Categories
Slice of Life

Ideas & Execution: Great Minds.

Maybe your idea is not ready to be launched today. But perhaps in a few weeks/months?
Maybe your idea is not ready to be launched today. But perhaps in a few weeks/months?

I’ve had quite an eventful week … as usual.

Today I spoke with two dear friends/colleagues and I found myself so intrigued by how our brains are so similarly wired: ideas. IDEAS. IDEAS! Ideas were flowing like honey during our conversations and….I kept thinking, “Come on! We gotta EXECUTE on these ideas!”

And that seems to be the hardest part to move towards–execution. Analysis Paralysis sets in as we simmer on our ideas and just..don’t…make…a move.

It happens to the best of us, the worst of us. Throughout the morning and afternoon, I pondered upon this thought and wondered why, with such brilliant minds around me, we oftentimes get stuck in the idea phase.

The three of us, and I’m sure many others, are like this: we have a ton of ideas. We want to get them all going but…but! Which one to start with? Which one sounds most feasible?

I had trouble with getting TAOpivot conceptualized. I worked hard with my friend Young B. Kim, aka Ideavist, for a few months before we finally popped the rock out and got TAOpivot. It was an amazing moment…so a-ha!

But, as you can see from the previous paragraph, it took a few months for that idea to get shined down into something concrete. Dealing with all that mush in my mind was tough–I thought we’d never hatch something out of our discussions.

But, we did. And I’m confident that my friends Ian Harwick and Brandon Waloff will also get their ideas up and running soon enough. We all have to hit a wall sometime; but, we’ll eventually break through that wall and feel that a-ha moment.

Categories
Business Musings life

5 Signs You Need a Vacation

Oh, the horror!
Oh, the horror!

Yes. That is today’s topic, mainly because I find myself desperately needing a break after this crazy month. I am sure many of you can relate to nearing the brink of insanity with too much work, too much networking, too much everything! Here are five surefire ways to know if you have hit a huge mental block:

  1. You lose track of what appointments you have, overlooking one appointment twice – I am sitting here feeling like the flakey person I abhor the most: I have made plans twice to talk with a wonderful connection from California, and both times I forgot about the call. I am not saying my burnt-out state is any excuse for missing my appointments; I would be surprised if this connection would still want to talk with me after my flakiness. Still, too much on one plate = unintentionally missed appointments…
  2. You forget what day of the week it is because you are constantly working – Another thing I am guilty of; I usually enjoy working on the weekends because there’s less noise coming through in my mailboxes. Still, this morning I woke up and thought it was Tuesday, when in fact it is Monday.
  3. You write emails to the wrong clients – HAS NOT happened to me, thank goodness (fingers crossed). Well, if you lose track of who all you are writing to, it is a sign that you are quite overwhelmed. Take a step back and breathe. This is also when being more organized would help.
  4. You sleep a whole day away accidentally – Yes, I actually did this yesterday: I slept a good, healthy eight hours from 10pm – 7am, but then I hit snooze and continued sleeping until 3:30pm. I thought I was well-rested, but I guess I was not at all if I slept so long.
  5. You cannot focus on the task at hand, even though there’s a deadline – Maybe you have worked so many hours that you have even forgotten about deadlines. Wait, that proposal was due this morning? Oops. Another deadline missed…

I am sure there are many other signs to be aware of, but really….if you see that any of this is starting to happen in your life, it may be time to think of a vacation, or a small break.

This week is the last week before my family is in town for our Easter vacation trip. I am determined to tie up as many loose ends as I can before next week so I will be available to fully enjoy time with my family. Besides, I have been pretty much going nonstop since mid-January. It is about time to take a break.

Categories
health life reflection

Negativity on Social Networks & Seeking Help

Temperatures got you down? Don't fret!
Temperatures got you down? Don’t fret!

I woke up a few hours ago and was checking my Twitter feed, as usual. I kept coming across negative/grumpy posts from one user that I finally decided that I didn’t have to sit there and read this person’s negativity. I could simply unfollow.

The thought that crossed my mind though: I know quite a few people like that. They plaster themselves on social networks and constantly complain about how miserable they are, how much life sucks. This could all be taken as just “Oh, he’s a whiner.” or “Oh, she’s had a bad day.”

But what if these tweets, status updates, etc. are actually cries for help? What if, for these people, their lives TRULY suck?

I wouldn’t recommend leaving these people, but I would recommend suggesting to them to seek professional help. This recommendation is coming from myself, who has been in counseling for over five years. Am I seriously depressed all the time? No, but I get bouts of it. What I’ve noticed over the years is that, no matter how much I may try to avoid talk therapy, I need it, all the time. Yes, I can always talk about my sadness, my problems, with friends and family. They do care. But, since they are not psychologists or counselors, they can only do so much.

I’ve experienced this myself as well. Having a few colleagues over the years complain to me about how miserable they are, I found that their energy was draining all of mine. I wanted to help so badly, but I noticed that, after awhile, I was only talking to a wall that wouldn’t take any advice I’d give. I didn’t have any more resources to pull from to help the other party get out of their rut.

And that’s the thing. When these same individuals resort to complaining about life on social networks, it just makes things worse for the rest of us. We sit here, wanting to console our friends & family that are going through hard times, but after awhile, we can do no more. We can’t take care of everybody. We’re not all counselors or psychologists. If we’re true to ourselves and to our troubled loved ones, we would recommend seeking therapy.

Of course, in our society (the American society), talk about therapy and mental health is so taboo. But it doesn’t have to be. You don’t have to feel ashamed that you’re seeking a psychologist’s help to get through your dark times. You’re helping yourself by doing this instead of wallowing away and avoiding it!

So, next time you see someone complaining about life on your social networks, give them a little nudge to perhaps seek talk therapy. They don’t need to be seriously, clinically depressed to seek that. It’ll make them feel better and more proactive about their life if they just go through a bit of talk therapy.

Categories
My San Francisco Chronicles startups

#Launch2013 – Thoughts Post-Festival

Mustache pic with Liz H. at the Try it Local booth.
Mustache pic with Liz H. at the Try it Local booth.

Whew. It’s already a week after the Launch Festival in San Francisco. I’m sitting here, sipping on green juice and wondering how the week just flew by. When I first decided to go to Launch, my intent was to go spread the word about TAOpivot to others in the Bay Area; you know, do some networking like I usually do.

What I didn’t expect was for the conference to be MORE than just that! I was so excited to go to Launch that I started following the #Launch2013 topic and pinging people to see if we could meet up. Once I got to the event, I was doing part live-tweeting of main stage sessions and also continuing to message other attendees to try to meet up.

Yup, I out-tweeted the @Launch account.
Yup, I out-tweeted the @Launch account. Stats from Epilogger.

So, after the first day, I unintentionally out-tweeted the official @Launch account. I was stunned and … well, didn’t expect for so much to happen out of that.

Oh, the horror!
Oh, the horror!

Days 2 and 3 consisted of me maxing out my tweet limit (I was locked out of Twitter for an hour…oh the pain!), lots of requests to meet up from other attendees and Demo Pit startups, and … just AMAZING connections. By the end of Day 3, I felt like I had a whole new family to go home to. It was sad to see the Concourse getting cleaned up…I felt lost afterwards. *cue the violin*

Got recognized at The Creamery! New friends Crystal & Terri & me
Got recognized at The Creamery! New friends Crystal & Terri & me

Ok, the actual Launch festival: Jason really hit it out of the ballpark. Fireside Chat with Chamath was so awesome (and so many quotable things….”Jason is a fungus”). Inspiring Accelerator and Angel Investor panels. Fun demos from companies launching at the festival! There were plenty of startups to visit in the Demo Pit that I couldn’t hit up all the booths. I felt the buzz of hope, change, life! in the air. It was nice to meet other likeminded people and chat about our similar yet different struggles in our startup lives.

My badge
My badge

And: the Digital Detox booth. Oh my gracious. This was probably the most brilliant booth there was: leave your mobile devices/laptops/etc. at the entrance and go inside to be blissfully unaware of the buzz around you. I loved trying the different tea and getting into lively discussions with other attendees without having anyone pull out their phone. There was also massage in the back area: complete with didgeridoo sound healing from my new friend, Brandon Waloff. (See Vine vid here:IMG_7330)

Pigeon.ly's mission is so unique: helping divided communities come together!
Pigeon.ly’s mission is so unique: helping divided communities come together!

What could have been improved? The timing. Every day we started later than expected; I missed a lot of the Skills Stage and Office Hours sessions because the Main Stage ran behind. Poo. The Diversity in Tech panel could have been more than just a whine-fest–it only touched the service of the topic. I know many other female founders felt that there could have been more female representation via launch demos, panels, and judges. I’d like to see a bit of balance there, too.

Overall, I really enjoyed myself at Launch. I loved meeting people from all over the world and just .. knowing we’re all in this together. Three days is all it takes to make some lasting, meaningful connections. Three days can change your life, as it did for me!

Categories
My San Francisco Chronicles startups

9 Lessons Learned So Far at #Launch2013

Vivek Wadwha with the Diversity in Tech Panel at Launch 2013.
Vivek Wadwha with the Diversity in Tech Panel at Launch 2013.

Today is a special post from yours truly (and maybe Wednesday’s as well): this week I am in San Francisco attending the Launch Festival. So honored and grateful to be here, thanks to CoFounders Lab. Anyway, today was Day 1 and already I’ve met so many people and pitched the hell out of Denver’s startup scene. Also, I’ve learned a few important lessons, listed below:

  • Show up 10 minutes before Registration officially begins – I still had to wait in the “cold” weather, but I was able to get in to have enough time to eat some pastries, drink coffee, and chat with a few founders.
  • Do not walk up to fellow Coloradans after seeing tweet – Somebody from Fort Collins, CO was standing in line behind me and tweeted a pic of the line, essentially including my presence (my back) in the photo. I walked up to this person after I got my badge and introduced myself. Said person gave me a look for saying “I found you on Twitter.” -shakin’ my head- I didn’t reconnect with the person afterwards because he seemed uncomfortable that I was so forward with my intro.
  • Tweet a lot, get called a bot – I sent out a lot of tweets this morning/most of today with the official hashtag #Launch2013–beating out the official Launch account! During the VC Panel, I received tweets from other attendees saying I was a bot. First time for that to happen to me! I suppose I have quick thumbs … apparently the number of tweets I wrote were “humanly impossible.”
  • Wear gold-tipped shoes – Seems my description of my outfit wasn’t entirely unique except for telling others I was wearing “gold-tipped shoes”. One fellow founder jumped up and screamed “GOLD-TIPPED SHOES!” when she saw me walking by her table. Differentiating factor? 😛
  • Ethernet cords are still very useful – Many attendees were complaining about the wifi, but the Launch team prepped for the outcry with tons of ethernet cords supplied. So, if I had brought my MBP, I would have been able to be on computer, tweet, and do work.
  • Learn to navigate mazes to get food – A fellow founder and I had trouble locating the Google Entrepreneurs breakfast goodies .. we thought it was a bad joke that the only ‘breakfast’ we’d get was coffee. But then…we found the magical food section, hidden behind black curtains. After that, we became the food-direction masters, directing others towards the hidden treasure.
  • Make a tentative list of startups to visit in Demo Pit – The Demo Pit has so many companies! When I walked straight into the pit I got a huge sense of overwhelm. I should have made a list so I could hit up my favorite startups first! Well, I luckily have two more days.
  • Do not trust “booth babes” – I didn’t know what people were talking about…but now I know. There was a booth with women dressed in military fatigue, tall pumps, and provocative stockings. They looked like Barbie Dolls. And the whole booth was just offensive….anyway, @Jason got rid of the group so we won’t be seeing them tomorrow.
  • Tweet to other attendees to meet up, make awesome connections – Have already met so many people at Launch, all by reaching out via Twitter. Twitter definitely breaks the ice more easily. Then people know I’m a nice person, not weird 😛

The conference runs for the next two days, so I’m sure my Wednesday update may have more lessons (or just plain amusing moments).