A few weeks ago, a friend and fellow entrepreneur I respect told me about meditation, and the very positive and ethereal effects meditation has had on his life. Telling me about something I don't know much about is like feeding crack to an addict - the learner in me has to dig in and learn more. So I asked him about it, and he taught me, and I committed to practice daily. Guess how long that lasted? Well, in the first week, I think I hit 5 out of 7 days. The second week?

Last week I attended an investment conference in Manhattan, and I was blown away. Let me tell you why. But first, for those of you that don't know what an investment conference is, I'll describe it. Then, I will tell you all the reasons why I think this is both the best and the worst time to be raising money or going public. So let's set the stage. An investment conference is usually sponsored by an investment bank (an organization of experts that helps companies buy or s

When I’m new to a company – whether as an employee, director, or investor – I have to fight the burning temptation to get dirty and start changing things. After all, there’s always room for improvement, right? Change Agents are all the rage these days, with numerous blogs on the topic like this one on Forbes with dire warnings for executives that don’t become Change Agents themselves. As recently as few years ago, I was a Change Agent. I wasn’t afraid to make waves, to rei