« Everybody Loves Raymond – Lessons from an Entrepreneur | Main | Farewell to Frank Ma »
November 27, 2006
The Monk and the Riddle
by Sridhar Ramanathan
Recommended reading. Here’s a business book that reads more like an engaging novel than a dry tome. It’s written by Randy Komisar, known here in Silicon Valley as the Virtual CEO of companies like WebTV and TiVo. He was CEO of LucasArt and co-founder of Claris, the Apple spin-off. I used to work for his wife, Debra Dunn, at HP when she ran the video server business unit (checkout this talk Randy and Debra gave together at the Stanford series on Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders). Now back to the book. Why do I recommend this one?
So much is written on the “what” and “how” of business but very few on the “why”. For example, our own blog here contains many resources in the areas of channel development, lead generation, product launches, etc. Like other business resources, it’s a how-to guide. But Randy focuses on the entrepreneur’s personal motivations for creating/running a business, the “why” behind the “what.”
This hits home for me because I stepped off the corporate track as a senior level HP manager and later as startup VP when I created Pacifica Group, a boutique consultancy. In the five years we’ve been in business, I’ve turned down a half dozen VP/CMO jobs in well funded ventures. Why? It comes down to my desire to balance time with my family (my precious wife and four kids under age five) and the tremendous professional satisfaction I get from advising tech firms on strategy and taking on actual execution that delivers results. The diversity of engagements, wonderful associations, and ultimate flexibility are hard to match.
Randy sums it all up in his final chapter by saying “when all is said and done, the journey is the reward.” I’m enjoying the journey far too much to forego all of this for some distant reward. How’s your own journey going?
Posted November 27, 2006 | Permalink
Posted to Leadership
Great post. As an start-up entrepeneur myself, it is good to be reminded of the lessons of "The Monk and the Riddle":
1. You must be passionate about what you do. If you are, you will be more likely to succeed and be happier along the way.
2. You spend a huge chunk of the day with the people you work with. Choose them wisely.
As the saying goes, while on their deathbed nobody ever wished they'd spent more time at the office...
Posted by: Jon Miller | November 29, 2006 6:08 PM