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 British 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 Hawaii-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!

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 a 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!

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!

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 cliché 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 at 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!

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 seen 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.

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 are playing not to lose instead of playing to win!

ABB Houston 5k Race Report

This morning I set a new 5k PR in the ABB Houston 5k!

I haven’t run a race since early last summer, but I resolved this year that I would integrate more races into my ongoing workout routine. Instead of training for 5k and 10k races and then running just a couple of them, each time tapering and preparing the week beforehand, this year I’m going to use races AS my 5k and 10k workouts.

This morning was the first of the five or six 5ks I intend to run this year. I’m lighter and I believe my fitness level has improved since my 5k PR around this time last year. However, since I hadn’t prepared or tapered for this race, I set pretty conservative goals.

In my 2 5k races last year I set pace goals ~4:12/km and exceeded them early in the race but faded in the stretch. It was important to me in this race to run a consistent pace so I set 4:16 as my goal. With a fast start (1:55 first 500m), 4 km @ 4:16/km, and a fast finish (1:37 for 400m followed by a 17s final 100m sprint), this would make for a 20:54 race – well off my 20:31 PR but, again, the goal was consistency. At a temperature of 70+F and humidity around 100%, the weather certainly wouldn’t help!

The first 500m breezed by in 1:47. I was 5 seconds ahead of my goal and feeling fine at a heart rate of 169 BPM. I was feeling so fine, in fact, that I really had to rein it in for the next km, which I still finished in 4:08, putting me 13 seconds ahead of my goal and with a heart rate of 174 BPM. The next three km really settled into pace: 4:12 (178 BPM), 4:14 (180 BPM), and 4:11 (182 BPM). Heading into my “endgame,” I was 24 seconds ahead of my goal, which was on target (barely) for a PR.

I picked it up for the next 400m, which took us around a couple of turns. I finished this segment in 1:31 (187 BPM) so was now 30 seconds ahead of my goal. There were several people who had passed me earlier in the race in sight as I rounded the final turn and I could feel someone behind me pressing as I kicked it into gear. One by one I passed all the people between me and the finish line – but the guy behind me overtook me and pulled a few feet ahead. In the final 20m or so, I managed to find another gear (189 BPM) and re-overtake him, barely beating him out at the finish. I wonder how much more slowly I would have gone if I hadn’t had to fend off his challenge . . . as my football coach used to say, “Competition breeds excellence!”

My final result was 20:21, a new PR by 10 seconds! I finished #44 overall out of 3,183 runners (99th percentile), #41 out of 1,357 male runners (97th percentile), and #9 out of 180 men in the 30-34 age class (95th percentile). I’m very pleased with the results and now I’ll try to improve by gradually lowering my goal pace each time. 4:14 was my slowest km in this race so my goal for the next race will be for all kms to come in at 4:13 or faster.

James Bond Songs

Some of my previous James Bond rankings have stirred up a bit of debate and this one is likely to as well: my ranking of James Bond theme songs! As with my other rankings, there are broadly three categories: great songs that are still memorable and good today, songs that aren’t so great/memorable but are at least coherent with what makes a Bond song a Bond song to me, and then songs that are just straight up bad.

1. James Bond Theme (Monty Norman / John Barry) – There are few more enduring and recognizable riffs than the James Bond theme. Originally the title piece for Dr. No and From Russia With Love, it then took more of a thematic role in subsequent films while individualized songs played during the title sequences.
2. Goldfinger (Shirley Bassey) – the most iconic Bond theme song of all time, this one also set the precedent for a title sequence that features moving female outlines – a hallmark of almost every Bond movie to come.
3. Skyfall (Adele) – My #1 and #2 were the first Bond songs, but my #3 is the most recent. I just love the sound of it – classic Bond style in a modern voice.
4. For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton) – So representative of the ’80s Bond.
5. Nobody Does It Better (Carly Simon) – This one went along with The Spy Who Loved Me and was the first not to share the same name as the film.
6. Diamonds Are Forever (Shirley Bassey) – Bassey’s second Bond song was almost as good/recognizable as her first.
7. Die Another Day (Madonna) – The title song was one of the only good things about this Bond movie.
8. The Man With The Golden Gun (Lulu) – Like Goldfinger on steroids, this song goes even further over the top – but loses points for originality.
9. All Time High (Rita Coolidge) – I don’t love this song (Octopussy) but it gets points for being enduringly recognizable.
10. You Only Live Twice (Nancy Sinatra) – Not a great song per se but one that definitely fits the Bond theme.
11. Thunderball (Tom Jones) – Tom Jones being Tom Jones, which makes for a good theme song style.
12. A View To A Kill (Duran Duran) – I imagine that this song was actually awesome in the mid ’80s but its style isn’t terribly timeless for me.
13. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (John Barry) – I’m not sure why they moved away from vocal theme songs to this purely orchestral piece – possibly to provide a clearer break from the Sean Connery era. That would certainly explain why they went running back to the vocal style (and even re-used Goldfinger’s Shirley Bassey) when they brought Connery back for Diamonds Are Forever.
14. Tomorrow Never Dies (Sheryl Crow) – I love Sheryl Crow and stylistically this is right on, but somehow it just doesn’t work for me. Her voice sounds weak in the high parts.
15. The World Is Not Enough (Garbage) – This was forgettable enough that I had to refresh my memory about how it sounded on YouTube.
16. Moonraker (Shirley Bassey) – Bassey’s third and final Bond song is just kind of slow and blah.
17. Goldeneye (Tina Turner) – They used a Tina Turner Bond song about 10 years too late.
18. Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney & Wings) – I know many people will disagree with this, but I really loathe just about everything that came out of Paul McCartney after the Beatles – including this song. Now the Guns N Roses version is another story . . .
19. The Living Daylights (A-ha) – Again, this might have fit better in the mid ’80s when it came out but today it’s just not very good.
20. You Know My Name (Chris Cornell) – Casino Royale’s theme song is one of the only underwhelming aspects of an otherwise great film.
21. Another Way To Die (Alicia Keys) – Don’t feel bad if you don’t remember the Quantum of Solace theme song; you’re probably just repressing your memory of it because it isn’t very good.
22. License To Kill (Gladys Knight) – If Tina Turner was 10 years too late, Gladys Knight was 20. This song is terrible; they should have just covered Midnight Train to Georgia instead!
23. Never Say Never Again (Lani Hall) – I’ve been harsh on some of the other ’80s songs as having been good but not having endured. Never Say Never Again doesn’t have that problem because it was horrible from the very beginning!

James Bond Cars

Today’s ranking: James Bond’s best cars:

1. Aston Martin DB5 – this beautiful silver sports car was featured in multiple movies (Goldfinger, Thunderball, Skyfall) and cameo’ed in a few more. The original spy car, it had machine guns, rocket launchers, smoke screen, tire slashers, and a rear bullet shield. This was the Batmobile of Bond cars!
2. Lotus Esprit S1 – (The Spy Who Loved Me) this bad boy could not only transform into a submarine, it had [sub]surface-to-air missles to boot.
3. Aston Martin V12 Vanquish – (Die Another Day) any car that can turn invisible wins major points in my book.
4. Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante – (The Living Daylights) this Aston Martin “winterized” the the DB5’s features by adding side outriggers, deployable tire spikes, lasers, and rocket propulsion.
5. AMC Matador coupe – (The Man With The Golden Gun) this was Scaramanga’s car, not Bond’s, but it still wins major points for transforming into a plane.
6. Moon Buggy – (Diamonds Are Forever) no special gadgets here, but come on, it’s a lunar rover!
7. Aston Martin DBS – (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)  no gadgets, just a beautiful car.
8. Aston Martin DBS V12 – (Casino Royale) no gadgets (other than some defibrillator equipment), just a beautiful car.
9. Aston Martin DBS V12 – (Quantum of Solace) same as the one in Casino Royale, but a little darker.
10. Lotus Esprit Turbo – (For Your Eyes Only) not much action from this one, but still a pretty cool car.
11. BMW Z8 – (The World Is Not Enough) only got to fire one shot before being cut in half by an helicopter-mounted buzz saw.
12. Toyota 2000GT – (You Only Live Twice) quite a departure from the classy European cars throughout the rest of the Bond films.
13. BMW 750iL – (Tomorrow Never Dies) typical weapons but with the added ability to drive the car via smart phone. Lost points for being an ugly boat of a car.
14. Bentley Mark IV – (From Russia With Love) this car didn’t have anything special about it except that Bentley never actually made a “Mark IV” model.
15. BMW Z3 – (Goldeneye) in one of the more flagrant instances of product placement during this Bond era, this car served no purpose whatsoever and had less than two minutes of screen time.
16. Mercedes 250SE – (Octopussy) after the tires were blown, Bond mounted this car onto railroad tracks and drove it that way.
17. Chevrolet Impala – (Live And Let Die) nothing special.
18. Ford LTD – (A View To A Kill) nothing special.
19. Chevrolet Bel Air Convertible – (Dr. No) nothing special.

James Bond Henchmen

Often James Bond movies have more compelling henchmen than the villains themselves – and then sometimes the henchman are totally lame. Following is my ranking:

1. Oddjob (Goldfinger): incredibly strong and with a razor-sharp projectile hat!
2. Jaws (Moonraker, The Spy Who Loved Me): incredibly strong and with razor-sharp metal teeth!
3. Xenia Onatopp (Goldeneye): Former model who uses sex as a weapon? Yes, please!
4. Messieurs Kidd and Wint (Diamonds Are Forever): Most people hate these guys, but I find their attempts to be sinister to be hilariously entertaining.
5. Tee Hee (Live And Let Die): incredibly strong and with a metal claw for a hand!
6. May Day (A View To A Kill): Grace Jones – enough said.
7. Irma Bunt (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service): the inspiration for Frau Farbissina of Austin Powers infamy.
8. Rosa Klebb (From Russia With Love): a little old lady is much scarier with a poison dagger in her shoe!
9. Nick Nack (The Man With The Golden Gun): funny little man who proves deadly behind the controls of Scaramanga’s fun house.
10. Fatima Blush (Never Say Never Again): a henchwoman so attractive that you really don’t want to see her eliminated!
11. Necros (The Living Daylights): we have now crossed the line from compelling henchmen to forgettable ones.
12. Renard (The World Is Not Enough): Elektra King’s lover who can’t feel pain – yawn.
13. Miranda Frost (Die Another Day): MI6 double agent and accomplished fencer.
14. Mischka & Grischka (Octopussy): knife-throwing circus twins? We have now crossed the line from the forgettable henchmen to the downright lame.
15. Hans (You Only Live Twice): a tall, strong blonde guy with nothing special about him.
16. Erich Kriegler (For Your Eyes Only): a tall, strong blonde guy – at least this one is a competitive biathlete.
17. Vargas (Thunderball): a tall, strong blonde guy with nothing special about him.
18. Mr. Stamper (Tomorrow Never Dies): a tall, strong blonde guy with nothing special about him.
19. Milton Krest (License To Kill): his sharks are more interesting than he is.
20. Elvis (Quantum of Solace): as if the main villain in this film weren’t weird looking enough, this Quentin Tarantino look-a-like henchman takes it to another level!
21. Alex Dimitrios (Casino Royale): who?
22. Professor Dent (Dr. No): remember him? I didn’t think so.
23. Skyfall didn’t really have any henchmen – lame!