Ask El Diablo

[ryanj247]

it sounds like you went to college, got a job for a couple years, and then started your own tech company which wasn't a big success.

from there, you apparently found other startups to invest in. my question is: with what money? after your first business failed, did you have a substantial net worth at that point? were you able to borrow money from your family?

did you get involved with a business/investment that took your net worth from <$10K to >$100K in a short period of time?

if you set out to be an investor, and you have $500K (or even $100K), you're set. you have a little bit of money, and you can go about trying to find profitable ventures to invest in. but if you set out to be an investor, and you have $0, you can't be an investor yet. first, you have to figure out how to get from $0 to some kind of minimally meaningful stake...say $100K or so. how did you do that?

[AnthonyV]

El D --

New Yorker or NY Times Mag or (gasp) Atlantic or (double gasp) Harper's?

What is your current level of involvement with your undergraduate institution? Do you do nothing / donate money / help them raise money / volunteer in other ways?

What should we do about the federal budget deficit?

Was Henry V really a badass or was it all an act?

What is more baller: being knighted by the Queen of England, winning the Presidential medal of freedom, or being deemed a god by an aboriginal village?

[Analyst]

[ QUOTE ]

Do you have suggestions for booking a business class ticket on an award in international travel when you are planning on staying at your destination for longer than 2 weeks? A catch-22 of most reservation systems since they book 330 days out and only hold reservations for 2 weeks max.... And yes, i read <a href="flyertalk.com" target="_blank">flyertalk</a> but the answers aren't really there.

[/ QUOTE ]

Generally, if FlyerTalk doesn't have the answers then there aren't answers to be had.

Can you claim the award, book the outbound flight and leave the return open until you fall into the 330 day (I thought it was 360 days?) window? If there's no business available for the return, you could book the seat in coach then keep calling to see if they have opened up any inventory in business.

Another factor is your destination. If it's someplace like western/central Europe, I wouldn't be too worried. On the big alliances you should be able to find availability once the window opens.

At the other end of the spectrum is something like a biz class award ticket to Australia on Qantas. These are virtually impossible to get as they are snapped up by the Qantas top-tier elites who get a 30-day head start on booking. Creative routing (say, through New Zealand or Hong Kong) might help here, but it could cost more miles.

[XXXNoahXXX]

El Diablo,

When you do you see your time posting on 2+2 come to an end? Will it be a slow decline, a quick pull out? Stay forever?

PS- If you look carefully between the Xs of my username you will find my real name. Although being addressed as "XXX" does make me feel a little like a porn star or a Vin Diesel character, or perhaps a combination of the two.

[BWebb]

[ QUOTE ]
B: I don't think there are any shortcuts to networking. You go to business-focused events and have as many conversations as possible. There are tons of small-business focused groups for every possible business or interest group. Groups like The Churchill Club and The Commonwealth Club are good ways to meet people by going to their events.


[/ QUOTE ]

I was doing some research on these clubs and I found out the Commonwealth Club is in the same building as my office. I'll have to check this one out.

[onthebutton]

El Diablo,

I'm currently trying to move from the world of research science to the biotech/business world. I'm not particularly interested in doing "bench science" in industry at this time, but am more interested in the business side of biotech management. I have a PhD from a top 20 research institution, but, I don't have a business background or extensive business education.

Currently, my plan is to work in a "transitional" type career for a few years and continue my education through an MBA program. I'm currently exploring careers in life sciences consulting, which I think will help give me a good introduction to how the business side of biotech works, provide some decent income, help pay for my MBA, and help me network with potential future employers.

I'm not sure if you're involved in any sort of life sciences/biotech VC, but you seem to have a solid grasp on networking and the business world, areas in which I'm a bit ignorant. One of the careers I'm interested in over the long term is one where I'd be able to apply my scientific background and knowledge to analysis of investments/potential VC investments. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on my plan.

[El Diablo]

Noah: I suspect I will be here for as long as my daily life involves me spending large amounts of time in front of a computer and/or on the phone. Which in an ideal world would be not more than 2 or 3 more years. And as long as people I'm interested in interacting with are also here. That's obviously part of why I started this forum.


Anthony: "New Yorker or NY Times Mag or (gasp) Atlantic or (double gasp) Harper's?" Whatever I have available. I love reading everything.

"What is your current level of involvement with your undergraduate institution?" Not much. I volunteer as an interviewer here and donate very small amounts. I never really understood the whole donate to college stuff, I prefer donating to other places more.

"What should we do about the federal budget deficit?" Good question.

"Was Henry V really a badass or was it all an act?" Asking the wrong guy.

"What is more baller: being knighted by the Queen of England, winning the Presidential medal of freedom, or being deemed a god by an aboriginal village?" My birth nation is the UK, so I gotta go w/ knighthood.

ryan: I left college with no money and in a bit of debt. I got a job for a year and a half. Then I did some consulting on my own. Then I started a company while doing consulting on the side. That didn't work out. Then I did some consulting. Then I started another company and did that full-time, which led to finding venture capital investment and building that company. I didn't get rich from that company, but left that company with enough money to have some flexibility in my life.

[El Diablo]

otb,

If you follow the plan you laid out and get an MBA from a top school, VCs will drool over you.

[elwoodblues]

You head in to your favorite fast food restaurant, in line is a young professional-looking woman. When it comes time to pay, she comes comes up $1 short. Do you reach into your pocket to give her the $1?


Same situation, except this time it is a young poor person?

My suspicion is that a lot of people would give to the young professional because they can more easily sympathize with how "embarassed" she must be.

[Isura]

Diablo,

Great thread and nice forum!

Lately I've been doing a lot of research about tech startups. I think that this is something that I want to pursue, and I have a few questions. I've been out of undergrad for almost 2 years now, and don't have many contacts left in the computing area (been a grad student in math, so no computing projects for some time). How would you go about seeking partners for a startup? I know that I can pull my own weight and work extremely hard, but it seems hard to find people with the same goals. Also, what areas in the US are the best for people doing tech startups? Is it much more advantageous to be near the campuses at say Berkeley or Palo Alto?