I just returned from a week in Tahoe where I was reacquainted with fear in the truest of senses and thought how relevant overcoming it is for investors in today’s markets.  My first “uh oh” moment was when we encountered a complete white-out on the 50 while driving up to the cabin.  My wife and I had a place in Tahoe years ago when we lived in Silicon Valley so I had driven in snow storms before.  The differences this time were driving on the 50 (narrow 2-lane on a cliff) instead of the 80 and having my wife and kids in the vehicle with me.  I would have simply pulled off until it passed but I could not see the road (AT ALL) due to the conditions and the icing of my windshield and knew the “cliff” was somewhere lurking.  As I said a silent prayer, I was reminded how (for me) faith plays a big part in overcoming fear.  I did not panic.  Nor did I freeze up or suffer paralysis through analysis — I simply persevered and proceeded with caution trusting we would make it through.  One of the lessons I was reminded of during this experience, as it relates to this blog, is that an investor’s visibility if often impaired when making investment decisions.  In such situations one can only trust in the methodical, disciplined approach and make a judgment call based, at least in small part, on faith that the future will occur and that it will be positive.

My second brush with fear occurred while standing at the top of my first run since severely separating my shoulder last February while snowboarding.  My family and friends had been asking me whether I was nervous or scared most of the preceding two weeks and had been making comments such as “I can’t believe you’re going to go after what happened to you last time”.  Well, I have been snowboarding consistently for 10 years (albeit my frequency has gone from ~30 days/year to a pathetic ~3) and I was not going to let the only injury I have ever suffered (from snowboarding) set me back.  I was determined to get back on the horse.  I began my descent a bit timidly and could feel the pit of my stomach tightening up as I gained speed.  Thoughts of wiping out crept into my head and I began to question my judgment in my decision to go…and then I remembered our drive in the white-out, and many of my other experiences with fear, and a strange thing happened.  I relaxed.  I began to “feel” my way down the mountain gaining momentum the whole time until I finally reached a point where I was at ease.  Sometimes life puts obstacles in front of you so that you can overcome them.  Or not.  It really is up to you as to whether and how you proceed in such situations.  So, my advice to you entrepreneurs is to raise your money (despite the economy) and lauch your company.  Things will, eventually, improve so you should ask yourself one simply question:  what position do I want to be in when they do???  Until next time, keep the faith.

This brief post is the result of my jury duty this past Monday and my waiting on hold with a government agency.  I found it ironical that I was finishing Taleb’s The Black Swan while sitting in the jury assembly room wondering whether I’d be called to serve.  (If you haven’t read The Black Swan or its predecessor - Fooled by Randomness - yet, I highly recommend both if you spend any time trying to “predict” anything.  While one of my degrees is in fact in philosophy, I don’t think you need to be a philosopher to understand and appreciate either book.)  I have always believed that luck is where hard work and preparation meet opportunity…but you still need that opportunity to appear for that to be true AND you need to be able to identify and appreciate such opportunity for what it is before you can act.  The question I have struggled with for some time is whether the ability to identify and appreciate such opportunities is simply innate or can it be learned.  While I’ve seen and experienced my fair share of empirical and anecdotal evidence supporting both, I thought I’d open it up to all of you.  So, what do you think???

Well, January has come and gone and the year is off to a “shaky” start in case you haven’t been paying attention to what is going on in the global economy.  Some are faring better…some worse.  In the end, we will eventually pull out of it as life goes on.

Enough luke-warm pep talk.  We had a whoppin’ 6 folks show up for January’s OC VC Office Hours, but since I didn’t know 3 of them I’ll keep this going for the time being and see what (if anything) comes of it.  We had an excellent discussion about what is going on in the local, national, and global VC markets and I suspect this dialogue will continue for most of this year as funding continues to be elusive for start-ups.

The next OC VC Office Hours will be February 12th, 9am-11am, at the common area between Pacific Whey and Starbucks in Crystal Cove (between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach on PCH).  Please join us as we continue to discuss the VC markets and local innovation.