Getting a lot of mail (and guilt) about not being in New Orleans this weekend for the awesome Swing Migration NOLA conference. I spoke at the event last year and really enjoyed the parties, believe me, I wish I could have made it. Ditto for the SMB Summit with SMBTN. I wish I could have made it. Hanging out with peers and exchanging ideas is what drives all of our businesses forward. It is also one of the more enjoyable parts of the business.
However, it is not the only or even close to the top of the most important parts of running a business.
In the long long ago, all Little Vlad wanted to do was to run the cool little bells and whistles that power an ISP. But nobody with their right mind would let me do that. So I started building one on my own. I went to college. I got a CS degree. I got a business degree. I designed a network. I designed software. I hired people. I cut deals. I worked my tail off. I learned from the best. I went and met and worked with everyone I could, all over the world.
I built a successful, profitable company.
And I am loving it. Honestly, I can’t imagine doing anything but what I do all day long. I get to deal with some of the most expensive and most complex infrastructure available. When I get bored of that, I go back and work on the software. When I get bored of that, I talk to my partners, get ideas, turn those ideas and feedback into something that makes everyone more successful. We all grow more.
To me, business success is in enjoying and being excited about your business.
Why would I want to spend time away from it? The conference and road life is hard. I hate being away from my home, my wife, my dog.. and now the baby too. Moreover, conferences have a dense political motive behind them where you are always offending people that you turn down. I have been fortunate enough to be recognized as both a business and technology leader that if I so choose I could spend 364 days a year on the road. Not just that, but the obligations of being a vendor whore – I am always being invited to be a part of this focus group, and that council and this advisory group and that exam review board and this conference planning committee and…
… and while all those are a tremendous honor and a blessing, I just love my life and my company too much to separate myself from it that much. I have been fortunate to meet so many of you on the road, gain some wonderful friendships, get a great reputation in this segment…. and I just hope you understand that as a single human being I can only do so much and be in so many places at once. It’s not a personal thing, it’s not even a business thing.. I just hope nobody is offended at that, even though the emails indicate otherwise.
If you’re pissed, have a drink in my name. One thing I can promise is that we’ll always be represented by someone in the community that will pick up the tab. 🙂
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