Get After It.
“If you live for the weekend, than your shit’s broken.” Gary Vaynerchuck
Rise and Grind Jam
I met J. Cole at Rock The Bells last summer, so I felt obligated to give a shoutout to my new BFF. Besides, what better jam to get you pumped up for the week than a track entitled “Rise and Shine”?
One thing I’ve always admired about rappers, is their hustle. They create and nurture their own brand and leverage that into mainstream success. Hell, J. Cole stood outside the Roc Nation offices every day until he was able to hand Jay-Z a demo tape. That’s commitment. And hustle. More about this later.
I’m excited for Cole’s sophomore album, “Born Sinner.” It was supposed to come out today but it got pushed back to a later date.
Man Crush of The Week
With 4 goals against Osasuna, Lionel Messi crossed the 200 goal mark in La Liga. He became the youngest player to score 200 goals in La Liga by almost four years. I watched the game with my dad, and we almost lost our minds at the beauty that was his second mark of the Spanish evening. He received a perfect pass from Xavi (who else?) in the penalty box dribbled in, and then faked the goalie out with a mere turn of his hips. The goalie went left, and Messi slotted it to the right.
It’s just not fair. Messi spoils us. We’ve become accustomed to his greatness.
Lio, for scoring four goals and becoming the youngest player ever to score 200 goals in La Liga, you win Man Crush of The Week. This is Lio’s 5th MCOTW. He is now second all time to only Silvio Berlusconi.
Meeting Jay-Z
In case you’re wondering, Hova is not on LinkedIn.
No luck this week. Should have known better than to try an AOL email address.
Startup Tales
Si se pudo!
There are not a lot of Hispanics in Silicon Valley. I mean, there are a lot of Hispanics in Silicon Valley (we’re everywhere). Just not not a lot of us in tech.
I was talking about this with a close friend of mine and the question came up, do I feel more pressure to succeed in tech because I’m Mexican? I never really gave it much thought but the more I think about it, the more I feel that I do feel slightly more pressure to succeed.
Growing up, I never really had any business role models to emulate. As the child of Mexaican immigrants,most of the older people I knew worked in canneries or as field laborers. While this instilled a sense of hard work in me, I never had any business role models or goals to apply that too.
I had to really search for that mentorship and entrepreneurial guidance. So the pressure that I feel is mostly to serve as an inpiration to people that are growing up the way I did.
Sure, Carlos Slim, a Mexican national is the richest man in the world. But in between that, there are not many cases of Mexican Americans that have been successful in business and even less so in tech.
Hispanics are the most rapidly growing demographic in the United States. Within years we will see Hispanics teeter into tech and business on a larger scale. And I want to be there as a reference point for those hustling and grinding their way through the business world.
I don’t know if I’ll be successful in my field. But I know that I will bust my balls trying to. And if along the way, I could serve as an inspiration to ONE person, than I’ll count that as a W.
Travel Notes
Over the past month I’ve been to San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York. I think I’ve been on a plane more times in the last year, than I had in my previous 24 years of life.
I love being able to see new cities, new places and new people. These experiences have been wonderful for both my personal and professional development. One thing I noticed too, is that traveling makes home new again.
It’s almost as if every time I return to SFO, the refresh button is pressed. I’m able to see my everyday life through a new lens of appreciation and wonder.
I don’t want to say that I’m bored with everyday life, because I’m not. But sometimes you get used to a routine that has going through the motions. But returning from a new city kind of zaps you out of that mentality and makes you more aware of what’s going on around you.
And maybe that’s the key to sustaining happiness in our everyday lives, it’s to be able to see everything as new and unique.
The amazing Brazilian author Paulo Coelho has a quote that I love repeating. “When each day is the same as the next, it’s because people fail to fecognize the good things that happen in their lives every day the sun rises.”
A friend and I had a conversation about this not long ago. He told me that one thing he does to keep everything new is to host friends from out of town.
“When you host someone, you want to show them the best of your city. And it’s like your seeing it for the first time again through their eyes. Their discovery or appreciation of a bar or park or whatever, is like your first impression all over again. It’s awesome man.”
So my advice is find what makes your hometown or your city or your job new again. It could be as simple as just observing more around you or maybe even hosting friends for a few hours.
Think about it, when you discover something new, you have this passon and child-like enthusiasm that makes that event memorable. Imagine carrying that with you all the time. Pretty sweet, no?
Just some Monday Musings for you fine folk. It’s the last few weeks days of January. Make them count so that you can hit February on the ground running. Hope you guys are having a kickass start to the week.
BooM!
Orale! Keep tearing it up in Silicon Valley! You’re already an inspiration to one half Mexican (this one).
P.S. Since we both travel like bosses, let’s rendezvous in a random city/country this year
Thanks Dan! That would be awesome man. Any chance you’ll be at SXSW this March?
doubtful. Already have money going to some other trips. Supposed to go to Thailand the end of Feb and then a PPC conference in April in Texas. We should plan to visit Hova in NYC tho. Told him I’d swing by this year for a visit