Focus

I am certainly glad that I am not flying anywhere this month as this seems like a nightmare scenario. The government shutdown is really starting to take it’s toll and while it has not impacted the majority of Americans, that will start to change. Of course, the government workers and the most needy are taking the fall for the rest of us. It’s a sad situation and reflective of the political world we now live in. And for the record, I blame both sides here.

On another note, the theme of the week for me has been focus. I feel like I’ve got a million things going on, none of which are incredibly urgent but everything feels critical. My brain has been in a pretzel all week with the context switching and trying to keep my head above water working through the many different workstreams.

At this point, it’s really time to triage some of these tasks and things are simply just going to have to wait or be deprioritized. On a small team, there is always going to be the feeling that we need to do everything or else there will be a missed opportunity. But over the years, I’ve learned that trying to do everything is usually much more counterproductive.

In order to be the most efficient, we need to be diligent with our time and make sure we stay focused on the most important tasks. That will almost always mean better results when the dust settles.

The private markets resurgence

Two big moves happened in the pre-IPO secondary space recently that went relatively quiet. Morgan Stanley announced that they acquired EquityZen last week and today it was announced that Charles Schwab acquired Forge Global which was a publicly traded company.

It’s been fun to see some activity in this space as it’s been mostly quiet the last few years since Forge went public. Two of the biggest legacy secondary marketplaces have now been acquired by large financial institutions. Undoubtedly, clients at these firms are demanding access to pre-IPO investments and these acquisitions help them achieve that.

Of course, this is all great news for Secfi as we operate in this space. We are adjacent to EquityZen and Forge, and while some may see us as competitors, we partner with them more than compete. They are both great companies and I’ve enjoyed meeting and partnering with many folks there.

I’m happy for all my friends at EquityZen and Forge, and for everyone building in this space.

Happy Birthday Colin!

It’s Colin’s 1st birthday today. While I can’t believe that it’s been a year, I also can’t believe all the things that we’ve been through in the last year. Like the saying goes, the days are long but the years are short.

Prior to Colin being born, I did not know that I was capable of loving anyone or anything more than I love my son. There is nothing that brings me more happiness than seeing him in the mornings smiling back at me.

Watching Colin grow has been the biggest joy of my life and I’ve been doing everything possible to cherish the moments I have with him. I know that one day I’ll be writing a blog post on his 18th birthday talking about how time has gone and that he’s now an adult. That makes me sad, but the impermanence of everything is what makes life beautiful.

Life this past year has been the most rewarding year of my life, but at the same time, likely the most challenging. In order to be a better father, I’ve really had to grow up. I’ve had to come to terms that being a parent means giving up a large part of your own life. While it has all been worth it, it has not been easy. It’s been a rollercoaster of a year with a lot of highs and a lot of lows, but I’ve finally gotten to a really good place right now.

I suppose now Colin is officially a toddler and not an infant anymore. There’s going to be a lot of fun developments coming in the next few weeks to months with his first steps and first words likely. For now though, this week and weekend is about celebrating the little guy that has brought so much joy to his parents and family. Happy Birthday Colin!

Another election day

It’s election day here in New York and it’s going to be a heated one. While it’s been more or less accepted that Zohran should walk away a winner tonight, there seems to be a large push for Cuomo and maybe a sliver of hope for anti-Zohran folks.

I’m not one of the folks who believes Zohran is an anti-American who wants to implement Sharia law (these are real ads I was served today). At this point, I do believe that he’s a good person that wants to try to make positive change for New York and the country.

With that said, I do have a real fear that these policies simply don’t work and will make things worse for New York. I have seen this script before in San Francisco and other west coast cities where liberalism goes too far and we lose a bit of common sense.

If elected, my hope is that Zohran can surround himself with experience and smart individuals who can help guide him to implement change within reason and common sense.

Doing less to get more

We had a great weekend. It was Colin’s first Halloween and while he like won’t remember what was going on, it was really fun spending time with him on a festive day. On Saturday, Sophia and I spent some time in the city and then hired a baby sitter so we could go out to dinner. It was a great weekend.

One of the key learnings in my first year as a parent is that I need to do less to get more out of my weekends. There were many months where I had tried to do too much with Colin. Whether that was being too ambitious with my day with him, or just planning way too much social events, or traveling too much.

My life has gotten significantly better the last few weeks when I have committed myself to doing less. For example, we can go out trick or treating with Colin but also realize that he does not know what’s going on and we should head back so he can play and get some energy out versus sitting in a stroller. We can also grab lunch in the city but need to be back by 3:30 for his nap or else we’re going to have a cranky kid.

Our weekends are infinitely less stressful once we’ve come to terms with the new reality and stopped trying to force things to feel like the pre-kid days. Things are not the same as they were before and likely will never be. After about a year, I’ve finally figured that out and have been enjoying our weekends more.

Fridays

It’s Colin’s first Halloween and it’s been a ton of fun for Sophia and I. We dressed him up as a piece of sushi and he’s incredibly cute today. It was a joy dropping him off at daycare with the other babies all dressed up. I’ve never been a huge Halloween guy but I’m loving it as a Father.

On another note, it’s a quiet Halloween Friday in the office where I am maybe one out of five people in the entire coworking space. I do find it interesting just how normal work from home on Fridays has become. I know it’s Halloween and whatnot, but the norm has really become to work from home on Fridays nowadays.

Not that long ago we had companies giving perks like Summer Fridays and work from home on Fridays during non-busy times. My old firm would let us work from home in the off months on Fridays and it was always a treat. I am generally a fan of the trend, but I do find it interesting that Fridays have just become effectively a half day for most people.

I’ve started coming into the office on Fridays myself to try to be as productive as I can with the hopes that I can log off early and enjoy some time before I have to pick-up Colin from daycare and be a Dad all weekend.

At the office especially when it’s quiet, I have all the time to myself to really sit down and grind out work. I’ll usually treat myself to a nice lunch in the city somewhere and then wrap up from a new spot like a coffee shop to enjoy Manhattan.

Keeping motivated

It’s a rainy and windy morning here in New York. Our coworking space feels like there’s maybe 25% of the normal traffic for a Thursday as presumably most people decided to just stay home.

On the work front, there’s not much urgent or pressing right now given the time of the year. There’s no shortage of things to do, but I’m enjoying the lack of hard pressing deadlines right now.

With the weather turning and work in a relative lull, I’ve been pushing myself to enjoy life a bit, but also doing my best to stay motivated and get shit done. It’s sometimes easier said than done especially on days like today where it may be tempting to stay home and have a slow day.

While it may not seem like it, these weeks are incredibly important weeks. Whether it’s knocking out some projects that have been lingering or just accelerating things to get ahead of an end of year rush, these weeks can make or break a quarter or a goal. What we do this week could mean the difference between having a relaxed Christmas or a hectic busy one.

There’s a balance of course. I’ve got to stay motivated and progress things, but it’s also the time of the quarter where we need to relax a bit.

Nvidia $5T and where does OpenAI end up?

Nvidia became the first company valued at $5T yesterday. Apple and Microsoft both crossed $4T as well. The AI boom has been good for the largest players in the space. Call it a bubble, but investors are hungrier than ever to get into the AI boom.

OpenAI also announced that they have restructured their partnership with Microsoft and are now officially a for-profit company. This paves the way for the company to eventually go public.

With the last round at $500B, I wonder how big this IPO can actually get? What is the end goal at IPO? A $1T valuation or perhaps even higher? At this point, I’d wager that $1T would be the floor that they would consider going public at. And if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t be surprised that they get there sooner than later depending on the demand right now.

Is it a bubble or a perhaps once in a lifetime technological advancement? It’s clear that this is both. I don’t know how this will all end up, but I’m still of the belief that the largest companies will benefit the most given the high cost of running AI. So far that has been true.

AI layoffs

Amazon was the big news headline in the tech world as it laid off 14,000 corporate employees today citing making the company leaner and leveraging AI. Apparently, it could affect up to 30k employees and will touch every area of the business. It’s also the largest layoff in company history.

I don’t doubt that companies, especially the large tech companies, need to downsize after the hiring spree post COVID. I know people who constantly brag about how little they work and how much they get paid. However, the size of this layoff is definitely eye opening.

Undoubtedly AI is going to continue to drive layoffs as companies seek to get more efficient. For better or worse, this is just the start of these AI driven layoffs, specifically in big tech. Other big companies are quietly also conducting layoffs just without the scale and noise.

Savoring the last few weeks of baby Colin

I had a good weekend as a solo parent with Colin. We had a fun time hanging out and I took him to playgrounds, play gyms, and even a restaurant for lunch. It was a much different weekend though as my entire day was pretty much focused on Colin. There weren’t many breaks besides his naps and I had 2-3 hours every night after he went to bed for myself at best.

As saying the goes, nothing easy is ever worth it. I suppose that’s why being a parent is incredibly rewarding as it certainly isn’t easy being a Dad. You are definitely giving up most of your personal life for your kids. It’s a choice that I’m happy to make and would make again, but I do miss some time to myself.

I don’t think it’s even the social events or the TV that I miss the most. For me, I really miss the days of being able to go to a cafe with my laptop and just catch-up on things leisurely with no agenda or time frame. I do know that things will continually change as Colin grows older.

It’s hard to ignore just how fast he’s growing. His naps are getting shorter. He’s getting more demonstrative and doing a lot more physically. His personality is starting to come out. I think it’s likely that he’s going to be walking in the next few weeks or so. I’m excited for him to be a toddler, but going to try to savor the last few weeks of him being a baby for now.

Enjoying the moment

Watching Colin grow has been the biggest joy of my life. This morning, I couldn’t help but just stare at him play with his toys. Just a few months ago, we bought him this toy chest where you can take balls and drop them in at the top and the ball rolls down like a roller coaster. When we first got it, he didn’t know what to do with it and barely would watch the balls roll. Now he’s picking them up and dropping them in to watch them himself.

It’s the simple things like watching him develop and progress. As everyone says, these days go by real quick and I need to make sure to enjoy every moment of it. I’m doing my best to stay present whenever I’m with him and focus on just being with him and enjoying the moment.

However, it’s a lot harder than I’d like to admit. There are many moments when I’m just thinking about work with him and I’m not fully present. Last night, I was trying to push through a grocery delivery order while also playing with him. The craziness of life does creep up and my monkey brain has always liked to jump around.

However, the most important thing right now is Colin and I need to remember that I’ll miss these days. Everything else can wait for until after bedtime.

Special weekend of solo parenting

Sophia left this morning to go back to SF for a wedding so I’m solo parent for the long weekend. I’ve done it before so I’m not worried or stressed, but undoubtedly it is much more difficult and you just have to be more on top of your game.

Difficulties aside, I’m excited for the alone time with Colin. It forces me to be much more present and focused on Colin. For better or worse, I have to be laser focused on just being a Dad and taking care of him.

I’m not sure what we’ll do yet. I’ll probably stick to the model of one activity a day as anything more than that is just too exhausting for me and I don’t want to overstretch myself. At the end of the day, at this age, it’s more so spending time with him.

Healthy politics

We’ve been having healthy and educated debates in the office about the NYC mayoral race. It’s been really refreshing given today’s politic environment. There’s a good contingent of folks who are pro-Zohran and a good contingent against him.

We come from different backgrounds and countries, and many of us have differing political views. Being able to have educated and civil conversations about the Mayoral race has been really interesting and eye-opening.

This is what it’s all about. We need to be able to listen to another’s opinions and views, and keeping an open mind about it. I’ve learned a lot from my pro-Zohran colleagues and while I haven’t changed my mind about him, I am more hopeful that he would work as Mayor.

AI content

Since OpenAI’s launch of Sora 2, my social media feeds have been filled with AI generated videos. These videos are getting so good that I’ve had to do a double take at times to make sure that it was indeed AI generated.

The speed at which AI is advancing is remarkable and we’re watching it all live. It was just a year ago where AI generated short clips were barely watchable.

At what point does the majority of content on social media just become AI generated? I’d guess that it’s going to happen sooner than later. I am curious as to how consumers, and social media platforms, reward or nerf AI generated content.

Will consumers remain partial to real people like content creators today? Or will it not matter if the content is AI generated in the future as long as the content is good? There’s something to be said about authenticity in the modern world. At the same time, content is king and people cannot consume enough of it.

Back at it

I’m much happier going into work on a Monday this week after the week off. It’s night and day to where I was a couple weeks ago. I’m stoked to get back into it and close out the year strong. On a personal level, these next 2 months are going to be about living a healthier life style. That means getting back into shape and also a much healthier work-life balance. I want to feel great going into the holidays.

On the work front - the government shutdown has put IPOs for Q4 in jeopardy. We had a strong Q3 performance of IPOs and had thought that we’d see another handful of tech IPOs in Q4. However, the uncertainty of the government shutdown effectively leaves a 2 week gap before Thanksgiving and a 2 week gap after Thanksgiving for companies to go public. I’d guess that many companies will likely just wait until 2026 at this point.

Tanned, bitten, and ready to be home

I’m back home in New York after spending 5 nights at a resort in Playa Mujeres just outside of Cancun. Overall, I had a great vacation with the family and personally I accomplished what I wanted to do which was unwind, detox from work, and rest.

It was our first perhaps “real” vacation as a family of three. We’ve taken small weekend trips before and done road trips, but we hadn’t flown somewhere new and exotic with Colin yet. As always, he was great on this trip and seemed to have a great time.

We spent our entire time on the resort doing I suppose what most families do at these all-inclusive resorts which was sleep, pool/beach, and eat. It was not the most exciting trip, but perhaps this is the just new the reality of traveling with young kids. That’s something that I’m still getting used to and perhaps this trip was the first big taste of it.

Regardless, I did have an overall good time despite this not being the most adventurous vacation that I typically enjoy. Most importantly, I was able to get away from work and I’m proud to say that I did not open my laptop once. I did read my Slack and emails, but I mostly refrained from responding to anything.

For just that reason alone, it was a trip well worth it. I was fully able to get my mind off of work and focus on just enjoying life a bit more. I needed to get away and recharge a bit and this trip allowed that. It was great for Sophia and I to be able to get away from home for a bit and spend some time with each other as well.

On top of my personal needs, it was also awesome being able to spend the week with Colin at the resort. We created some special memories on his first international trip and I was happy to be able to cherish those moments with him.

Alas, I’m back home in New York and I’m here for the entire month until the holidays start. I’m excited to finally be back and nursing the maybe 50 mosquito bites I have all over my body. Our busy summer and fall schedule is now officially over and we can focus on ourselves and enjoying New York.

Not a victim

I’ve held a lot of anger and frustration these last few months than I have in my life. The combination of exhaustion from new fatherhood alongside the work stress has really taken a toll. When these stressful moments hit, I have recently had a tendency to blame others for the issues. Some of the things that I’ve said over the last few weeks:

“This person is causing me a lot of stress”

“I’m tired because you made me go on that weekend trip”

I’ve unfortunately let things spiral especially the last couple of months. It’s easy to play victim here when things are tough and I’ve let that creep up in my life. This isn’t me though.

One of my mantras in life is that I am responsible for everything in life whether that is good or bad. Of course that’s never fully 100% true, but it’s something I’ve lived by the last 10 years. In other words, I take full responsibility and ownership of my life and I am in control of it.

Playing victim does me no good in life and puts the blame on other people. In reality, I am in control of my life and I need to do better. I can say no to things. I can force myself to get more rest. I can get myself to a better physical and mental state. It all starts with realization though and I hope today is a good turning point to get everything back on track.

The Degenerate Era

The news of the private markets was prediction startup Polymarket raising a massive round at a $9B valuation yesterday. There’s many crazy aspects of this, but one of the things that stood out was that there are only about 50 employees at the company right now. Hats off to the Polymarket team.

When COVID hit, I fully bought into the degenerate era. Between stock picking and traditional gambling, Americans were flocking for entertainment. I definitely did not predict that the vehicle that degenerates would flock to in 2025 is through the “prediction market” startups. Of course, they are not just offering predictions on real world events anymore. They have gone into where events happen almost everyday which is in sports.

The regulatory agencies do not seem intent on slowing this down although I do see the big money casinos possibly having a say in this down the road. Regardless, the product-market fit here is proven.

Americans love to gamble and this is the era of the degenerate. We’ve only begun to get started.

Recovery and the AI upcharge

While I’m far from feeling great again, I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. My voice and energy levels are starting to come back, and I’m no longer coughing every 30 seconds. I’m viewing the next few weeks as a “recovery” period for me.

The past two months have been filled with various illnesses, exhaustion, and elevated stress levels. Some of this was was unavoidable like my son bringing home various sicknesses from daycare constantly which seems to be the norm in the fall. But of course a lot of it was very much avoidable as well with way too many trips and exhausting travel.

With our vacation next week and then the rest of October and November prior to Thanksgiving at home in New York, this is the period of recovery for me where I can focus on my physical and mental health. Life should get a lot more boring which is exactly what I need right now in my life.

On another note, it feels like the “AI upcharges” have started to hit our SaaS subscriptions. We upgraded our Slack this morning and it’s now loaded with AI features that supposedly previously weren’t there. Of course, this all came with a cost of these features and it was not a optional upgrade.

I suspect nearly everyone of my SaaS subscriptions will try to do the same. Slowing growth rates across the board for SaaS is going to create pressure to find growth in some areas. While this is all predictable and I’m not surprised, it’s going to be interesting to see what new products actually add value and what is effectively a wrapper on an existing product.

It’s only been an hour, but I have yet to see anything in my Slack look any different than before.

Slowing life down a bit

I’m finally back home after being on the road for the last 2 weeks and it was an incredibly exhausting one. Between all the personal events like a wedding, spending time with the inlaws and Colin, and traveling mixed in with a hectic work schedule, I feel like these last two weeks took years off my life.

It wasn’t all so bad though. I had a good time out in Amsterdam and then had some time with a friend in DC for the UW and Maryland game which was a lot of fun. We also closed out the quarter strong despite all the craziness. But alas, I am sitting here on a Monday at home and the cold I caught last week seems to have struck back, and I do feel like I’ve been hit by a dump truck.

Once again, my body is telling me once again that I need to do a better job taking care of it. I am 35 and I am no longer in my “youth”. Despite this, I am still very good at “powering through” when I am tired and exhausted. Whether that’s staying up for another drink with a friend despite the yawns, or simply just saying yes to a social event despite really needing a night in, I’m pretty damn good at it.

With Colin at 11 months now and both Sophia and I feeling exhausted from life, it’s a good time that we take a breather and slow down our lives a bit. That likely means more nights in and less alcohol. More healthy eating and exercise. My body and mental health could really use that break.