My Journey Into Meditation

January 12, 2015January 12, 2015 Derek Pillingmeditation, mindfulnessLeave a comment

A few weeks ago I wrote about how much I love coffee but that I had to give it up because it was starting to affect my ability to focus. I’m happy to report I’m still off the juice. Giving up coffee has helped to slow down my mind and body; no more raciness. But I’ve noted some remnant busyness in my mind that I’ve been itching to shake off. It sort of feels like I’m peeling an onion, working through the layers and getting closer to the core. Last week, I peeled another layer by starting a personal journey into meditation practice. Week 1 is in the rear view mirror and I’m seeing notable benefit already.

Meditation isn’t entirely new…

The 40s: Decade of Self Awareness?

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 Derek Pillingcareer pivot, courage, self awarenessLeave a comment

The movie This is 40 is a satirical look at the life of a husband and wife who are turning 40 years of age. They have challenges with their kids, their businesses/jobs, financial security and personal relationships. All manner of comedy ensues. It is said that the humor is the good natured side of the truth. Although This is 40 is a caricature, it isn’t far off either. I’ve certainly seen a number of friends go through difficult times of late.

That said, while the 40s certainly present some challenges, I’ve come the conclusion that the 40s are an opportunity to develop self-awareness. My sense is that the accumulating pressures of career, family and of balancing the two crescendo during the 40s. That crescendo…

Be Mindful of Strategic Effects

January 6, 2015January 6, 2015 Derek Pillingdirect effects, gas prices, oil prices, strategic effectsLeave a comment

Yesterday, I was catching up with a friend and fellow youth soccer coach. He happens to be a public stock research analyst. Although we were talking soccer, not business, we ended our conversation musing over the stock market’s Monday decline, which now appears to have extended into Tuesday.

His read; it’s all about oil. For those that haven’t been paying attention, oil prices have dropped precipitously. There are a number of factors at play including weak demand in emerging nations, and the emergence of alternative fuels. But for the most part, this issue is oversupply. Did you know that the United States is now the World’s largest oil producer? Surprising right!

In most cases, a decline in oil prices (particularly a supply…

Throw Out Your 2015 Strategy and Budget Right Now

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 Derek Pillingalignment, Budgeting, flexible opportunism, intention, purpose, strategic intent, strategic planningLeave a comment

The arrival of a new year (and the beginning of a new one) brings a flurry of cognitive churning. As individuals, we 1/ reflect on the year passed, 2/ ritualistically write and read predictions for the next year, and 3/ make resolutions and set goals that are intended to inspire us to greatness during the next twelve months.

I’ve come to see this all as distinctly human but also quite strange. 1/ We can’t do anything about what happened in the past, and many of our “reflections” end up being revisionist history. 2/ The predictions we make – at least the most interesting of them – are almost invariably wrong, but we make them anyway as a way to either “exert control” on our world or to show others how smart we…

Depressive Realism as a Force for Change

December 31, 2014 Derek Pillingbrutal facts, depressive realism, optimismLeave a comment

I generally enter and exit the period between Christmas and New Year in a state of depressive realism. I’m not talking about depression in a clinical sense. Rather, I’m talking about a mood or state of mind that borders on depressed.

This isn’t a new phenomenon for me. I’ve come to expect it. It occurs because I step away from work (as much as is possible), reflect on the past year and contemplate the next. I’ve come to the conclusion that I wasn’t build with the reality distortion module that most humans possess which evolution designed to cause us to believe we are better than we . As a result, my self-assessments and perspective on the reality around…

Kindred Disciplines: Growth Equity and Growth Hacking

December 19, 2014December 18, 2014 Derek PillingCAC, customer acquisition cost, customer retention, customer success, growth equity, growth hacking, lifetime customer value, LTV, product market fitLeave a comment

Growth hacking is now a mainstream term in tech circles, particularly those that are consumer-focused. Growth hacking definitions abound, but generally emphasize a data driven, creative and flexibly opportunistic approach to customer acquisition. Many would argue that growth hacking is simply a new term for an old concept – marketing. While the functions, tools and skills require for growth hacking may be essentially the same as “marketing”, the psychology and mission of growth hacking feel totally different to me. When I hear “marketing”, I think soft, fuzzy, ambiguous, and cost center. When I hear “growth hacking”, I think maniacal focus on growth, scrappy, data driven, tech/tool savvy, and…

I love coffee. I had to stop drinking coffee.

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014 Derek Pillingaddiction, coffee, with-drawlLeave a comment

Three months. That is how long its been since I had a coffee. I didn’t have to give it up; but I needed to.

I love coffee. Warm, frothy, aromatic, tasty, comforting, caffeinating… That last part is where my divorce from coffee begins. I used to be able to drink the stuff all day long with no discernible impact. For years, I’ve had two shots in the morning and two shots in the afternoon. But something changed. I got in a rut. If I didn’t have my afternoon coffee, I crashed. No big deal; have an afternoon coffee and all would be well. That worked until the afternoon coffee started making jittery.

I couldn’t focus. I felt…

Vulnerability and Entrepreneurship

September 2, 2014September 2, 2014 Derek Pillingbrene brown, courage, culture, entrepreneurship, innovation, man in the arena, shame, Thoedore Roosevelt, vulnerabilityLeave a comment

I was browsing through the new Tattered Cover store in the recently renovated Union Station in Denver a few weeks back and found myself standing in the Business Psychology section of the store. For some reason, I have a habit of finding that section without trying – gravity seems to pull me there. In any event, I started thumbing through a book by Brene Brown, named Daring Greatly. The subtitle of Daring Greatly reads: “How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent and lead.” There aren’t many books that stand-out to me as having altered my world view; Daring Greatly definitely did.

I had not heard of Brene Brown’s work before I picked up the book…

We Sell the Ultimate Commodity – Money

April 18, 2014 Derek PillingDU Finance Forum, Mac Clouse, Peter Adams, restrictive covenants, Rockies Venture Club, value addLeave a comment

Last week I participated in a panel discussion at Denver University organized by Maclyn (Mac) Clouse. Mac is a long-time educator and supporter Denver’s entrepreneurial community. I was joined by Peter Adams, Executive Director of the Rockies Venture Club. Mac’s setup for the discussion was “dangerous” because he offered both Peter and I the opportunity to speak for 15 minutes (thankfully without slides) about the angel, venture capital and growth equity investing landscape. No-one who knows me would ever give me that air time…

Peter led off and did an great job talking about the angel investing landscape and the do’s and don’ts of approaching angel investors. Peter is the co-author of Venture Capital

Improv at the Office: Yes, and…

March 18, 2014March 20, 2014 Derek Pillingand, business communication, improv, yesLeave a comment

When I get really busy, I communicate less effectively. Truth is, I don’t listen as well, I get short in my responses and I cut off conversation prematurely, because I’m so focused on getting onto the next thing. I’m not proud of it, but it happens.

The First Rule of Improv

When I was in B-School, I participated in a business communication workshop that was entirely based on improvisational comedy. We practiced improv skits for an hour a week. Improv is really, really, really hard. It takes a quick wit, creativity and a willingness to surrender to wherever the skit goes – and they go everywhere and anywhere. No-one is in control. Everyone is in control!

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