About Finding the gear

Purpose:  The purpose of this blog is to serve as a repository for thoughts (both mine and other’s) I find helpful in the context of the digital media industry with a leaning toward local; internet marketing strategies and tactics and mobile application development trends.  There is likely to be a healthy dose of stuff from startupville thrown in as well since that has become my hometown.

Path:  The path I have taken during the course of my career could be described as circuitous…not as much of a straight line as maybe a lot of my ambitious friends here in the Bay Area.  I’m a bit of an explorer, and tend to love opportunities that force me to learn something new.  I’ve always worked for startups and most recently started my own for the first time.  That one is sort of on the shelf at this point, but I caught the bug, which is kind of like a travel bug.  Those who have it know what I mean.

Pace: “Finding the gear” is a title inspired while out on a bike ride.  I was on a normal ride, maybe doing about 25 miles in and around the western parts of Palo Alto, Portola Valley and Woodside.

I was thinking about my entrepreneurial experience and how it has had to change since getting married, having kids and getting older (read “getting older” as “more risk averse”).  It occurred to me that as a novice rider, I’m constantly thinking about what gear I should be in.  My goal is to try and keep a constant cadence during the course of my ride.  But as the ride may include varying terrain such as uphills, downhills, and flats, keeping that constant cadence requires pretty frequent gear changes.

Similarly, as I pursue different opportunities in my work life, I’m finding that maintaining a steady cadence or pace helps to keep the family somewhat insulated from the ups and downs of my fairly risky career pursuits.  And it helps to keep what I’m doing in perspective.