When Should A SaaS Startup Founder Hire a VP of Sales?

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A pattern I’ve seen around SaaS startups which are able to scale most efficiently are the ones where a founder is laser-focused (ie. actively pounding the pavement) on BD/Sales – at least until product-market fit – but best-case, until you simply cannot handle the volume. You’ve learned which verticals to target, how best to pitch to customers, how to sell, how to price, what to charge for on-boarding, who the decision makers are — and ultimately, you’ve learned what skill sets are required when you make your first dedicated BD hire. Your new VP of Sales may be able to help you increase volume and maximize unit economics – but you’ll be intimately aware of what their OKR’s should be and what their role entails, making you a stronger and more effective manager. Passing this critical role to someone else too early is risky, and most often costs you time, energy and additional burn (I’ve seen it drag for 6-9 crucial months)… Not the first time this has been written or said, but doesn’t hurt to be reminded of it early and often. My $0.02

All I Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek: Lesson #928

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Many years ago I read a book called “All I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek.” I was attracted to it not only because I’m a fan but also because I do agree that coincidentally, so many of life’s great lessons are encapsulated in that great TV franchise. Well, to be specific: The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Voyager — not Deep Space Nine and that horrible excuse for a reboot called Enterprise. Jury’s still out on Discovery. [Update Oct. 9, 2017: Discovery is very good] — But I digress.

The book cites many examples, including relationships, job satisfaction, management, family, peace, war, love, hate, life, death, and the overall nature of humanity — and in sometimes hilarious ways it explains how “every situation you will face in life has already been faced by the crew of the Starship Enterprise.”

Given that the book was written in the mid-90’s, I think it’s probably time for at least one addendum: While the handheld communicator was the stuff of fantasy when The Original Series aired in 1967, in many ways we’ve far surpassed the capabilities of Starfleet’s standard issue. One could argue that today’s iPhone is really a combination of a communicator and Spock’s tricorder, but with crummier battery life.

This got me thinking. Those devices were used in times of great need only. Need to beam up? Communicator. Check for signs of carbon-based life? Tricorder. One thing we didn’t see? Officers on the Enterprise glued to their communicators, checking social media, playing games, etc.

About a month ago I decided to apply a life lesson from Star Trek, and I deleted all except for mission-critical apps from my iPhone. No social media, no games… Pagh (that’s Klingon for “nothing”). Notifications are now from humans only, i.e. text messages & phone calls — no Twitter, no weather, no news flashes — just inbound communications from people.

I can still access the fun stuff when I’m on my laptop, but I’m not addicted to that screen and I don’t have it with me all the time. After just a few weeks I’m now far more productive, attentive, and present. It was hard to make the transition, but I highly recommend it.

If you’re like me and always looking for ways to be more productive and efficient, I’d highly recommend applying this easy lesson from Star Trek:

Want to have the time, the creativity, and the attention span to explore strange new worlds? To seek out new life and new civilizations? To boldly go where no one has gone before? For starters, ditch the non-essential apps on your phone.

The Power Dynamics of Calendar Invites

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I have some thoughtful friends who promptly send calendar invites after we arrange to get together, almost without fail. I love that. And to those particular friends, a heartfelt thank you. Calendar invites are a time-saving gift.

I say “gift” for a reason. I appreciate them very much, but I don’t expect them – and I’ll still show up if you don’t send them.

In business, I’ve noticed a recurring trend of people asking for calendar invites when meetings are set over email. I get it. We’re all busy and looking for every way to save time. But asking for a simple calendar invite opens a hornet’s nest of power dynamics and etiquette snafus.

When friends send calendar invites, it is indeed a friendly gesture, and one that doesn’t necessarily have a hierarchy attached. It’s just a friend, sending a calendar invite to another friend. No big deal.

But in business, watch out. When should you ask someone else to send you a calendar invite? Never, with few exceptions.

Here’s a handy guide:

1) You are clearly more senior than the other person, and the other person is asking you for some of your precious time. OK yes, you can ask for a calendar invite.

2) Your plane is about to take off, you are emailing with someone’s assistant whose job it is to schedule meetings, and you want to make sure your schedule is blocked while you’re on the plane and off the grid. In this case, yes, you can politely explain this to the assistant and ask him/her to send you a calendar invite.

I can’t think of other circumstances that easily warrant asking for the gift of a calendar invite.

If you’re a startup founder who has requested a meeting with a VC, should you ask for a calendar invite? Peers in an industry, meeting for the first time? If you are asking anyone to have a meeting with you, should you then ask them to send a calendar invite?

Ask for a calendar invite at your own peril. It just might be the end of a relationship that hasn’t yet begun.

Our Cars Will Soon Make Life And Death Decisions. Will We Agree?

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We recently bought a new car, loaded with all of the latest safety features. It’s not a Tesla and doesn’t drive itself – but when the safety features activate, the car pretty much takes over, braking quickly or even steering the car back into its lane in the event that the driver dozes off and swerves. Exciting stuff, and not hard to imagine a future when we can just sit back and let our cars drive us from Point A to Point B.

Not long ago I ran across this Ted Talk by Iyad Rahwan, a computational scientist at MIT Media Lab, and have been thinking about it lately – both in light of our new purchase, and because I spend time with many founders building companies powered by AI.

In his talk, Rahwan lays out two moral options which programmers of AI-powered autonomous cars will need to consider — because without a doubt, these cars will need to follow some set of predetermined ethics. The scenarios described are inspired by two famous philosophers: Jeremy Bentham, and Immanuel Kant.

Bentham’s philosophy suggests that in the event of a life and death scenario, an autonomous car should follow utilitarian ethics and minimize total harm — even if that action will kill a pedestrian, and even if that action will kill the passenger (depending on number of pedestrians vs. number of passengers). Kant’s philosophy would suggest that the car should follow duty-bound principles such as “thou shalt not kill” (applied to the passenger), even if that means harming more people.

It is fascinating and offers a glimpse of the myriad moral dilemmas that innovation in artificial intelligence will soon present. I highly recommend watching it. And I’d be curious to know your preferred set of ethics for your next car: Kant, or Bentham?

 

Also published on Medium.

Lessons From Dad, On His Birthday

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Today would have been my Dad’s 80th birthday. He passed away last October and while missing him, I’m often reminded of all the lessons I’ve learned as his son. There were many great eulogies delivered at his memorial, with stories of how he inspired family and friends alike. This was mine:

Dad always told us: “You can be whatever you want to be. Just be the best at it.”

In retrospect, I’m pretty sure I chose an impossible path – I wanted to be just like him.

I’m proud of the immensely interesting life my father led. He inspired me to strive for the same.

Until recently I’ve lived half my life outside of the US — and I know my overseas calling was inspired by some of the early trips Dad brought us on. He and Mom made it a point to take each of us on long-haul trips every so often.

One which was pivotal for me was a trip where just my Dad and I went to London. It was quick – just a day or two. And Dad had a packed business schedule so he asked me to just hang out in the hotel until he got back for dinner.

I must have been ten or eleven years old. After he left in the morning I rushed downstairs to the lobby, and started looking at tourism pamphlets with stuff to do in London. Before I knew it I was out of the hotel and riding the Tube — but it was confusing so I got lost pretty quickly. Somewhere along the way I got myself above ground and discovered the red double-decker bus. I had a great day sightseeing. The Tower of London, Museums, Big Ben – I saw a lot that day.

I made it back to the hotel maybe an hour after Dad did. Of course, we didn’t have cell phones back then – so he had no idea where his eleven-year-old son was, and no way to reach me. I’ll never forget the look on his face. Ashen, but so relieved. He asked where I’d been, and I told him about my day around London. He was a little angry, understandably, but mostly impressed. And after he listened to the whole story, I remember exactly what he said:

“I’m proud of you, Pal… But never, ever, tell your mother about this.”

I’m fortunate to have studied, lived, and worked in 5 countries – so far. But wherever I’ve been, the examples Dad set for us have always been with me:

Work hard. Be kind. Be generous. Be fair. Be curious about the world. Make friends. Give back.
Oh, and try to be good at golf.

He didn’t have much success with that last part, and so far, neither have I.

Migration Patterns of the Modern Millennial

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What do a suite in a luxury hotel in Morocco, a teepee in a campground in Joshua Tree, and a barn in New York’s Hudson Valley all have in common? All are destinations along the ever-expanding migration trails of the discerning millennial traveler. And, when it comes to tracking how this next generation is choosing to explore the world around them, a common thread emerges throughout these very different itineraries. Once you dig into the details, in terms of lodging and choice of activities, all are similar if you consider these customers’ taste: eclectic, adventurous, with a propensity to travel and celebrate events in groups, and always geared toward valuing experiences above all else.

While I love discovering new destinations and researching great places to stay, until more recently I had always found that the actual process of sitting down to plan and book a trip hadn’t really changed since the early days of the internet. My experience was tedious, clunky, and ultimately disappointing.

In the not-so-distant past, search engines ruled over the would-be traveler’s planning phase. Every different stop on a journey required hours of separate searches, digging through pages of results, trying to interpret the reliability of countless random reviewers, and wondering just how long it’s been since that remote lodge in the jungle last updated its website.

TripAdvisor has been marginally helpful because it has so many listings, but it feels like a relic of the 20th century and hasn’t really changed much over time. UGC for a travel site sounds great in theory, but TripAdvisor’s user base is so broad that the comments simply aren’t all that helpful. I don’t really care to know that you burned a hole in your shirt because the iron in the room was faulty — though I’m sorry that happened to you. And don’t get me started on the horrible photos. In fact, strike what I said earlier — we all use it, but TripAdvisor is kind of a downer.

But now, with the rise of platforms such as Airbnb, ridesharing, cheaper air tickets, and social media, today’s traveler is better equipped and more informed than ever. It’s easy to share and discover information, tips, and favorite destinations with like-minded souls, such that learning from local expertise, along with the shared experiences of friends, becomes a no-brainer. This, coupled with the millennial quest for the authentic, has created great opportunities for some travel industry players, but also confusion and angst for others struggling to adjust.

With that in mind, I’m excited to have recently joined the board of The Venue Report, a travel curation and booking site which caters to this growing, powerful, global demographic, and I’m thrilled to be working with such a talented team there.

As online platforms like The Venue Report continue to grow and shape the travel industry, it’s worth reflecting more on how these disruptive forces came about in the first place, and how savvy millennials manage to take full advantage of the new status quo.

If you’re looking for a single game changer that really set this all in motion, it’s impossible to avoid the influence of Instagram. Time Inc’s Senior VP of Travel and former Publisher of Travel & Leisure, Jay Meyer, says: “Instagram sparked the greatest transformation I’ve seen over the course of my career in travel. Suddenly, anyone looking to play in the travel space was faced with the demands of becoming a media company. Every image shared on Instagram simultaneously announces a new experience and offers it up as a possibility for the viewer. If my friends can jump into that secret waterfall in Jamaica, why can’t I?” Ultimately, it’s where new players need to convince travelers that their brand is worthy, and traditional players need to get with the times — or get left behind.

Enter the “transactional media” model. Content becomes commerce and commerce is reflected throughout the content — the two are intertwined. Traditional ad models for content-driven sites are problematic because ARPU’s are so low, so the only way to generate meaningful ad revenues is at massive scale. The best formula for transactional media? Targeted audience + high quality content + calls to action and ability to make purchases throughout the site, and across social platforms.

Think “Refinery29 for travel,” and a myriad of possibilities appears. Remember the random reviews I was talking about above? Now it’s easier than ever to read journalistic-level reviews of places from all over the world, all without the headache of a lengthy search engine session. From there, it’s a short hop into affiliate marketing, social media retargeting, an ability to easily book event and group travel, and much more.

In sum, here is what today’s millennial travelers understand better than most; What if planning and booking your travel experience was just as exciting and fun as the travel itself? That’s what The Venue Report is already doing, and I’m excited to be part of that effort.

Six Ways to be Politically Active as a Business Leader

Six Ways to be Politically Active as a Business Leader
In the business world, it can feel risky to talk politics. And given the hyper-polarized atmosphere we’re in, I know many executives, entrepreneurs, and investors who have deep concerns and strong opinions which they want to share but feel they cannot.Many would like to be “involved” but don’t know how, and they’re busy. Social media helps, as it’s a way to get opinions out there and to be “heard,” in the relatively safe environment of one’s own social network.
The Women’s Marches on January 21st saw millions taking to the streets, and since then we’ve seen protests in airports and town halls across the country. This shows us just how many millions of Americans have concerns and want to be active (and for me, having returned from many years in China, it’s so refreshing to see citizens exercizing their legal rights to peacefully assemble).
Adding to the discourse and joining peaceful protests and marches are privileges of our First Amendment, and are important components of our duties as citizens in a democracy. But how do we sustain that spirit and bring activism into our daily routines?I’ve asked these questions of myself often over the last few months. I’ve been very vocal, both online and offline, and will continue to be. Social media allows me to share my thoughts and to share articles which I feel may be helpful and informative to my network. Does that move the needle? Not really. But it doesn’t mean it’s not useful. As Mark Suster points out, being vocal “gives air-cover for more and more people to speak out”.
I agree with Jen Psaki, former White House Communications Director, that this is all a starting point. Real involvement requires an ongoing commitment, large or small.It shouldn’t be daunting. Volunteerism and getting involved in things you’re passionate about should not be politicized or criticized. These are our rights. Here are a few things you can do to get active now:
1. Arrange a meeting with your member of Congress
Take the initiative to meet them in person, 1:1, and understand the politics of your congressional district and how you’re being represented in Washington. Feel free to do this regularly, whenever your representative is back in your district — it’s their job to spend time with constituents like you.
2. Attend town hall meetings
Understand what’s happening in your neighborhood constituency. Get to know your local council member and find out what efforts they’re making, and how you might help.
3. Contribute financially
Donate to the ACLU, to the UNHCR, or countless other good causes (if you’re interested in others, ask me in the comment section and I’ll send you a list of my favorites). Or if you’re really motivated, bring together a couple friends and create a PAC. The process is simple and may frequently bring you to Washington to support a cause.
4. Use your social network†
Your network is huge. Tap into the social capital around you. Who in your network has donated to a political organization before? Who might have their own PAC? Which of your colleagues might feel activated? See who’s donating where. And put together an agenda and travel to DC to meet with stakeholders.
5. Join a City Hall Commission
Your City Hall likely has an economic development commission. Investigate the appointment process and see how you can affect the local economy. Google your local city hall — it will have meeting schedules and events that you can easily add to your calendar.
6. Be a consistent constituent caller
Aside from making a donation, this is the easiest and least time-consuming thing you can do — and it’s highly effective. Daily Action is excellent. Go there and you’ll be prompted to enter your ZIP code — and that’s it — you’re signed up. You will receive one text message every workday about an issue that they have determined to be urgent, based on where you live. Tap on the phone number in your message, listen to a short recording about that day’s issue, and from there you’ll be automatically routed to your Senator, member of Congress, or other relevant elected official. In 90 seconds, you can conscientiously object, or give praise (your reps need and appreciate your support), and be done with it.You can make these calls when you’re in the car, or waiting for your morning coffee.Take a moment to realize the influence you have as a business leader. Corporations and CEOs alike have the influence that some politicians strive for during their entire career. It is now incumbent upon business leaders and CEOs to think beyond their companies and shareholders, and be active in our democratic process.As Howard Schultz puts it, “‘Are you a bystander?’ Or are you a leader?”A previous version of this article was originally published on Inc.com

This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land

This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land

 

It was so uplifting. Because we’ve each lived overseas for most of our adult lives, in non-democratic countries without freedom of speech or freedom of assembly, neither my wife nor I have had the opportunity to join many protests. At Washington Dulles Airport we were honored to join throngs of people not just protesting, but also a large number of volunteers with signs and name tags saying “Hello, I’m a lawyer. Let me know if I can help you.” Then we boarded our flight and left for LAX, to meet the crowds surrounding the international arrivals area there. As we marched together through the airports, we both felt a renewed sense of faith in humanity — restoring our hope that when push comes to shove, people will do the right thing. Our favorite chants from the evening were: “Show Me What Democracy Looks Like. THIS is What Democracy Looks Like” ; “No Hate, No Fear, Refugees are Welcome Here” ; “The World is Watching” ; “No Ban. No Wall. Sanctuary For All” and singing, “This Land is My Land, This Land is Your Land.” We were moved to participate, we were moved to tears, and we felt hope. American exceptionalism isn’t dead. It’s in the hands of our people. Let’s hit the streets early and often.

An Easy Way For Donald Trump To Eliminate Conflicts of Interest

An Easy Way For Donald Trump To Eliminate Conflicts of Interest

During the President-elect’s term in office, The Trump Organization should donate its profits to the US Government.

It’s simply about alignment of interests. For months, there has been talk of blind trusts, divestitures, and executive privilege. It seems clear that because of the sheer size and 2015 total revenue of The Trump Organization, a blind trust would be nearly impossible to implement. Perhaps more importantly, the Trump name is so intertwined with the strategy of the company that it is virtually impossible for management or governance of the organization to be truly detached from association with the President-elect. Any reasonably-timed divestiture would be extremely difficult given the illiquidity of the Trump Organization assets. And maintaining business ownership in over two dozen countries while stepping into the Oval Office does not satisfy the terms laid out in the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution nor should it satisfy the American public. The Office of Government Ethics has recently commented on this familial transfer of management authority to the President-elect’s sons, and has opined that this does not eliminate conflicts of interest under 18 U.S.C. § 208.

So it dawned on me that there is one very simple solution. During the President-elect’s term(s) in office, The Trump Organization could pass all of its profits (including ongoing profits from deals made while in office) to the United States Government. Specifically, to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which administers a variety of benefits and services that provide financial and other forms of assistance to Servicemembers, Veterans, their dependents and survivors. This strategic transfer of funds would create a shared interest. It would serve the President-elect’s political interests as expressed in his plan for VA reform, help millions of Americans who fight for our country overseas, and ultimately benefit taxpayers.

While The Trump Organization is private and is therefore not subject to public scrutiny, the President-elect could also decide to have the company adhere to more rigorous public company disclosure and reporting requirements. This would include the disclosure of financial statements and annual 10-K reports discussing the state of the company, allowing regulators to view quarterly reports and audits as if The Trump Organization were a publicly traded company. Doing so could satisfy concerns about corporate governance, partnerships, accounting methods, and the veracity of profits which are being distributed to the government as part of the above plan.

With this, in one stroke of a pen, a major portion of Trump’s conflicts of interest could be solved. Aligning interests by channeling his company’s profits to an important government entity should at least assuage the public’s (and The Office of Government Ethics’) worry that his companies may profit or benefit from policy decisions while in office.

While still imperfect, I feel this idea has merit. Of course, any efforts to address such conflicts of interest require a willingness by the President-elect to adhere to a strong code of ethics, given that laws themselves cannot force absolute compliance. I would be most interested to hear what others have to say — especially the President-elect.

 

Hannah Levien contributed to this article.

Let’s Be Clear About Donald Trump as TIME’s Person of the Year

Let’s Be Clear About Donald Trump as TIME’s Person of the Year

Growing up, as an end-of-year tradition around our family dinner table, each family member would guess who would be named TIME’s Person of the Year along with reasons for our picks. (Back then, the issue was still called “Man of the Year,” which didn’t change until 1999). The first one I can remember clearly was back in 1979. I was eight years old, and my pick was Obi-Wan Kenobi, who somehow lost out to the Ayatollah Khomeini though there was a striking physical resemblance.

My father was a senior executive at TIME for 40 years and eventually served as chairman & CEO of its parent company, Time Inc. So, we were always privy to the shortlist for Person of The Year, but I don’t think even Dad knew the final pick until the magazine went to the printing press. Back then, the imaginary line between the editorial and business sides of the publication was so strong that the divide was called “Church” (for editorial) and “State” (for business) — a concept all but forgotten in today’s media business model.

Today, Donald Trump was named TIME’s Person of the Year for 2016. I am not a Trump supporter, but in my opinion, he was the obvious, only choice. And that’s the point. TIME’s definition is “the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse.”

This morning, Donald Trump called the selection a “tremendous honor.” And of course he did. But he shouldn’t have. TIME’s “Man of the Year” in 1938 was Adolf Hitler. 1939 and 1942 saw Joseph Stalin given the same “honor.” And then there was the choice of the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, beating out my pick of Obi-Wan.

Who else would have been reasonable picks for this tumultuous year? Putin would be logical (he already had the “honor” in 2007). Mark Zuckerberg perhaps, given Facebook’s massive role in shaping public opinion globally. Or how about “Brexit,” as a representation of the populist wave now moving across the globe? There have been a handful of “ideas,” rather than people, selected as cover stories for TIME’s special issue — such as “The Computer” in 1982. I simply cannot see a choice as obvious as Donald Trump.

Whether or not Trump’s election to the presidency affects our lives for good or for ill remains a question — and as Nancy Gibbs writes in TIME, “the challenge for Donald Trump is how profoundly the country disagrees about the answer.”

To Combat Fake News, Let’s Pay For Our Real News

Let’s Be Clear About Donald Trump as TIME’s Person of the Year

Moving forward, I will pay for the news I value.

Like many, I often find ways to log in from another device when I’m notified that my “ten free articles for the month have already been viewed.” Even worse, I’ll often google the headline of the article to get around the paywall entirely. And occasionally I’ve “borrowed” a friend’s logins for a premium service. Everyone does it, don’t they? No longer, for me at least. In this new era of misinformation, an era where we need our journalists and our media to be the Fourth Estate they were intended to be, I will pay for the privilege of fine reporting and journalistic integrity. We all should.

In my opinion, there are two sides to that bargain. I am paying so that news organizations will have more resources to deploy toward solid, hard-hitting journalism. If and when I feel they are letting their readers (me) down, rolling over on issues they should be digging into, I will now have a right to complain and I will do so loudly.

When I’m freeriding, or sometimes even “stealing” my news — what gives me the right to complain about its accuracy or integrity?

These days, it doesn’t feel right to be shouting at CNN reporters on my computer screen — streaming a clip while I’m not paying for a cable subscription at home. It feels dishonest to find a way to get that eleventh NYT article for free despite having reached my free quota for the month.

Likewise, other outlets like The Guardian, while not (yet) enforcing paywalls, are asking readers to donate if they like the content they are getting. I will, because I do.

I’ve now composed a list of all the news outlets I value, and have either subscribed, donated, or found a way to sponsor.

PS — to my journalist friends out there, I’m sorry, but at least I’m coming clean now? Better late than never, right?

LA’s Starring Role as China Ramps up its Investment in Media and Technology

LA’s Starring Role as China Ramps up its Investment in Media and Technology

LA has rapidly become the venue of choice for many Chinese investors seeking opportunities in media and technology. They are seeing exactly what I saw when I began to spend time here a few years ago before moving here permanently in 2014.

I thought it might be best to share some of my own perspectives since I’m a media executive by background, I’m a founder-turned-technology investor, and I’m still fairly new to LA. I moved here almost two years ago, after living in Beijing and Hong Kong for half of my life.

So, while I certainly look like a wàiguórén (foreigner) to everyone I meet in China, I’ve been getting used to a very new culture as we have been settling into LA and into life here in the U.S.

Los Angeles Emerging

I moved here because it actually felt like an emerging market to me. I’ll explain: I was in the process of exiting the company that my cofounders and I had built when we were selling it on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. I wanted to use the experience I’d had as a founder, to help other founders build their businesses. I wanted to be in venture capital.

I spent a lot of time talking to investors and funds in China and Hong Kong — and while the market is indeed exciting there, I felt like valuations were high and competition was very fierce. The market was saturated.

As I was exploring my next steps, I spent time in the Bay Area and New York as well. Both had their pros and cons — but the more time I spent in LA, it reminded me of the early days of tech in China.

I vividly recall meeting two super-smart cofounders working out of a crappy apartment building in Shenzhen in the late 90’s. Wires were everywhere and there weren’t enough seats for all of the engineers packed into the small apartment. Those guys were Pony Ma and Daniel Xu, and they were building a little company called QQ. We know it as Tencent today. WeChat too. So much has changed in China since then. U.S. and Chinese venture and private equity firms are plentiful, and the talent pool of entrepreneurs is truly impressive and deep.

Where’s LA So Far?

Now… let me take a little creative license here — LA is definitely not an emerging market by definition.

Yes, LA is the 2nd largest city and one of the richest economies in the U.S.

Yes, it’s the center of the world for media and entertainment (sorry, New York).

So, to call it an emerging market might be a stretch. HOWEVER, the technology and venture capital landscape is still in its infancy here — and to me, it feels like those early days in China.

Our community here is still small enough to collaborate, small enough to know almost everyone, yet substantial enough to support a multitude of high-growth startups, and a growing talent pool. UCLA, USC, and Caltech are producing excellent engineers, who five years ago would have headed straight to Silicon Valley but can now find competitive opportunities locally. And the cost of living is far less expensive here.

We also have a maturing financial and funding infrastructure, with several venture capital firms who have raised second, third, and even fourth funds. More and more people from other markets (including overseas) are either looking to deploy capital, coming for more frequent visits, or simply promoting LA’s virtues.

When I moved to Asia from the US in the early 90’s, capital was just beginning to flow from West to East. U.S. and European investors were beginning to ride the China wave. Morgan Stanley was the first US investment bank to establish its own entity in China through CICC. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and other bulge bracket firms then followed. At the same time, big PE firms like Carlyle, Blackstone and KKR started to make inroads — then came Silicon Valley VCs like Sequoia.

And I was there to help Time Warner build its business in China and across Asia.

East to West

Now, the tide has turned, and capital is flowing in the opposite direction, from East to West — and so much of that capital is focused on LA and southern California.

Activity here is heating up — especially by Chinese companies:

Dalian Wanda has been an active acquirer in Hollywood, buying AMC, Legendary Entertainment, Dick Clark Productions (just 2 weeks ago), and also funding a $700m film slate, called Wanda Productions.

Alibaba has also been financing major film productions, including Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, and has developed a large office space in Pasadena to oversee its US operations.

Tencent acquired Riot Games and continues to invest in LA.

LeEco bankrolled the electric car maker Farraday Future, founded in LA.

Anhui Xinke, a copper manufacturer, bought Voltage Films in Hollywood for $350m — just this week.

Chinese investors and developers are front and center in much of the building boom that’s taking place in Downtown LA.

Bank of China is firmly established in the US and is one of the largest commercial real estate lenders here. And they, along with ICBC both have offshore renminbi centers here.

Looking to the Future

I predict that things will only get more exciting. Local LA success stories like CornerstoneOnDemand, True Car, The Honest Company, Maker Studios, Dollar Shave Club, and Snapchat’s impending $4B IPO — as well as the China sponsored deals I just mentioned, are only the beginning.

And all of this activity will inevitably foster more and more US/China cross-border activity. I’m positive that we’ll see more strategic partnerships taking place.

Our Mayor Eric Garcetti has taken notice too, and has been actively courting the technology and venture capital communities. He’s even established an Entrepreneur-in-Residence position at City Hall.

In my experience, all of this energy, attention, and activity helps to create a social and civic viral loop that fuels a fast-growing, emerging market.

So here I am — feeling just like I did when I arrived in China 20 years ago. I see enormous potential for growth, development, and for cross-border collaboration. I see the talent pool getting stronger by the day. And I see capital and funding moving rapidly into place.

Exciting times are ahead for Southern California.

How I Will Use Facebook After Election 2016

How I Will Use Facebook After Election 2016

Today I’m starting an experiment. In a recent post following the election, I had stated my opinion that “our nation is divided far more than I had imagined — more than almost anyone imagined. Yet this process has inspired me to do more, to be more active in our communities, to be better. A divide this great is simply not tolerable. A deep distrust of our institutions, our authorities, our journalists, and ourselves, is just unacceptable.”

As powerful as Facebook is, I think most can agree that it’s an echo-chamber. Our social networks tend to reflect our own beliefs, attracting like minded friends and contacts from our own social graphs. I’ve blocked some people along the way when I felt that their comments were too abrasive — and I’m sure that many have blocked or muted me along the way, too.

Moving forward, all of my “opinion/editorial” posts (past and future) will be public. I don’t plan to flood my feed or yours with opinions but I do want to see what happens when those thoughts are open to all. I assume that comments may be wide ranging along the way and I may not have the time to engage with all of them. But in keeping with my thoughts above, I’d like to expand the dialogue. And to those who I’ve blocked along the way, I apologize. Come back, let’s talk.

Diary from Election Night 2016

A stunning outcome. We moved to the US just as this election cycle was beginning, and got involved with pent-up enthusiasm after years of living in countries without their own democratic process. I’m extremely sad that our candidate didn’t win, and I’m sure there will be much uncertainty for quite some time. The voters have spoken. My takeaway on this exhausted evening is that our nation is divided far more than I had imagined — more than almost anyone imagined. Yet this election has inspired me to do more, to be more active in our communities, to be better. A divide this great is simply not tolerable. A deep distrust of our institutions, our law enforcement, our journalists, and our fellow citizens, is just unacceptable. I certainly don’t know how to fix these problems and the many others we face. But I’m now determined to be even more involved, to learn more, and to help wherever possible. I hope others feel the same inspiration. To everyone who campaigned, who worked so hard, who inspired others to give their time and energy, thank you.

Why I Read This Book Once a Year

Why I Read This Book Once a Year

I am once again reading through the final pages of Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. It’s a book I’ve been reading almost every year for the past six years now, and each time I finish I feel more informed about the world around us.

While somewhat controversial among historians, I find Diamond’s position to be one of the best theses on human nature and how we got to where we are. In it, Diamond posits that our modern society is a result of distinct and practical events, driven not by prevalence of any race but by geography. In this view, geography and climate dominate and ultimately determine how societies form. Simply put, agrarian societies collided with hunter-gatherers, and as technology improved and as Europeans & Asians explored the outer limits of their maps, germs and warfare resulted in massive genocide. Through the ages, struggles to control food supply and related economies led to displacement, bloodshed and political strife.

Every time I finish it, I discover new thoughts that force me to rethink the modern world around me. Though, a consistent takeaway each time is simply that history repeats itself, and that human nature will always prevail. We are at once in perilous times and wonderfully prosperous times.

Will history continue to repeat itself? Inevitably, it will — and as sad as that reality may seem, we can continue to make incredible progress along the way.

Managing, for Millennials: Firing

Managing, for Millennials: Firing

As a manager, it’s always hard to know when it’s the right time to fire someone — and it’s especially hard to determine how to fire someone.

I’m often asked about this by startup founders who are struggling with an underperforming employee. Because there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, I usually ask a lot of questions before sharing my opinion.

1) What exactly is the problem? Is it because they are not hitting deadlines or sales targets? How do they work with the founder, manager and other team members?

2) Have you communicated your concerns with them? If so, how? In person? Slack/email/text? Phone? How long ago was that?

3) When you did communicate with them, what was their response? Did they acknowledge their shortcomings and agree with you on your suggestions for how they could improve? Or did they push back?

4) Have you outlined clear goals for them from the beginning? Have you given them feedback along the way?

5) When was the last time you discussed these issues with them?

Quite often, the answers to the questions above warrant a deeper discussion about management style and communication. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is your responsibility to be clear about what you expect from your team, whether it’s sales targets, client leads, deadlines met, or working with colleagues. It should never be a surprise when you finally have “the talk.”

As Jerry Jao of Retention Science says, “if you’re thinking of letting someone go, you probably should have done it 4–6 weeks ago.” From a startup perspective, he’s absolutely right. If your company is at a very early stage, you simply cannot afford the time to procrastinate. If someone is not performing, and you’ve given them clear guidelines, you do not have time (or money) to waste.

When it comes time to let them go, there are some guidelines to follow: Always in person, always reasons given, always paperwork done beforehand, always professional. Be kind. No exceptions.

Large, mature organizations often have internal training programs and heavily resourced HR divisions which are devoted to retaining employees – even those who fall into the “needs improvement” category on their performance reviews. But you, as an early stage founder, have an obligation to yourself, your company, your investors, and your other teammates to make firing decisions clearly and quickly.

Coming from a large organization prior to becoming a founder myself, I learned this the hard way and it was a shortcoming for me as a leader of a startup. I spent far too long trying to help a few early employees be better, to see our vision, or to fit in better with our company culture. I wasted precious time by keeping underperforming employees around, in hope that they would improve.

When hiring into a startup environment, it is most important to select team members who fully subscribe to your vision, your mission, and to the hard work and long hours necessary to build the business. In addition, they need to bring a skill set that either you don’t yet have, or one that you need more of. Before you hire them, get to know their background, their attitude toward work, why they left their previous job — and spend time checking references. Google and LinkedIn don’t count. Talk to previous employers and/or colleagues.

For the record, it has been my experience that hiring executives from large companies into startup roles usually doesn’t work. With very few exceptions, the mindset is simply too different. Even executives who say they want to be entrepreneurial or that they are excited about being in a startup environment usually don’t have the hustle that you need and expect. The corporate world and the startup world are simply too different. Look to hire people with corporate experience once you’ve proven your model, you’re profitable, and you already have a management structure in place.

I’ve been asked “what does it look like to my investors if I’m letting someone go shortly after I’ve hired them?” Answer: It just doesn’t matter. If you know they are not the right fit, and you clearly communicated all of the above — then do it, learn from it, and move on.

 

Managing, for Millennials

Managing, for Millennials

We’ve all seen our share of “How to Manage Millennials” posts, with older, “wiser” executives complaining about how hard it is to motivate this generation blah, blah, blah. I see far fewer posts directed at talented millennials who are already managers themselves.

So that we don’t get too caught up defining generations, let’s just say this is a post about managing, but specifically for young founders and managers.

Your product may be tremendous and your company may get the attention of all the VCs — but if you’re not building skills as a manager, then good luck going through the challenges of building, motivating, and retaining a winning team. Managing people will probably be the toughest thing you ever do, but it can also be extremely rewarding. Being a great manager will set you apart and get you noticed by those who you want to attract (i.e. top talent, top investors, your next employer).

I see founders all the time who think that their management problems will go away once they raise their Series A and they can trade up on talent. But it’s kind of like what they say about sharing living space in college: “If you keep having bad roommates one after another, then maybe YOU’RE the bad roommate”. Your problems will continue unless you address the root problem.

Here are some things that you need to know, or should be thinking about on a regular basis:

1) Management is about communicating.

Slack is fantastic. I love it. And there are plenty of great tools which allow teams to assign and handle heavy work loads. But when someone’s not performing, or when they ARE performing and you want to acknowledge them, or when a project they’re leading isn’t working as planned, or when they miss their targets, you should make sure you’re looking them in the eye, giving them real feedback. The next best option, in the case of distributed teams, is that you’re on the phone or on a video call. One-on-one meetings are the highest value investment of time that you can make for your team.

Sure, it’s hard to look someone in the eye and deliver bad news, to ask why someone’s not performing, etc — but welcome to the real world. There are no shortcuts.

2) Transparency is great, but strike a balance.

You have to use good judgement on who gets included in what, and how much you share across a team. Most workers cannot handle the stresses of a founder, a CEO or a senior leader. Share all of your worries with them in the effort to be “authentic”, and watch them scatter. Not that you need to tell them everything’s rosy all the time, while you know the ship is leaking — but there’s an art. Focus on the positives and the goals — and make sure everyone on the team knows and understands their role and their deliverables.

Tempting as it may be to have your team also be your best friends, you must have boundaries. You cannot manage effectively without them. Take away those boundaries at your own peril. You can be super friendly, understanding, thoughtful, etc — but that’s different than best friends. Keep it professional.

Long hours are the norm. But enter your employee’s private life and private issues, and you will quickly erase your abilities to manage them effectively.

3) Know when, and how, to part ways.

The very toughest part — firing. Always in person, always reasons given, always paperwork done beforehand, always professional. No exceptions. Firing people sucks, and anyone who enjoys this or is not struggling to sleep the night beforehand is a sociopath — but it is a skill that will serve you well as a manager. If you’re a good manager and if your company is growing, I guarantee you’ll part ways with a lot of people — and if you do it well, you’ll keep your reputation (and your company’s reputation) intact. It’s likely that you’ll cross paths with some of those people down the road, and if you’ve treated people well and professionally, you’ll be rewarded.

When to fire? You’ve already had several discussions with them about their performance, and given them concrete examples on how that performance can be improved. You’ve been very clear about what you expect from them, whether it is sales targets, client leads, deadlines met, working with colleagues, etc. And you’ve done that face to face (or on a call — see above re: distributed teams). It should never be a surprise when you finally have “the talk”.

This process can take two weeks or two months — but the rule of thumb is that leopards don’t change their spots. If you’ve done your part as set out in the paragraph above, and if they are not doing theirs, then it’s best to move swiftly.

4) You’ll never be perfect.

Management is not an exact science. There’s not always a clear right way and a clear wrong way. Just like you do when you’re building your product, you have to experiment and test which methods work well for you. I’ve seen great managers who are introverts at heart, and also great managers who are charismatic leaders. Learn what style works best for you. Read as much as you can — books and blog posts on management, and even biographies of great leaders or politicians you admire. You’ll inevitably pick up some things that work, and some that don’t work at all, or don’t match your personality. But keep trying and you’ll set yourself up for a great future.

A.I. Musings and The Most Human Human

A.I. Musings and The Most Human Human

As part of this summer’s reading, I recently finished The Most Human Human: What Artificial Intelligence Teaches Us About Being Alive, by Brian Christian.

It was a wonderful read.

Written way back in the dark ages of 2011, it predates the current AI and bot boom that we are beginning to see in venture capital, which in my opinion brings a nice perspective.

Says Christian:

“The Most Human Human is an award given out each year at the Loebner Prize, the artificial intelligence (AI) community’s most controversial and anticipated annual competition. The event is what’s called a Turing test, in which a panel of judges conducts a series of five-minute-long chat conversations over a computer with a series of real people and with a series of computer programs pretending to be people by mimicking human responses. The catch, of course, is that the judges don’t know at the start who’s who, and it’s their job in five minutes of conversation to try to find out.

Each year, the program that does the best job of persuading the judges that it is human wins the Most Human Computer award and a small research grant for its programmers. But there’s also an award, strangely enough, for the human who does the best job of swaying the judges: the Most Human Human award.

British mathematician Alan Turing famously predicted in 1950 that computers would be passing the Turing test — that is, consistently fooling judges at least 30 percent of the time and as a result, generally considered to be intelligent in the human sense — by the year 2000. I decided to call up the test’s organizers and get involved in the 2009 contest as one of the human ‘confederates’ — which meant I was both a part of the human ‘defense,’ trying to prevent the machines from passing the test, and also vying with my fellow confederates for that intriguing Most Human Human award. The book tells the story of my attempt to prepare, as well as I could, for that role: What exactly does it mean to ‘act as human as possible’ in a Turing test? And what does it mean in life?”

It’s a riveting book, which explores what it means to actually be human. Easier to prove at this point in time, but as computers get smarter and smarter, the lines will most assuredly blur.

We have come such a long way since Christian wrote this book, and we are only just beginning to see the way AI will shape our everyday lives.

For the past year I’ve been fortunate to have been a beta user of x.ai, an AI-driven meeting scheduler. My “assistant” Amy Ingram (A.I.), and I communicate multiple times each day via email, and “she” also communicates with everyone I set meetings with. In the past 365 days, she has scheduled over 600 meetings for me, with very few mistakes (far less than a human assistant would make). More impressive, I’d estimate that 8 times out of 10, the people who Amy communicates with do not realize that she is a bot (software that simulates human activity).

Much has been written about Amy. Along with countless other beta users, I find myself writing “please” and “thank you” to her — even though she is just a robot and doesn’t “care” about those words. But to me, Amy such a crucial help to me and my work, and she communicates in such a “human” way that it would feel rude not to treat her the same way I would a human. Likewise, I’ve found that many of my contacts (even those who know she’s a bot) continue to treat her with kindness. There are stories about Amy receiving flowers and chocolates as well (http://read.bi/1J8CsfG).

I find the world of AI and its applications to be most exciting, and I can’t wait for my first self-driving Tesla. At the same time, Christian’s book is a reminder about the importance of continued self-exploration, self discovery, and the limitless potential of human invention.

An Open Letter to CNN re: Republican Debate on September 16th 2015

Dear CNN,

As a former executive of Turner Broadcasting (parent company of CNN), I am disappointed and concerned by last night’s Republican debate which you hosted at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley. Furthermore, as a businessperson who has spent the last twenty years overseas, building media companies in complicated and heavily censored Asian countries, I worry about the devolution of our American media landscape.

We all know that journalism continues to transition as a result of rapidly changing media consumption habits — but presidential debates are a key component of the democratic process, and when the format of those debates is reduced to theater, everyone loses.

From Jake Tapper’s opening question of, basically, “How does each candidate feel about Donald Trump?” the tone of the debate was dialed to “Spectacle”.

In keeping with the race so far, policy issues were allowed to be reduced to mere soundbites.

A moderator’s role is to foster discourse by raising relevant topics, to make sure that the debaters are given equal time to comment and rebut, and to serve the audience and the public by doing so.

In the case of last night’s debate, it seemed as if the moderators were encouraging the candidates to launch and respond to personal attacks. There was little attention paid to much else. Not to mention the fact that during the debate the network chose not to superimpose the candidates’ names on screen as they were speaking, leaving the public to guess the identities of the non-celebrity candidates.

Unabashed bias? Censorship? Along with prompting the candidates to discuss their policy ideas, relevant work experience, and leadership skills, the public should also hold the media accountable for their coverage of the presidential race. Now more than ever.

Given the sheer number of candidates, the celebrity-driven climate in which we live today, the fragmented media environment, and the multitude of complex domestic and global issues that threaten our country, it is of paramount importance that news outlets who are selected to host debates do not pander to the lowest common denominator (i.e. ratings) and, rather, serve the public by pushing candidates to stay on topic.

Please take note.

Sincerely,

Peter Brack