Month: December 2012

That’s what my wife has been telling me ever since I left my job a few weeks ago.  Instead of seeing me slowing down, taking some time off, and maybe getting to that long-awaited house project, she has seen me charge right ahead working on determining my next career step.  Whether it’s setting up this blog, scheduling various networking meetings, or researching item XYZ, I can’t seem to “turn off”. 

Last summer, when I knew I would be leaving my job yet things were insanely busy, I yearned for this time off that I knew would come.  This would be the time when I would have no more work responsibilities, deadlines, and worries and could just relax.  Now that this time is here it’s not exactly what I imagined.  Sure, I certainly feel more relaxed than I did then but I still wake up in the morning asking myself what I need to do today. 

So, what’s going on?  Why can’t I turn off my sense of urgency?  I don’t feel any stress about an uncertain future.  Financially I’m ok for a while and I feel perfectly comfortable not knowing what my next job will be.  There is something else going on.  My wife thinks it is a mechanism for avoiding those house projects she’d like done.  I doubt that’s it as there are certainly simpler ways to procrastinate!

Maybe it’s just habit.  Maybe after thirty years of being focused on plans, progress, commitments, deadlines, etc. my head can’t just come to a screeching halt and that after a month or two it will slow down.  Maybe…but maybe not.

I do feel that if I take time off I may miss that “perfect opportunity”.  People have told me not to worry about this – that I am equally likely to find something attractive later in the year than next month.  Despite that, however, I can’t help but feel that I need to be out there pursuing every networking lead I have sooner rather than later.

Is this all a bad thing?  I don’t know.  I suppose I’ll end up doing what feels natural to me.  This likely means somewhat of a slowdown but not a complete, total escape.  What I can’t help but wonder is whether I’d be better off in the long run by forcing myself to “turn off” for a month or two with the expectation of then returning more fully rejuvenated and with some new perspective.  But I don’t know if I could really do that…

Thoughts?  Advice?

I had my first post-departure networking meeting earlier this week. It was with Ben Vigoda, co-founder and former CEO of Lyric Semiconductor. I say former CEO because Analog Devices – the company I just left, acquired Lyric two years ago. So, despite the fact that this meeting was with someone who is employed by my former employer it’s value was in speaking with a successful entrepreneur who has great insights into the startup process as well as valuable contacts in Boston’s startup community.

I won’t go into detail as to Ben’s thoughts about technology startups other than to say he had some very firm ideas of what works and what doesn’t which made a lot of sense to me. These revolved around a central theme of maintaining strong development focus while establishing a close link with customers. The purpose of this link is to enable frequent iteration of the technology and of strategy. Of special significance to me were Ben’s comments about the difficulty of finding the right marketing person who can drive to this theme. What is needed is someone who understands the technology, understands the technology development process, communicates effectively with customers, distills customer feedback to the technical team, and adjusts strategy based on new learnings – a rare combination of skills!

It was clear that Ben had much more to say about startups and we agreed to meet again in January. Ben also offered to refer me to others in the local startup community for further exploration. This was exactly what I was hoping for and was not surprised to find Ben very open and helpful along these lines.

What I was surprised about was that Ben saw some benefits for Lyric Labs in developing a relationship with me. These emanated from the fact that Ben and his team are relatively new to ADI and are working to introduce new technologies into ADI’s business. One benefit Ben saw was that I could provide useful insights and advice as to how to navigate my former employer’s organization and drive the adoption of Lyric’s technology. A second derived from the fact that that I had led the successful development of a new business within ADI based on new technology (iCoupler^® isolation). Ben felt that by sharing my experience with his team I could help them extract learnings they could apply to their efforts going forward.

So, the bottom line is that with Ben Vigoda I have a very unique situation where I can both benefit from his experience and contacts yet also help him and my former company bring new technology to market. Excellent! I can’t wait until we meet again in January.

Well, that’s it!  After thirty years in the corporate world I’ve made the plunge.  I’ve left a comfortable, secure, well-paying job for the unknown.  I should be questioning whether this is the right move but I’m really not.  That must be an indication that it is indeed is the right move or that it isn’t but I’ve deluded myself that it is.  Either way, I’m feeling good about it.

What the coming year will bring I have no idea.  Already in my few networking forays into the world of startups and entrepreneurship I’ve encountered a wide range of stuff going on.  What’s struck me across it all are the common denominators of enthusiasm, openness, mutual support, and a focus on action – a sharp, stimulating contrast to my experience in the big-company world.

Fair enough, but that doesn’t pay the rent.  The task now is to navigate these possibilities and enthusiasm to figure out what I should do, where I should do it, and how I should make it happen.  I will use this space to record my thoughts and experiences as they occur.  I admit to a certain discomfort in doing this as I feel it may be a bit presumptuous to think that anybody would be interested.  Nevertheless, I’m going to give it a shot as I think it will help me sort things out.  If it turns out to be of some modest help or interest to others all the better.