2005-10-01 - 12:43 p.m.
Looking at my recent diary entries, it occurs to me that a reader could get the idea that I�ve gone on permanent vacation. With my move to Chicago, I�ve recounted a visit to a jazz club, a Cubs game and skyscraper lounge, and the joys of Chicago-style hot dogs. Before that I�ve talked about playing house in Denver with N., going to ballgames and plays with her, dining out, going to concerts.
Much of the early summer (after I almost choked to death right before graduation and after I remet N.) seems to have been occupied by trips to see her in various places. I met her family at a spiritualist community. On another visit to Denver, we went out to eat a lot, and visited museums and even a strip club.
I suppose I did just play around this summer. Give me a break; I was kind of busy falling in love. It was probably the best summer I�ve ever had (by comparison, 2004 was the worst summer I ever had). And I had just graduated from college. I think I deserve to blow off some steam after that.
Most of it was made financially possible by graduation gifts from obscure relatives. Also from having taken out too much on my student loans and having an overage which will of course have to be repaid. So thank you very much Uncle Hidalgo and Citibank. And it�s pretty cool having a partner who picks up half the tabs; I�m afraid I almost always paid with Alithea.
But now that I�ve settled in in Chicago, I�m trying to get stuff done. I�m the founder and el presidente of a company, about which I�ll talk more soon. Right now, the idea of my own business still hasn�t fully sunk in. But it�s official now. I formally incorporated last week, so I feel like now there�s no turning back.
Incorporation was actually a disappointingly anticlimactic event. I paid some cut-rate lawyer to file the paperwork. (I know I have friends who are highly-educated lawyers, but they work in more abstruse specialties and turning to them for routine paperwork would be overkill.) He didn�t even send me a confirmation/congratulations email, just said I�d get the formal papers in the mail soon.
Looking back, I guess I�ve had the idea of working for myself for a while back. I realized that nowadays I get burnt out midday and need a nap. I�m fine after an hour or so, but that would be a tough accommodation to sell to a traditional employer. With my own home-based business I�ll be working an awful lot, but it�ll be work I can do on my own schedule and in my own space.
Plus hey, I�m a Brown graduate. We start things. I remember when I was at Harvard, the highest employment aspiration for graduating seniors was investment banker or consultant. Essentially, people were striving to become cogs in the wheel. Well-paid cogs, but cogs nonetheless. The general feeling was why should a Harvard grad risk their brilliant mind on something as risky as entrepreneurship?
To me this is repulsive, basically being completely gutless. Smart people flocking to unquestioningly become functionaries to the existing system. And the idea that entrepreneurship represents an uncalculated crap-shoot is a misconception. Entrepreneurs are trying to minimize risk through careful planning and research. It�s not some reckless cowboy path.
So please wish me luck. I�ll write more soon about the actual concept and specifics behind the business (although I guess I talked a bit about that in my Brown Daily Herald profile). But for now, I have to take the initial steps on the way to the final goal: change the world and become a billionaire.
� 2005 Geoff Gladstone
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