My day yesterday (Wednesday) was among the busiest days of my career (rivaling LA trips with three pitches in a day).
Last November, when I spoke at a Churchill Club event on leadership, I was introduced to Jon Swartz at USA Today. I started talking with Jon regularly though we were interrupted many times by Katrina and another big piece he was working (hence the delay in publishing it). Along the way, Jon spoke with a handful of my classmates, many people in the business world who I know (like Greg Prow, Marc Benioff, Tim Taylor, Brad Feld, Trevor Traina, others), my basketball coach, my Dad, my business partner, clients. Only a few were quoted.
I woke up Wednesday at 6:40 AM to about a dozen emails from people on the east coast, mostly strangers, who read the article. I didn’t have time to process it all because I had to hustle to my 7 AM breakfast with Robin Bordoli of Mobius, who’s a really nice guy (and fellow Cole Valley-er) and he seems to be turning the corner on his blogging experiment.
After breakfast I went to school for my 8:50 AM class. Trying to concentrate on James Joyce was an exercise in futility as the emails starting pouring in and three new voicemails popped up on my BlackBerry.
At 9:45 AM I spent 20 minutes returning urgent phone calls, mostly related to the story.
At 10:10 AM I responded to some additional timely requests during my free period.
At 11:00 AM I had my math class. I went to the bathroom 5 minutes before class ended to duck outside and do a live phone interview with KOMO radio in Seattle.
At noon I spoke to an advisor and another consultant. No time for lunch or bathroom.
At 12:40 PM I had an Econ class followed by a meeting with the Head of School at my high school.
Finally, at 1:50 PM I called my partner Dave and we caught up and strategized next steps.
After my last class on American Poverty ended at 3:00 PM, I rushed downtown for a college interview at 3:30, back to the school for some quick email and then 5:00 PM basketball practice.
From 8-9:30 PM I continued to sift through the 175 emails I received and 25+ blog comments.
It was a great feeling when I lay my head on my pillow last night at 11:00 PM!