Back in the Saddle Again

That's Right, back and better than ever or at least that's what Mike Greenberg says every morning on Mike & Mike in the morning. It's been nearly sevens months since I made and promptly broke my New Year's resolution after a triumphant visit to NYC. It's been so long that google didn't even recommend my blog (my Blogger blog mind you) when I started typing Thoughts Before They... It's also been so long that I missed the  1,000 page view milestone for this blog.

A hiatus from blogging was prudent when I accepted my Inside Sales role at Zipcar for a couple of reasons:

1. Didn't see the benefit to my current position
2. Needed a full break from the entrepreneurial/venture mindset I was stuck in

1. Don't get me wrong, a blog on the benefits of Zipcar for Business for Businesses (didn't think that one through) could be a great way to drive B2B sales to Zipcar. Ranking high for business transportation or travel could be a huge advantage but it ultimately boiled down to my limited job title. Inbound Marketing would have been a huge task and likely would have driven a disproportional amount of traffic from our bigger markets and therefore to my colleagues (didn't need to inflate their bonuses). Being so narrowly focused on Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Austin (you should seriously sign your business up for Zipcar) doesn't seem like a way to assign an Inside Salesman but more on that in a future post.

2. It's not as though I stopped being an entrepreneur. I cut back heavily on my blog subscriptions and readership because my bandwidth is ultimately limited. The three I chose to continue following are Fred Wilson (AVC), Charlie O'Donnell (This is going to be Big), and Ty Danco (VT View on Startups). Fred because quite frankly it's almost a requirement for every East Coast entrepreneur/VC. His MBA Monday series complemented by daily brief posts are a great way to followup clearing my inbox at work. The next two were clear choices for their thoughtful insights into startups but also because they don't write often. They are both very thoughtful in their writing as they tend to publish essays rather than incomplete/concise thoughts. I cut networking out completely except for maintaining many of the relationships I had already worked hard to establish. Hopefully these minimal efforts were enough to keep me in the game but ultimately it's never to late to get restarted. I also couldn't stop thinking about business models, pitch decks, and financial models but now it's time to get to work.   

Getting back in the saddle means many things, specifically that I'm positing again but also that I'm dusting of my entrepreneurial ambitions. Looking forward to reflecting on my sales, coaching, and fundraising experiences and how each relates to my thoughts on startups.