Well, I did it! After 23 years - mostly wonderful ones! - I finally have left IBM for new ventures. I never thought when I went to IBM in 1983 that I would stay for as long as I did. Frankly, at that time it was a way to work on things I was interested in and stay in the Bay Area. Little did I know that I'd move to Connecticut in a couple years, and call that home for a score more, and marry Don and raise a son and during all that time, I worked for IBM.
I won't go into the whys and wherefores of leaving, that's for just the two of us over a glass of decent Chardonnay. Let me just say that it was time to start something new in the (hopefully!) middle of my life, to let some fresh air into my mind and try a new path. And it feels good, my friends - it feels very, very good!
I am not retiring. In fact, I've joined a venture capital company in San Francisco that invests in biotech, lifesciences, and health/wellness companies. The photo above is not a postcard - I swear it's not. And its not from Flikr either. It's the actual view from our conference room (my own office has a less grand view but still faces northward out of the Embarcadero Center looking at the bay. Not bad compared to the Somers Building 3 loading dock!) I started the beginning of October, and every day is a learning experience.
No, we're not moving to San Francisco, at least not just yet. I've agreed to work part of the time in the CA office, part of the time from my home in CT and - what else is new - most of my time on the road. We're starting business development in India and China, have a fund starting up in Malaysia. Middle East looks promising too. During my last few years at IBM I got really interested in emerging economies - this gives me a chance to participate in creating some new businesses in these interesting places. Don's planning to come out to California fairly frequently, so we won't be apart quite as much as it might sound - we both love it there, and SF is a wonderful city.
Otherwise, things are pretty much normal. DV teaching in the city twice a week this fall. Michael doing ok at Pitt - going through the usual first semester freshman adjustment. Walking up the hills he says he's lost 10 pounds - quite the opposite from what one usually expects when the kid goes off to college! Grand-daughter Brynn is growing up nicely - I'm ashamed that I don't have any new pictures to show off, but you can find many on her dad's website listed in the links here. New farm things going on, but you'll have to check the Villa Mir site for that news.
I won't go into the whys and wherefores of leaving, that's for just the two of us over a glass of decent Chardonnay. Let me just say that it was time to start something new in the (hopefully!) middle of my life, to let some fresh air into my mind and try a new path. And it feels good, my friends - it feels very, very good!
I am not retiring. In fact, I've joined a venture capital company in San Francisco that invests in biotech, lifesciences, and health/wellness companies. The photo above is not a postcard - I swear it's not. And its not from Flikr either. It's the actual view from our conference room (my own office has a less grand view but still faces northward out of the Embarcadero Center looking at the bay. Not bad compared to the Somers Building 3 loading dock!) I started the beginning of October, and every day is a learning experience.
No, we're not moving to San Francisco, at least not just yet. I've agreed to work part of the time in the CA office, part of the time from my home in CT and - what else is new - most of my time on the road. We're starting business development in India and China, have a fund starting up in Malaysia. Middle East looks promising too. During my last few years at IBM I got really interested in emerging economies - this gives me a chance to participate in creating some new businesses in these interesting places. Don's planning to come out to California fairly frequently, so we won't be apart quite as much as it might sound - we both love it there, and SF is a wonderful city.
Otherwise, things are pretty much normal. DV teaching in the city twice a week this fall. Michael doing ok at Pitt - going through the usual first semester freshman adjustment. Walking up the hills he says he's lost 10 pounds - quite the opposite from what one usually expects when the kid goes off to college! Grand-daughter Brynn is growing up nicely - I'm ashamed that I don't have any new pictures to show off, but you can find many on her dad's website listed in the links here. New farm things going on, but you'll have to check the Villa Mir site for that news.
posted by Carol at 7:23 PM
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