Merry Christmas

A day late…Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family. It’s busy in our place. We have been out seeing people every night, and it won’t stop until at least the 28th. I have done a lot of “connecting” with some very interesting people. They have interesting life stories, and I love to hear them.

I guess that’s why I enjoyed startup investing. Listening to pitches was a blast. Asking entrepreneurs about their life stories was fascinating. You scratch the surface of a person and listen to them, and you can find out insights to apply to your own life. I met some super cool people, and was also privileged to have the opportunity to invest in a few of them.

I truly love building things from scratch. I love the journey. It can be hard. It can be long and winding. But it can be incredibly fulfilling. If you fail, you learn. You get scars.

One of the most gratifying things is when you write a check at the seed stage to someone. You watch them grow as a person. It’s not dissimilar to a caterpillar emerging as a butterfly. They go from pitching an idea to building a small company. Often, they go from individual to leader. I have seen this over and over again. When they build that company and exit, it is just a magnificent day, and I am so happy for them.

We did Christmas with some other Chicago friends who moved here at the same time we did. Ironically, we lived on the same street about a half mile apart in Chicago, but because our children attended different schools, we didn’t run in the same circle.

We left for the same reasons. Chicago is bankrupt. There is no will in city, county, or statewide political leadership to do anything. We chose Nevada for similar reasons. It wasn’t only the lack of hurricanes that you get to enjoy in Florida, but also because structurally it is hard to change the Nevada constitution. If anyone is attuned to issues like government creep, an unchecked bureaucracy, and creeping socialism, it’s a conservative Republican ex-Chicagoan.

The chateaubriand was fantastic. We poured a nice bottle of Chateau Pontet-Canet. It was fun.

One of the things my wife and I did was lean on older people when we were raising our kids. You learn a lot from your parents, but when you see other successful families, you ask them why and how they did it.

When we lived at 1448 North Lake Shore in Chicago, there was a couple around ten to fifteen years older than us. The holidays can be super tricky when your kids get married and have grandkids. They gave us their solution.

They alternate.

They wanted their family to be together. They worked it out with their kids and in-laws to alternate years on Thanksgiving and Christmas. One year, they’d be alone for one of them.

My kids, their spouses, and in-laws agreed this was the best solution. We were grateful. Lisa and I are lucky that we have amazing sons-in-law, and we enjoy spending time with their parents.

This year was our year to be together on Thanksgiving, and we were. It was great. Both of my daughters are pregnant. One is due in January, and one is due in February. Each of them has a boy, so we are expanding the family next year.

Next year, we will be alone on Thanksgiving, and we will be together at Christmas.

I hope you had a great holiday season and have a Happy New Year.