most regret choosing a university that kept me closer to my high school friends (with whom I had nothing in common intellectually) rather than choosing a university that would have stimulated and challenged my brain. I could have easily been admitted to any school of my choice. I just "dumbed" myself down to keep friendships.  What I realize now is that the friendships I would/could have made at a more challenging university may have been a better fit for me and all it would have taken to get there was a little leap of faith.  Case in point: I pretty much left those high school friends in the dust after a few years of school anyway.

Here's your birthday haiku, written in the abreviated English style, sans "season word":

New info
keeps brain running;
must gas up!

Bo Brustkern, SVP Corporate Development, Subfocal Solutions

wisdom like autumn
paucity, voyage; teacher
is the world at large

Olivier Marchand, Client Services Associate, Comcate, Inc.

I turned 18 in 1993. I wish I had invented Google, or at least Yahoo.

Richard Kassissieh, educational technologist

Always stop at four-way intersections.
Spend a year abroad during college.

Ryan Martens, President, Rally Development

Create a personal discipline for taking care of myself (mental, physical, emotional) - too easy to sacrifice myself for various other pressures (work, friends, school, fun)

Ramit Sethi, I Will Teach You to Be Rich

I wish I had started keeping a journal (whether public or not) to remember what I was thinking. Imagine being able to look back in 50 years and see what you thought when major events happened--and even cooler, just on a day-to-day basis. It's never too late!

Dorrian Porter, CEO Mozes

I never knew how to listen very well or hold back negative criticism without taking the time to make it constructive or just letting things go altogether.  Both are something I still work on every day 15 years later.  In haiku, that might be:

He's dumb. Who is that?
As my beard grew, I would shave.
I saw who it was.

Jon Swartz, USA Today Technology Reporter

I regret not traveling to L.A. with a high school friend to watch Pink Floyd perform The Wall in concert. Little did we know it would be only one in a handful of concerts before the band broke up for good. To add salt to the wounds, Rolling Stone magazine and others consider it one of the most memorable concerts ever.

Kevin Pasquinelli, CRM consultant, JD candidate, former Comcate consultant

Never say never!"

- When I was 18, and entering college, I said that I would dedicate my life
to science and never become an engineer. I graduated with a BSEE.
- As I became immersed in electrical engineering I said that I would never
concentrate in software. I went on to obtain a MSCS.
- Upon graduation, I said I would work only on applications and never on
compilers and software development tools (aka software that generated more
software was a "ridiculous use of my time"). Soon thereafter, I became
product manager for compilers and software development tools at Hewlett
Packard.
- During this entire time, my family encouraged me to become an attorney and
I responded; "What a dull and boring job." I am due to receive my J.D. in
May 2006.

Life is an adventure. Live it. Never count any vocational path out.

Jamis MacNiven, owner of Buck's of Woodside

This is easy. I most regret not being more forward with women. Lacking perspective I didn't know that women were interested in me or even in men. I had no father figure around to clue me in but let it be heard,  "Young women are interested"

Dale Edmondson, O'Melveny & Myers, LLP

Those with boring pasts
Rarely take issue with things
That they in fact did

My regrets involve not doing things -- taking social pressures too seriously (and in particular, declining to ask out certain girls out of rejection-phobia).  I don't think I really appreciated how little any of those pressures would matter in the long term.  If I had relaxed a bit more, taken things less seriously, and taken some risks, the years around that time probably would have been a lot more fun.

Auren Hoffman, Stonebrick group, Silicon Valley 100

happy 18th birthday Ben!   now you can vote, legally sign contracts,
join the military, drink in a couple of states, and officially take
over the world.

Charles Hudson, Manager, Business Development at Google Inc.

The thing that I most regret not doing is exploring the world outside of my own backyard. It wasn't until my mid 20s that I really started to travel and see the rest of the world and meet people who were different. I would encourage all 18 year olds to become world travelers at an early age -- it really broadens one's horizons.

Will Pate, entrepreneur:

- Made a list of the top 25 people in something I wanted to be great 
at and reached out to form relationships with them.
- Been more like Ben Casnocha
- Believed in myself more
- Been more organized
- Do more favors for people I meet
- Have a plan

Ben Cathers, young entrepreneur and CEO of Search Rate Technologies

My biggest regret is not enjoying the life of a student. I was too focused on building my first business and not spending enough time realizing that being a high school student only happens once. I don't regret building the business (as it paid for my college, housing and made me financially independent) but I do regret looking back at many of the memories I missed. Thankfully, college allowed me to re-deem yourself, and even though I didn't want to go to college (and straight to business), as I reflect upon
everything (I graduate this semester) I just wish I could do it all over again. I tell my younger cousin who is a freshman "you are the luckiest person in the world". When one of my professors told us "I'd cut off my right arm to be in your seats" I couldn't believe him, but now I do. Make sure you enjoy it all and remember business will always be there... but college and high school won't be.

Josh Kaufman, marketing at Proctor & Gamble

Regret Doing When I Was 18:
Taking so many classes during my freshman year of college instead of working on my own projects and meeting more people.  (This goes for the remainder of college as well.)

Regret Not Doing When I Was 18:
Having a steady relationship / not dating more people during high school and the early years of college.  Relationships aren't things to trifle with, but having a girlfriend of 3 years when you're 18 is going a little overboard, when I look back.

Dave Richmond, President, Comcate, Inc.

I wish I had gone abroad during college and done a semester in D.C. I also wish I would have done more things in college that better prepared me for my career like networking, participating in groups on campus, etc.

Tim Hurley, Partner, Porter Novelli/Boston

I lost my dad to cancer when I was 20. And my biggest regret when I was about 18 was not telling him that I loved him.

Friends of Ben: Tim Taylor - New Blogger

My close friend Tim Taylor has started a blog called My Agapic Life.

On the surface, Tim is just another Silicon Valley connector. He's the oral presentation coach at the Band of Angels, the oldest angel investment group in the Valley, which means he works with all presenting entrepreneurs before they go in front of the group. He's a Wharton MBA, a CPA, and on the side helps start-ups find capital.

Dig deeper, though, and you'll discover why I like Tim and why he's been a formative influence on my life. He's a published poet, writer, ex-stand-up comedian, avid reader, and devoted father. He's a deep thinker with a strong spiritual bent. In his own words, Tim has a single mission in life: to bring more love into the world.

Tim's blog is sure to reflect his very interesting mind and life, and if his first postings are any indication, he's already found a voice that fits the blogging medium.

Welcome to blogland Tim!

Friends of Ben: Trevor Traina

Network: Ben Casnocha > University High School > Varsity Basketball > Max Shapiro > Keiretsu Forum > Andy Scott > Trevor Traina

Google Search: Trevor Traina

From time to time I profile someone interesting in my Friends of Ben series. I saw Trevor today and it reminded me to do a post on him - he's super successful, super nice, and a real influential in San Francisco.

By his last name, you may know Trevor as part of the Traina/Danielle Steele family. But in the Silicon Valley Trevor made his presence felt when he sold CompareNet to Microsoft in '99. Since then, he's been an active angel investor, director, software entrepreneur, and major philanthropist.

Besides having gone to my high school, what I find wonderful about Trevor is his genuine kindness.

When I first started doing sales pitches, I could always tell from the first second whether I was meeting with a guy who radiated kindness or if s/he had a harder shell to crack. It didn't usually affect whether or not I closed the deal, but it certainly helped us establish a connection. Trevor is free of a shell - of eliteness, of arrogance, of "I'm too good for you" - that I sometimes encounter here in the Valley. He's funny and goofy, and obviously very good at what he does.

Maybe one day I'll convince him to start a blog, but in the meantime keep your eye out for Trevor's wheelings and deelings in his companies StepUp, SchemaLogic, and all his non-profits like Haas and the fine art museums of SF.

Seth Levine Offers Profound Moral Advice

After I congratulated Seth Levine of Mobius VC on tagging something in del.icio.us yesterday, he took advantage of his newfound knowledge that I subscribe to his del.icio.us RSS feed by offering some profound moral advice this afternoon through four cryptic tags: don't do this ben.

How silly of Seth to think I would ever possibly join the ranks of the Top Drunk Dialed Calls which are available as MP3's and sport such intriguing titles like "I         have kissed every girl in the bar - and I is not a guy" or "I         was puking and just thinking of you".

Of course, if don't want to create unacceptably vague delicious tags like "do" and "don't" just tag things "for:bencasnocha" and I'll give it a look.

Accurate Traffic Directions and Predictions - Can't Wait for This

My friend Jonathan Hubbard, CEO of LandSonar, sent me a note saying they've emerged from stealth and are publicly talking about their next generation digital mapping technology. Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur, HBS grad, and a nice guy.

LandSonar is trying to deliver accurate traffic information for the *entire* United States by embedding their technology in the products of their partners to allow people to answer questions like, "What is the quickest way to the airport now?" or "Show me all the houses for sale within 55 minutes of my comute" or "How long will it take to drive home if I leave at 6 PM tonight?".

Cool stuff.

Dynamically Generating Ads in Podcasts

Greg Galant of VentureVoice stopped by my school the other day for a quick chat. In addition to his podcasts with venture guys, he's got a good idea going in RadioTail for inserting  dynamically generated ads into podcasts. Most publishers would "hard code" ads into their shows. This makes a lot more sense.

Objectivism Continued: Dave Jilk Weighs In

I've exchanged 10 emails over the past two days with David Jilk, CEO of Xaffire. Our topic was Ayn Rand and objectivism, and it started from a detailed comment he left on my post.

At the end, he asked if I was going to update my post to note that I actually did believe in "objective reality" with restrictions. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure what I believe at the moment. It was a fun philosophical exchange that got me thinking in a new way (although admittedly once you start putting quotes around "is" I'm pretty lost!). I figured Dave would be knowledable, but I would have appreciated a heads up beforehand from my friends in Colorado that I was dealing with an extremely well written guy who would start quoting thinkers buried deep in the esoteric domain of philosophy!!

One thing that's still rattling around in my head is the notion of selflessness - a very bizarre concept if you consider it in terms of our genetic mandate.

Every couple weeks I'll have a big back and forth via email with someone based on a blog post and it almost always happens in private email. I buy into a lot of the hype around blogs, but I've never understood the supposed "conversation" that happens. In my view, trackbacks and comments are a clumsy way to faciliate an e-conversation. Blogs start conversations, but they're not good enough yet to sustain them. Email is still better. And that's a shame - because when more voices are heard, we all benefit.

My First Date

No, this won't be the tell-all you've all been waiting for (I haven't had time for romance in high school, but maybe later), but I did make my date with Seth Levine. And it was well worth it. Seth is at Mobius VC and a blogger.

Our chat - which left me with more energy afterwards than I had going into it, always a sign that it was quality use of time - reinforced two things. 1) How great blogging is to connect people and build the foundation of a relationship. Small talk doesn't exist between two people who meet for the first time but have been reading each other's blogs. 2) How electronic interactions will never give you the total picture of someone.

Seth is a Friend of Ben who is compassionate, thoughtful, successful, and laid back (in an intense way). If you think these are important traits in business or life, you should read his blog like I do.

Friends of Ben: Valerie Cunningham

Network: Ben Casnocha > SF Chronicle Article W/ Me > Always-On Innovation Summit > BizWorld > Valerie Cunningham

Google: Valerie Cunningham

I have to keep reminding myself to keep up the Friends of Ben series...And yesterday I had a good reminder at the Churchill Club event Leadership Defined.

Valerie used to be at BizWorld - she was the one who originally roped me in there - and then she did some independent PR work as HighWire Consulting and now she's teaming up with Tony Perkins and Marc Canter (among others, like my friend, neighbor, and uber-Valley networker/investor Carl Wescott) in launching the GoingOn Network.

Valerie was kind enough to sit in yesterday on a lunch discussion that I was advertised as being involved in (it turned out to be quite the odd arrangement) and offer moral support. She correctly remarked afterwards, "That turned into a 'let's grill Ben on what he did when he was 2 years old' session!"

In any case, Valerie is one of the most high-energy people I've met. Always ready to laugh, her personality is large and friendly. She's a good reminder that energy is infectious and that a single person can change the dynamics of a whole room or conversation in a positive way. I'm also grateful to Valerie for taking me the first time to Bucks of Woodside so I could see myself on the menu (after the AO panel) and meet Jamis.

If you want a more interactive intro to GoingOn, check out this video interview JD Lasica did with Valerie (which I know she's really proud of).

Leaving a Meeting With a "Friend of Ben" With Increased Energy

Name: Colin Wiel

Network: University High School > Varsity Basketball > Max Shapiro > Keiretsu Forum > Carl Westcott > Colin Wiel

Google Search: Colin Wiel

I meet and talk with new people all the time, so how does one become a lucky star in my Friends of Ben series? There's nothing I value more than someone who fires me up - who gives me the most important currency there is, energy - and thus leaves me re-charged after a meeting. Colin Wiel did that for me a few days ago. Colin is starting a San Francisco chapter of the angel investment group Keiretsu Forum and is a successful entrepreneur. His kid is also entering kindergarten at the same grammar school I attended for nine years.

After our spirited conversation Colin sent me a hilarious review of Friedman's The World is Flat (see another critical review here). It's funny, but it also focuses way too much on rhetoric and not the neoliberal vision Friedman argues for.

Back to the theme of this post: I believe people leave meetings in two different states. The first is one of general tiredness - ready to get back to your computer, back to your family, etc. You are emotionally drained. The second state is one of renewed energy - you can't wait to think more about what went on in the meeting, you can't wait to continue the conversation next time. In a world where meetings are perhaps the most hated thing on earth, a meeting that fires you up is a rarity. That usually happens because of the people involved. Surround yourself with good people, and you'll have awesome meetings.

Friends of Ben: Steve Silberman

I've been remiss in not updating the Friends of Ben series (where I profile interesting friends of mine) as often as I should but after a deeply thought provoking conversation with today's feature I resolved to update it.

Network: Ben Casnocha > Cole Valley Neighborhood/Blogging > Steve Silberman

Google: Steve Silberman

Steve is a contributing editor at Wired magazine where he's been for 10 years. I first met Steve more than a year ago when he emailed me saying he was a fellow Cole Valley resident in SF. Since from time to time I do interviews with press people I was expecting another of the same. It turned out that Steve was unlike any other journalist I had met with - he wasn't interested in business as much as the people behind them. He wasn't interested in Comcate as much as me, the person; a living breathing person with experiences and feelings and complexities.

Talking with Steve reminds me that life is about people, corporations are about people. I've always had appreciation for anyone who has studied human behavior, cognitive science, or psychology. No matter how many layers of suits one hides behind, no matter how staunchly one projects a certain identity to achieve a certain goal, at our core there is something very primal and authentic and common about the way humans act. Few people in this world are able to penetrate the barriers we put up around ourselves that only are disarmed when we are sitting in bed in darkness, unable to sleep, engulfed in our own conscious. We are the only ones who know what is rattling around in our inner-selves. It is a great struggle (and an innate urge) for humans to communicate these inner thoughts to people close to you. Most of us fail, and the sane people of the world can manage this failure of communication by living in the company of their own thoughts and feelings that others do not understand.

What's remarkable about Steve is his ability to get as close to those inner thoughts as anyone has, for me at least. Through razor blunt but gently kind questions we grappled with some of the issues I've written about on this blog - narcissisism, college, relationships with peers, and so forth.

The most heartening take away for me from our chat was that many of these life developmental issues require two sets of skills - a skill to develop a framework for thinking about it (being able to have conversations with others or yourself about them), and then the skills themselves - like empathy, love, etc. - which we all have the genetic capacity for, but only some of us develop to the fullest extent possible.

Friends of Ben: Seth Godin

Network: Ben Casnocha > Blogging/Email > Seth Godin

Google: Seth Godin

In between visiting NYU and Sarah Lawrence (more on my college trip soon) I raced up to visit Seth Godin in Irvington, NY. It was my first time meeting Seth but I’ve been inside his brain for a few years now through consuming his books and blog. When I knew I was going to be near his town I dropped him an email explaining my background and mutual interests. He agreed for a quick cup of tea and I was thrilled.

Interacting with him in-person on business/marketing issues and life/college issues was incredibly illuminating. He has an appealing style of offering blunt advice and feedback in a constructive, level-headed way.

On the college process, Seth (who was once a professor at NYU and PACE) threw out this scenario: what if I was to take all the money my parents would spend on a formal college education (at a private college, this would be in the hundreds of thousands) and spend a year in Banglore, a year in China, and two years rolling up my sleeves in a company. What kind of education would that provide and would it be superior to the conventional college ed?

I hope to get to know Seth better in the coming months and years. In the meantime, thanks Seth, for a stimulating conversation.

Friends of Ben: Jonathan Miller

Network: Ben Casnocha > University High School > Max Shapiro > Keiretsu Forum > Jonathan Miller

Google: Jonathan Miller + Truereq

I've been slacking off on my Friends of Ben series where I profile interesting people I know (so far I've profiled two VCs, a CEO of a software company, and a young entrepreneur). So after having coffee with Jonathan Miller this morning I resolved to update this portion of my blog.

Jonathan is an accomplished entrepreneur, technology executive, and angel investor. He was a member of the founding team at Flycast Communications, COO of the Fortunecity Network, Chief Community Officer and VP Product Dev at Peoplelink, and founder and board member of Truereq, a company delivering hosted product lifecycle management software. He also is a partner at LLM Partners where he does angel investments and consulting.

For me, life is like a candy store - I am easily interested in lots of different things. I get the same vibe from Jonathan. Be it product management, online communities, computer science, finance, or the World Series of Poker and Belgium chocolates, all of these pique Jonathan's interest. He also considers himself a "Jew-Bu" (Jewish Buddhist).

Next week he'll be moving to Shanghai three-quarters time. Why? With zillions of consumers and a growing dependence from American firms on Asian manufacturing/programming outfits, that's where the opportunity is, of course. So hell - learn Mandarin and pick up and move to Shanghai! That's what I call entrepreneurial zeal.

Because of the move, he's looking to get rid of clothes and books so I made off like a bandit, with 7-8 books and a couple sweet jackets. Here's a pic of me sporting my new five-finger-discounted jacket. Thanks Jonathan!

Friends of Ben: Greg Prow

Network: Ben Casnocha > Mike Patterson > Greg Prow

Google: "Greg Prow"

Greg Prow was up until recently a managing director and COO at Mobius Venture Capital and was one of the first people in the business world I met 3 or 4 years ago. He is now moving on to new endeavors, but I thought of him recently after an email I got from someone very successful who told me to abandon my involvement in business and focus exclusively on school.

Back in the day, I wrote up a 10 page business plan on an idea I had for a company based on my first dot-com that resolved citizen complaints about local governments. When my close mentor Mike Patterson - who at the time was just a neighbor down the street, I'm sure he didn't expect to be this deep into it! - took a look he offered to introduce me to a friend of his (Greg) for add'l feedback. I had no idea what to expect - after all, I had never met any adult in any sort of business setting. I think I was 12.

When I arrived at the offices of what-was-then-called Softbank, I recall my palms being sweaty and very nervous. The bubble was just bursting and from what I had read about VC firms everyone was in the dumps. To my surprise, I walked in and was instantly printed a name tag and led to the back where there were tons of drinks and food. It seemed the bubble hadn't burst yet for this firm.

I met Greg and I was surprised again - he actually read the business plan in detail. He had detailed feedback, he went to the whiteboard and drew up numbers. He said, "Ben, I want you to go out and find three beta testers for this product. Second, I want you to find quality tech support folks who can stabilize the product and answer the phone 9-5. I'll help you find these people. Third, this is most important: as you embark on this journey, most people are going to tell you to give up, to just be normal, to quit being a dreamer. I want you to never listen to any of them and keep pounding away at your vision. Good things come from the desire to make them happen."

Those were his parting words, applicable to any entrepreneur, and they echo in my mind every time someone tells me to quit. Thanks Greg, for inspiring me to start on this incredible journey.

Friends of Ben: Michael Simmons

Network: Ben Casnocha > It's, like, Ben's Blog > Michael Simmons

Google: Michael Simmons + Entrepreneur

So far I've profiled two friends - an accomplished software company CEO and a VC from Cupertino. Today, I am profiling someone much younger. In fact, Michael Simmons (blog) is just finishing up NYU. But he is a name you don't want to forget.

I first met Michael this past summer when I was in New York City. He found out about me through my blog. Michael had just finished giving a speech to some youth on entrepreneurship when he came outside and we met and chatted in a park near NYU. Within the first 5 minutes I realized I really liked Michael and what he was doing - he was kind, determined, and not the least bit self-centered despite all the speaking and writing he has done. (He published a book, available on Amazon, called The Student Success Manifesto.)

Michael has started Extreme Entrepreneurship: An Education Corporation as the follow up to his book. They're all about empowering young people to start companies, come up with ideas, obtain support and mentoring from older people, and the like. His focus is about nuturing the entrepreneurial lifestyle. That's really cool and something I'll blog about later. Their three guiding principles are:

"Be the change you want to see..." - Gandhi Empowerment is a young adult's ability to make the best decisions to available in each moment regardless of background, environment, or other external factors.

"All education is self-education." - Isaac Asimov
Parents, mentors, friends, administrators are all crucial to development, but most important and core is each young adult’s ability to empower him or herself.

We are all naturally visionary and productive. For us to not to be, something must have gone wrong. The best way for young adults to rediscover their innate curiosity and passion is by empowering themselves to LEAP.

If you peruse Michael's blog you'll find it rich in deep insights that touch on not just entrepreneurship but the total life picture with stuff on philosophy, religion, spirituality, fear, and the like. His post 3 Life Transforming Vuja Daze Strategies is good, and I also reccomend Our Deepest Fear.

Michael is a leader of today and will be a leader of tomorrow because he so well versed in various disciplines of social thought. I believe that succesful entrepreneurs and people are those who are interesting. And you're only interesting if you know at least a little about a lot of different things. Michael is a good example of someone anchored in entrepreneurship but a deep thinker in other areas.