Last blog entry of my “Managed Midlife Crisis”

It has been over a year now since I decided to embark on this journey. My looming 40^th birthday served as a great impetus for this soul-searching adventure, and after over 10 years in the same career trajectory it seemed the right time. As described in my first blog entry, I had 3 key goals for this “managed midlife crisis”, so it probably makes sense to close this year (and this blog) with a “de-brief” of sorts.

My guiding principal throughout the year was “leverage my 2 personal gravity forces to achieve 3 goals”!

The Gravity forces being:

1. Passion for constantly challenging myself mentally and physically, and

2. Working and being with people that I believe in, and enjoy mutual unselfish love with.

And the 3 goals were:

1. Develop great relationships with my family and Friends!

2. Qualify for, and compete in, the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii on Oct 13th, 2008!

3. Engage in 3-4 exciting business projects that I can help make successful!

Looking back at these, clarifies at least one fundamental truth about life; It never goes as you expect it to go!!!

Seriously though, as obvious as that may sound we always tend to think we control a much higher proportion of outcomes than we actually do.

I cannot say that I achieved any of these goals 100%! However, I still feel a great sense of accomplishment in working towards them:

1.       Family and friends – although my daughters might not fully agree, I do feel that my immediate family enjoys a much stronger web of inter-connections! On the “friends’ front”, It seems that more “effort” is needed in order to claim any improvement. However, I did manage to spend 2 weeks in Hong Kong and Vietnam with 6 of my closest friends, which was amazing! I guess that once we have immediate families, with growing kids, there is a “short blanket” effect on the amount of time we can spend with family and friends…as in, the more we pull in one direction the other gets exposed and left in the “cold”…:o)

2.       Ironman – In 2008 I competed in 2 full distance Ironman races (Arizona – 10:24, Lake Placid – 11:39), 3 half Ironman (Oceanside – 4:48, Hawaii – 4:57, Napa – 4:46), and numerous other races in 2008 (marathons, trail runs, sprint/Olympic distance Tri’s and more…). So although it was disappointing to fall to a familiar chronic injury in the middle of Lake Placid Ironman, where I was on pace to hit a sub 10 hour time until mile 70 of the bike, I feel proud of managing to meet all my buildup goals throughout the year (4:48 half, 2:55 marathon, 1:19 half-marathon, sub 5 hour 100 mile bike…) .

3.       Business projects – There were 3 projects that I worked on over the past year. They were all a lot of fun and provided me with great experiences, as well as the opportunity to bring my past experience into them. Most of all they strengthened my belief that I need to work on products/services that I’m truly passionate about, and with people that are smart and dynamic!

Finally, to my decisions for the future and coming out of my “Managed Midlife Crisis”.  During the last year it became clear to me that the decision about my next move would be governed by my personal gravity points, and that I would not lose sight of them ever again (I hope…). This meant that I would need to leave my comfort zone (as I have done several times in the past) in software management, and go down a totally new path which would challenge me to learn and grow. When adding in the gravity point of working with great people, it left one clear direction called Better Place.  

Better Place is the brainchild of Shai Agassi, a good friend and great mentor (or vice-versa…), which seeks to fulfill a very ambitious yet simple mission: end our addiction to oil!!! There is no doubt about the tremendous negative impact from this addiction, even though the experts are still arguing which evil is the “king-of-all-evils”. We can start with the world threatening global-warming, brought on by greenhouse gases we emit by burning it. We can continue with the economic devastation we are feeling, and indeed all the economy is feeling, due to the dependence on it and the rapid rise in its price. Furthermore, if we look at the transfer of wealth going to a small number of totalitarian countries, it is clear that this is not a healthy geopolitical trend. Finally, the increasing pollutants in our air (outside of the GHG impact on the environment) are killing many more people than car accidents do each year!

So, the best solution to this is moving a large chunk of transportation off oil and onto the electrical grid. This means we need an infrastructure solution, which will enable drivers to enjoy the same level of satisfaction with their ICE cars today…but just on a EV platform!

The solution is being commercialized by Better Place (see http://www.betterplace.com). Most importantly, Better Place retains the current “social contract” drivers have with their cars:

1. Own it – people like to own their car, but wouldn’t mind paying for the electrons (miles) like they pay for mobile phone bandwidth (minutes)

2. Fast – people don’t want slow and weak substitutes, but normal speed and torque cars.

3. Spacious – people don’t want to compromise on having 5 passengers and some luggage.

4. Affordable – people don’t like to pay more for doing the right thing (although many are willing to do so as we see in the Hybrid market)

5. Convenient – people wouldn’t like to spend more than the 5-10 times (15-30minutes) a month they are filling gas.

How is this done?

It is a combination of:

1. EV Cars – mass manufactured by existing large automotive companies (Renault Nissan is the first one to sign up), with chargeable AND swappable batteries that can achieve 100 miles per charge.

2. Charge infrastructure – which allows easy plug-in charge at most convenient places (home, work, shopping, entertainment parking)

3. Battery swap stations – that enable <3 min battery swaps for longer trips.

4. Mileage purchasing agreements – which allow the driver to own the car and pay monthly for usage (battery/charge), at a cost that is lower than their current car’s cost (car + gas + more expensive services on ICE cars) 

I think it becomes clear now why Better Place holds such an important mission, and for me it was really the only choice!  

I enjoyed this blog format as it helped me clarify some key feelings and thoughts along my “Managed Midlife Crisis” journey….so all I can hope for is that it was somewhat entertaining for you too!!!

Midway Report on the “Managed Midlife Crisis”

It has been 6 months since creating this blog, and it seems a fitting time to look back and review accomplishments and gaps in “execution” of my plan.

But first let me briefly sum-up the last 3 months since my February update:

• Family and Friends
  • “The Guys Turn 40 Trip”- From March 31st to April 9th I had the amazing privilege to join 6 of my closest lifelong friends (~20 years) on a journey to Hong Kong and Vietnam. We had planned this trip for many months, and like most dreams we were all skeptical about our ability to pull it off and actually do it. To celebrate our 40th birthday, all 7 of us, taking a break from the hectic pace we all live at, was not an easy task at all; Coming from family, work, and other life ”obligations”, not to mention geographical locations (SF Bay Area, NY, Paris, Hong Kong, Tel Aviv), we actually all made it to HK by April 1st! We had all been in touch over the past 20 years but it was never as a group, so I was understandably afraid of being disappointed by the group dynamics after so many years….however, from that first evening through an amazing week in Vietnam (see pics) and all the way back to HK for a last day it was truly an experience of a lifetime. The most significantpersonal revelation for me was how much I love and respect these guys, and how fortunate I have been to meet them and share 1/2 of my life withthem. The location of the trip was definitely incredible, and I could write / talk about it for hours….but with this group of people it made no difference where we were, and I hope we can repeat it at 50, 60, 70 and beyond!!!
  • “Family Time”- it is getting better and better, after the initial adjustment period (see my Dec 9th post) I’m finding my place in this complex social network that is called a family. I’m learning that I don’t have to ‘lead’ or ‘manage’ it in order to contribute to and receive value from it. I’m comfortable with, and appreciative of, Inbal’s amazing capabilities as the true leader of our family unit, and in my “dad” role I can support her and complete the unit pretty well…even if I say so myself…:o)
  • “The Kids”- Gal had her 9th birthday on April 21st, and it wakes you up to the speed at which your kids grow-up. We expect things to move a lot slower, as they did when we grew up. But unfortunatelywith our kids things move pretty fast, and if you miss a chapter in their lives it becomes a void that is hard to make up. Gal is definitely growing up to be a unique individual, and we are so proud of her! Eden (now 7) is our “Energizer Bunny” from the moment she wakes up to the moment she collapses to sleep she is non-stop talking, joking, signing…she reminds me of my older sister Yaella (sorry Yugz…:o). Dylan is almost 1 year old, and it seems that the ‘DNA thing’ has repeated pretty well with him…he is already running around the house, and trying to “fix” everything he can get his hands onto. I guess when they say it costs about $250K to raise a kid, they include property damage of about $100K in the first year.
• Ironman
  • “At the Races” – Since February I have competed in 3 milestone races, and am happy to have achieved or exceeded my planned times. First was a pure run at the SF 1/2 Marathon (13.1miles) in which I set a personal best of 1 hour and 19 minutes. Then came my first triathlon race of the season (March 30th) at Oceanside, which I completed exactly (to the minute) as planned in 4 hours and 48 minutes. Finally, after a 10 day rest and trip to Vietnam (see above), on April 13th I set out to do my first Ironman in Arizona. On race day the temperature was over 96 (35 Celsius) and winds up to 25mph (40kph), which was not looking too encouraging for my goal time of 10hrs:45min. However, as often happens with adrenalin and extreme focus I felt surprisingly good for most of the race and, aside from one ‘desert-enduced’ vow (mile 99 of the bike) never to do this again, I kept myself well ahead of target. Finishing in 10hrs:24min was definitely a great surprise, especially given the conditions and the high overall drop out rate (~400) among the field of over 2000 starters.  I do have to admit to having an ‘unfair advantage’, as I had my entire family (including mom, dad, and 2 nephews from Israel!) cheering me on with custom “Jason’s Team” shirts and all!!! 
  • Training – as I continue to increase my volume of training, besides minor aches and pains, training is going well. My volume now stands at 12-16 hours of training per week, and half the season is behind me. The weekly routine of long Saturday workouts (>6 hours) is becoming more comfortable, and I’m enjoying the bike training much more. The long hours spent training allows me not only to think about training but also about life in general, which is the purpose of a midlife crisis after all…
  • Coaching- at the end of March I parted ways with my coach Lisa Engles, who helped me build my training plan for these 2 first events. I have no doubt that Lisa was a great coach and had been a key factor in my successes so far, however, I felt the need to work with a team of triathletes rather than alone. Therefore, I recently joined a great team called Kain Performance led by husband and wife team Pete and Shari Kain. So far it has been a great experience working with them and learning from others on the team…and I really hope to gain from this type of group work another dimension of the sport.
• Work
  • Sterna Technologies – things are progressing well since the launch at DEMO’08 in January, and we’ve built a US pipeline of over 30 companies. Although I have not yet closed a contract with any of these, almost all are progressing through the sales and evaluation cycles (2 have completed successful ‘proof-of-concept’ projects) and I hope to close 3-5 by the end of the year.
  • Backflip Software - last month we hired John Kish as CEO, and I’m really confident that he will be able to lead this exciting company forward. Although Backflip is in a difficult situation, playing in the intersection of 2 major industries (enterprise software and communications), I think it has the potential to become very successful.

So all in all, I’m pretty happy with the mid-point status of this “Managed Mid-Life Crisis”, and all I can wish for is that the second half goes as well as the first!! 

2 more weeks until my next 1/2 Ironman in Hawaii….as they say, “life is good!”

 

January was a busy time…

So much has happened in the last month that I cannot wait for my usual quarterly blog schedule…and need to update about some exciting events that happened:

Ironman:my end-of-year hard training seem to have paid-off! I’m feeling very strong in both my running and cycling, and even won a couple of smaller trail races…which is definitely fun (although not the ultimate target…:o). You can read about one of those races in Scott Dunlap’s blog (http://runtrails.blogspot.com/)…he is a friend, who I met at a triathlon several years back, and he writes about trail runs with grace and passion. 

Business:on this front, this past month saw major changes. First, Yaniv and I decided to part ways on Zhibit.org, and I’m definitely with mixed-emotions about this as I really like working with Yaniv and think he has a great service for artists. However, we both agreed that I’m not investing enough time to make a major impact on growing Zhibit. Good-luck Yaniv!!!

Secondly, we executed a major re-branding campaign at “Friend”, and launched this past week as “Sterna Technologies”. The company managed to pull-off an amazing number of activities in a short time, and with high quality. From building a completely new website, developing all new collateral, printing new business cards, through to a major launch event  at DEMO2008 with press galore! Personally, I had the honor to do a literal “dog and pony show” (without the pony…) on stage in front of a live audience in the hall, as well as real-time on the web.  

Link to watch the launch - http://www.demo.com/demonstrators/videolibrary.html?bcpid=1127798146&bclid=1396518815&bctid=1392526695 

Sterna’s new website – www.sternatech.com

Press coverage (one of many…) – http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=7790

Part II of “Jason Wolf – What’s Next?”

It has been 4 months since my initial e-mail update to you all, and as I promised here is the next installment!

As you have noticed, I’ve “upgraded” my communication medium to a blog! I have also given it a name that seems to reflect this blog’s spirit, while ensuring no one takes it too seriously….

So why “Managed Midlife Crisis”? Well, the title is the most common response I seem to use when people ask me what I’m up to these days. “I’m executing a perfectly managed midlife crisis!” is my short quip answer, before going into the boring details of my life elements…

In my first installment from August (read 1st e-mail below), I described my personal “gravity points” and the goals derived from them for the upcoming year, and since they are the basis for my update here they are in summary again:

Gravity Points:

1. Passion for constantly challenging myself mentally and physically, and

2. Working and being with people that I believe in, and enjoy mutual unselfish love with.

Goals:

1. Develop great relationships with my family and Friends!

2. Qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii on Oct 13th, 2008!

3. Engage in 3-4 exciting business projects that I can help make successful! 

In reviewing these goals with the perspective of 4 months of “execution”, I’d say that there is still a lot of work ahead…

Family and Friends – I’ve definitely experienced the awkward re-adjustment period of being at home and part of a family again! It is amazing how the years of playing the “remote bread-winner father/husband” role grows on you, and the family gets perfectly comfortable with you as an occasional “guest” in the house…

It might be obvious to most, however, it took me a while to learn that I need to remove my “senior manager” hat, and start following instructions from the person running things successfully for the past 10 years….:o)

My final observation has to do with the “leap” in the level of feeling towards my kids, as I really get to know them (probably for the first time). Having that continuity of hearing their daily experiences, sitting down to do homework with them, or even helping solve their school romance dilemmas (yes, this is my 7 year-old!!!) is an amazing bonding experience. I am so thankful that I didn’t wake up too late…as it seems that relationships develop best at a young age and over long periods of time!

Ironman Training - Here too I’ve had a fair share of troubles (and some triumphs). Over these past 4 months I’ve setup a training plan, executed it fairly religiously, competed in a number of milestone races, and networked into groups of people for support.

My plan involves daily workouts of 1 to 5 hours, which add up to weekly totals of 10 to 20 hours of exercise. Typically, I will do 2 disciplines in any given day (e.g. bike and run) and focus my long sessions on the weekends. Currently I’m focused on building a solid base of mileage (the first of three major training periods), which will lead me into spring and the beginning of the speed-work period, followed by specific races that include 4 major qualifying events for Hawaii – Ironman World Championships (October). The races are California 1/2 (March), Arizona full (April), Hawaii 1/2 (May), and New York full (July).

The most important thing I’ve learnt is the value of building a strong network of training partners, who besides increasing your fun and motivation in training, also save your ‘derrière‘ when needed. I found the most wonderful group of people to share bike rides with, and when my tire blew-up bringing me crashing down a steep Santa Cruz mountains road in September, all I can say thank God for them!!!

Besides that small accident, which left me a “nice looking” scar on my thigh, these past few months went as planned with key milestone races completed. I did a 1/2 Ironman in 5hr:14min, my first 100 mile ride in about 6 hours, a 1/2 marathon in 1hr:22min, and this past weekend a full marathon in 2hr:55min (Sacramento International Marathon).

Given the fact that I still need to lower my baseline 1/2 Ironman time (of 5hr:14min) by another 40min, I’ve got my work cut out for me….But on the other hand, I’ve just purchased a new bike and hired a personal coach (and they say money doesn’t solves everything..:o).

I’m definitely not willing to let the size of the task scare me, and I’ll find a way to climb up a level for my next period of training!

 

Business Projects - The process I went through emotionally leaving SAP was definitely a hard one for me. In April I was leading a new and exciting product, with an amazing team of about 100 individuals from around the world, and had really no thoughts other than bringing that product to market successfully. I will not go into all the details that lead to SAP’s decision in May to re-prioritize the product portfolio, and postpone the release of our product, but suffice it to say that SAP’s Board level executives and I did not see eye-to-eye on this topic…:o) 

After careful consideration about my next steps, I decided to have my “managed midlife crisis”, and that is when I reviewed my gravity points and set my goals for ‘07/’08. It was clear that my passion for high-tech product innovation was alive and well, and that I would not be able to stay away from launching interesting new products to market. Therefore, I searched my contacts’ network for the intersection of interesting products, companies, and people to work with.

The companies I’m engaged with on a regular basis each has a unique and interesting value proposition to their target market. In addition, I have a personal interest in their specific business models or goals :

1. Zhibit.org (http://www.zhibit.org) - Role: co-founder and go-to-market lead – founded as a true “garage start-up”, only not from a garage but from Yaniv Gvily’s condo living room, Zhibit is a online community for artists. At Zhibit emerging artists (and hobbyists) can showcase, sell, and manage their artwork, as well as participate in art competitions and engage with other artists. I was attracted to get involved in Zhibit, since my wife is an artist, and I can definitely see the need for such a community, and Yaniv’s amazing programming talent makes Zhibit the best solution out there!

2. BackFlip Software (http://www.backflipsoftware.com) - Role: Board Member - is a 2 year old software company focused on a very unique technology. The brainchild of my good old friend Gil Perez (CEO of Gilo Ventures), BackFlip delivers the stogy old enteprise into the world of Web2.0! BackFlip developed a strong engine that connects to workflow engines, ERP systems, and other corporate information systems and allows users to subscribe to events, as well as take action on them from whatever device they choose. For example, a support manager can receive a detailed voice support message directly to his mobile phone from his help desk application. It will contain the vital information about the support ticket, as well as allow him to take various actions to resolve or delegate the ticket to others. Best of all, it allows all these unstructured communications to be recorded for analytics and compliance.

3. Friend (name change in progress…:o) (http://www.friend-ltd.com) - Role: President Americas - is a truly unique company, with one of the best group’s of people I’ve had the honor to work with (both within the company, and backing it in the Board). Friend’s product has the potential to revolutionize business management practices in general, by empowering smarter decision making. The product was born out of the combined experiences from military real-time command & control systems, with the knowledge of enterprise transactional systems, allowing managers to quickly and dynamically view their business and attain an accurate positioning status. The best analogy for what Friend does for business is to look at what a GPS Navigation device does for drivers, bringing together real-time satellite and traffic info with maps, services, and other content to provide accurate positioning and direction. 

 As this post is already very long, I’ll spend more time in Part III of “Jason Wolf – What’s Next?” describing the status of these businesses and their specific goals for 2008 and beyond.

….So I hope that you can bare the suspense until the next post, and please feel free to contact me directly or electronically at any time about any topic!

Thanks,

Jason