My wife took me to kick-boxing class yesterday and if I was to be honest with you, I’d have to admit that I pretty much got my ass handed to me.  Kickboxing is HARD. This isn’t athletic club kick-boxing.  This is Muay Thai kick-boxing at the local Thai dojo.  My wife’s been going for months and is really good (and before you ask – yes, she can clearly kick my ass any time she feels like it).  She’s been asking me to go for a while but I’ve resisted. Not because I didn’t think it would be fun (and as it turned out it was even more fun than I thought it would be), but because I didn’t know how to do it and I was seriously afraid of embarrassing myself (although as you can imagine, none of the excuses I used to avoid prior participation included this openness of reasoning).  Finally, having run out of good reasons not to go along, I acquiesced.  And it was great.  I had fun. I sweat (a LOT). I beat the crap out of my punching bag. I learned the proper way to kick and punch.  And occasionally I put it all together and actually looked like I knew what I was doing.

This post isn’t really about kick-boxing, however.  It’s about trying.  It’s about putting yourself in situations that are uncomfortable or foreign and giving it your best shot.  I made a ton of mistakes in class yesterday.  And, as it turns out, didn’t feel stupid at all.  To the contrary, I felt great for having made the attempt. At the end of class we warmed down with a few minutes of meditation and breathing exercises.  During this quiet time the instructor read a passage that started with the line "here we leave our egos at the door" and went on to talk about the virtues of challenging ourselves to our own level of ability and experience. 

I think it’s often true in business that we are reluctant to try new things. To leave our comfort zones and branch out to new area. And – perhaps most importantly – ask for help. In business (and in life), its extremely hard to leave truly leave your ego at the door. But think about how much more we’d get done if we did…

For most technology professionals (really most professionals of any kind) email is so integrated into our work that we can hardly imagine life without it.  Sure, it can be a distraction at times and – especially if you carry a wireless device – hard to escape from.  But it also greatly enhances productivity, allows us to communicate quickly and effectively and to have asynchronous interactions with a great number of people.  I know in my own work life I send and receive between 200 and 300 emails a day.  And since I’m already tied up on the phone or in meetings for at least 5 or 6 hours in any given day, email allows me to be significantly more productive (and to process more information and communication with a far greater number of people) than without it. 

So it’s with much curiosity that I’m watching my friend Mark Solon – a partner at Highway 12 Ventures in Idaho – experiment with an email free summer.  He describes the heart of his thesis this way: If the people who sent the majority of those e-mails knew that I didn’t have an inbox, they would have either picked up the phone and called me or (and this is the heart of it) probably wouldn’t have bothered because it really wasn’t that important after all.  The link above will take you to the article he wrote about the project. I like Mark, but I’m skeptical that this is going to work.  Even with his secretary printing out important documents (board packages and the like), the limits of old school communication in my mind significantly outweigh the upside from people self filtering their communications with you.  Not to mention, I’d be perpetually worried that I was missing something.

We’ll see what Mark has to say at the end of the summer.  I’m curious in the meantime – could you live without email?

Foundry is pleased to announce that we’ve joined the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado.  EFFCO was created to encourage philanthropy from entrepreneurial companies in Colorado (there are chapters in many other major markets across the country).  By encouraging companies to donate a small percentage of their stock (in the form of a warrant that is only exercisable when the company is sold or goes public) EFFCO is both raising funds for local non-profits as well as encouraging companies to foster a culture of philanthropy early on in the life of their company. 

We’re strong supporters of the mission of EFFCO (in fact Brad was among the founding members of the CO chapter) and are happy to announce that we’ve donated 1% of our carried interest (the equivalent of 1% of our equity) to the Community Trust Endowed Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County through EFFCO. 

I’d be happy to give you some more information if you’re interested in having your company become a member of EFFCO (email me directly).

Excuse the shameless pitch but I feel compelled to tell you about the new Soul Patch album, Sooner or Later.  Soul Patch is a band that includes my partners Ryan and Jason.  Sooner or Later is the band’s aptly named second album (aptly named because it was 6 years in the making).  The band’s music is a mix of classic rock, a bit of funk and soul spiced with great rhythm and outstanding musicality.  I really like their style and this new album is fantastic. 

Here are a few links to check out to meet the band, sample the music and buy the album:

Soul Patch Web Page, Facebook page and schwag

Sooner or Later Album Page

Buy the album at CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon

I don’t know what it is about the last few weeks – maybe the change of season; maybe something in the water – but I’ve been absolutely amazed at how often people have showed a complete lack of comprehension for who was in the room with them. 

This may sound more calculating than I intend it to, but I think its a good practice to always consider who you’re talking to before you start in on a conversation.  This is especially true when you’re negotiating for something, making a request or otherwise trying to drive to a specific outcome.  I’ve witnessed several pretty amazing examples of a complete lack of thoughtfulness around this notion of late.  From making idle (and counter-productive) threats, to inappropriate requests, to outright lying (which was sure to be uncovered). 

Stop and think…then talk.

My partner Ryan related amusing story about leaving his brand new MacBook Air on a recent flight. I had a similar experience myself last week, which unfortunately didn’t end up quite as happily (although fortunately didn’t involve a $3,000 piece of technology).

I left the office for a meeting on Friday afternoon with my hands full: I had my computer bag in one hand and was carrying my jacket and a garment bag in the other. In addition I was on my phone as I dragged all of this down to the parking garage. I managed to get everything in the car without disrupting (or dropping) my call and drove off. After a few blocks, I noticed that my phone wasn’t in the spot I usually keep it in the car.  I was still on the phone (on a bluetooth headset) and figured it had fallen down between the seats.  After about 10 minutes I finished my call and at the subsequent two stop lights frantically looked for my phone under the passenger seat, in my bag, etc.  About 5 minutes later I heard a thump from the top of my car (and thought relatively little of it).  About 3 minutes after that, I realized that the thump was actually my phone falling off the top of my car where I had inadvertently left it while trying to load everything into the trunk. Oops…

While it’s amazing to me that I managed to leave my phone on the car in the first place (although less of a mystery to those who know me very well), it’s even more amazing that it managed to stay on for the duration of my phone call and then some. Of course by the time I circled back, I wasn’t able to find the phone – despite multiple passes. 

Moral of the story: don’t drive with your phone on top of the car!

If you’ve at all been trying to unplug once in a while – as I have been to mixed success,  you’ll enjoy this article from last Sunday’s NY Times.

I don’t write much about my kids on this blog – a little too personal and ultimately my wife and I think they should decide what and when they want to share online.  I couldn’t resist this one, however. A few years ago I wrote about my own overwhelming feelings of love for my kids.  Its great when they can return the sentiment!  Below is a note from my 4 year old daughter.  My wife helped her with the spelling, but she drew all the letters and picked the words herself.

Wise words from my 4 year old daughter after seeing my reaction to the Patriots losing the Super Bowl tonight.  How true . . .

At Mobius/Foundry we take the week between Christmas and New Year off from work. Combined with a few days before, Christmas this makes for a pretty nice break from the office. Historically I average about 50% for being able to actually take meaningful time away from work over this time period (there have been a handful of years where an end of the year deal has made this impossible). This was one of the good years.

I forget sometimes how nice it is not only to take time off but how great it is to stick around every once in a while during a holiday. Especially in a place like Colorado, there just a lot to do close to home. We split our vacation between our place in the mountains (got our girls on skis for the first time and had some great back-country days!) and at our house near Boulder (more back-country skiing with my wife thanks to some opportunistic babysitting).

I’m charged up for 2008. Lots to write about. . . Lots to do. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you through VC Adventure.