What Business For You? Look in the Mirror. Two Good Posts.

I’ve always said that what business is right for you depends not on the market, or what’s hot, but on who you are. So look in the mirror. Today I stumbled on two excellent blog posts that put this in good perspective. First, What Kind of Startup is Right for You, a post by Nellie Akalp … Continue reading What Business For You? Look in the Mirror. Two Good Posts.

5 Blogging Mistakes And A State of Wonder

Yesterday while flying cross country I read State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett. It’s about real people in an almost-but-not-quite magical Amazon jungle, and, although the plot moves steadily forward, it’s more of a spell, woven with words by a great writer, than just a story. As I got off my first plane, I was … Continue reading 5 Blogging Mistakes And A State of Wonder

Heartfelt Advice for Young Fathers

My five kids are all grown up now, doing well thanks, and as I look back on things related to parenting I think I’ve discovered something worth sharing. It’s about dad time with young kids. Our oldest was born in 1972 and our youngest in 1987, and in our case, during those 15 years a … Continue reading Heartfelt Advice for Young Fathers

Time, Not Money, is the Key To Happiness

Evidence gathers. I posted research agrees: time is the scarcest resource more than a year ago.  Then this week I found Research Finds Time As A Means to Happiness in a Stanford business school publication. This one is about a new study with similar findings, plus a summary of several others. New research takes a … Continue reading Time, Not Money, is the Key To Happiness

Pam Slim’s 10 Keys to Startup Sanity

I was sorely disappointed to miss Pamela Slim’s keynote speech for the Willamette Angel Conference 10 days ago. I’m a member, but I had to be away, and had to miss it. I hear she was great. Eugene and Corvallis startups are still talking about it. She called her talk 10 Keys to Maintain Your … Continue reading Pam Slim’s 10 Keys to Startup Sanity

It’s Easier to Build a Business Than Find a New Spouse.

Here’s a thought: a healthy relationship makes both of the people better for it. Both people win, or neither one wins. Are you better, and better off, because of your spouse? Is your spouse better, or better off, because of you? And then there’s business, life, and relationships. Is your relationship better off for your … Continue reading It’s Easier to Build a Business Than Find a New Spouse.

What Does a Life Well Lived Look Like to You?

What do you think of this (emphasis is mine)? Flextime, dress-down Fridays and paternity leave mask the core issue: certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged, on a day-to-day basis, with a young family. Reality is people working long hard hours at jobs they hate to buy things they don’t … Continue reading What Does a Life Well Lived Look Like to You?

Family Business Succession 4 Years Later: The Rest of the Story

There I was, minding my own business, watching my twitter flow, contemplating my next blog post, when what should appear in my twitter but … well, you can see it here to the right, in the Tweetdeck version: mommyceo is Sabrina Parsons, my second of five grown-up children, who has been running Palo Alto Software … Continue reading Family Business Succession 4 Years Later: The Rest of the Story

Torn: True Stories on Kids, Career, and Conflict of Motherhood

Today is the first day of distribution for Samatha Walraven’s book Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career, and the Conflict of Modern Motherhood. I got an advance copy and it’s a good read: for working moms, of course, but also for working dads, and everybody else who cares about understanding some of the people they … Continue reading Torn: True Stories on Kids, Career, and Conflict of Motherhood