Author: rmascardo

Artificial Intelligence & Me

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In the vast realm of science fiction, few names shine as brightly as Isaac Asimov. As a young reader, I found myself captivated by the intricate universes he wove in novels like Foundation and I, Robot. These stories, where artificial intelligence and robotics played pivotal roles, ignited a spark in me that would later pave the path of my own career. Today, as I delve into the intricate tapestry of my journey with artificial intelligence, it’s impossible not to look back at those early days of wonder, where Asimov’s words provided not just entertainment, but inspiration for a future I had yet to envision.

It’s official, I have secured Renato.mascardo.ai.  This has moved up the value of my blog by 10x.  Kidding. Kinda. Artificial Intelligence has created both rational and irrational reactions.  One would argue AI has propped up the stock market when everything AI related has killed while everything else looks “eh”.  Seven of the top 10 largest companies in the United States by market cap have major AI value propositions.

My career has seen its waves of innovation.  I am so grateful for having been part of such a fruitful period for computer science.  It has been such a fun ride and it doesn’t seem to be letting up.

As one would expect, each wave builds upon the next and is a combination of previous achievements and learnings.  AI is a combination of data, copious amount of distributed compute, innovation in gpu chips and foundational data / data science / machine learning / deep learning practices.

So, here are a few common questions I’ve better getting recently about AI —

What is you perspective on Artificial Intelligence? 

Artificial Intelligence represents both an opportunity and existential risk for companies.  Similar to other technology waves, something very fundamental is shifting under existing companies.  This shift can create new markets and provide opportunities to wedge into existing markets.  We should see new interaction models and all new levels of efficiency with AI.  

This is where it’s critical to be in continuous first principle thinking.  Assumptions should be challenged. Experimentation should be the norm.  Action should be taken. 

What experience do you have with machine learning / deep learning / Artificial Intelligence? 

  • Mercury Interactive / HP Software (2004) — processed the millions / billions of production alerts to provide an elevated alerting or automate action. 
  • Abaca Technology (2007) — created a totally new AI approach for handling email SPAM.
  • DigitalGlobe (2010) — built one of the first and largest at the time GPU based supercomputers that was used to run advanced algorithms for higher level processing on digital satellite imagery.  These algorithms did things like cloud cover detection, change detection and image feature recognition.
  • Atari (2012) — built AI based real-time adjustment of gameplay based on individual progress through the game. 
  • Rosetta Stone (2014) — built AI based content creation platform.   
  • Recurly (2018) — built AI based Dunning management solution. 

What will the next 5-10 years of AI innovation bring us? 

Buckle up.  The pace of AI improvements is fierce and everyone wants to get there first.  Watch out for the hyperbole and emotions through the technology adoption life cycle but rest assured we’ll see the shift on the other side.  This feels like it’s going to go faster than we think.

Thank you for reading.  Please drop me a note if you have a comment.  I appreciate you. 

-rjm

Work after 25 years.

On By rmascardoIn career, Uncategorized, WorkLeave a comment

25 years ago this summer three buddies of mine made our way across Europe. We all graduated college and were doing the customary post-graduation Eurail European adventure. We started in Italy and worked counter clockwise across the European continent ending the trip in Spain. The stories are endless.

  • We drove too fast in a promotional Hertz rental car that was all yellow and covered in logos. 
  • We climbed the Swiss alps. 
  • We consumed so much beer in Munich that I somehow was able to sing Lithuanian folk songs through the streets at 3am.
  • We got wildly lost in the red light district of Amsterdam. 
  • We recreated scenes from the Sound of Music in Vienna. 
  • We drank sangria all night and ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain the next morning with no sleep. I’m pretty sure we slept on a street bench that night.  
  • And the stories go on and on. 

When it was all done, I loaded up a U-Haul with two buddies and we drove from Connecticut to the center of technology, Silicon Valley.  Silicon Valley was where I needed to be.  I had a Computer Science degree in hand and dreams to change the world.  Fast forward to today — I’ve been driving technology products and teams for 25 years now and have been fortunate to take all sorts of awesome products to market in many different scenarios — start ups, venture backed, public companies, private equity backed, consumer, enterprise, education, government, financial.  From no name brands to big brands, I just worked my ass off and continue to work my ass off.  I like it that much. 

25 years of hard work hard work requires some reflection. As I’ve said in previous blog posts, sometimes this reflection is for me as much it is for anyone else. My blog posts are like public journal entries. Below are some higher level questions that I was reflecting upon —  

What have I learned? 

Here are is a list of axioms I’ve picked up along the way in no particular order.

  • Play chess, not checkers.
  • First principle thinking is paramount.
  • Keep challenging your assumptions. 
  • Get your team as close to the customer as possible.
  • It’s all about the people and your teams.
  • Micromanagement only gets you so far.
  • Try to lead, not manage.
  • Be genuine. 
  • Be respectful. 
  • Work hard. 
  • Stay hungry.
  • Listen more.  Talk less. 
  • Setbacks are opportunities.
  • Ego kills.
  • Keep your standards high.  Don’t settle. 
  • Stop the whining.   
  • Have urgency but be patient. 
  • Smile and laugh more.

What adjustments have I had to make after 25 years of working?

Experience can be a blessing and a curse.  Yes, there exists 25 years of experience to draw from but that doesn’t mean I know everything.  Ego can get in the way of learning new things.  “I’ve done this enough, I know what I’m doing” becomes the new slogan.  Its important to not get caught in that mindset. The reality is “I don’t know everything, I’ve not seen all situations.” Keep an open mind.

Additionally, the more experience you have the more career optionality you have which makes it too easy to bail out of one situation and into another rather than doing something differently.  I have to apply first principles thinking to myself in these scenarios.  I don’t always have all the answers.  My assumptions that I’ve held for years likely have changed.  Feedback is good. 

What is my perspective on the next 15 years of work? 

I think I’d like to take this train 15 more years. 40 years of work feels like a nice round number.  I’m happy with the success/exits under my best but I enjoy work too much to retire. If I keep picking them right, there probably feels like two more big rides.  That seems reasonable.  Currently, the technology future excites. We are pushing into another huge technology wave with artificial intelligence (AI).  AI is every geeks dream. Frankenstein. Hal.  Rosie. Jarvis. Roy Batty. Wall-E. R2D2. C3PO  We’ve been day dreaming of a world with AI beings for years.  We are  going to see an another profound technology shift over the next 5-15+ years and its going to go faster than we think.

What would I be looking for if I were evaluating new opportunities?

My work motivators in my twenties are surely different than my motivators in my fourties. As a kid, I wanted to be featured in a TechCrunch blog post and bags of money. I wanted to prove to my parents that I could make it as a technologist and not a medical doctor. Time passes by and I am looking for different things. I am definitely less motivated by money.

Now, I care deeply about …

  • the people I work with.
  • the impact I can make.
  • the opportunity being big and bold.

What would you tell yourself from 1999? 

  • Keep building. 
  • Take more risks.  
  • Stop listening to other people.
  • Stop overthinking things.
  • Find the road less traveled.
  • Make time for your friends and family. 

I like to say “trust the universe”.  Things seem to work out. I’m grateful for my career path and all the wonderful people I’ve been able to work with along the way.  I’m not sure I would have done it any other way.  Here’s to another 15 years of building innovative products!  

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate you. 

-rjm

Raising Amazing Daughters. Proud Dad.

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Happy belated Father’s Day 2024.

A few years back, my younger daughter Brooklyn came home from school and asked me what “thats what she said” jokes were.  She was probably 10 years old at the time.  I giggled on the inside and said “Never heard of ’em” trying to avoid the topic.  I guess some smarty pants at school had watched enough episodes of The Office without his/her parents supervision and these jokes became something of sideshow during class. 

Brooklyn was not satisfied with my response and then asked my wife Sarah what these jokes were all about — to which, Sarah asked me if I could explain.  Apparently, she didn’t know what those jokes were either.  Facepalm.  How do I get out of this predicament?       

I gave Sarah “big eyes” and politely changed the topic.  I went for the the nuclear weapon of child topic changes, “When should we go back to Disney World?”

<pause>

Brooklyn was not satisfied.  In protest, Brooklyn decided to say “thats what she said” after everything followed by “did that work?” hoping to discover its true meaning.  This proved very annoying and sometimes very funny.  I asked Brooklyn nicely who was the fine young boy/girl that was sharing such jokes at school so that I could thank his parents.  I promised I wouldn’t do anything with the information.  Brooklyn leaned in and said quietly whispered in my ear, “thats what she said”.

Nothing really prepares you for parenthood or to become a dad.  There are 100’s of parenting books out there trying to educate fearful parents on the perils ahead.  Some are aptly named —

Once you get into it, parenting feels natural but awkward at the same time.  Like going to Costco but forgetting to wear pants.  Mother nature dials in enough parenting in our DNA and then the rest parents just need to figure out.  I find it fascinating that the parenting formula feels different for every kid.  Two kids with the same parents, raised in the same households can be entirely different people when they grow up.  Two kids, raised in totally different socio economic households can be entirely different people when they grow up and not necessarily with the lives you might expect.  There is a randomness to the variables involved in the equation.  Thats probably why there are so many different parenting books with contradicting viewpoints.  

Sarah and I had a few pillars we always drove home with the kids –

  • Find your passion — Find the things that creates a fire in your belly every morning.  
  • Work hard — Enjoy the grind.  There are no life hacks around just getting the reps in.  
  • Have a growth mindset — Setbacks are growth.  
  • Trust the universe — The pieces come together when you look back but never looking forward. 

Molly and Brooklyn have big milestones this year.  Molly graduated from high school.  She will be attending MIT in the Fall and playing on the MIT Women’s Soccer team.  She hopes to study Chemical-Biological Engineering + Business. Brooklyn graduated from 8th grade and will be attending Park City High School.  She will be focused on academics, basketball (as a point guard) and soccer (as a goalie).  Same parents, same household, two very different kids.  Molly is like her mom.  Brooklyn is more like me.  Both are absolutely the two most amazing two girls a parent could ask for. 

I’m grateful for my two girls and having a partner like Sarah to share in the joys of parenthood.

Thank you for reading!  And good luck on your parenting journey!  That’s what she said.

-rjm

Ski Season 2023-24: Plenty of POW to go around

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The 2023-24 Ski Season has come to an end.  There is only a two mountains left open in Utah as I write this blog post —

  • Sundance – April 7, 2024 closing
  • Powder Mountain – April 7, 2024 closing
  • Alta – April 21, 2024 closing
  • Deer Valley Resort – April 21, 2024 closing
  • Park City Mountain – April 22, 2024 closing
  • Snowbasin – April 28, 2024 closing
  • Brian Head — May 12, 2024 closing
  • Solitude — May 12, 2024 closing
  • Brighton – May 19, 2024
  • Snowbird — open weekends at least through Memorial Day 2024

The skis are put away.  The boots have gathered a little dust.  The winter tires are getting swapped out.  The heat cable have been turned off.  A few of the lawn chairs have come out of storage. The sprinklers will be opened in a few weeks.  I’ll start to warm up the mountain bikes soon after that. But, that didn’t stop mother nature from dropping a foot of fresh snow at our house the week of May 6th.

This past ski season was fantastic.  No complaints.  The snow came early and kept coming all season long.  It wasn’t the 2022-2023 season but I don’t think we will see a season like that for a while. Below are the season totals coming from my favorite weather app, OpenSnow — a solid season of snow.

  • My home -> 209″
  • Park City Mountain Resort -> 459″
  • Deer Valley -> 413″
  • Snowbird -> 607″
  • Alta -> 667″
  • Snowbasin -> 423″
  • Solitude -> 573″
  • Brighton -> 610″
  • Powder Mountain -> 368″

My ski buddy Brooklyn and I had most of our days at Park City Mountain Resort spending many days on the Canyons side.  It’s too convenient for us.  We live only 15-minutes from the base of Canyons.  The new thing this season was paid parking on the Park City side and that put a damper on my days on that side mostly because I’m a cheap person.  I don’t like paying for parking if I don’t need to. I usually ski with a PB&J in my backpack. 

Deer Valley came in second as I maxed out my IKON days there.  Deer Valley provides a truly specular ski experience.  I’m excited for their expansion in the upcoming years despite all the locals complaining.   

Public Service Announcement: Please don't complain to me on the chairlift. I say hello and more often than not folks want to vent to me about something.  

"Vail stinks.  The Deer Valley expansion is dumb.  Parking is a mess.  Why are we stopped!  Why are these lifts not open?  The food is so expensive.  I'm a local, they need to treat me differently.  I was here before Vail was."  

Enough.  Enjoy where you are.  Shut up for a second and just enjoy the outdoors.  Skiing is a luxury, not a right.  And no, skiing can't be like how it was 20 years ago.  Time moves forward.  Life is too short.  Enjoy it or stop doing it.

Snowbird and Alta are two of my favorite mountains but I found myself there only a few times this season.  Travel there through the little cottonwood pass is a true commitment and less interesting when there are great options closer. 

Overall, I ended up with 30-40 ski days.  A respectable number given that I am not yet retired.  I was not as adventuresome this season as I wanted to be.  I didn’t make it to any resorts outside of Utah and didn’t make it to Powder Mountain, Snowbasin or Solitude.  I definitely didn’t do any backcountry, snowcat or heliskiing which I’ve alway wanted to do.  I’ve had less interest in the more extreme skiing as I’ve gotten older and definitely since my stroke two years ago.  So much of my enjoyment is about just being outside and enjoying that with others.      

My favorite thing about the end of ski season is the end of ski season sales!  I’ve never understood paying full price for any ski gear.  Just plan ahead and wait until the season ends.  My daily ski last season was my Faction Agent 3 (106 over foot).  Flat tail, lightweight, touring ski with a great shape. I liked it so much I got the Faction Agent 4 (114 over foot) at the end of last season for those power days.  It floats over powder with ease.  My end of this season purchase was the Faction Agent 1 (86 over foot).  I wanted a shorter, narrower ski for moguls and trees.  All the above have Look bindings which are my favorite.  I also upgraded my ski pants, gloves and socks with Stio gear.  My favorite outdoor clothing brand. 

Alas, rest assured the snow will be back. Meanwhile, let the Spring and Summer begin!  

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate you! 

-rjm

Being Your Most Authentic, Genuine Self.

On By rmascardoIn Uncategorized2 Comments

As a kid, I loved playing with silicon breast implants. No joke. They were all over my parents office on display for patients to look at and play with.  This was before they shifted to salt water filled breast implants due to cancer risk.  I didn’t know the difference.  I didn’t even know what they were used for. Seriously. They were just super fun to play with.  Like stretchy stress balls but more fun.  I could juggle them.  Whip them around  the room like frisbees.  Or, just mush them around like a gelatinous putty.  By the way, I never claimed to have a normal childhood. And don’t worry, the ones I were flinging around the room were only for display purposes.

My mom was a Filipino, plastic surgeon living and working in the New York/Connecticut area.  She loved her non-authentic Gucci bags and other high end brands.  Even culturally Filipinos love their brand names.  My brother, sister and I grew up caring deeply about our public perception.  It wasn’t wrong.  It just was.  As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to appreciate the importance of being your genuine self, free from overt influence by social media or other external forces. 

Being your most authentic, genuine self is …

  • Being vulnerable.
  • Being humble.
  • Being honest.
  • Knowing who you are.
  • Being comfortable in your own skin.
  • Connecting what you say with how you act.
  • Finding your true confidence.
  • A representation of true leadership.
  • Being human. 

Social Media has ruined all of us.  I can’t tell what is real anymore. We are viewing the lives of others through a narrow and highly curated lens. We are seeing what most folks want us to see and then we are subconsciously comparing the entirety of our lives to that.

We all must find our most authentic, genuine self and be proud of it. Care less what others think of you. Be who you are and do the things that make you happy.

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate you. 

-rjm

My Blog.

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My first blog post on Renato.mascardo.com/blog was on March 9, 2007.  16 years ago.  The post was titled “Hello World!” to which I just wrote

Hello World!

That was followed by two insightful blog posts titled —

Absolute drivel.  Haha.  I started my blog 16 years ago as just an experiment and it has evolved into an expression of my life and creativity. My interest in writing posts has come and gone through the years.  You’ll see big gaps in my writing or sometimes I would just post a YouTube video.  Earlier posts were trying to be “TechCrunch like” and then later evolved into more thoughtful writing about my family, our move to Utah and my stroke.  My blog has become more for me than anyone else —  a public facing journal and expression of creativity. 

As a child, my focus was on math and science.  I joke that I barely passed the “Test of English as a Foreign Language” (TOEFL) and English was sort of my second language behind Tagalog.  (Or, if you saw me as a kid you might think my first language was “eating”). Writing did not come naturally to me but I do find enjoyment in the expression of my thought through writing.  I’m sure any English major would laugh at the run on sentences and random drivel being throw around like spaghetti on a wall.   (I think I subconsciously married an English major as a ying to my yang.). But, as I have gotten older I’ve cared less about what others have thought.  Or put another way, I find it liberating to limit how much I care about what other people think especially when it comes to being creative. 

The photos on my blog at 98% taken by me.  I’ve always enjoyed taking pictures.  My father passed that passion down to me and I think I passed it down to my daughter.  I still own an old Nikon D90 camera with several lenses but have since moved to taking pictures on my phone.  The Apple iPhone camera is simply amazing.  My dad handed down a bunch of Leika gear to my daughter.  She has developed her own passion for photography and has one some photography competitions.  We share the joy of being in a dark room with some Pink Floyd playing and being alone with your thoughts.  

Being creative is a unique and elusive thing for me. Growing up Filipino, we became doctors or lawyers. As a technologist, I’m at the fringes of an acceptable career. I’m pretty sure my parents think I’m a “Chief Train Officer”. My parents encouraged I learn piano like any good Asian child but no way did I ever consider a role as a traditional creative. But, I always highly appreciated the ability to come up with unique ideas, perspectives and approaches. As a child, I picked up playing the guitar.  My first guitar was an inexpensive black Fender Squire Stratocaster in honor of Eric Clapton.  I would sit for hours working on scales and imagining different patterns and riffs. 

So, lets take take a step back and reframe why I write this blog.  I enjoy telling stories.  I enjoy expressing myself.  I enjoy sharing knowledge.  And I enjoy sharing what’s on my mind.  Family, work, technology, life, whatever.  I’ll write about it. 

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate you. 

-rjm

Yearly Goals or Bust.

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Every year I go through an exercise of defining my personal yearly goals and I track them throughout the year.  My system is a combination “stuff I made up that works for me” and OKR’s**. 

**Objects and Key Results (OKR) is a is a goal-setting framework used by individuals, teams, and organizations to define measurable goals and track their outcomes. The development of OKR is generally attributed to Andrew Grove who introduced the approach to Intel in the 1970s.

I tweak the process every year so it’s been an ongoing work in progress.  Guess what?  We are approaching 2024 and Its about that time of year again so let’s roll through my process. 

The rough methodology is as follows —

  1. Take in the bigger picture
  2. Define goal categories
  3. Define directional / motivational statements per category
  4. Define category objectives with key results
  5. Define how to track the key results  
  6. Simplify and simplify again
  7. Lock in and revisit throughout the year (repeat monthly)

Let’s dig into the steps! 

Step #1 — Take in the bigger picture. Before I get into the tactical details, I like to make sure to spend some thinking time taking a step back and answering a few higher level questions.

How were things in 2023?
Who am I?  Where am I in life? 
How are Sarah and I doing?  How are Molly and Brooklyn doing? 
Where an I with my family?  Where am with my friends? 
Where am I in my career?  What are next 2-3 career moves?
Where are we with our finances? 
Where am i with my health & fitness? 
How much risk can I take this year? 

Yearly goals need to be motivating and aspirational for me.  The bigger picture helps me craft goals that get me out of bed in the morning.   Plus, its just nice to reflect on things every year. 

One of my favorite questions is how much risk can I take this year?  There is no reward without some risk.  Risk can define you as a person like it does with Elon Musk or Alex Honnold but I think they are “calculated risk takers”.  I believe it’s important to take calculated risks in life because it pushes you beyond your limits.  Plus, isn’t life boring without some risk and adventure?        

Step #2 — Define goal categories.  The categories help me shape the areas I want to focus on.  They have stayed fairly consistent from year to year but there have been times when new categories make it on the list or the priority order changes.  For example, after my stroke I had prioritized recovering from my stroke as a category.   Below are the categories I have for 2024 —

  • Family & Friends
  • Career
  • Health & Fitness
  • Knowledge & Mental Health
  • Creativity

Step #3 — Define directional / motivational statements per category.  Each category needs definition and statements that get me motivated.  Motivation is a fuel that can come from external and internal sources.  An external source might be getting fired from a job or being told you can’t do something.  An internal source might be a statement like “Disrupt an industry”.  A statement like that motivates me to power through  the headwinds. 

Family & Friends

  • Be the best husband I can be
  • Be the best dad I can be
  • Be the best friend I can be

Career

  • Keep building
  • Disrupt an industry
  • Solve meaningful customer problems
  • Take risks 
  • Work with an amazing people 
  • Innovate & be creative
  • Make money

Health & Fitness

  • Find excellence in my health & fitness

Knowledge & Mental Health

  • Constantly expand my knowledge 
  • Find balance with my mental health

Creativity

  • Create new things and introduce them to the world

Step #4 — Define category objectives with key results.  Within each category you define an objective and a measure able key result.  This is where we can start to overthink traditional goal frameworks and come up with a big mess.  My suggestion is to keep things simple. 

Example: Knowledge & Mental Health

  • Objective: Elite mental conditioning
    • Key result: Read 15 books throughout the year (Track in Goodreads)
    • Key result: Journal/Meditate/Reflect once a week (Track with habit tracker)

Step #5 —   Define how to  track the key results.  Tracking is critical.   You need to form the  habits that support  key result which in turn supports the objective.  Habit trackers are great tools to build positive habits.  I use Today but there are so many habit trackers it’s hard to keep track of them all.  Find one that works for you and start building those positive habits.  Alternatively, I use Evernote to track more coarse grain key results.    

Step #6 — Simplify and simplify again.  Every time I do this, I end up with too many categories, too many objectives, too many key results to track.  Now it’s time to create maniacal focus.  Cut out 30-50% of the categories, objectives and key results.  Focus is absolutely a super power for any person or organization.  Save the ones you cut for later.       

Step #7 — Lock in and revisit throughout the year (repeat monthly).  Done.  Lock it in.  Track habits daily.  Check in on broader progress monthly. Update with comments on how things are going.  Make it part of your existence. 

Few addition comments —

  • Stick with it. You need to have the discipline to keep at it.  This is isn’t once a year activity. 
  • Find your Zen.  Life is series of interconnected problems to solve.  Some in your control, others not.  Focus on the things you can control and be mentally ready for the unknown.   
  • Setbacks make you stronger.  Use it as motivation. 
  • Things can change.  Don’t be afraid to adjust as you go but keep pressing forward.  Keep making progress.
  • Life is short.  Don’t waste it.  Find your happiness.  Continue to be a better version of yourself every day. 

Hope you enjoyed the post. Thank you for reading. Leave a comment or reach out!

-rjm

Dear Booze, Its me, not you.

On By rmascardoIn Uncategorized1 Comment

It’s impossible to ignore the staggering reality of alcohol consumption in the United States. Recent data reveals that nearly 70% of American adults consumed alcohol in the past year, with a notable percentage indulging in heavy drinking. This national inclination towards alcohol isn’t just a social norm but a lens into the complexities of our relationship with this ubiquitous substance.

My parents didn’t drink alcohol much growing up.  We had the customary liquor cabinet but we rarely opened it.  The liquor bottles were so old I used wonder if they were still good. There was a light layer of dust on all the bottles.  I remember there were few warm cans of Budweiser in there.  When by chance a guest would come over and want a drink, my dad would grab one of these old cans, crack it open warm and pour it over ice.  Haha!  The cans were definitely past their born on date. 

I would categorize myself as a casual drinker with a love for good craft beers.   I love me a good IPA which can have 300+ calories per pint.  I don’t drink brown liquor much.  I prefer a good tequila or gin with a lime.  COVID caused me to drink more mostly because I was bored.  Moving to Utah didn’t help because the lack of good beers made me want it more.  I drink mostly on the weekends but I was picking up the “I need a drink after a hard day” midweek drink more often.  My casual drinking was adding up mostly around my waistline. Plus, hangovers were progressively becoming a problem.  I would feel hungover consuming less booze and the recovery times were getting longer! 

It all started when my wife said to me “if you cut back your drinking I bet you would lose 10 pounds”.  I responded, “No way but I’ll give it a try.”.   Of course, she was right.  She’s always right.     

I’m 70+ days into not having a drink and I feel great.  Partially as an health experiment but also because it seemed like a waste of time and money. 

  • I have lost 12 pounds.
  • I have higher energy levels. 
  • I have better mental clarity and focus.
  • I feel more hydrated. 
  • I have better workouts. 
  • I sleep better. 
  • I saved money. 

When people notice, they usually ask me —

  • “Are you ok?”
  • “You’re kidding right?”
  • “How about just one?”
  • “What do you do wrong?”

To which my responses are —

  • Yes, I’m ok. 
  • No, I’m not kidding. 
  • I’m good but don’t let that stop the fun. 
  • I did nothing wrong or I don’t think I did.  Haha.   

Through this process a few things surprised me —

  • The social pressure to drink is real.  “Let’s go grab a drink” was my go to phrase to hangout with someone. 
  • Business trips involve lots of drinking.  So much drinking.  A drink on the plane.  A drink at the bar when you get to the hotel.  Couple of drinks at dinner.  Maybe a few more drinks after dinner with colleagues. 
  • Waking up without a hangover is amazing.  Hangovers are they worst! 
  • The marketing around booze is overwhelming.  I found myself noticing the ads more.  We are bombarded by booze ads all day long! 

I feel better without booze.  I’m not advocating that everyone quit because everyone should live their life the way they want. I’m going to continue on my sobriety experiment into 2024.  Let’s see how this rolls!  More updates coming. 

-rjm

Accela Announces Strategic Investment

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Last week, Accela announced a strategic investment from Francisco Partners.   [GovTech Article]

“San Ramon, Calif. (September 6, 2023) – Accela, the trusted provider of cloud solutions at the heart of government, today announced a strategic growth investment from Francisco Partners, a leading global investment firm that specializes in partnering with technology businesses. Berkshire Partners will remain a significant investor with an equal equity holding in Accela. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.”

https://www.accela.com/press-releases/accela-advances-momentum-with-new-strategic-investment-from-francisco-partners/

Accela might have been one of the messiest turnarounds I’ve had to do through the insanity of a global pandemic.  I am so proud of what the broader company and specifically the technology teams have been able to accomplish in the time I was at Accela. 

  • Responsible for all technical aspects of the business.
  • Rebuilt technology organization, resourcing model, and software development lifecycle (SDLC).
  • Rearchitected on-premises software product to highly scalable, cost effective, 99.9% uptime, multi-tenant SaaS platform.
  • Migrated product out of data centers into public cloud (Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services).
  • Re-rationalized and defined path out of previously acquired companies and technical debt.
  • Rebuilt security & compliance program (SOC2, PCI, GDPR, CCPA, StateRamp, FedRamp)
  • Represented the company at industry events and with the media.

Most of my experience is classic high growth, venture capital.  This was my first private equity owned from the start businesses.  I learned a tremendous amount through this process.  Here is a brief list.

  • Companies move as fast as their customers move. 
  • Remote work can be ok for some businesses but you lose the edge in highly competitive markets. 
  • State & Local Government is a vertical all on its own and even very different from Federal
  • People, team and culture are priority one in a turnaround.
  • Turnarounds are not sexy, but can be fun and fulfilling.
  • When in doubt, pick up the phone and connect directly with customers, prospects and your team.
  • Most technical debt is manageable but products/platforms over 10+ years are approaching a tipping point requiring larger investment proportion to maintain.
  • All private equity is created differently.  It’s hard to generalize across them.  Look at the make up of the portfolios and operating partners to get a glimpse of what they are made of. 
  • Private equity cares deeply about risk management, profit and cash flow regardless of what they tell you. 
  • Change is absolutely Ok and in many times during a turnaround, required.
  • Assumptions at a turnaround can be highly toxic. 

Let me know if you have feedback on any of the above.  I’m excited to see the what the next chapter yields for Accela + Berkshire Partners + Francisco Partners.

Buckle up! 

Modern Day Super Powers 

On By rmascardoIn Uncategorized1 Comment

My dad called me out of the blue several years back and said to me he was clearing out their office where my parents ran their medical practice for probably 25+ years.  I sort of grew up in that office.   My parents worked a ton so I ended up spending a lot of time there entertaining myself there and in the later years, as their IT guy setting up the computer systems.   I built computers in the basement from parts I sourced from Computer Shopper Magazine and setup a Novell NetWare Network including running cat5 between all of the offices.  It was a fun.  I since dropped it from my resume but I was Novell NetWare Network Certified!  Haha.  

Apparently, I had left 10-15+ boxes of comic books in my old office in the basement.  I had forgotten that before I left for college I brought my entire comic book collection to the office basement because it was cool, dry and clean.  30 years later, my comic books have reappeared!  Each comic book long box was filled with individually bagged with acid free backing comic books.  I think i had about 10,000+ comics in my collection total.  

My dad didn’t mince words.  He was a man on a mission to clear out the office.  He had loaded up all 10-15+ boxes of comic books on a pallet destined for California and was delivering the tracking number.  

Holy smokes.  I was being reunited with my childhood passion!  I loved comic books.  The characters, stories and art took me to all new places.  I used to daydream about various superpowers and argue with my friends which ones were the best.   I lived the Marvel Cinematic Universe before it had made its way to the big screen.  Meanwhile, my wife wanted to know what the heck this pallet of boxes were that just arrived in our driveway.   

My favorite character was Tony Stark / Iron Man. He didn’t have super human powers like the others but simply applied his intelligence and scrappy thinking to solve hard problems.   Ok, he had his own character flaws but I always felt he was pretty damn cool at the time.  

Ok, there are no mutants with super strength or folks with the ability to shoot laser beams from their eyes however, I’ve always felt that there are actually modern day “super powers” that humans are actually capable of.  Below are some that I have seen.  Some might not feel super by comic book standards but to me, they feel powerful.  You be the judge.  

  • Leadership — I’ve seen this done very well, very poorly and in very rare cases, legendarily well.  When done well, it feels like a super power.
    • Example — Bob Iger.  CEO of Disney resulting in an increase of the company’s market cap from $48 billion to $257 billion. Pixar acquisition, Marvel acquisition, Lucasfilm acquisition, 21st Century Fox acquisition, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Shanghai Disney, Disney+.   
  • Team — A team is a group of individuals working together to achieve their goal. Some folks are just better at bringing the best out of a group of individuals.
  • Product visionary — We all know of the products that have changed our lives.  There are usually product visionaries behind them.
    • Example — Steve Jobs. Macintosh, Modern Computer Typography, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad.
  • Creativity — Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. No standardized test is going to measure this.  The creative process is amazing. 
  • Work Ethic — Can you work harder than everyone else?   I told myself at a young age that whatever I did in my professional career, I was going to outwork the folks around me to get to where I wanted to be.
    • Example — Elon Musk.  PayPal, SolarCity, Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, Hyperloop, OpenAI, Neuralink, Twitter.   
  • Execution — Arguably a foundational skill for any leader but some folks are better at getting things done than others.
    • Example — Jim Sinegal, Co-Founder and previous CEO of Costco
  • Grit — Perseverance, hardiness, resilience, ambition, need for achievement and conscientiousness. I love grit. Will you persevere?  Will you power through obstacles?  Will you find a way?  Will you rebound from failure?  Will you keep going until you reach your goal?
  • Communication — do you communicate with a high level of fidelity, simplicity and passion to others?   

My list kept going but these are my favorites.  What do you think?  Are there a few that I’m missing?  What are better examples that have the above super powers? 

We all have a super powers.  What are yours?  

As always, thank you for reading.  Please leave your thoughts or comments below.   

-rjm