Although I haven't posted much about it on this blog, many of you know that I have spent the last year and a half helping to foster more/better entrepreneurship at my alma mater, Rice University. Six months ago I officially accepted the role of Entrepreneur in Residence at the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership, an organization funded by legendary venture capitalist (and Rice alum) John Doerr.
Since almost the moment I started in 2012, it became evident that Rice was underserved in entrepreneurship. The MBAs had some coursework available to them and a big business plan competition but the undergrads had nothing, academic grad students even less, and faculty were frustrated with the process of IP commercialization.
Around that time I connected with four students who wanted to do something about it. Over the last 18 months we spent a lot of time figuring out the highest-impact initiative we could take, selling it within the university administration, gathering resources for it, and making it happen.
Last Thursday this vision became a reality with the official launch of OwlSpark, the Rice University startup accelerator. Eight teams of Rice undergrads, grad students, MBAs, and alumni are spending the summer working side by side in the Rice BRC to launch their startups. The program provides funding, mentorship, learning, and networking opportunities for the 37 members of these eight teams.
Thursday night's launch event attracted more than 100 attendees and was a really fantastic way to kick off the program. This is such an exciting initiative for Rice but what really makes me proud is that OwlSpark was created entrepreneurially by students, not by a top-down decree.
OwlSpark is itself a startup so it will have to be agile and reactive to feedback from its participants, mentors, investors, etc. It's way too early to tell what we will have accomplished by Demo Day in August but it's a worthwhile shot and I'm very excited about the possibilities!
2013-05-20
2013-04-15
My Brother's Wedding
Last weekend Katie and I went to St. Petersburg, Florida for my brother's wedding. It was hot and humid but somehow we didn't mind at all. Katie set us up in a B&B near all the action. It was cute, quaint, and very energy- and water-efficient, which we obviously appreciated. If anyone else is traveling to St. Petersburg, we would recommend La Veranda as a nice alternative to staying in a big hotel. The proprietor was extremely adaptable to Katie's and my nutritional requests for breakfast.
Friday we met my mom, brother, and another groomsman for lunch at The Moon Under Water. Although it offered mostly Britsh pub food (Yuck!), it also offered superb Indian cuisine (Yum!) - combined with a British pub beer list (Yumyumyum!)! Such a great pairing enjoyed al fresco on a sunny afternoon was just the way to kick off the weekend's festivities.
After the rehearsal, we had rehearsal dinner at Bella Brava, an Italian restaurant that Nick has been raving about for years. They kind of screwed up our reservation so I was less impressed with them than I had hoped to be - but it still turned out to be a fine venue for eating, drinking, and roasting on the eve of the wedding.
Saturday Katie and my mom spent the day bouncing around between St. P's surprising number of good museums (surprising given the town's small size). Meanwhile I joined the other groomsmen at Nick's house for a day of outdoor workouts and great food. Once we felt that Nick had been sent off from bachelorhood in appropriate style, we changed and got ready for the big event.
The wedding itself was Hawaiian themed and very informal. With the sun beating down on us, we all appreciated the informality! It was also very meaningful, from the written vows to the sentimental rings to the participation of the flower dog.
As we transitioned to the reception we also added a Top Gun theme. We groomsmen donned aviators as we entered the reception to the Top Gun theme song and later on there was a You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling homage. The Hawaiian theme continued as well as we were treated to a show by dancers from the Pacific Islands. It was an interactive show so attendees were treated (?) to more than they could ever want of me hula dancing!
We danced into the night and then continued the party in downtown St. P. It was a lot of fun: sweaty, sweaty fun!
The next day Katie, Mom, and I spent the morning in the Salvador Dali Museum - what a trip! And then we wrapped up with tapas at Ceviche before heading home. All in all it was a fun weekend and a great way to send Nick and Jess off on their new adventure. I won't try to recount my toasts here as they are private, intended just for the bride, groom, and other wedding attendees. I did quote one poem by Rumi, though, in honor of Nick's and Jess's strong attachment to the sea:
The religion of Love
is a sea without
a shore,where the
Lovers drown
without a sigh,
without a cry.
To Nick and Jess, bon voyage on your new life together!
Friday we met my mom, brother, and another groomsman for lunch at The Moon Under Water. Although it offered mostly Britsh pub food (Yuck!), it also offered superb Indian cuisine (Yum!) - combined with a British pub beer list (Yumyumyum!)! Such a great pairing enjoyed al fresco on a sunny afternoon was just the way to kick off the weekend's festivities.
After the rehearsal, we had rehearsal dinner at Bella Brava, an Italian restaurant that Nick has been raving about for years. They kind of screwed up our reservation so I was less impressed with them than I had hoped to be - but it still turned out to be a fine venue for eating, drinking, and roasting on the eve of the wedding.
Saturday Katie and my mom spent the day bouncing around between St. P's surprising number of good museums (surprising given the town's small size). Meanwhile I joined the other groomsmen at Nick's house for a day of outdoor workouts and great food. Once we felt that Nick had been sent off from bachelorhood in appropriate style, we changed and got ready for the big event.
The wedding itself was Hawaiian themed and very informal. With the sun beating down on us, we all appreciated the informality! It was also very meaningful, from the written vows to the sentimental rings to the participation of the flower dog.
As we transitioned to the reception we also added a Top Gun theme. We groomsmen donned aviators as we entered the reception to the Top Gun theme song and later on there was a You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling homage. The Hawaiian theme continued as well as we were treated to a show by dancers from the Pacific Islands. It was an interactive show so attendees were treated (?) to more than they could ever want of me hula dancing!
We danced into the night and then continued the party in downtown St. P. It was a lot of fun: sweaty, sweaty fun!
The next day Katie, Mom, and I spent the morning in the Salvador Dali Museum - what a trip! And then we wrapped up with tapas at Ceviche before heading home. All in all it was a fun weekend and a great way to send Nick and Jess off on their new adventure. I won't try to recount my toasts here as they are private, intended just for the bride, groom, and other wedding attendees. I did quote one poem by Rumi, though, in honor of Nick's and Jess's strong attachment to the sea:
The religion of Love
is a sea without
a shore,where the
Lovers drown
without a sigh,
without a cry.
To Nick and Jess, bon voyage on your new life together!
2013-03-25
TEDx Talk About Entrepreneurship
Last year I was honored to be asked to speak about entrepreneurship at Rice's "Unconvention" in celebration of its centennial year. Instead of talking about lean startup, customer development, fundraising, or many of the other very well covered topics out there, I chose to focus on framework for entrepreneurship that is, well, unconventional.
My talk, entitled The Entrepreneur's Journey, proposes entrepreneurship lessons embedded in our most popular myths, legends, stories, and fairy tales. Finally this weekend, as a birthday gift to myself, I crossed "Publish my TEDx talk" off my to-do list.
Take a look at the video and the powerpoint slides (synced with audio) and tell me what you think! And please Like and share both links - after all, we need more yoda references in our global discussion of entrepreneurship!
My talk, entitled The Entrepreneur's Journey, proposes entrepreneurship lessons embedded in our most popular myths, legends, stories, and fairy tales. Finally this weekend, as a birthday gift to myself, I crossed "Publish my TEDx talk" off my to-do list.
Take a look at the video and the powerpoint slides (synced with audio) and tell me what you think! And please Like and share both links - after all, we need more yoda references in our global discussion of entrepreneurship!
2013-03-16
The Dude Ranch
Two weekends ago Katie and I were excited to host our first house guests since remodeling our house. Peter, a good friend from business school, and his girlfriend came into town from New York and it was the first time in Houston for both of them.
They arrived late Friday night so we just went out for dinner at Roost and rested up for a big day Saturday. Saturday began with the Houston Area Women's Center Race Against Violence 5k. Sunny and cool, we each did pretty well and then enjoyed recovery food with a brunch of almond flour pancakes.
Next we met up with the other IMD MBA 2008 Houstonian, Hernan, a recent transplant from Buenos Aires. What do three IMD MBAs do when they meet in a city that isn't native for any of them? Play ping pong, of course! We convened at the Rice Rec Center and held an epic international tournament for the ages.
Saturday afternoon we were pleased to introduce our IMD friends/guests/families to a unique cultural experience: the Houston Rodeo! From bull riding events to the livestock show to lots of Texas BBQ I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed the experience and that our guests will always remember it!
Saturday night we went to dinner at Beaver's for some more locavore fare and Sunday our guests had to leave too early! The weather was gorgeous Sunday so it's too bad they couldn't stick around; we played beach volleyball all afternoon. Actually, as both of our guests were really, really tall, maybe it's a good thing they couldn't stay and play against us!
The weather here is still absolutely beautiful so now is the right time for us to be cultural ambassadors of Houston. If anyone else would like to visit, COME ON DOOOOOOOOOWN!
They arrived late Friday night so we just went out for dinner at Roost and rested up for a big day Saturday. Saturday began with the Houston Area Women's Center Race Against Violence 5k. Sunny and cool, we each did pretty well and then enjoyed recovery food with a brunch of almond flour pancakes.
Next we met up with the other IMD MBA 2008 Houstonian, Hernan, a recent transplant from Buenos Aires. What do three IMD MBAs do when they meet in a city that isn't native for any of them? Play ping pong, of course! We convened at the Rice Rec Center and held an epic international tournament for the ages.
Saturday afternoon we were pleased to introduce our IMD friends/guests/families to a unique cultural experience: the Houston Rodeo! From bull riding events to the livestock show to lots of Texas BBQ I think it's safe to say that we all enjoyed the experience and that our guests will always remember it!
Saturday night we went to dinner at Beaver's for some more locavore fare and Sunday our guests had to leave too early! The weather was gorgeous Sunday so it's too bad they couldn't stick around; we played beach volleyball all afternoon. Actually, as both of our guests were really, really tall, maybe it's a good thing they couldn't stay and play against us!
The weather here is still absolutely beautiful so now is the right time for us to be cultural ambassadors of Houston. If anyone else would like to visit, COME ON DOOOOOOOOOWN!
2013-02-18
Weekend in NYC - Part 2
Last Saturday was a long, wonderful day in NYC. We started with brunch at Rosemary's in Greenwich Village, not a far walk from where we were staying. The weather was wonderful for such a walk: sunny and clear, great for enjoying all the snow of the night before! Rosemary's was excellent too. Apparently much of their food comes from their rooftop garden, but when we went up to check out the garden it was buried under a foot of snow! So I'm assuming they make other arrangements during the winter . . . Regardless we had a blast catching up with friends from college and high school over delicious Italian-inspired breakfast food!
Well nourished, we hopped on the subway (Oh isn't it nice to be in a city with public transportation?!) up to the theater district where we saw a matinee showing of Phantom of the Opera. I was worried that that might be a bit of a cliche tourist trap and that the cast might just kind of mail in the performance but wow, were we ever impressed! Especially the Phantom and Carlotta (for whom it was a Broadway debut) really nailed it - I'm really glad we went!
From there we walked up to Rockefeller Plaza where we paid homage to 30 Rock and popped into a wine bar. After a quick freshening up back at the hotel we ventured out for a long evening. It began with dinner a great high school friend's house. In a city known for night life and fine restaurants, it was encouraging to learn that you could just enjoy dinner at home with some friends as well.
After great food and wine and an introduction to the recent addition to their family, we then made our way over to another high school friend's apartment. He happens to be starting up a new venture related to beer and food pairings so he regaled us with several flights of exotic beers paired perfectly with accompanying cheeses and even desserts!
He then joined us as we walked to our final destination: a bar in Alphabet City where we met up with several old friends from Lovett College at Rice. What a blast from the past - we hadn't seen most of them since college and it was fun to catch up with them until the very wee hours of the morning. It has been a long time since Katie and I stayed out until 3 AM but, if it's going to happen, NYC is probably an appropriate venue!
After our late night, Sunday morning began way too early but we managed to mobilize and make our way to Chinatown for a traditional New Year's celebration. We met friends from elementary school and business school at a dim sum restaurant, where we stuffed ourselves silly for an incredibly low priced meal. The only way to afford living in NYC must be to eat dim sum as often as possible!
As we walked back toward our hotel to pick up our bags and head to the airport we stopped in a Chinatown park where they were setting off fireworks and singing the US National Anthem in celebration - what a great way to ring in the year of the snake!
It was just a short trip to NYC, but I think we did it up right: museums, shows, restaurants, late nights, and - most importantly - friends. We still need to visit the Met and go running in Central Park so I guess we'll just have to return soon!
Well nourished, we hopped on the subway (Oh isn't it nice to be in a city with public transportation?!) up to the theater district where we saw a matinee showing of Phantom of the Opera. I was worried that that might be a bit of a cliche tourist trap and that the cast might just kind of mail in the performance but wow, were we ever impressed! Especially the Phantom and Carlotta (for whom it was a Broadway debut) really nailed it - I'm really glad we went!
From there we walked up to Rockefeller Plaza where we paid homage to 30 Rock and popped into a wine bar. After a quick freshening up back at the hotel we ventured out for a long evening. It began with dinner a great high school friend's house. In a city known for night life and fine restaurants, it was encouraging to learn that you could just enjoy dinner at home with some friends as well.
After great food and wine and an introduction to the recent addition to their family, we then made our way over to another high school friend's apartment. He happens to be starting up a new venture related to beer and food pairings so he regaled us with several flights of exotic beers paired perfectly with accompanying cheeses and even desserts!
He then joined us as we walked to our final destination: a bar in Alphabet City where we met up with several old friends from Lovett College at Rice. What a blast from the past - we hadn't seen most of them since college and it was fun to catch up with them until the very wee hours of the morning. It has been a long time since Katie and I stayed out until 3 AM but, if it's going to happen, NYC is probably an appropriate venue!
After our late night, Sunday morning began way too early but we managed to mobilize and make our way to Chinatown for a traditional New Year's celebration. We met friends from elementary school and business school at a dim sum restaurant, where we stuffed ourselves silly for an incredibly low priced meal. The only way to afford living in NYC must be to eat dim sum as often as possible!
As we walked back toward our hotel to pick up our bags and head to the airport we stopped in a Chinatown park where they were setting off fireworks and singing the US National Anthem in celebration - what a great way to ring in the year of the snake!
It was just a short trip to NYC, but I think we did it up right: museums, shows, restaurants, late nights, and - most importantly - friends. We still need to visit the Met and go running in Central Park so I guess we'll just have to return soon!
2013-02-12
Weekend in NYC - Part 1
Katie and I had a wonderful weekend in New York City. As much as I travel, both domestically and abroad, I actually haven't been to NYC since before I started blogging - and Katie had never been at all.
One major reason is that I have never really loved NYC. Part of that is just my natural tendency to be a contrarian about "popular" things. I've always been a slow adopter of new popular music, for example, so the more people go on and on about how great "the City" is, the more I usually dig in and claim that you can get the same features elsewhere at a fraction of the price. Moreover, the things NYC is known for - fashion, marketing, [sketchy] finance, and lavish living - all run somewhat counter to the industries and values that I hold dear. Still, I have many great friends there and I always have a great time when I visit.
We flew up Thursday night just before the snow storm hit. We checked into our [tiny] hotel in the East Village and had a good night's sleep followed by a leisurely Friday morning. After breaking our travel fast we headed up to check out some museums, first the Guggenheim and then the MoMA.
The Guggenheim was sort of a bust; part of the museum was shut down due to installation of a new exhibit and the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit about which we were excited turned out to be quite small. The MoMA delivered more although, once again, the Goldfinger and The Scream exhibits we were anticipating were somewhat lackluster - but it made up with lots of impressionism.
The biggest hit by far was our lunch between museums at Candle 79! All organic, all vegan, and with some raw entrees, this restaurant proved emphatically that catering to special dietary needs can still be gourmet and delicious! Plus we were able to catch up with a friend there whom we hadn't in a long time.
After freshening up back at our hotel we had an early dinner at nearby Almond. This definitely satisfied our seafood fix (in a south of France kind of way!) and ensured that we were properly nourished before our evening show. Between the early reservation and people staying in due to the weather, we didn't feel rushed or crowded at all.
Friday evening we attended a performance of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, one of Katie's favorite Tennessee Williams plays. We knew that Scarlett Johansson was headlining but we were pleased to recognize several of the other actors as well, including Ciarán Hinds and Benjamin Walker, as well. We really enjoyed the production and would recommend it to anyone else who is a fan of the play. Point to New York: top notch theater packed with Hollywood's best is not a feature you find anywhere else.
By the time we left the theater, NYC was dead. The snow was falling heavily, the roads were slushy, and there were only a few other people in Times Square. We decided to call it a night and save our strength for Saturday.
One major reason is that I have never really loved NYC. Part of that is just my natural tendency to be a contrarian about "popular" things. I've always been a slow adopter of new popular music, for example, so the more people go on and on about how great "the City" is, the more I usually dig in and claim that you can get the same features elsewhere at a fraction of the price. Moreover, the things NYC is known for - fashion, marketing, [sketchy] finance, and lavish living - all run somewhat counter to the industries and values that I hold dear. Still, I have many great friends there and I always have a great time when I visit.
We flew up Thursday night just before the snow storm hit. We checked into our [tiny] hotel in the East Village and had a good night's sleep followed by a leisurely Friday morning. After breaking our travel fast we headed up to check out some museums, first the Guggenheim and then the MoMA.
The Guggenheim was sort of a bust; part of the museum was shut down due to installation of a new exhibit and the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit about which we were excited turned out to be quite small. The MoMA delivered more although, once again, the Goldfinger and The Scream exhibits we were anticipating were somewhat lackluster - but it made up with lots of impressionism.
The biggest hit by far was our lunch between museums at Candle 79! All organic, all vegan, and with some raw entrees, this restaurant proved emphatically that catering to special dietary needs can still be gourmet and delicious! Plus we were able to catch up with a friend there whom we hadn't in a long time.
After freshening up back at our hotel we had an early dinner at nearby Almond. This definitely satisfied our seafood fix (in a south of France kind of way!) and ensured that we were properly nourished before our evening show. Between the early reservation and people staying in due to the weather, we didn't feel rushed or crowded at all.
Friday evening we attended a performance of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, one of Katie's favorite Tennessee Williams plays. We knew that Scarlett Johansson was headlining but we were pleased to recognize several of the other actors as well, including Ciarán Hinds and Benjamin Walker, as well. We really enjoyed the production and would recommend it to anyone else who is a fan of the play. Point to New York: top notch theater packed with Hollywood's best is not a feature you find anywhere else.
By the time we left the theater, NYC was dead. The snow was falling heavily, the roads were slushy, and there were only a few other people in Times Square. We decided to call it a night and save our strength for Saturday.
2013-01-13
Secure Base In the Office and Gym
As I've posted before, I'm a big fan of IMD Professor George Kohlrieser's advocacy of secure base leadership. Quick summary: as children we gain confidence to take risks (like learning to walk) because we have secure bases (like Mom) to pick us up if we fail (like falling down). We carry this pattern with us into our adult lives and Dr. Kohlrieser's contention is that leaders lead more effectively when they act as secure bases for others. In his book, Care to Dare, he argues that this supportive culture/environment is crucial for employees to have the confidence to stretch themselves and take risks - to play to win vs. playing not to lose.
This morning in the gym I was struck by an extremely apt illustration of this exact principle in action. Usually I work out without a spotter (a workout worst practice, by the way) because my main training partner is more than a thousand miles away in Florida. Also I'm never sure exactly how effective skinny Rice kids would be at spotting! This morning, however, there was a big Rice rugby player in the gym who looked like he could handle my weight so I asked him for a spot on bench press.
Anyone who knows my strength training philosophy knows that my metric of success is how much muscle fiber I am able to stimulate. When training without a spotter I am not able to stimulate as much muscle fiber as possible because I lift conservatively, not wanting to fail and drop the bar on my chest! With this spotter behind me I had the confidence to go all out this morning and I took my bench press routine to absolute, complete failure by working with more weight (strict form, of course) and doing more reps. When I finished a rep and was already tired, I still took the risk of doing another rep because I knew the spotter would save me if I failed. The result was that I was actually able to do several more reps! It was such a good workout that now I can barely move my arms.
Because of my spotter I was able to stretch myself and now my gains (with adequate recovery) will be much greater. This is exactly what secure base leadership is all about! I'm thrilled that Dr. Kohlrieser is bringing his top-ranked High Performance Leadership program (much of which centers on the secure base) to the US this year. I wonder how many of our country's private and public leaders playing not to lose instead of playing to win!
This morning in the gym I was struck by an extremely apt illustration of this exact principle in action. Usually I work out without a spotter (a workout worst practice, by the way) because my main training partner is more than a thousand miles away in Florida. Also I'm never sure exactly how effective skinny Rice kids would be at spotting! This morning, however, there was a big Rice rugby player in the gym who looked like he could handle my weight so I asked him for a spot on bench press.
Anyone who knows my strength training philosophy knows that my metric of success is how much muscle fiber I am able to stimulate. When training without a spotter I am not able to stimulate as much muscle fiber as possible because I lift conservatively, not wanting to fail and drop the bar on my chest! With this spotter behind me I had the confidence to go all out this morning and I took my bench press routine to absolute, complete failure by working with more weight (strict form, of course) and doing more reps. When I finished a rep and was already tired, I still took the risk of doing another rep because I knew the spotter would save me if I failed. The result was that I was actually able to do several more reps! It was such a good workout that now I can barely move my arms.
Because of my spotter I was able to stretch myself and now my gains (with adequate recovery) will be much greater. This is exactly what secure base leadership is all about! I'm thrilled that Dr. Kohlrieser is bringing his top-ranked High Performance Leadership program (much of which centers on the secure base) to the US this year. I wonder how many of our country's private and public leaders playing not to lose instead of playing to win!
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