Marisa's Poetry High-Tech Startup Blog

The Letter "H" or Robots That Look Like "H"s?

Last night, Thursday, December 29th, 2011 as I was driving south on 280 back from San Francisco from Les Ami(e)s Francophones De San Francisco Meetup at the Hotel Rex, I noticed a haze. Since I had only had one (1) glass of Prosecco, I knew the haze was probably real.

Susan M. Molineaux, PhD (previous post, the lady with the $40M smile) had talked about the importance of being able to navigate the entrepreneurial haze. There is always that degree of uncertainty in a startup, you only know if it worked when you are looking back. An entrepreneur is comfortable with uncertainty, mainly because he/she is usually doing something that has never been done before. Something that straddles “bat-shit crazy” or “brilliant”–leaving history to be the judge.

Where there any startups are the french meeting last night? Don’t know, because my French wasn’t good enough yet to carry on a rapid conversation with a native speaker. I did understand enough to know that there were some high-tech people there and that I need more practice with my french teacher.

Takeaway: If you are the founder of a startup and feel uncertain about what you are doing (the entrepreneurial haze) you are in the right frame of mind to succeed. In the meantime, I’ll finish my double espresso and hit the English-French dictionary.

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Cats Don't Need Manners, You Do.

Cats don’t need manners, you do. Occasionally when I leave the Skype page open on my laptop, she will use her ass to type out a poem to whomever I spoke to last. The Skype page has an icon for this obviously common occurrence: a tiny cat with the tail wagging.

Remember change just means different, not better not worse. So in this new world of Twitter (I signed up for a Twitter class at JVS.org), texting, emails, Skyping and video conferencing, manners still matter. When I attended the last TEC conference, I was late (as usual) and as I was racing across the parking lot, a conference attendee noticed me, held the door open (he was late too) until I arrived. Wow. I thanked him as I thank everyone who holds the door open for me (including car doors).

So your are not sold yet? I mentioned in a previous post how I had written a hand-written (real stamp) note to Steve Jobs complaining about my out-of-warranty iPod crashing when I downloaded the new operating system. Yes, Steve, had manners. He had his assistant call me to tell me that he had read my note and was sending me a replacement iPod even though mine was out-of-warranty. He did.

My money manager who is on the Forbes 400 list (yes he is a billionaire) sends out thousands of books as a gift to each of his customers at Christmas. I always send a hand-written thank you note. After I did this the first time, I got a call from his wife (she was instrumental in helping him build the company). He showed her the note. She called me and now she and I are friends.

Last example, I promise. When Meg Whitman was recently named CEO of Hewlett Packard, I sent her a hand-written note congratulating her on her appointment, telling her that I had just bought HP stock because they name her CEO and telling her that I thought she would do a great job. She sent me an email. Wow. I also sent a note to Newt Gingrich, I’m sure he read it and I don’t expect an answer (I think he lacks the moral fiber to run our country).

So this is what your mother should have told you. If you are a gentleman: hold the door open for women, walk on the street side of the sidewalk if you are with your wife or a date, shake hands when you are introduced to someone, get off you damn cell phone if it is your turn to place your order, don’t try to talk to people when you have pods in your ears and are listening to music, make eye contact when you talk to someone and don’t incessantly pull out your iPhone when you are having a conversation with someone, you just aren’t that important–no one is. Oh yes, the last one, please master your eating implements ( learn how to use a knife and fork) and keep your elbows off the table. This last one can cost you a job or even worse, a funding opportunity, if you are being interviewed over breakfast (breakfast at Buck’s in Woodside is very common in the VC world) or lunch.

Takeaway: Manners matter! There is still a place for hand-written thank you notes and at least maintaining the veneer of civilization–even AIs are polite, why not you?

© Marisa’s Poetry [2010]. All rights reserved.

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Holiday Tea Palace Hotel San Francisco

O.k., o.k., it is a female thing…..but it is also an old San Francisco Christmas tradition: Holiday Tea at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco (http://www.sfpalace.com/assets/u/GardenCourtAfternoonTea2.pdf). It takes place in one of the most beautiful rooms in the world: the Garden Court. When you sit in that room, you are in Paris at an elegant, old hotel. On Thursday, December 22, 2011, three of my ballet buddies got all dressed up and joined the (mostly) women in the Garden Court at the Palace Hotel for tea.

Yes, they had a harpist playing some contemporary tunes and what looked like a 30-40′  fully decorated Christmas tree.

The menu was a traditional high tea menu with fresh tea sandwiches. In addition to tea there was Perrier Jouet Brut Champagne.

Why is a holiday tea in a startup blog? Technology is changing so rapidly that even the high-tech people can barely keep up. New “spaces” seem to be appearing almost daily: location-enabled applications, collaborative consumption. The “smart money” attempts to clothe these new spaces in something that at least looks familiar so the consumer does not feel disoriented and consequently won’t purchase or use your product/service.

So young supernerds, if you have a mother, grandmother or aunt, she would be delightfully surprised if you took her to the Palace for afternoon tea. Young supernerd fathers, your daughters would also enjoy the princess tea (yes, tiara included).

Takeaway: Traditions are important. They give context. Weave a few of them into your startup and your customers will eat them up like the cucumber sandwiches at the Holiday Tea. Yes, don’t forget to take your rich grandmother, mother or aunt to Holiday Tea in case your startup fails you still might find yourself with a nice inheritance.

© Marisa’s Poetry [2010]. All rights reserved.

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