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August Slow Down, Where Art Thou?

You can’t blame the Obama administration for this.  Nor the notoriously “50+ vacation days per year” Bush administration.  Nope, the blame falls on high school and college sports teams.  They started it all.   Pre season used to be a few days early, not a few weeks early.  But coaches started calling their teams back from summer earlier and earlier seeking out greater advantage and upping the ante.  This bled into the academic calendar.  Where as once it was the week after Labor Day that marked the beginning of the school year, August 18th is the new September 8th.  And now it has bled into the working world.

Fortunately, I love what I do, and looking at new deals and helping along my existing companies is as rewarding and stimulating in August as in any other month.  But things are really hopping.  We just approved a new deal, closed another new one, closed a follow on round, found a new investor for an two portfolio companies, and our pipeline is as bulging as ever with quality companies looking for capital that we are in the midst of pursuing.

The other good thing is that this century we have the tools to do most of what needs doing from a remote location.  I am typing this from Maine, Tim is in San Francisco, Todd is in Maine, and Thanasis and John are about to embark to points afar.  We still fly in for in-person partner meetings, but we all have broadband, and Skype voice and video really work well for most of what we need to accomplish.

So, yes, I am a bit nostalgic for the slow old days of the 1990s, but if the faster new days include being able to work remotely, then I say we have progressed, not regressed.