This week saw the convergence of a few deadlines in financing and me going out of town. Landing in NYC, I realized I didn’t own a fax machine and I needed to sign some documents and fax them.
So out I go to the nearest Staples Express, plunk down $150 to buy a brand new Brother multifunction wonder, and then proceed to carry the huge box back to my apartment.
A few sweaty minutes later, I get to my place and set it up. I plug it all in and thankfully after a few tests, it all works fine.
I then sit down to print out a whole bunch of docs and prepare them for faxing to various places. What a big time suck. I need to sign two agreements and create fax cover sheets for both of them. I proceed to print out tons of paper and lay them out on my table and double check what they are and where they’re supposed to go. Finally I get that all organized and sign them, and then stuff them into my fax machine multiple times as many people need to have copies of them. I also create another fax for my financial person with wiring instructions, sign that, and then fax it away.
It seems as though the point at which all this is broken is the signature.
I can already email things around. I use Acrobat to generate PDFs all the time so I know that the docs won’t be altered. That’s not the problem.
The problem is when I need to physically sign something. Then I need to print something out, sign it, and then get back into an electronic state. This is typically a fax machine, but it can also mean scanning in of the doc and turning it into a PDF before emailing. Scanning this in can be problem. I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap seems to work most of the time, but if the paper is even slightly bent, it starts screwing up bulk scanning. Somehow, fax machines seem more resilient in feeding less than optimal paper, but I have to fax it somewhere. A buddy of mine told me to sign up for eFax which I finally am paying for now. It is about $170/year, but it definitely works great and now I have a fax number to boot. When faxes come in, I set it to convert to PDF so now I have electronic versions of all my faxes. I can also fax myself so that it essentially becomes a scanning->PDF solution.
But how can I insert my signature electronically? I suppose I could scan my signature into an image and then copy/paste it into documents. Security-wise, that isn’t too great; as soon as somebody gets hold of that image, I’m toast.
Where are all the digital signature solutions? I used to hear talk of companies attempting solutions but I don’t hear much about them now. A business opportunity perhaps, in the world of Web 2.0+?
Going paperless is key; it seems ridiculous that one of my most favorite appliances is my paper shredder. When we talk about legal documents, we’re talking about pages upon pages of formal wording that I have to go through and it sucks to carry it around, only to shred it when I’m done. Finally, I am starting to get used to reading these docs on the PC screen, although sometimes I find it still difficult (thank god for the ability to print 2 pages onto one piece of paper through MS Word). I have (almost) gotten my entire financial life to go paperless. Somehow, the world of signing agreements needs to get there as well.

In the last few months in meeting entrepreneurs, I am finding many details that are interesting to me:
1. Office space is often somebody’s apartment or house. Many times it is also a dorm of sorts for their employees, and their living room is filled with desks and PCs. It is a nice way to save cash until they can get some to move to a real office space.
2. Meetings happen in cafes, or in the bedrooms of the “office” apartment! There must be some HR law that is violated if somebody of the opposite sex is interviewed behind closed doors in a bedroom…?
3. Entrepreneurs are at different levels of experience. Many I have met have started companies before. Many are first timers. What worries me is where they are getting their advice and education. I think some are not directing their education at all, but learning on the fly. A few have cash to work with their legal services to learn, which is kind of expensive.
4. Legal services are tough to pay for. It’s nice to hear some lawyers in the Valley are deferring payment until the company gets setup. But it also creates this climate of get it done fast and cheap and it could cut corners which cause problems later. One is in the area of investment terms. Often these terms will be cranked out and the entrepreneur doesn’t ask anymore questions for fear of creating billable hours; he just accepts them and takes them to naive investors. Typically these terms are company friendly only and naive investors take them without knowing the danger. It seems that even seasoned, large investors take the terms because they have lots of cash to play with, and bet on the team and the product. With them, they are used to losing cash on bad deals and factor that into their investment strategies.
5. Early investors are often friends and family and education level in angel investing is minimal. seems like many are operating on trust and don’t push back on the terms.
6. Everybody is at a different stage in funding. Some are pre-angel, some are in the middle of angel, some are post angel trying to get the big VC influx. It’s been interesting to get a handle on every company and where they are at.
7. Time is a big issue. I find that many are deluged by VCs clamoring for attention, companies that want to partner up, users who complain, etc. When the team is super small, you have to try to work on all that at once and it’s really tough. Many seemed overwhelmed.
More later on the wild and wooly world of entrepreneurs and startups…

Ever since I left Yahoo! 2 years ago, I’ve been asked numerous times about how I keep in touch with people post-Yahoo!. I would come back from a trip to LA or Europe or NYC and talk to people about how I saw this person or that person, and they would be amazed that I still knew them or was able to keep in touch with them over time and distance outside of our common factor, which would be our job at Yahoo!.
Keeping in Touch is Full-time Job…Sort of
It sometimes feels like a full time job, juggling contacts, and managing my calendar weeks in advance. It would even be nice to have an admin deal with all this! But as much time and effort as it can take, I don’t look at it as a job either. I know some people do, and there are “professional networkers” who do a lot of networking mostly for job related reasons. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I just think there is something deeper that we can enjoy about networking.
The Time Factor
Most people live in the here and now. You try to get them to nail down time in advance and it’s impossible. I have known people in the past who refused to hold a time with you in case SOMETHING BETTER SHOWS UP. How does that make you feel? Are you the most important thing in their lives?
In my role as world traveller, I have come to live by my calendar and strive for 100% compliance with it. I try to schedule things with people weeks in advance with people, since my travel calendar is already set for the next few months. I also try to remember when people want to get together with me so that I contact them later to catch up.
Sometimes I screw up though. I have missed meetings due to the complexity of my calendar and I really hate that. It doesn’t make me feel very efficient and I do my best to fill in the calendar immediately after setting something up.
Scheduling travel time is also a challenge. Knowing how long it takes to get from one place to another can be really tough. That’s another thing I hate: BEING LATE.
Time is valuable to everyone. I don’t like to waste other peoples’ time.
The Connection
I’ve read some books on networking for business. Sometimes I think they miss an essential human component to networking, which is the ability to connect with other human beings at a more deeper level than just for business.
I think people see right through you when you network for business. Your mannerisms, what you talk about, everything – it all says, “we should stay in touch because it may benefit us business-wise.” It never says, “Hey what a cool person – I enjoy just shooting the breeze here and it takes a load off to catch up.” In the past, I’ve had people network with me like that. I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with that, but I think it could be much more.
Connecting with people on a deeper level is a skill. It shows your willingness to trust, to communicate, to share, to give and receive. It speaks to you opening up as an interesting human being rather than just looking for another business contact. I believe you can learn to do this, as I have had that experience just recently over the last few years. But I also see how some people have never learned that skill and seem to be unable to even get there. It’s really too bad.
I also believe it’s the real secret to keeping in touch with people in the long run. Why would you continually keep in touch with people who you really don’t care all that much about except to get something out of them?
You naturally want to hang out with people you like, and that you can CONNECT with.
Connection starts at the beginning. In my experience, sometimes you get it or you don’t. Sometimes it’s natural and sometimes it just doesn’t work. I don’t think it can be forced. But even within that, there is a wide grey area between the “natural connection” and the “there won’t be any connection at all now or in the future”. In general, first impressions can mean a lot so I would definitely put your best forward as early as possible. Otherwise, natural connections can be severed whereby they could have developed. I also believe that there are some people you just won’t connect with at all, and sometimes you just have to live with that and move on.
No matter what, connecting with someone makes the relationship that much more satisfying and incents you to connect more.
Value Given, Value Received
It almost pains me to talk about giving and receiving value in networking. It makes it sound so unnatural. Certainly in our society, we value connections at the human level and the giving and receiving of non-physical things like love and help and respect. We don’t hold in such high regard expections of physical or monetary gifts.
But I don’t think I could talk about networking without talking about what I get out of it.
So satisfaction and enjoyment from connecting with others is one great benefit we’ve talked about.
One value I like to receive is for the effort I put into trying to meet with people, over time I’d like to see it come back my way. It takes a lot of effort to schedule things, drive around and meet people, catch up and conversate, etc. At some point, sometimes it becomes more one way. I find that I am the one that constantly pursues meetings. I call or send out emails and sometimes I get no response. The best ones I get back are the “YES WHEN ARE WE MEETING?” emails or the energetic “THAT NIGHT WORKS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT” replies. It really makes me feel good to see/feel/hear that others are just as enthusiastic to meet up with me as I am to meet with them.
If I don’t get that back, over time I am less likely continue pursuing meeting up with that person. You know, life changes. People change. People get married and have other more important things occupying their time. Or they just stink as networkers and as connectors of people. It’s just the way of the world. However, the ones to really cherish are the ones that continually give you value as much as you give them value when you meet. They enjoy your company beyond just being a great business contact.
Networking in the Digital Age
Truly it’s easier now to keep in touch with people than before. In the old days, you’d have to use the phone. Now the digital age has made it so much easier to keep in touch and find people in your past.
My favorites:
1. Sending out that random email to someone I haven’t talked to in a while. Certainly email is the method of choice for non-real time scheduling of meetings and communication.
2. Trolling Yahoo! 360 or Linked-In for old acquaintances. Yahoo! 360 has been particularly good because of all the people I have known over the years at Yahoo!. Friendster sometimes works, but I’m not on it that often. Social networking sites are great for this kind of stuff.
3. Instant messaging works great! While working at Yahoo!, all my old colleagues were my Yahoo! Messenger friends. I just didn’t delete them when they left, so occasionally I’ll ping them to see what’s up.
4. My blog has been an unexpected source of connection with old acquaintances. I am constantly amazed by who reads my blog. Every now and then I’ll meet up with someone and they’ll say they’ve been following my exploits on my blog for months. Amazing! Makes me want to keep blogging!
Bottom Line
Networking takes time and effort. Connect with those you network with, when you can. Make networking fun and enjoyable rather than just another thing to do for work. Remember always that networking can lead to friendships and other rewarding relationships as well. It works the other way too, where friendships can lead to meeting more interesting people, valuable personally and professionally.
Relationships are natural and necessary for human beings so make the time and energy to meet and keep in touch.

About 2 years ago, I was on assignment for about 6 months in Europe. I was in London mostly, and there every other week, in addition to staying there for 5 weeks straight. It was a great experience as you never really know what’s like in a foreign country, unless you live there day to day for a while, go grocery shopping, walk the streets, and really be like someone who lives there.
So 2 years ago was early 2004. It was around the time the iPod was really taking off, and I was amazed at all the trademark white headphones I saw on the streets as people walked to work. I remember thinking about what a great branding design it was, to see all these white headphones everywhere. You knew immediately that this person had an iPod. No other MP3 players had such a distinctive headphone color. I also remember thinking about how dominant the iPod was in the market of digital music players and here was visible proof that the iPod was very popular amongst the masses.
Fast forward to summer 2006. I am walking the streets again of London. This time I am amazed at the lack of visible white headphones among the people. Truly the density of white headphones has dropped considerably. What happened?
Market reports show iPod sales are still strong, but then I remember reading an article that talked about the sheer number of competitive products out there, which was numbering in the 100s. It seems as though this had made a dent in MP3 players as other products came into grab some market share and Londoners had purchased other brands of players, as the number of headphones I saw was still high, but just not the usual signature white iPod headphones I saw 2 years ago.
It’s hard to retain market share when new products have entered the space. Apple has competed on design successfully with the iPod and its associated coolness with owning one, but when there are equally cool but different looking products out there, it’s tough to keep it up. As a designer, I shudder to think about the time when design itself can become commoditized in a particular category. When this happens, you need to start designing more personal products, those that target the individual and what makes him/her cool and not just an overall coolness about being associated with brand like Apple.
It will be interesting to see if the coolness of owning an iPod will continue into the future, and if Apple can keep producing the magic which makes consumers desire their products.

I just started a company with which I will attempt to involve myself in startups. For simplicity, I have dubbed it David Shen Ventures, LLC.
Through advisorships with companies, I can give them the benefit of my 9 years of Yahoo! experience in creating businesses on the Internet. I meld that with my experience in design and believe that I can increase a company’s chance of success.
But one thing I’ve noticed being out here in the world for 2 years after Yahoo! – even after the Internet being around for about 11 years or so now, the broadness of knowledge still has not made it out of the walls of Yahoo! or Google. If you think about it, not many people have really left those companies until just recently. As a result, most of the companies don’t get the exposure to the breadth and depth of thought that occurs within those companies. I’ve always said that the most junior of employees at Yahoo! has still more knowledge about Internet products than the most experienced of another company. It has nothing to do with intelligence; smart people are everywhere. It has everything to do with experience and exposure to lines of thinking that you would never had seen unless you worked at a Google or Yahoo!.
As I get David Shen Ventures, LLC into operation, I find that there is a real desire of startups to learn the secrets of Yahoo! or Google. My hope is that I can truly add value to these companies, and to the industry in general, by exposing them to the thinking and experience that I had 9 years of immersion in.
I want to spread the knowledge. I want to share the wealth of the wisdom.
It’s been a positive thing for me; already I have 12 companies wanting me to join them. So much hunger for Yahoo! know-how…