So, earlier tonight, I turned to Amy with a twinkle in my eye and watched as she stared intently at something that looked suspiciously like Typepad on her monitor.  The following conversation ensued:

Brad: “Hey, Atom 1.0 is out.”
Amy: “Adam Who?”
Brad: “Atom 1.0 – the new feed format.”
Amy: “I thought that was RSS.”
Brad: “Yeah, yeah, there’s this other format called Atom that … (long unnecessary technical explanation followed).”
Amy: “Uh huhnnnhh”
Brad: “Stop playing with your blog – this is important.”
Amy: “So – what does it mean – what do I have to do differently?”
Brad: “Heheh – nothing – because you use FeedBurner and they automagically will format your feed for Atom 1.0 if it makes sense.”
Amy: “Brad – you are such a nerd.” (As she continued typing on her computer).

I was a little surprised she didn’t say “What was wrong with the last version of Atom?” – this from a woman who regularly says “Damnit – DOS was good enough – why doesn’t Shift-F7 Y exit Word?”

BMC Software – a company that has been around for 25 years and has a major software footprint – announced today that they are using Rally Software’s lifecycle management software and Agile consulting services.  This follows Rally’s announcements last week around Release 5 of their Agile software lifecycle management product. 

While BMC and Rally just announced this deal, BMC has been using Rally since the end of last year and the rollout and implementation has been superb.  The BMC announcement is a big deal – it’s the first of several major software companies to have adopted Rally’s software tools. 

About 20 days after the end of each quarter, Ernst & Young/VentureOne releases a survey on venture capital funding.  At about the same time, PWC releases their similar survey (MoneyTree).  A rash of articles are written over the weekend and usually hit first thing Monday in the business section of newspapers around the country (and – shockingly – in blogs) covering funding nationally, by city, and by market segment.

On Friday, I got a call from Ross Wehner, a Denver Post staff writer who I like.  He was calling to get my thoughts on the “numbers for the quarter.”  After ascertaining which numbers Ross was talking about (it was a beautiful Friday afternoon in Homer, Alaska – I was not thinking about the E&Y / VentureOne survey), the conversation went something like:

Brad: “Ross – who gives a fuck?”
Ross: “C’mon Brad, you know I can’t print that.  What do you think?”
Brad: “The numbers are irrelevant – plus they are probably wrong and misleading.”
Ross: “Well – there were 24 deals in the first half of the year up from 19 in 2004 and the amount invested was $291m up from $192m.”
Brad: “Yeah, but wasn’t Webroot in there?”
Ross: “Yeah …”
Brad: “So – take it out because – while it’s a venture deal, it’s an anomaly and skews the numbers – so 23 deals and $183m.  That seems like a statistically unimpressive difference.”

We had a good chuckle (Ross is smart – he gets it) but he still had an article to write.  Seriously, does anyone really care about this stuff?  Why are E&Y and PWC spending time on this crap instead of doing good audits and getting S-3’s effective for public companies?

I’m going to keep tonight’s term sheet post short and sweet, especially since I’m still reeling from the horrifyingly bad War of the World movie I just saw.  Jason and I are almost done with the term sheet series (yeah, we know we keep promising that) but – like the Spielberg tragicomedy I just watched, it’s not over until it’s over (sorry – that cliche just snuck its way in – I was helpless against it – the aliens made me do it.)

Occasionally a term sheet will have – buried near the back – a short clause concerning “founders activities.”  It usually looks something like:

“Founders Activities:  Each of the Founders shall devote 100% of his professional time to the Company.  Any other professional activities will require the approval of the Board of Directors.”

This should be no surprise to a founder that your friendly neighborhood VC wants you to be spending 100% (actually 120%) of your time and attention on your company.  If this paragraph sneaks its way into the term sheet, the VC has either been recently burned or is suspicious and / or concerned that one or more of the founders may be working on something besides the company in question. 

Of course, this is a classic no-win situation for a founder.  If you are actually working on something else at the same time and don’t disclose it, you are violating the terms of the agreement (and – breaching trust before you get started – not a good thing as it’ll eventually come to light.)  If you do disclose it – or push back on this clause (hence signaling that you are working on something else), you’ll reinforce the concern that the VC has.  So – tread carefully here.  Our recommendation – unless of course you are working on something else – is simply to agree to this (why wouldn’t you, unless you don’t believe in the thing you are asking the VC to fund?)

In situations where I’ve worked with a founder that already has other obligations or commitments, I’ve always appreciated him being up front with me early in the process.  I’ve usually been able to work these situations out in a way that causes everyone to be happy and – in the cases where I can’t get there – I’m glad that the issue came up early so that I didn’t waste my time or the enterpreneurs’ time.

While there are situations where VCs get comfortable with entrepreneurs working on multiple companies simultaneously (usually with very experienced entrepreneurs or in situations where the VC and the entrepreneur have worked together in the past), they are the exception, not the norm.

I just wasted two hours of my life.  At least I got to sit next to Amy and eat popcorn. 

As I’ve said in the past, we get two movies a week in Homer.  Friday morning comes with great anticipation as we drive past the theater marque (on the corner of Main Street and Pioneer – how fitting) to see what we get to enjoy next.  This week is War of the Worlds and Bewitched and I had low hopes for both of them.  Since we don’t have a TV here, this is all we are going to get this week (no – I haven’t broken down to watching movies on my laptop yet.) 

We gave War of the Worlds a shot tonight.  It was tragically awful.  Yeah – the special effects were good.  But H.G. Wells is screaming his head off wherever he is (or would be if you believe in an afterlife.)  The acting was marginal.  The plot was completely predictable. The Spielberg cute-heroic-screaming child did exactly what you’d expect.  The sullen teenager did exactly what you’d expect.  All the humans behaved poorly under pressure and the military was completely ineffective against the aliens. After 115 minutes of stupidity, the aliens and their machines fell over dead, humanity was saved, and the Morgan Freedman / God character got to make a stultifying speech. 

And – I’m still not entirely sure what actually happened.  Ugh – that was terrible.  Sadly, Bewitched may be the better movie of this week.

For some reason, I get a copy of TechComm: The National Journal of Technology Commercialization.  I was thumbing through it where I read all my physical magazines these days (the bathroom) and came upon an excellent article titled Q: How Smart Was Einstein? A. Really Smart.  As everyone spends the next few days praising Lance Armstrong’s Tour de Force, let’s not forget Einstein’s amazing year – 1905 (er – 100 years ago in case your math is rusty.)

• March 1905: Creates the quantum theory of light
• April 1905: Invents new method of counting and determining the size of the atoms or molecules in a given space
• May 1905: Explains the phenomenon of Brownian motion
• June 1905: Completes theory of special relativity
• H2 1905: Extension of special relativity –> E=mc²

All this when he was 26 and working full time as a patent examiner.  I wonder what he could have accomplished if he had access to Microsoft Virtual Earth.

Earlier this week, Scoble called out to VCs to ask whether or not they support .NET in response to an eWeek article titled Is .Net Failing to Draw Venture Capital Loyalty?   The responses I have seen from Rick Segal, Tim Oren, Ed Sim, and Bill Gurley are primarily qualitative, conceptual, and theoretical discussions about VCs, platforms, and how VCs think about (or don’t think about) investing in platforms.

Rather than go down that path (as I generally agree with everything they said), I figured I’d try to be additive to the discussion by providing quantitative information from my active portfolio companies.  All the companies I’m talking about are Mobius portfolio companies – but I’m only going to look at the ones I’m responsible for since I know their technology platforms off the top of my head and don’t have to ask my partners for any information (e.g. I can write this post in 15 minutes on a Saturday afternoon before a run.)
 
I have 15 companies that I’m responsible for (I don’t sit on all the boards – Chris Wand who works with me has several of the board seats – they are all listed on my web site on the left sidebar if you want to take a look.)  6 of them use .NET in meaningful ways.  They are as follows:

• Commerce5: All their back end ecommerce infrastructure and web service is .NET.
• ePartners: They are one of the largest Microsoft Business Solutions partner in the United States and have deep .NET experience.
• Gold Systems: They are one of Microsoft’s leading Speech Server partners and are about to release their first Speech Server-based Password Reset product.
• Newmerix: .NET is the core development platform for Newmerix Automate!Test product.
• NewsGator: .NET everywhere.
• Oxlo: Their products are built around .NET, Biztalk, and Sharepoint.

In addition to my current companies, I’ve been involved with, a user of, and an investor in Microsoft-related stuff for my entire career.  All the software I wrote for my first job at Petcom Systems was written in Microsoft Basic (and Basic Compiler – eek) with Btrieve (10 PRINT “I’m in Hell”: GOTO 10). My first company – Feld Technologies – was in the inaugural Microsoft Solution Provider (SP) program started by Dwayne Walker sometime around 1990.  We developed custom database apps with Microsoft Access and FoxPro.  I sat on the board of SBT Accounting Systems for a number of years – they were (I think) the largest indirect channel for Microsoft FoxPro products in the 1990’s.  I’ve always been a Great Plains (and now Microsoft Business Solution) fan, user, and business partner.  I was an investor and board member in Corporate Software (now owned by Level 3) – one of the largest Microsoft LARs on the planet.
 
While some of my companies use non-Microsoft technologies, plenty use Microsoft technology.  Virtually all of them have lots of Windows desktops, servers, and desktop apps running everywhere.  I’m not religious about this issue and I don’t really think the platform discussion is that interesting (I’m equally comfortable with Microsoft platforms as I am with non-Microsoft platforms.)  As most of my VC brethren who commented demonstrated – we are pragmatic, agnostic, or – in some cases – simply ignorant – about platform issues.

I was sitting in a meeting with Ryan McIntyre and his cell phone went off.  His ringtone sounded vaguely familiar but I couldn’t quite place it.  I told him.  He laughed and reminded me about the story behind Hell Sink Ye.  If you are looking for a new ringtone, try this.  If you want a ring tone symphony, try this.

I was recently asked to write an article on “Work Life Balance” for the MIT Sloan School Alumni Magazine.  I’m an MIT alum (‘87 and ‘88) and – when I asked what they were looking for – they told me “something personal that talks about how you’ve achieved it.”  So – I sat down and cranked out the following.  I hope it’s useful / inspiring / thought provoking for others out there in the world searching for the elusive “work life balance thing.”

The challenge of “work life balance” is a central theme for many people, especially entrepreneurs.  It took me 15 years, a failed first marriage, and my current wife (Amy Batchelor, Wellesley Graduate) almost calling it quits for me to realize that I had to figure out what “work life balance” meant to me.  Today, I can comfortably say that I have a major clue and my life is dramatically better for it.

I started my first company when I was 19 and in college at MIT.  I was obsessive, worked incredibly hard, and – while I generally had a lot of fun – was almost always maxed out.  This manifested itself in many ways, including always being overcommitted, regularly being exhausted, having a failed marriage when I was 24, and physically changing – according to one of my best friends – from “skinny Brad” to FOB (“fat older Brad”).

During this time, I was very successful at the work I did.  I created a company – Feld Technologies – which was acquired by a public company.  I helped start and/or finance a number of other companies which went on to be acquired or go public. I helped create a venture capital firm.  I was well known and respected within the entrepreneurial community – both for what I had accomplished and what I was working on.

However, until about five years ago, I had absolutely no balance in my life.  I was on the road from Monday to Friday, arriving home exhausted at the end of the day Friday.  Amy got “the dregs” over the weekend – I’d sleep a lot, spend time in front of my computer getting caught up on all the crap I didn’t get to during the week, and when we went out, I’d always be tired and withdrawn.  The burnout cycle continued; every six months I’d completely crash from the effort (I graphically remember a vacation to Hawaii with friends where I slept 20 hours a day for the first four days – so much that Amy thought something was physically wrong with me.)  I drank too much, I struggled with my weight, and I felt physically crappy.  I loved my work, but I couldn’t see past it.

At age 34 when – on a long weekend with friends where I was completely absent and struggling to get through a difficult deal (for a company that eventually failed) – Amy turned to me and said “I’m done.  I’m not mad – I just can’t do this anymore.  You either have to change, or it’s over.”

That woke me up!  We spent the rest of the weekend talking about what change meant.  I knew that this wasn’t a warning.  After that weekend, we created a set of well defined rules which have evolved over time.  As I discovered what balance meant to me, the rules evolved into a set of habits which – among others – include (1) Spend Time Away, (2) Life Dinner, (3) Segment Space, (4) Be Present, and (5) Meditate.  Following are examples of each:

• Spend Time Away: Amy and I take a week long vacation each quarter (which we fondly refer to as “Qx Vacation” depending on which quarter of the year it is) where we completely disappear.  No cell phone, no email, no computer, no conference calls – my assistant knows how to find me in case of an emergency; otherwise I’m completely unavailable for the week.
• Life Dinner:  We have a standing date on the first day of every month that we call life dinner.  Occasionally we’ll invite friends; often we have dinner alone.  We have a ritual where we give each other a gift ranging in value from nominal / silly (a fart machine) to expensive / romantic (jewelry).  We spend the evening talking about the previous month and about the month to come, grounding ourselves in our current reality.
• Segment Space: We have two homes – one in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado and one in the small town of Homer, Alaska.  Both have nice office areas which are clearly separated from the rest of the house.  We only have telephones in the offices and, by some delightful fluke of nature, our cell phones don’t work in our Boulder house.  We treat our houses as a retreat from the world and, while we do plenty of working at home, where we do this is separate and distinct from the rest of the house.
• Be Present: One of Amy’s lines to me is “Brad – be a person.”  This is a signal to me that I’m not present in the moment, that something is troubling me, or simply that I’m tired.  Whenever I’m not present, it only takes a short phrase to pull me back from wherever I’ve drifted off to.
• Meditate: I use the word meditate metaphorically – everyone should meditate their own way.  Four years ago I became a marathoner – the 6 to 10 hours a week I run is my current form of meditation.  I’m also a voracious reader and the 10 hours a week I read extends my meditation time.  Do whatever you want, but spend some of your time on yourself.

The habits have created a structure for my life that not only encourages but reinforces a healthy work life balance.  My work – which used to overwhelm everything else I did – is still a central part of my life.  However, it is no longer my singular focus, nor is it the most important thing to me anymore.  The balance that I’ve discovered has helped me understand the value of other things, which has made my work and – more importantly – my life – much more rewarding.