Entrepreneur, Explorer, Angel.
Sometimes all at Once.
10TH February 2021
Geopolitical - Mobile - Timely
Holy War
Apple is a tool. Facebook is a distraction. Or so says Tim Cook, rather elegantly, in his recent speech in Brussels for International Data Privacy Day… which BTW sounds like a wonderful holiday! No doubt, the fortunes of Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon have been tightly woven together since the iPhone launched. They all existed before 2008, but having devices in hand rather than at a desk was wildly disruptive in how people spent their computing time- and where. But let’s think about each company- and their products- in terms of one ratio; utility vs. distraction. Apple seems the handiest, a really useful tool. Why does one pick up an Apple device? Aside from Phone, Facetime, text and music? For the… Camera- if I want to record events from laundry […]
30TH January 2021
Creative problem Solving - Culture - Friends - Parenting - Timely
Covid the Accelerant
I think Covid is one of those accelerants that make us more of who we already are. You know the type. Alcohol. Money. Power. It’s said that they are truth serums. Inhibition droppers. Corruption makers. We’re surprised when someone gets their hands on said catalyst, and they seem to behave differently. I argue just the opposite – they behave just as they always were. Even perhaps just more so. Money gives the resources to pursue more of what you are. Power probably makes it harder for people to stop you. Alcohol, well, at this point it’s a universal defense for anything untoward. (Note- Winston Churchill’s last words were “I should have had more wine”). Covid should be added to the mix, or at least the pressure that comes with it. […]
24TH January 2021
Creative problem Solving - Family and Friends - Legends and tales - Timeless - Uncategorized
The greatest risk is taking no risk at all.
You can ski in any number of safe trails to the bottom. So why would anyone choose to ski down on the difficult black diamond run instead? Most passionate skiers would ask the question differently: why wouldn’t you? The point of skiing isn’t to get to the bottom. The point is how it feels on your way there. I grew up scaring myself half to death, and was a VIP at my local ER. And this despite my upbringing which basically discouraged medical treatment and put prayer as the first choice in healing. We had nothing against doctors, mind you. We just thought that 80% of our so called “medical issues” were mostly in our heads, included the risk and the fear that came with it. In retrospect, perhaps I […]
23TH January 2021
Adventure - Creative problem Solving - Family and Friends - Uncategorized
Remember Travel
It’s been a year now. After years and years of miles and miles (pun intended), I’ve spent twelve months pretty much staying put. It wasn’t that bad at all. Because the common thread, at least to me, was curiosity. And curiosity, properly applied, is just as powerful at home as it is halfway across the world. Like most people, I travelled for business, and for pleasure. Often a little of both. But what I liked when I travelled was being out of the comfort zone. Different food. Different languages. Different traffic laws. Funny accents. Different ideas of personal space. Different views of history and current events. It was the ability to adapt, or utter failure to do so, that I found exciting. How to sit on the floor and eat […]
27TH December 2020
Adventure - Family and Friends - Friends - Timeless - Uncategorized
Adieu 2020
Egyptians wrote about passing, as if someone got off the Nile and passed into the reeds. The Nile was life. Anything afield was not. They lived within a mile of the water, and what was beyond the reeds remained a mystery to most. The Romans called it alleysium, as in Gladiator before battle “if you find yourself alone, riding in green fields, with the sun on your face, do not be troubled, for you are in Alysium, and already dead”. Even in a movie, chilling words. Homer referred to it as the Elysian plain…where life is easiest for men. No snow is there, nor heavy storm, nor ever rain, but ever does Ocean send up blasts of the shrill-blowing West Wind that they may give cooling to men. If death […]
08TH November 2020
Culture - Family Office - Geopolitical - Leadership - Timely
Hang on, Whitey. Whitey hang on.
Ok, that just happened. It’s like we’ve all been watching this intrepid surfer, up high on the board, whooping for the crowds, showing his tan on a remarkable ride… that lasted four years by last count. And that ride is now likely over, but the wave beneath is much bigger than the surfer himself. And this wave will be with us for awhile; it’s called White Extinction Anxiety. I grew up marginally upwardly middle class in Allegheny County, PA. Yes, that Allegheny County, where we seem to count a little slower… when it counts. We were white- my team mates from Little League Champs Robert’s Oil, my hunting camp family in Pennsyl-tucky (aka Clearfield, PA), my Brighton Township Bears Pop Warner football team, my family reunions of the OG Miles […]
17TH September 2020
Family and Friends - Friends - Good Story - Legends and tales - Timeless
Five Fantastic Qualities of Mark Von Kreuter
My eulogy for a friend, Mark von Kreuter
23TH April 2020
Creative problem Solving - Entrepreneur - Family and Friends - Mobile - Parenting - Timely - Uncategorized
Hair, in the time of Corona.
We didn’t have a cure for Corona. But it sure had a cure for us. It’s like we were all swimming nicely in warm waters… when suddenly the tide went out, and all of humanity’s stark realities were there on display for most anyone to see. Startling. Hair; We like it more than we knew I probably didn’t think much about hair before Corona. My Dad and Grandfather passed a full head on to me, though Vitalis is no longer on the grooming essentials list. On a regular basis- monthly I’d say- most of us had some version of this routine (for men- women please add steps as you see fit). Call ahead to salon (or spa, or barber, whichever), to see how busy they are. Maybe book a time […]
23TH April 2020
Adventure - Cuba - Culture - Geopolitical - Timeless - Timely
Back to Havana – wrapping up
So that was 32,000 words about visiting Havana, for those that may not have seen it yet. The Table of Contents is here, BTW. In the time I was there, I met a lot of memorable people. I also learned a lot of the amazing history of the Island; some from my friend and partner John Caulfield, some from the seminal book Havana Nocturna, and plenty from just casually observing the place that hasn’t changed much in 60 years. It is as close to the “Land that Time Forgot” as anything I have ever visited. The idea for time travel came from a lunch at 304 O’Reilly. While everyone at the table wanted to imagine what the future of Cuba held, we all agreed that it would be much more […]
21TH April 2020
Cuba - Havana Culture - Timeless - Timely
Shelter(ed) Day 18 – Back to Havana
Chapter 18- Before the Music Stops Illustration – view from the house above of tanks in a tobacco field, rebels streaming out of barns, the Batista surrender. Ermitas Blanco. Havana. The roar of a half dozen Harleys turning off the Malecon and into the Riviera porte cochère was unmistakable. Esteban tossed his keys to the attendant and strode over the terrazo entry into the main lobby. Marlon was just behind him. The others hung back, being just mechanics from the garage hired to bring the [hogs to the party]. Since losing his bet on the Malecon race, Esteban had been hankering to get even. Actually, it was nearly a necessity: his acting career in New York wasn’t all that lucrative. He was caught up in the macho moment, and […]
- Holy War
- February 10, 2021
- Covid the Accelerant
- January 30, 2021
- The greatest risk is taking no risk at all.
- January 24, 2021
- 10 Things to ask before Investing with someone
- May 08, 2014
- Angel investing for Family Offices: What if you knew ‘Zuck… back then.
- July 10, 2013
- Now I really want to be like Peter Thiel
- June 11, 2016