May 26, 2020

Hey Gang,

I hope you had an amazing long weekend. Even though we couldn’t travel or host big barbeques, at least we got to rest our eyes. I personally was feeling totally by the end of the week.

We snuck in some stand-up paddle boarding on Friday, before the hoards descended on parks and beaches. (So, technically, I wasn’t fishing… but I saw fish! And ducklings! Photos below.) It was my maiden voyage, so I was still getting my sea legs. It was a good start; the river was still, and paddling was relaxing and meditative. Then we hit shallow water, and currents moved fast – I was thrown off-balance, shaky, sometimes stuck in the rocks. Spastically flapping my ore against the current, I made absolutely zero progress, despite 10x my efforts. I finally realized I should just step off the board and walk the thing forward (duh).

It seemed counter-intuitive to feel wobbly in shallow areas and calm in deep ones, but it was a nascent reminder of the adage, “still waters run deep.” As we navigate choppy waters, we’re learning a lot about ourselves and our leaders. Are they able to stay calm and look for alternative routes? Or are they flailing about and expending 10x energy? Are they blaming others or taking responsibility? Is there more below the surface, or have shallow waters exposed shallow leaders? I’m curious to hear what this experience has taught you about yourself, and what you are learning about your leadership team.

“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” – Warren Buffett

News & Resources

• HBR: Onboarding a New Leader — Remotely – six actionable ideas for any size company

• Silicon Valley defined modern office culture. Now it needs to learn to live without it

• SF to Allow Summer Day Camps Starting June 15 – parents everywhere, rejoice!

From the Community

• Muscle disorder biotech Avidity aims for the clinic with $100M IPO – go, Sarah Boyce & Troy Wilson (and team)!

• Daphne Koller’s AI startup gets $143M in new cash from a16z, others – major props to Daphne and our friend Mary Rozenman (and team)!

Food Fight – are you gardening? Fishing? Send pics!

Last week’s entry from Carol Gallagher inspired a whole new category: Green thumb awards!

This week’s green thumb is my buddy Brett Fleshman, recently liberated VP of Commercial Strategy and Business Development at Veloxis.

Gardener’s comments: “Planting a working garden has been a way to do something real in a surreal time. It is interesting that for the ultimate help of the plants, you have to plant them at an adequate distance apart. We grow much more than we need, and my kids love helping me deliver fresh food to our neighbors. This has been a family tradition for 10 years, and I hope for 20 more!”

Cuteness Contest

The ducklings were out in full force this weekend! We saw two different breeds.

A Little Levity

• Honest Apologies for Why I Couldn’t Talk During Quarantine – “Lately I’ve been doing a deep dive into the origins of English grammar, specifically the difference between past participle and present perfect…”

Be well,

Jackie