Today was a very Swiss kind of day! OK, OK, let me explain, because Houston, Texas, is a pretty far cry from “Swiss!” What I mean is that today really felt a lot like my Swiss/IMD experience even though it was a Saturday in Houston. To start, the weather was gorgeous. Not a cloud inContinue reading “A Swiss Day in Houston”
Category Archives: Rice & Texas
2012
2012. The Year of the Dragon. The first year I’ve ever begun married. Teaching my first course. The Summer Olympics. Rice’s Centennial. This is going to be a BIG year! Smart Office Energy Solutions is starting off on a good note. We closed out last year with awards, patents, and closure of our investment round.Continue reading “2012”
2011 Wrap-Up
Another year has come and gone and this was a particularly momentous one! This year I got married, advanced my startup, and accepted a faculty position at Rice University – wow! Let’s take a look at the goals I set at the beginning of the year and see how I did: Relationships Due to myContinue reading “2011 Wrap-Up”
Successes and Failures
It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. For some time I have been intensely focused on the CleanTech Open, a nation-wide contest of startups that are working on the challenges of energy, water, and buildings. We were honored to have been selected as semifinalists for the South Central Region back in May. Finally inContinue reading “Successes and Failures”
Austin is Awesome!
I came to Austin to compete in the CleanTech Open and attend the Clean Energy Venture Summit but, as long as I was already going to be here, Katie came up and brought Max and we stayed an extra day for a mini vacation. We’ve always liked Austin a lot and periodically we discuss whetherContinue reading “Austin is Awesome!”
Winning
Last week was a great week that brought many accomplishments both professionally and personally. First off, I am pleased to announce that Smart Office Energy Solutions closed its second round of funding! While our first round comprised mostly smaller investors with whom I already had a personal relationship, this second, larger round was made upContinue reading “Winning”
2011 Goals
Last year I defined many yearly goals and, as I described in my 2010 wrap-up, I accomplished many of them. Looking back at the system for goal definition and tracking I set up, though, I’ve found several areas for improvement. Most notably, I need to focus more on measuring outcomes, not just on the waysContinue reading “2011 Goals”
2010 Wrap-Up
Wow, 2010 was a hell of a year! I got engaged, got a dog, started up a company, lived in Switzerland for the summer, and really advanced a number of my personal and professional goals. A year ago I posted my resolutions for 2010 and periodically I have posted status updates (one week, one month,Continue reading “2010 Wrap-Up”
Happy Birthday, Smart Office Energy Solutions!
Wow. One year ago today we incorporated Smart Office Energy Solutions. As impatient as I am, it is never moving along quite quickly enough for me, but it is still important to look back at all we have already accomplished in a relatively brief time. When we incorporated last December, we had completed tremendous analysisContinue reading “Happy Birthday, Smart Office Energy Solutions!”
The Price of Freedom
Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to do my civic duty of jury service and it got me thinking about all the costs involved in this process. Previously my experience with jury service had been quite limited. Each time I was called in I sat around for 30 – 180 minutes and then wasContinue reading “The Price of Freedom”