1 hour 8 minute listen
Santa Monica, CA
Here’s a live interview we recorded in Santa Monica, CA this July that will blow away any worries or apprehensions you have about the Millennial Generation—or venture capital—or Millennials in venture capital.
Maxx Bricklin is a twenty-something Principal and Co-Founder of BOLD Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based venture firm that invests in the best, most experienced entrepreneurs who employ exponential technology in AI, AR/VR, Robotics, 3-D printing, and sensors. These technologies are typically used in highly leveraged domains like health care or productivity (Manufacturing 4.0) where they believe they create opportunities that will yield unusual growth.
Maxx candidly describes his views about the requirements for success in his domain, specifically: finding the best new investments, and then helping those investments succeed once you have made the commitment to them. He speaks with me at length about the requirement for asymmetrical information, building on the foundations of multiple relationships, the skill of recognizing patterns of information, and connecting the dots between domains.
Maxx is an entrepreneur who exclusively invests in entrepreneurs. His interview with me is brimming with energy, and it’s easy to see why BOLD Capital is flourishing. Buckle your seat belt.
What I am Reading / Listening to
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Contributed by Denise C. Burke
Recently, I was fortunate enough to spend a relaxing week at Lake Winnipesauke in NH. This gave me the opportunity to read several books that have piled up over the past few months. One I would highly recommend was Angie Kim’s debut novel, Miracle Creek. This courtroom drama centers around a horrific accident at a hyperbaric oxygen therapy facility (HBOT) that was set-up and run by a family of Korean immigrants.
As an aside, I had never heard of HBOT treatments so I quickly digressed to google for a little education. If you are as ignorant about this as I was, these treatments have been around for quite some time. The patients enter a pressurized chamber which allows them to breathe 100% pure oxygen into their lungs. It appears to be primarily used to treat wounds that don’t heal, skin or bone infections, burns, decompression sickness, and bubbles in blood vessels as well as an assortment of other ailments. My search led me to believe there is not enough medical evidence to support that it is successful in treating conditions such as autism, brain injury, and infertility – which were what the patients in this novel had.
Back to the novel… the story unfolds through the voices of the HBOT facility owner’s family members, and the families that were clients under their care. As I was reading, by the end of each chapter, I was convinced I had figured out what had happened, only to be proved wrong as plot twist after plot twist unfolded. This book makes you think and ask yourself many questions. Would you put a family member through HBOT? How would you parent and deal with the pressures of special needs children? How far would you go to protect your family? Another interesting fact is that the author also immigrated to the U.S. from Korea. The family faced many difficulties adapting to American society. This issue also addresses how we, as humans, are not necessarily as accepting or understanding of how difficult a transition this is for immigrants.
Overall, the book started slow, but gained momentum quickly. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did…would love to hear your thoughts.
Entrepreneur Owner-Manager Quote
“I never understood why people feared success, but now I do. The more successful you are, the more people expect of you. "
-Ross Silverstein, CEO of iPROMOTEu.com, Inc. at The Bigelow Forum 2019
Energy Creation
Contributed by Kim A. Errico
As a new member of the Bigelow team, I attended my first Bigelow Forum this year and while I had high expectations, I can confirm that it was even more energy creating than I thought it would be. I was inspired by the openness, honesty, and participation from the attendees. In the past few months, I’ve been absorbing as much as possible from the team about what Bigelow stands for and how our values align with our approach in working with high-performing Entrepreneur Owner-Managers (EOMs). But by far, the most valuable insights have come from the 24 hours I spent at the Bigelow Forum interacting with as many EOMs as I could.
By the end of the Forum on Friday afternoon, I departed exhausted and super inspired by the stories shared and lessons learned. There is something extremely elevating that comes from hearing the successes (and failures) of 70+ risk-takers in the same room. I’m still thinking about the Featured Speaker, behavioural economist David Laibson’s keynote on cognitive bias. Whether it was a question or a head nod, it was obvious that every person in that room could relate to what he was saying about how our biases affect our decision making. Energy levels are high when an audience is engaged and that energy is contagious. The buzz of the Forum meeting room was alive and if you’re able to carry that out when you leave, then you’re sure to feel charged up and ready to take on whatever obstacle comes next.
Fully committing to an event or community can sometimes sound time consuming and energy draining. Time is our most scarce resource, right? But what if the emotional investment is worth it? Personally, I feel that investing energy and time in The Forum was totally worth what I got in return. I get rebooted from interacting with new people, discussing things that might be out of my comfort zone, and observing others do the same. In my opinion this allows people to create belief in their abilities and walk away with a few golden nuggets on their path towards what they define as “success.” Even if you don’t walk away with a new way of looking at things at least you stepped away from routine and hopefully had some fun while doing so.
In a culture obsessed with measuring talent and ability, I think the role of inspiration is often overlooked. Hearing about losses can be just as motivating as hearing about wins. When you connect with another individual and it helps you to validate your feelings then I believe that that relationship affects your life in a positive way. I saw a lot of this at The Forum and heard from attendees how beneficial it was to connect with other EOMs at this level. It feels really rewarding and I’m proud of each individual who allowed themselves to be vulnerable. Whenever I find myself guilty of getting into a process-driven routine the only way to pull myself out is to find an experience that will inspire me to reset and activate my inner self. The Forum provided that for me two weeks ago and I am grateful for the experience.
