Tiger21: a peer to peer investment club

I've decided to chair the Seattle chapter of Tiger21.  The organization is a group of high net worth individuals who meet monthly to discuss all things financial in their life and world.  The goal of the group is to assist individual members in becoming more knowledgeable and educated about managing their financial life.  i.e. increase investment returns and limit risk. The group has some roots in Vistage (formerly known as TEC) , YPO, and EO (formerly YEO) -- but is unique in its focus on financial matters. There are currently fifteen TIGER 21 learning groups, representing more than 165 investors, with investable assets over $10 billion. Founded in New York, TIGER 21 now has investor groups in New York, California, Florida and Texas....and now Seattle.
I was fortunate to be a recent guest for part of a meeting at the San Francisco Tiger21 chapter and was so impressed and inspired by what I learned that I decided to chair the Seattle group.  I learned from 8 other competent individuals about what each of their view and actions had been since the October collapse of the stock market. It was highly educational and contained information that influenced how I've managed my investments in the last 30 days.  The notion of having this input on a regular basis in Seattle excited me -- so I'm chairing the group. Feel free to email me if you have questions or interest about what I'm doing.
You can read about Tiger21 at its website or in some press articles in the New York Times, CBS market Watch, the Miami Herald, the London Times etc. You can also see the press article in the Seattle Business Journal too.

A breeze blew in, I ate a grape, and I jizzed in my pants

I knew you would like that blog title ....and you'll like the video even more. If you're under 18 or easily offended do not watch the video
You know I debated about whether I should post this content on my blog or not. I hemmed and hawed.  But in the end, I can't resist.  Forgive me, if I have a sense of humor....and I just figured that in these dark scary economic times we all can use a good chuckle or two a day. This content from Saturday Night Live made me lough out loud. 

Movie recommendation: Slumdog Millionaire


Slumdog Millionaire, originally uploaded by a sack of seattle.

I had the pleasure of seeing this movie over the holiday weekend. I recommend the film without reservation. The movie was the best movie I've seen all year -- truly an exceptional film. I won't give away the plot or tell you anything other than it's great and go see it. I must admit the timing of the release of the movie and the recent terrorist events in Mumbai are ....well ....odd?! incredulous?!

Saving Citibank makes the market skyrocket, makes me look for cover

I think this Citibank deal is a really bad sign. 

Having to guarantee $300 billion of crap (i.e. bad loans) in order to save one big bank is just nuts.  That’s $1000 per American citizen.  And just a month or two ago, Citibank was one of the "strong" banks bidding on Wachovia.  So it makes me wonder, just how bad are things at the other "strong" banks?  I know George W. Bush says we can do more of these deals, but it makes me question how many of these deals we should be doing! 

You can read a related article on this topic here.

Republicans crossing over to vote for Obama make me smile

I've been pleasantly pleased and surprised by the public republicans - Colin Powell and Scott Mcclellan - announcing their support of Obama. What pleases even more is I just came from a board meeting in which 3 long term Republicans who have NEVER voted for a democrat declared that they are going to vote for Obama. Tuesday, November 4, 2008 can't come fast enough.  

Venture Capital Confidence


Venture Capital Confidence, originally uploaded by a sack of seattle.

Someitmes a picture is worth a thousand words.

I know consumer confidence hit an all time low today -- the lowest in 41 years and given I'm 41 years old, that means it's the lowest in my lifetime!

Strange, intense, disparaging times.

Oh Marcia!


Marcia Brady, originally uploaded by a sack of seattle.

On a little lighter and sadder note than the intensity of the crises facing the world over the last few weeks, I was upset to learn that my childhood fantasy crush Marcia Brady had turned to such an addictive lifestyle. I admit it publicly -- I loved Marcia growing up. I'm glad she seems to have come to terms with herself....but I'm sad that she still doesn't look like the photo here. This is the way I remember her!

Founder's Co-op mentioned on Techcrunch

Mike Arrington gave us a nice write up here on Techcrunch. I'm excited about Founder's Co-op and in particular working with the list successful Seattle entrepreneurs who are participating as LPs.  The thing the article doesn't do a good enough job of articulating is one of the unique components of our fund.  And that's the involvement of the proven entrpreneurs -- who are LPs in the fund.  These successful entrepreneurs (check out our website for a full list) are going to help guide our investment strategy and play an active role in supporting all the companies we invest in.  They're not a passive group of LPs. Rather, we meet 6 to 8 times a year and actively review potential investments and opportunities. Moreover, they play an active role in helping our portfolio grow by providing their expertise, know how, mentorship and rolodexes to making the companies successful.

Mismanaging entrepreneur's expectations

The job of a CEO is to manage the expectations of employees, investors, and the board.  I learned to do that pretty well (I think). Now that I'm a full time investor -- I need to learn that my job as an investor is to manage the expectations

  1. first, of the entrepreneurs we want to do deals with,
  2. second, the investors in Founder's Co-op and
  3. third, the broader entrepreneurial community

I don't think I've done a good enough job of number 1 and 3.  Today, in particular, I found myself in a conversation with an entrepreneur in whose business I had wanted to invest.  I had previously told him that we were going to invest in his business contingent upon customer diligence.  As time wore on, the economy (or credit) crashed and I got more familiar with his company's position, I ultimately decided that it would be better if Founder's Co-op didn't invest. That change in investing position -- while very common in all sorts of business deals -- always sucks from the entrepreneurs perspective.  I need to do a better job at this!  If the entrepreneur I spoke with today on the phone is reading this --please accept my apology -- I know I fucked up in our communication.

With the economy and country tanking, get your head out of your ass and vote obama!

I agree with Carly Fiorina. John McCain is not suited to run a major corporation (or the country!)
You can check out her comment in an interview on MSNBC (the clip in question starts around the 1:07 mark).

I'm motivated to act and save the country, our economy, and our environment. I invite you to do the same.  This election is TOO important!

Join the barack obama network. My profile page is here.

1) Obama / Biden are FAR, FAR better prepared to deal with the complex
economic, international, and environmental issues than McCain / Palin.

2) Be sure to vote and get your friends and family to vote.  Getting
out the vote is the single most important thing you can do.

3) Be sure to donate money to this election today!

4) And if you're feeling motivated, send an email like this out to all
your friends.

A new technology media property in Seattle with some "old" names

The city's technology beat has largely been owned local journalists at the PI -- more specifically, John Cook and Todd Bishop. For as long as I've lived here, John has done a great job writing about the early stage technology start-up scene and Todd has done a great job while focusing on Microsoft.
Today, I happened to be speaking with John Cook and learned that both he and Todd have left the PI for the greener pastures of the Puget Sound Business Journal. In my opinion, this is a coup for the business journal and disastrous for the PI.  I asked John why he left -- and he wouldn't give me a straight answer. Reading between the lines, I'd have to say that the PI just blew it and wouldn't accommodate some basic financial and editorial freedoms that would retain John and Todd. As someone who's worked with old media newspaper companies, they don't seem able to get out of their own way even when their lunch is being eaten and their foundation is cracking underneath. You can check out John and Todd's new site here....it's supposedly launching in a couple weeks.