Mid-September Notes

Even though it’s not officially over until the 21st, summer came and went in the blink of an eye. Panama’s sunny skies and humid air are a distant memory. Here in Brooklyn, Fall arrived faster than usual.

Back to School involved early morning writing, late night client phone calls and schedule juggling. Several of my clients went through this transition and a few even got on the phone with me after 9 p.m. to get things done. Thanks to them, deadlines were met, a new piece of business arrived at the Lab and Back to School went off without a glitch.

I also started coaching AYSO soccer. This time both Alejandro and Tomás are participating, so some of my Saturdays will be dedicated to chasing kids up and down the soccer field. Some say (ironically or maliciously) AYSO stands for “All Your Saturdays Occupied.“ When one kid has a game at 8 a.m. and the other has one at 3 p.m., then my standing half-day at work Saturday’s schedule gets modified.

Over at VentureBeat, serial entrepreneur Steve Blank wrote a great piece on Launching a start-up and having a family life. When I read it and got over feeling like an under-achiever (Blank has launched 8 companies), I realized my wife and I had put in place a lot of the same Family Rules that Blank did. We did that assure we spend enough time with the kids, while allowing me, dad, the time to build and run a business. If you have a family (or are thinking about having a family), it’s worth the read.