i hate my phone

back in LA after 36 hours in the silicon valley. sometimes i marvel at how smoothly travel can be. even though this is a short distance, about 45 minutes in the air, burbank to sjc, i'm impressed. it only took me 25 minutes from the time i left my apartment to drive to the airport, park, check in, pass through security and sit down at the gate. all i took was a backpack and my laptop bag.

so in two days, jim and i got a lot done. he was kind enough to pick me up from the airport. why rent a car when your friend drives a carrera 4 convertible? we met with the UI designer that will be working part-time and he seems to have growing enthusiasm for the project. back at jim's home, we sketched out a structure for the underlying technology that seemed to provide us with some confidence that we could actually build it. i put together some video mock-ups that are starting to look solid.

ramona picked me up that night and we went to dinner in san jose. nothing fancy. just pf chang's, blue monkey lounge and fahrenheit. watched a woman with an unfortunate skirt dance by herself. i convinced ramona to chat up a table of 3 dorky guys and she found that one of them was actually cute. we played "i never" until it got really boring. then she drove me back to jim's where i spent the night.

friday was spent working until we met with the UI guy again, giving him an update on our progress. it was only when we started talking about the potential markets for the project that he really seemed to get excited. we all spoke frankly of our reservations.

last, and most interestingly, jim and i had a meeting with a potential investor. this was a great opportunity for me. i've learned more in the past 2 days about starting a company on the venture capital route than i ever could have by any other means. so we drove to menlo park. a place that sounded familiar either because of the silicon valley tech lore or the fact that it shares its name with a district in nyc where edison had a lab. the guy we met was cmo (chief marketing officer) of a large software company. the 3 of us sat down at a famous coffee shop and jim told him the story of our project. it was interesting to note that jim had not told him anything about what we were doing beforehand. i listened mostly at the start, but when we showed him a few demos, i found that i had a lot to say. while watching his reaction carefully, i saw him move from skepticism to neutrality to guarded optimism. in the end, he said what everyone else has said: good idea, great timing, but can you do it well enough to satisfy the audience?

it's all about confidence.

he's not going to invest by the way. but apparently it's because he just finished building a 10,000 square foot house. in case you're curious, building costs are about 225 dollars per square foot in california right now. so… use your maths. and remember that cost doesn't include the land. wow. he even said it was 30% over budget.

so jim has to make a decision about whether to pursue the startup or take another offer. he has 3 to 4 weeks to make the decision. if jim goes for it, then so do i. i trust him. his experience, talent and loyalty have earned my respect. he's the kind of guy i would want to start a business with.

also, congratulations to ramona for passing the bar. hope to see you in los angeles soon.