Thursday, January 17
8.30am: Go downstairs to let the maid in. Pass on roommate's laundry instructions before promptly passing back out. I went to sleep late again last night, after taking an afternoon call with a tech entrepreneur based in Portugal, which is 8 hours behind Hong Kong. It was a fantastic call but stayed up as a result to do more work. Not pleased because sunlight is spilling in and it feels like a waste to not be working.
10am: Lay awake, idle in the warmth of my bed.
10.30am: Decide that if I don't start the day now, the maid won't have time to clean my room and it would be nice to see the floor again. Reluctantly peel my comatose self out of bed and to the couch to flip my laptop open to answer emails. Make oatmeal on the stove because the microwave is broken.
12.30pm: Lunch meeting to catch up with a former hedge fund client who just sold his business and is now biding his time riding horses and hanging out with his kids before re-entering the workforce. He regales me with stories of his travels from Istanbul to Taipei, and about a great deal he snagged on lodging for his impending ski trip to Japan. I still find myself very drawn towards people of this world (as I am towards successful people in general, irrespective of industry), not for the glamour but for the difficulty to succeed in it, which my lunch companion clearly has. Having set up hedge fund businesses while in prime brokerage, it's not hard to see parallels between running a startup fund and ZAOZAO, so we have a lot to talk about - from capital raising to talent management to scaling considerations. It's a lively and intellectually stimulating conversation, a stark contrast to the last hedge fund guy I dined with, who made me want to choke myself with my noodles.
2.30pm: Head to the coffeeshop across the street to meet a potential CTO candidate half an hour early. Run into a fellow startup friend working at the same coffeeshop. Make a quick bathroom run and on my way, notice that my 3pm is already sitting down. This is our third meeting since returning from holidays, and he's early as well. We decide to start our meeting right then and there (after I pee). Ten plus years of programming experience, intelligence and street smarts, and a willingness to learn and grow. We have to iron out a few kinks, but I'm optimistic. I have a few more conversations lined up with engineers next week but hopefully this is it!
4pm: Update our company background materials for a potential media partner in New York. Pare down our "press" section, because when we originally created it we included every blog, website that wrote about us. Now, we're running out of room so we have to select only significant mentions. Muse gleefully (to myself) about this little achievement.
6.15pm: Meet my best girl friends for drinks and quick dinner. Managed to get the creeper seats at our favorite restaurant overlooking the escalator. The conversation is like an episode out of HBO "Girls". Actually, that show is written for and about people just like us, so obviously that is the case.
8pm: Grab my cello and make it to orchestra rehearsal on time today because our concert is in 4 days and the guest conductor has just flown in to do a dry run. I am on my best behavior, and check my phone twice, reading emails from Ling only. This guy is the real deal. He waves his arms animatedly (or exasperatedly) and tells us our intonation is horrible and we suck. He scares me and I kinda like it.
11pm: Make myself some oolong tea, break out a chocolate bar and dried fruit. Time to start working.
Assortment of snaps from earlier this week: Visiting SCAD campus out in SSP, Boom magazine launch party at Gala, Roger Vivier exhibit at Landmark..
0 comments:
Post a Comment