Summer goals

It was nice having a part day off today. I scheduled around most of the afternoon, but left one call on the books and some stuff I wanted to knock out before tomorrow. I was able to squeeze an early and quick morning of golf in and a short nap to recharge before getting on my computer.

I wish I had the option of starting later in my day more often. Sometimes it’s nice changing up my routine and not starting my day in the crack of dawn. If it was Vieje’s world, I’d start work everyday at 1pm and just work into the evening. But of course it’s not.

Perhaps in the future though when I’m feeling especially tired and burnt out, I can plan on doing these days from time to time. I have the flexibility to do so, but sticking to that is more difficult.

My friends and I were talking about what we’re going to do this summer now that most sports are over. Vacations and travel are in full swing. I’m lucky in that my summer travel is light minus our trip to Maine and Spain starting on Saturday.

With a kid on the way in November and things undoubtedly getting more difficult for Sophia in the 3rd trimester this fall, I wanted to set some intentions for this summer to get ready for the times ahead.

First and most importantly, I need to make sure to get back to a much better work state. Taking some time off to recharge is exactly what I need and I need to get back to making more reasonable schedules so I don’t burn my self out.

Second, I need to get more rest. I was in a very good place earlier this year, but bad habits have been creeping up. My bed time has slowly crept back. And my sleep quality has not been good to say the least.

I also want to make sure that I take the summer to enjoy my time with Sophia while we have no kids. I want to do more weekend trips whether it’s a road trip or a short flight. These things will be much more difficult down the road with a kid so I want to take full advantage of our freedom.

Last, I want to make sure to connect as much as I can with my friends. I’ve heard it gets much harder to find time for friends with a kid so I want to make sure I call, check-in, and visit friends as much as possible this summer.

Life is good

I had a tough day yesterday. A busy Monday morning was filled with multiple unexpected meetings, calls, and fire drills. When it rains, it pours.

When I get overwhelmed at work and life, it often can feel like the sky is falling. Negative thoughts flood often flood my mind. I get more irritable than usual. I’m likely not a happy person to be around these times. I’m sure we’ve all been there.

It wasn’t until I got my head above water 7 hours later when I finally could go outside and get fresh air, and destress with a long run. I felt instantly better and getting some endorphins did wonders for my mental state. I was able to get back to a place of gratitude after my run.

These stressful situations do not need to be as stressful as I made them yesterday. The sky was in fact, not falling. I didn’t need to solve every problem right away.

At the end of the day, I live a blessed life and sometimes I need to get outside and take a deep breath. It’s a good reminder that these stresses are temporary and my mindset is amplifying that stress. A 10 minute meditation may be in the works next time I see myself feeling overwhelmed.

Monday musings

It was another gorgeous weekend here in San Francisco. I had a fun and relaxing weekend, but it definitely did feel like I needed more time to unwind and get caught up. Simply put, I’m beat and running on fumes right now.

Luckily, I take off on Saturday for a 2 week trip to Maine and Spain and I’m incredibly excited. I have done an awful job at taking time off this year to reset and I can feel the burn. Minor things annoy the hell out of me. It’s harder for me to get going in the mornings. I’m not a pleasant person to be around during the work day right now and for everyone’s sake, I need to go take some time off.

This week I need to slow things down and set myself up for success on my time away. I need to make sure to say no to things and projects. And also wind things down and pass them off to the right team members.

I watched Bryson and Rory compete for the U.S. Open yesterday. It was an epic one and ultimately came down to Rory not being able to hit 2 short putts and Bryson hitting the shot of his life from 55 yards in a fairway bunker. The pressure seems to have gotten to Rory and I can relate. Despite not playing any competitive golf, I definitely get the jitters on the course often. It’s a mental game and one that can be cruel.

This was also my last Father’s day as a non-Father. Like many with Asian immigrant parents, I’ve had a complicated relationship with my Dad, but I’m happy to say that our relationship is the best that has been in my life. I hope that down the road, my children do not have to write about their complicated relationship with me and that our relationship is smoother.

The New American Dream

Like many others about to have their first child, Sophia and I have been talking about living arrangements in the future. Where and how will we buy our first house? It is after all the American Dream to become a homeowner.

Of course, the fact that we plan to live in either San Francisco or New York only in the next few years complicates things quite a bit. The cost of buying a home that would suit a family just isn’t that attainable despite Sophia and I having good jobs.

It’s something that troubles a lot of people. Housing in San Francisco and California is probably one of the biggest topics everyone loves to debate. For us, I’ve come to terms that the “American Dream” of homeownership is simply just optional in this day and age.

While renting is not ideal, it is a perfectly fine thing to do and we shouldn’t beat ourselves up for it. Furthermore, liquidating your entire investment and savings to buy a house is not a smart financial decision either. The American Dream of our parents is just no longer our American Dream and that is okay.

For myself, my American Dream is working a job that I enjoy and get satisfaction from while also being able to provide for my family and doing the things that make us happy. Maybe it’s a bit cliche, but that’s what will make me happy in the short-term.

Having to budget and sacrifice things that make us happy just to make a mortgage payment doesn’t sound good to me. Of course, I do one day hope to own a home, but that is on pause for now and that’s okay.

Celebrating the quarter

These past two weeks have been a grind. We’re short staffed with vacation times and there’s just a ton of work to be done before quarter-end right now. Fortunately, I’m through the worst of it and my hope is that I can spend most of next week doing clean-up work and taking down some of the lingering items that’s been on my plate.

My trip to Maine and Spain next Saturday couldn’t come at a better time. I fully plan on taking pretty much the entire time off. I’ll log on from time to time to clear my inbox and address any major issues, but it should be a quiet period with the 4th of July coming up.

I want to make sure the team and I properly celebrate our best quarter so far. We’ve worked our asses off this quarter and absolutely crushed our goals. For a small company like us, it’s easy to look past the accomplishment and start looking towards the next quarter and goals. Speaking on behalf of the entire company, I think we all deserve a much needed break during the 4th of July week.

Getting my head above water

I’ve been pretty much underwater since I woke up at 6:30am this morning. We’ve got a deal closing with a deadline that needs legal work, multiple deals being worked on, and on top of that my summer intern started today.

At 4:30pm today, I’ve finally had time to breathe and catch-up on things. I’m feeling relieved and also accomplished, but it was a hell of a day. Thankfully these days don’t happen too often. My normal tough days are usually much milder and less stressful.

It’s times like these that I’m happy I have an awesome team to help support. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it through today. So far seems like everything is working out and we’ll have a few big wins under our belts before the weekend.

Nostalgia for old tech

I remember the days of Windows 95. I remember my Dad first introduced me to the internet via his Gateway desktop computer in his office. He logged me into AOL when I was 5 years old and showed me chat rooms. Within 3 minutes of being in this chat room, he told me that I wasn’t allowed in there until I’m an adult.

My first internet experience was memorable for that reason, but I quickly became hooked on computers afterwards. I looked forward to going to my Dad’s office on Saturday mornings to play on the PCs. It wasn’t long until I got my own PC which ran Windows 95.

Those days were special. The load computer trying to boot up. Waiting for the AOL dial-in connection. Waiting for a few minutes to load a webpage. It felt like I had a superpower on my finger tips.

Nowadays, tech has evolved exponentially and it has become ingrained in our lives to the point where it doesn’t really feel special anymore. I wake up, check my phone. Get into work, log onto my computer. It’s almost an afterthought now.

Yesterday, I got a new work laptop for the first time in a few years. It was fun and shiny for about 10 minutes and then it just became yet another laptop. When I had my first new desktop when I was a kid, I remember almost wanting to sleep with the computer. I was that excited. I miss those days from time to time.

Not sweating the small stuff

I had another great weekend with a nice blend of rest and recovery and also fun. Sophia, a couple friends and I went to go watch The Empire Strips Back on Saturday which was a Star Wars parody burlesque show. I didn’t really know what to expect and candidly I thought it was going to be weird, but it was hilarious and entertaining and I’m glad we went.

I got a round of golf in on Sunday and the difficult course combined with my swing being off made it a rough afternoon. But I need to remember that I’m there to have fun and just enjoy being able to golf. I’m not going pro anytime soon and I know that being able to golf often is coming to an end in the near future with our child on the way.

I also had another minor annoyance when my laptop screen just went black on me while watching Netflix. It seems like the computer may have overheated and the port on the motherboard may have burnt up as I heard a pop and some smoke come out. Luckily, I’m still able to use the laptop with an external monitor but this is undoubtedly annoying and I’ll need to get a new laptop.

Again, I need to remind myself that this is just a minor annoyance and not to stress about the small things in life. Computers break. We get unlucky at times. And I’m not always going to play well in golf. If these annoyances are all I have to complain about over a good weekend, then life is good.

The GameStop saga

I have no position in GameStop and have no real desire to participate in any memestock, but I found myself rooting for Roaring Kitty as he tried to rally GameStop’s price up. I simply thought it was hilarious that something like this was happening and wanted to see if they could actually pull it off.

Unfortunately, it was for naught and the stock tumbles 40% after earnings release and announcement that the company was selling more stock.

Of course, most people probably could see this coming. These situations almost always end up the same with retail getting shafted the most. I can imagine a lot of ordinary working class folks lost a lot of money today which is sad. Degens will be degens.

I have no idea what will happen to Roaring Kitty. This does feel like market manipulation and seems like an easy target for the Feds to go after.

Regardless, it was entertaining at least for me who was sitting on the sidelines. I can’t imagine this will be the last time we see something like this happen.

Fintwit Influencers

I don’t really tweet anymore ever since Elon acquired the company as the platform has gone to shit. I used to love Twitter as a place to learn and meet interesting people. I’ve met a good number of people from Twitter in real life over the years. Nowadays, it’s basically all ads and porn. Clicking on a viral tweet basically confirms that you’ll be seeing some gross stuff in the replies.

I still get the urge to scroll through during downtimes. One of the latest trends is that there’s a user going after the Fintwit folks like the sweaty startup guy, Peter Schiff, and Codie Sanchez. Now I don’t know any of these people and I have no desire to dive deep, but these are folks who have built large followings on the platform based on their successes in investing.

I am always wary of folks on the internet. It’s easy to pretend like you are someone you’re not and there’s a ton of that. Of course there are a lot of wildly successful people who provide amazing insights as well. So it’s a hard balance to figuring out what’s real and what’s not.

The fact that there is a parody account going after these purported grifters has been absolutely hilarious if this account is even half correct. There’s some bold claims like these influencers have effectively lost their LPs money and never worked at where they said they worked before.

The problem with fintwit influencers is that they have developed a bit of a cult following and often times will utilize their following to raise money. They are great marketing themselves and people start to worship them on the internet. Then they often capitalize on that base. If this account is right, I sure hope that the retail investors did not get shafted too bad. Maybe that’s wishful thinking.

Decisions and life

Sophia and I have been discussing some very big life decisions since the weekend. We are undoubtedly at a fork in the road right now. We’ve been in San Francisco for 6 years. We love our apartment but with a child on the way at the end of the year, we know we need to move to a new space.

On top of that, we’re starting to build out our office in New York and will be focusing our hires there from now on. I’m not required to be there, but I know it’s the best thing for the company if I’m there working with the rest of the team on a day to day basis.

For most, the idea of moving a newborn to New York City sounds counterintuitive. But it’s something that I’m embracing as an opportunity. I know that it is likely the best decision for my career and for Secfi.

However, the career aspect is just one piece of things. There’s the personal aspect as well. I’d be leaving behind my parents and teenage sister who would for sure would like to be around our child and also help out. We’re closer to Sophia’s parents so that’s also something to consider.

I’m also leaving behind my closest friends who I know will be upset that they won’t be able to be around our new child on a regular basis. It’s a brutal reality that we’re dealing with right now and weighing.

There’s a ton of time still and a lot more thinking that Sophia and I will have to do before making a decision to stay in SF or move to NY. On the plus side, I know deep down that both decisions will be great and there’s no bad route here.

Closing the quarter

It’s almost 80 degrees here today in San Francisco. We don’t get a typical summer here in the SF, but this short heat wave has got me in the summer mood. It’s nice to be able to wear shorts and a t-shirt to the office.

I’ve got 3 weeks until my trip to Maine and Spain and I’m already counting down the days. I’m feeling especially rejuvenated after our offsite to Chicago last week, but it’s pretty telling that I feel like a new person after taking some time off. A couple weeks away from a laptop after closing out a monster quarter is exactly what I needed.

In the meantime, we’ve got a lot to do to close out the quarter strong. We’ve already hit our major goals, but have a lot of smaller goals that we’re lacking behind. Perhaps more importantly, I’m going to need to spend a lot of my time these next few weeks recruiting.

In the past, I’ve found it relatively easy to slack off a bit during summer especially in a quarter when things have gone well and goals have been hit early. However, these are incredibly valuable weeks to get everything on track so we can have yet another great quarter ahead.

The immigrant mentality

Sophia and I went to watch the Lehman Brothers play on Saturday. I’m not a Broadway junkie, but I do love a good show every now and then. I was worried that Sophia who has next to no interest in finance or business history would be asleep by the halfway point of the 3 hour show. Thankfully she ended up enjoying it.

I love stories about how our immigrant ancestors came to America with literally next to nothing. Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehamn came to America in their 20s in the 1840s from Germany speaking little to no English and not much money. After weeks at sea, they would land in a foreign land with nowhere to turn but themselves.

It’s incredibly inspiring to think how a small goods store in Montgomery, Alabama would eventually turn into one of the largest banks in the world over 150 years later. In the first 20 years of operations, the original Lehman brothers would deal with a devastating fire in Montgomery and then the Civil War.

One of these setbacks may have been enough to devastate any business, yet they kept going and rebuilding. That’s the beauty behind the immigrant mentality - you’re forced to keep moving forward as there is no one else to bail you out. It was inspiring to hear their story.

My Father came to this country when he was 19 to go to college. Like the Lehmans he would eventually started his own business. He worked 6 days a week like clockwork and still runs it today from home.

Immigrants are the backbone of America. They come here with little to no money in hopes of chasing the American dream. While I am fortunate to have grown up in this country, I hope to make sure to never lose that immigrant mentality and I hope to build Secfi with that menality.

Sunday catch-up

This weekend has been a godsend to get caught up after a long week in Chicago. I feel like I’m just starting to get halfway decent at saying no to things, getting proper rest, and trying to feel good going into the week.

As hard as it is to say no to friends and social events at times, I need to remember how good it feels to wake up feeling well rested and productive. It’s not even 1pm and Sophia and I have had a nice breakfast and gotten all our errands out the way.

I’m planning on spending an hour or two getting caught up on everything personally and at work this afternoon. This used to be a Sunday ritual of mine. I would effectively start my work week off on Sundays so I could ease into my work day on Mondays.

As the years have gone on, I’ve gotten either too busy or perhaps just wanted more time to recharge. I will say it does feel damn good to be productive over the weekend again. Perhaps my ritual will start to come back as I enter this new phase of life.

Celebrations in Chicago

I had a fun and productive week out in Chicago with the US team. Our primary goal for this trip was to simply just spend time with each and celebrate some of the wins we’ve had. Of course, a lot of work will naturally get done as well.

We had a perfect schedule of some light planned activities mixed in with just enough downtime for all of us to sit down and chat through things with each other. We had a few great meals planned together mixed in with a river boat tour as well as the Cubs game.

I always find it amazing just how much stuff gets done when we’re all in person together. Besides the obvious lack of scheduling, discussions and decisions just happen much quicker. People are just more open when meeting in person and we can’t ignore just how much better it is for the team to get together.

I personally took the opportunity to unwind a bit, relax, and celebrate getting out of the last couple of years. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the trip and glad I had this weekend to recover before getting back to the grind.

Chicago

I’m here in Chicago after taking a red-eye on Monday night. I was able to get 9 holes in with one of my teammates which was both fun and helpful in getting to know each other better. We unfortunately got rained out and was not able to finish but the face to face time definitely helped with the camaraderie considering we work with each other very closely.

I was able to see one of my close friends from college and his newborn in the evening. It was great catching up and also getting a preview of what’s to come for Sophia and I. The tips from people who have gone through it is really invaluable.

The Secfi events start today with a team lunch followed by a team-building exercise. It’s a crazy realization but I haven’t met a handful of my colleagues in person yet. I can’t wait to see them and get to know them better on a personal level.

I do need to make sure that I don’t overdo things and ensure I get enough rest. I was able to get pretty good sleep last night, but I can already feel the red-eye lack of sleep from Monday hitting.

Secfi hits Chicago

I’m gearing up for the long weekend followed by a trip to Chicago for our US offsite. I’m incredibly excited for the week ahead. I haven’t seen most of my colleagues for over a year now in person and there’s nothing like getting good face time.

We spend so much time with each other on a day to day basis working largely remote. We do our best to make those connections remotely and build a bond. However, it’s just not the same as when we can get together and really bond in person.

We have a few hours per day reserved to get work done which will be nice. But most of the time reserved just to hang out and have some fun. We’ve all been through a lot these last couple of years and being able to get together, bond, and just enjoy being with each other is incredibly important.

Lastly, we have a lot to celebrate. We’ve had some big wins this past week and I can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in person. The Zoom and Slack celebrations just do not hit the same. It becomes more real when we’re in person together.

For now, I have a long weekend with not too many plans. My sister is in town so I plan on just relaxing. It’s going to be a fun week.

Thursday random thoughts

Things have slowed down significantly for the long weekend. Downtown SF seems like a ghost town today especially with the nice weather. My inbox is nice and quiet. The long weekend and summer vibes have kicked in early and I plan to take off early to meet an old coworker.

With a slower week, my sleep has significantly improved and I feel great. I know it’s fairly obvious, but the days when I can actually get to bed and get 8+ hours of sleep are night and day from the days when I get 7 or less. The biggest challenge for me is getting to bed earlier on nights where I have to be up early the next morning. I just have never been a good sleeper that can fall asleep early. It’s something I need to continue to work on.

We’re wiring a good chunk of cash out for an investment we closed this week. It feels amazing to start writing bigger checks again. We’re in the business of allocating assets and the past two years have been slow given the markets. There’s no better thrill of closing significant deal flow.

As Q2 starts to get wrapped up, I need to start looking into my portfolio and savings once again. Sophia and I have done an okay job 5 months into the year, but I do feel the pressure of increased spending a bit. We haven’t been investing as much as we should be and I want to make sure the 2nd half of the year pans out differently for us. Life style creep is something I’m always battling.

PE in college athletics

I just read that private equity seems to be coming to college athletics soon. RedBird Capital and Weatherford Capital have announced a program for athletic departments. There are scant details so far, but my guess is that these firms will work alongside a handful of athletic departments and provide a line of credit in exchange for future revenue splits.

This could make sense for some select athletic departments. For better or worse, my school the University of Washington is likely a top candidate given that we are entering the Big10 at a 50% revenue cut for the next 6 years until 2030 when we get the full cut. PE money could help level the playing field for the next 5-6 years while giving up some of the future upside when we get a larger cut from the conference.

Of course, this won’t always end happy. Some companies may be eager to get their hands on capital today which won’t result in a happy payout in the future. I can see many of these desperate ADs looking to make a splash and taking out a line of credit to pay some highly talented recruits who won’t pan out. A lot of college athletics are unfortunately not good investments. Lots of schools will learn the hard way…

The SynapseFi mess

I’m unfortunately one of the thousands of users with money stuck due to the SynapseFi mess right now. I had some cash with a fintech neobank called Yotta which used Synapse as their BaaS provider. Unfortunately this is an ugly fintech mess that will result in millions of dollars being locked up until Synapse can figure things out.

In a nutshell, my understanding is as such:

• Synapse is the Banking as a Service (BaaS) provider that builds the infrastructure to connect many fintechs to banks.

• My fintech neobank Yotta used Synapse to connect to Evolve which is a bank.

• Synapse filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and was going to be acquired by TabaPay, but that deal fell through earlier this month.

• There is only a skeleton crew of 6 people at Synapse working now due to the bankruptcy.

• Synapse has since cut-off any access from the fintechs to Evolve and is not longer processing transactions. Since Synapse effectively builds the piping and infrastructure from these fintechs to the banks, no one including myself can get their money out.

• The FDIC cannot step in because this isn’t an issue of a bank going bankrupt. My money is supposedly safe with Evolve which is FDIC insured, but the piping is not broken to get the money out.

As of now, there does not seem to be a resolution in place. Synapse and Evolve are both blaming each other for the issues. The fintechs such as Yotta are blaming Synapse and Evolve.

Someone is going to have to step in and fix the mess to get users their money. While this is not a big deal for me, it appears that thousands of users relied on these fintechs as their primary banking solution for direct deposit, paying bills, etc.

People are asking if this is fintech’s FTX. There’s already a chain reaction of other fintechs also shutting down because of this. For everyone’s sake and for the sake of the industry, let’s all hope that this gets resolved as soon as possible.