Of mice and of men

Red Herring has an article about how stressful environments of startups can lead to serious medical problems. They injected mice with cortisol, a stress hormone into mice and monitored their behavior. The results were mice who had high levels of the stress hormone were more anxious and fearful. They were also less likely leave their surroundings to explore open spaces. I guess that would explain a lot about my behavior or lackof! The last count was around 14 companies in the last 12 years...in case you wondered if I had a chronic case of attention deficit disorder, landing at least 2 thirds of the companies were via acquisitions not by personal choice.

The concept of balance is a theoretical one for most serial entrepreneurs. If you really look at the most successful people, their passage through time and their wins are characterized by maniacal focus and stubborness. The number of people who can spend equal time in all aspects of their lives that lead to a balanced life must be pretty low. Most who do are financial secure enough to do it. Four decades of existence, I still struggle with maintaining balance. The best way to do it other than self discipline is to find people you have lots of fun with in each of the balance quadrants. They draw you to that neglected part of your life whenever things get hectic. Losing weight, looking after your teeth are neglected because generally they are not fun things to do.

Someone once said you are either exiting a problem, in the middle of one or entering a new one. Get used to it...