Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Inner Wisdom - A testimony on how entrepreneurship is powered by Mindfulness.

Source: TechCrunch, Saturday, June 8th, 2013

Rizwan Virk is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and film-maker.
He was co founder of Gameview Studios, maker of the popular Tap Fish mobile game, which was downloaded over 30 million times, and was an angel investor in Tapjoy, Pocket Gems, Funzio, Telltale and Iddiction.

The second edition of his book, Zen Entrepreneurship: Walking the Path of the Career Warrior, was just released and can be bought on Amazon.
In Silicon Valley, it’s easy to find lots of advice on what I call the “external” how-tos of startups, including: structuring your company, building a minimum viable product, negotiating a term sheet with investors, selling your company, and on and on!

This post, on the other hand, is about the less publicized “inner side” of the entrepreneurial journey. In this journey, there are no ready made prescriptions. Every company, entrepreneur, and market is unique.

Rather, it’s about developing a “clear mind” to see what’s really happening, trusting your “gut” to find a path through uncharted terrain, and recognizing and transcending your personal patterns to find your calling in life.

Do any of these things really help in building a successful startup? When I started my first software company fresh out of MIT, I didn’t think so. Imagine my surprise when, a few years later, the issues I was struggling with in my path of personal growth turned out to be the same issues that would determine life or death for my startup! I wrote my book, Zen Entrepreneurship, to share some of the lessons I learned.

Here are some highlights:

1. Stay Calm and See Clearly.

Running a startup can be like having several firehoses aimed at your from different directions, each one trying to knock you off balance. How can you retain a calm mind and not panic with every burst of the unexpected?

Taking a little time away from your startup to develop focus and clarity of mind is an essential practice that I highly recommend. In Eastern traditions (and increasingly in the west), this means meditation or yoga. While these practices provide practical benefits like increased concentration, calm and endurance, the real goal of these practices is something else entirely: awareness.

In the yogic traditions, our mind-body consists of a several clear sheaths (called kosas), and as we experience stress in our lives and our work, we build up imperfections in these sheaths (called samskaras) to the point where they become muddy and don’t let light shine through. Ultimately this blinds us to seeing the results of our actions clearly, and we get caught in repetitive patterns. Unlike exercise, which is primarily a physical activity, meditation and yoga practices helps to clear these sheaths, like cleaning a dirty windshield, which allows us to perceive more clearly what we’re dealing on the road around us, and then take appropriate action.

As entrepreneurs, we are so busy convincing investors, employees, advisors and customers of our vision of the future, sometimes we’re blinded to the underlying reality of the market around us until it’s too late. In Silicon Valley, the blogs are full of reasons why companies and products fail after the fact.

Unlike the famous (fictional) Japanese blind swordsman, Zatoichi, who often saw the results of a particular sword swipe in his mind before he acted, it’s never possible to predict the results of an action completely. It is, however, possible to perceive those results more clearly as soon as they happen, if we’re in the right state of mind. Rather than seeing how we would like a product to perform, we can see what’s really happening in the market – and then take appropriate action.

2. Entrepreneur, Know Thyself! Your Patterns are like Dragons.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from starting multiple companies and investing in dozens of entrepreneurs, it’s that sooner or later, your personality affects the trajectory of your startup – whether you want it to or not!

In my book Zen Entrepreneurship, my mentor uncovers a pattern in my life that I was only barely consciously aware of at the time: I was always looking for something new and exciting, and would end up doing too many things at once. Eventually, I’d be forced to drop some of the activities I was juggling in order to salvage the rest. To qualify as a pattern, something has to happen at least 3 times, and it had – in high school, in college, and now in my first startup after school.
When we raised VC money for this rapidly growing startup, this pattern got worse, not better! It crystallized into what I now call the “Acting vs. Singing” issue (“In Hollywood, all actors want to be singers, while all singers want to be actors”).

 Every one of the startups I’ve been involved with since have faced a core issue like this in some form. We couldn’t decide whether we wanted to be a product company or a service company, so we kept doing both, which almost led to disastrous results. To make my company succeed, I had to recognize and deal with this internal pattern that was unconsciously driving my business.

As another example, I know one entrepreneur in Silicon Valley who always finds himself in a similar situation with new investors and advisors. There’s always a honeymoon period when the “new guy” can do no wrong in his eyes and he wastes no time boasting about this to the rest of the team. Sooner or later, one of the decisions they make doesn’t turn out so well. Then the entrepreneur starts to blame the “new guy” entirely for the failure, rather than taking any responsibility himself. Eventually, the new guy gets fed up with the entrepreneur, and they part ways, never wanting to have anything to do with each other ever again.

The remarkable thing about this pattern, which I only recognized after it had happened several times, was that the entrepreneur had no idea this was happening. Like Bill Murray in GroundHog Day, that he was caught in a ever-repeating drama of his own making. Only by consciously recognizing this pattern as a reflection of his own issues, which he was unwilling to do, would he be able to transcend the pattern.

Think about your own patterns, or those of entrepreneurs that you know. Like some young men (or women) who find themselves in similar relationships with different people, the more I invest in Silicon Valley startups the more I see ambitious entrepreneurs repeating their inner dramas outwardly in their startups.
Your internal patterns are like dragons. There’s an old Chinese proverb about dragons: “Ignore the dragon and it will eat you. Confront the dragon and it will defeat you. Learn to ride the dragon and you will take advantage of its might and power.”
The key is to recognize and learn to utilize the strengths that are hidden in your patterns, not to be consumed by them.

3. Learn to use your intuition and follow the clues.

As you learn to clear your mind, you will also be able to tune into your intuition much more clearly. Sometimes, a little hunch, gut feeling, a funny feeling, an unexpected coincidence, synchronicity, or even a particularly vivid dream can lead you out of a troubled situation to a whole new level of success. I call these forms of intuition clues. Like a good treasure hunt or mystery, clues are only revealed one at a time and we have to be able to both recognize them individually, and assemble them into a larger pattern.
A few years ago when I was starting an XML-content management company, we couldn’t find a name that we liked. I happened to be visiting my parents in Michigan, and was driving on I-94 near Ann Arbor when I noticed a vaguely familiar name on the side of a building: Arbortext. I had a funny feeling when I saw it, the kind that stays with you even if you don’t know why, sort of like a déjà vu.
Taking this feeling be a clue, I decided to follow it. Initially, it provided a simple answer to our naming problem. The founders of Arbortext had named their company after their college hometown. We decided to do the same and named our company CambridgeDocs. But that wasn’t all. Following the clue further, I did some research on this company an realized they were in an adjacent market space, so I got in touch with one of the founders of Arbortext to tell him about our product. To make a long story short, they became our biggest customer and gave our little startup a ton of credibility in our market – all because I followed the clue to see where it would lead.
Whether they admit it or not, most investors rely heavily on their gut feelings and intuition when making investment decisions. They then add the logical justification that’s necessary to get their partners to agree that it’s a good investment.
A few years ago, when I was at Stanford Business School, a well-known Sand Hill Road VC told us something about his process that would’ve made my analysis-oriented professors run for the hills. He said that in addition to the usual factors (market size, management team, competition), he looked for “signals” in the environment around him as confirmation before making an investment. Basically what I would call clues. Once, when he was agonizing over whether to invest in a multimedia streaming company, he went to a ballgame. While there, he co-incidentally overheard a child whose vision wasn’t great tell his father that he wished he could watch the game on his phone because their seats were so far away. This clue was enough confirmation and the VC decided to go ahead with the investment.
That’s how clues work — if you or I had overhead this kid, it might not have meant anything to us — they’re highly personalized messages from our unconscious telling us to pay attention to something. So where are they leading?

4. Connect the dots and find the larger Pattern.

Sometimes, following our intuition will lead to individual dots that won’t connect to reveal a larger Pattern until many years later. A famous example of this is Steve Jobs quitting all his college classes and falling in love with calligraphy instead. The implications of this weren’t clear until years later, when they were building the first Macintosh computer. If it weren’t for his passion for typefaces from that calligraphy class, it’s possible that you’d be reading this on a black and white or green screen in courier!
What are you intrigued by that you’ve never followed up on? This relates not just to your current startup, but your calling in life, the larger Pattern.
I used to love the idea of being a film-maker, playing out whole scripts in my mind during junior high school. Years later, after I had started investing in and mentoring entrepreneurs, I was approached by a different kind of young entrepreneur that no one wanted to fund: a fresh graduate from film school. Connecting the dots, I started mentoring film-makers and it has become as personally rewarding for me as tech startup investments.
True success and fulfillment come not just from selling a company or making millions of dollars, they come from feeling aligned what you were meant to do in this life. I call this your unique Warrior’s Path – the contributions you are here to make, and the lessons you are here to learn (which usually have to do with dealing the kinds of patterns and issues that I mentioned earlier).
Once again, in the words of the ever-quotable Zen Master of Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs: “You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”
Follow the clues. Connect the dots. Find the larger Pattern at work in your life. That’s what the Zen of Entrepreneurship is all about.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Make a life not just a living

What is more important to teach our children?
To make a living or to make a life?
 
BOTH!
 
Of course we need to teach them how to make a living, as they need to survive.
To make a living is about what we get, what we earn.

But to be happy they need also to learn how to make a life.
To make a life is about what we give.
 
So we need to learn about:
1) the virtuous cicle of "health, happiness and compassion", and

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Health, Happiness and Compassion - The essence of a happy mind in a blissful body

 
How to balance your elements and produce and spread “happiness” hormones?
 

 
Our body and mind need hormones, in a balanced way, to be healthy.
We have three main outer paths to produce and balance our hormones:
-> quality food,
-> quality breathing,
-> quality sleeping.
 
But there is also an inner process that helps us to go beyond a “healthy mind in a healthy body”: develop a “happy mind in a blissful body”.
 
With a daily practice for the body, breath, mind (physical and breathing exercises, meditation with visualization) we can:
-> delay the aging process and
-> develop the ability to produce, spread and fix “happiness” hormones in our body.
 



This is especially important after 45 years when our body and mind slowly go “in the direction of death”.
 
 
 
 
To maximize the chances for success of our daily practice we have to develop self-discipline and  motivation:
-> Outer motivation: health, beauty, happiness
-> Inner motivation: compassion (deep wish that all beings are liberated from suffering).
 
Compassion is the ultimate super-power.
 These two motivations create a virtuous circle:
-  the more compassion I feel, the happier I am.
- the more happiness I feel, the healthier I am.
- The healthier I am, the longer I live.
 
The longer I live,
the bigger the chances I have to become free:
 liberated from suffering, enlightened.
 
 
 
 Time is my ultimate treasure.
Life is precious – don’t waste it.
TIME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RESOURCE I HAVE …
To be healthy, happy, compassionate
To feel Blissful
TO BE LOVE
 

Sunday, May 19, 2013

PITCH TIPS: Unlocking Your Customer's Brain

The two basic drivers of all behaviour and decisions are:
·         to seek pleasure (“I like”, which generates attachment), and
·         to avoid pain (“I don’t like”, which generates anger).

According to Kevin Hogan, author, The Science of Influence, "most people react to the fear of loss and the threat of pain in a much more profound way than they do for gain."

 The old brain "decides" on the basis of the gain vs. pain tradeoff.

According to neuroscientists, there are 3 main parts to the brain, each functioning as a brain unto itself. These "three brains" - nestled inside one another -- are as follows:

 ·          The "Human" ("New," or outer-most) Brain: Most evolved part of the brain known as the cortex. Responsible for logic, learning, language, conscious thoughts and our personalities.

·          The "Mammalian" (Middle) Brain: Also known as the limbic system. Deals with our emotions, moods, memory and hormones.

·          The "Reptilian" (Old) Brain: Also known as the R Complex controls our basic survival functions, such as hunger, breathing, flight-or-fight reactions and staying out of harm's way.

While neuromarketing is still a young field with many unanswered questions, one finding is clear. The reptilian, or "old," brain drives your customers' buying decisions.

 
So when preparing any pitch (sales, investment, etc), make sure you follow this strategy:
·          Diagnose the PAIN
·          Differentiate your CLAIMS
·          Demonstrate the GAIN
·          Deliver to the DECISION-MAKER (the Reptilian Brain)

 
finalists of PNIC 2012 - Creative Industries
Porto, Portugal
 

The way to "update our operating system" is to develop our emotional intelligence with practices from the Contemplative Sciences, such as Mindfulness (Tog Chöd) and Fast2Yoga (happy mind in a blissful body).


Videos:
Dan Siegel - The brain and the developing mind (lecture) - video 1
Dan Siegel - The hand model of the 3 brains - video 2

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Emotional Intelligence - how to use and transform your emotions

 
Our emotions are neither good nor bad. They are a source of energy and it is up to us, it is our responsability, which direction we will give them.

This is what emotional intelligence is all about. Learning how to use our emotions and put them into good use.

We can learn a lot from the contemplative sciences, especially from the Tantrayana School of Thought. Their methods and wisdom teaches us how to transform our negative emotions into their pure quality.

It is like alchemy: using the power of the 5 elements (space, earth, wind, fire, water),
we transform metal into gold,
we transform charcoal into diamant
we transform our Ego into a pure being.

We are blinded by ignorance on our true nature, and the true nature of reality, phenomena.
Our wrong view gives our emotions a negative direction; a right view gives our emotions a positive direction. The ax that cuts the root of our ignorance is understanding emptiness and compassion.

By practing daily the Vajra2Yoga ( 5 elements tantra yoga exercise), we do not only acquire a healthier body, but also a healthier emotional mind (we develop our emotional intelligence). Gradually our emotions and view on life change:
- close-mindedness is transformed into equanimity (space element) - daily antidote: tolerance
- pride is transformed into serenity (earth element) - daily antidote: devotion
- jealousy is transformed into love (wind element) - daily antidote: generosity
- anger is transformed into kindness (fire element) - daily antidote: patience
- self-centred is transformed into selflessness (water element) - daily antidote: altruism

To start this changing process, first you need to meditate analitically on the four transformation thoughts:
- life is precious
- life is suffering
- life is impermanente, always changing
- law of karma (cause and effect, "what you sow, you shall reap").

Then, you medidate on the Four Noble Truths that will teach you that life is suffering but there is a way out of this suffering.
 
You will realize that "Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Optional".
 
Pain is what the world does to you;
Suffering is what you do to yourself.
 
 To Schedule Workshops (fast2yoga@gmail.com)

Friday, March 8, 2013

How is the Internet and our digital age affecting the human mind?

This question was addressed at the recent gathering at the Wisdom 2.0 conference in San Francisco by exploring how individuals are connecting in ways that do not support a deep sense of being seen or felt by others.

As a result of the digital age, we are "alone together", and ironically people feel more isolated than ever.

IPNB (Interpersonal Neurobiology, a term coined by Dan Siegel) views the mind as both an embodied and relational process, and so in many ways these constrained communications are not just shaping the mind, but they are creating a more externally focused way of living that can create more stress, less meaning, and more loneliness in our world.

At this conference, participants were seeking creative ways to alter this trend and help the mind and our relationships become more integrated.

The following citation from Carl Jung shows us the way:
When we look outside we dream;
When we look inside we awake.
 
In my opinion, the best way way is to balance outer networking with inner networking, through meditation.

There are three main types of meditation: Mindfulness, LovingKindness and Awareness.

 “The practice of lovingkindness meditation brings to life our innate capacity for connecting to ourselves and others,” states Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts, USA.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has stated, “My true religion is kindness.” Although kindness can be mistakenly seen as simplistic and weak, it has an inherent power to transform our worldview from one of fear and isolation to one rooted in clarity, courage, and compassion.

One of my individual practices is Tog Chod (the Wisdom Sword) - in its first level of practice we develop a state of Mindfulness.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Mindfulness gives us the power to succeed in life and business


Tog Chöd is a tantric practice that gives us physical and mental strength; it liberate us from fear and expectations so we can embrace change and seize opportunities (the makings of an entrepreneur).

Tog Chöd empowers us with:
the power of now (mindfulness) which in turn fuels the power of change (free will: freedom to choose and power to decide):
1) freedom to choose (comes from an open mind: self-esteem)
2) power to decide (comes from an open heart: self-confidence).

The more we are in the present moment, the more silence and space we have to truly exercise our free will. 
We need space to find our self-confidence to decide amidst incertanty; and
We need silence to find our self-esteem to have freedom to choose.


Our space is comprised of either love or ego (because love and ego don´t coexist) => love expands our existence, ego limits our existence. So the more open we are (the more we love), the bigger is our existence and we have more courage and power to decide. 

"For until we know everything, the only way to make life clear is to decide", Tulku Lobsang.

You want to succeed in life? Practice Tog Chöd - The Wisdom Sword (read more)
It gives us mindfulness (space and silence), giving us the "power of now".

It cuts fears and expectations, increasing our emotional intelligence, giving us:
"vision/insight" - the ability to identify oportunities, and
 "decision" - the ability to act facing uncertainty.


{Vision + Decision} = Entrepreneur
We need both qualities to succeed in life  and in business!


Tulku Lobsang gives an introduction to the Tibetan martial arts and meditation technique:  Tog Chöd – the Wisdom Sword:
Video 1 - Tog Chod Philosophy 
Video 2 Tog Chod I practice.

 


Mindfulness and the Brain: intuition as THE mode of action to excel in business and in life

Literature available seems to indicate that stress and anxiety, as well as self-concept, play a decisive role in academic performance. Furthermore, meditation has been demonstrated to reduce stress and anxiety, at the same time it leads to improved cognitive skills, such as attention, memory and concentration, as well as academic performance. (source: "Exploring the effects of a Mindfulness Program for Students of Secondary School", International Journal of Knowledge Society, 2011).

The way to excel  in any type of activity (intelectual, artistic, athletic) is first to learn and then forget. Otherwise knowledge closes our mind instead of opening it. So, first we learn the methods and techniques then we need to forget them, and just follow our intuition. In the first part we use the left hemisphere of the brain (analytical thinking) and then we act freely by unleashing the right hemisphere of the brain (holistical thinking).

Lets see, for instance, what happens in sports, according to James Harvey Stout: the analytical function of the mind learns techniques, and it analyzes our movements (and the opposing team's general techniques), and it tries to control the body willfully. This mode is vital when we first learn a sport, but it becomes less important as we master the basic skills and make them automatic. Then, we can rely more upon intuition.

Each moment in every game is unique and infinitely complex (with regard to the possible action of each player); only intuition can give us the overview of all of those unique dynamics -- including the movements of other players, our own capabilities at this moment, etc. The best players are intuitive; for example, they know that the opposing team's defense will open a hole for them at a specific instant.     

In contrast, if we rely on analysis, we are limited in many ways:
=> Analysis depends upon technical knowledge. This technical knowledge is merely a generalization of the methods of the sport; by itself, it does not account for the singular factors in this moment.
=> Analysis depends upon sensory data. We do not have "eyes in the back of our head" -- but intuition can detect motion and intention of players who are beyond even the peripheral range of our senses.
Furthermore, meditation is the key method to control and "upgrade" our mind (emotions), so the mind can control the body. Recent research supports both a physical and brain contribution to the perception of exercise fatigue. Brain imaging research indicates a key role for the brain insula region in regulating subjective fatigue and in making a decision to discontinue exercise. Highly trained athletes show an ability to attenuate the brain right insula activation found in untrained athletes with extreme exertion (source).

The Tibetan Running Technique (Lung Ta) is a meditation-in-movement technique that allows us to overcome fatigue and reach high peak performance, both in speed and power.

It can also be used in daily life to develop a healthy body and a healthy mind. As with all meditation practices, it will empower us with creativity, empathy and insight.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Lean StartUps are powered by Design Thinking

Lean Entrepreneurship is all about "searching for a repeatable and scalable business model", according to Steve Blank and Eric Reyes.

The focus of this search is Customer Development: Customer Discovery and Customer Validation.

Guess what? This is what Design Thinking is all about: an iteration process to find out what the customer wants: the ultimate emotional experience.

And all buying decisions are emotional. Don't let anyone tell you differently (read Pitch Tips - Unlocking your customer's Brain).

So Design Thinking powers the process of aligning our Value Proposition (and the Minimal Viable Product - MVP) with Customer Needs.

A CEO needs to be a Design Thinker.

EMPATHY IS THE HEART OF MARKET/PRODUCT FIT

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Be mindful and healthy - a 12 mins daily practice from Tibetan Tantric Yoga

The essence of TibetanTantric teaching is that the body is the vehicle for the transformation of the mind. In other words, Mindfulness starts with the body (see previous post).

I advise everyone to take a tutorial from Fast2Yoga  (Tibetan Tantric Yoga) - a 12 minutes practice of Lu Jong: the 5 elements (space, earth, wind, fire, water). These 5 exercises (meditation in movement), though very simple, are the cornerstone of Tibetan Tantric Yoga: the fastest path towards lasting happiness.

These exercises also give us vitality and rejuvenation: the 5 elements exercises focus especially on the spine thus allowing us to develop a healthy central nervous system.

There are three very essential prerequisites for vitality and rejuvenation: a healthy central nervous system (brain and spine), healthy glands and healthy internal organs.

Lu Jong, the Tibetan healing yoga improves the health of the body, mind and spirit. This series of movements cultivates our self-healing capacity by releasing physical and mental blockages and harmonizing our flow of energy. Rooted in Tibetan Medicine, the Lu Jong exercises restore the balance of the elements and humors – vital substances – of the body and increase the flexibility of the spine. Through a rhythmic combination of position, movement and breath, this practice cultivates conducive conditions for meditation by calming and focusing the mind.
If you finish this practice with the 5 elements massage from the Kum Nye practice, then the benefits will rise exponentially.

The Kum Nye Massage can regenerate and balance the whole energy system by opening chakras, or blocked points, on the gross, physical level. Various massage techniques are used to release blocks and cramping in order to relax the muscles. This massage has a special benefit for those that do hard physical labor, those who train the body through sports or other body movement practices, as well as for those with a sedentary way of life that suffer from tension. Kum Nye makes us feel more balanced and increases strength and vitality.
The combination of this two practices is the balance of all elements and through that, the balance of body and mind.


the spine is more critical to our well-being than the brain
Nerves from the brain and spine go to every tissue in the body and therefore the health of every tissue in the body depends upon the health of the brain and spine.

Since the nerves from the spine go to all the organs and glands of the body, a healthy spine obviously plays an important role in vitality and rejuvenation. In fact, the spine is more critical to our well-being than the brain, since the brain is well protected by the cranium or skull bone. Whereas the spinal nerves have no protection.

The ancient Tibetan yogis fully understood the vulnerability of the spine and the importance of keeping it healthy and flexible.

If you do nothing to improve your spine's flexibility as you get older, your spine will deteriorate further and the spinal nerves will be increasingly impinged upon. This will lead to further deterioration of your organs and glands, until eventually their actual structure becomes diseased. We call this organic disease. At this stage, not only is their function impaired, but their cells are actually dying. If the condition is too advanced, it is irreversible. It's at this stage that many people go to doctors and are told that they have, for example, cancer of some particular organ. The cancer has not appeared overnight; in reality it has been developing for many years. source


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Mindfulness starts with the body

Practices of Tibetan Tantric Yoga, like Lu Jong and Tog Chöd taught by Fast Yoga, allows us to develop a blissful body in a mindful mind.


Check how neurocientists are researching the use of Mindfulness therapies in reducing chronic pain and depression relapse (link - Frontiers in Human NeuroScience).

In this study, the researchers conclude that " the proposed framework aligns with Buddhist teachings that mindfulness starts with “mindfulness of the body.” 

Translating this theory into neurophysiology, we hypothesize that mindfulness practitioners better detect and regulate when their mind wanders. This enhanced regulation of somatic mind-wandering may be an early stage of mindfulness training, leading to cognitive regulation and metacognition."