tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52288175998771238942024-02-07T06:05:00.631+00:00Learning to FlyWelcome to my blog. Please visit the "<a href="http://prs-learningtofly.blogspot.pt/p/about-this-blog.html">About this blog</a>" page to see what this blog is, and is not, about. Use the label selector on the right to view posts by subject. I hope you will find something in it for you. Enjoy!Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5228817599877123894.post-5135690024522372012012-11-16T23:46:00.001+00:002013-03-06T12:32:46.413+00:00Something's happening in the Lisbon startup scene!What a week it's been for Lisbon entrepreneurs and startups!<br />
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I've just left the <a href="http://www.svc2lx.com/2012/" target="_blank" title="">Silicon Valley Comes to Lisbon</a> (SVC2Lx) event, and unfortunately that's the only event that I was able to attend this week, but it was only one of the events that took place this week that was oriented towards promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, in the context of the Global Entrepreneurship Week. There was Seedcamp Lisbon, there was SAPO CodeBits, and there were the award ceremonies for the two main innovation competitions in Portugal - BES Inovação and EDP Inovação. For a great overview of what these events are all about, please go and read the <a href="http://blog.ricardodiz.com/2012/11/the-global-entrepreneurship-week-in-portugal/" target="_blank" title="">latest blog post from my good friend Ricardo Diz</a>.</div>
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But the key takeaway here, is something really is happening in the Lisbon startup scene! There is a buzz that didn't exist as such even a couple of years ago. There are impressive ideas coming to life, there are enthusiastic entrepreneurs putting their minds and their hearts into their new companies, there are great incubators doing an excellent job (<a href="http://startuplisboa.com/" target="_blank" title="">Startup Lisboa</a> is an excellent example) and there are international, experienced investors becoming curious about what's going on here. In fact, a recent European Commission report, the <em>Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2012</em>, shows the Lisbon region rising to be an "Innovation Leader", the highest performance group of the report which includes regions such as Paris, London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Finland and most of Germany (see map below). </div>
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This study (full report can be found <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/files/ris-2012_en.pdf" target="_blank" title="">here</a>) classifies European regions according to their ability to spawn quality innovation through variables such as higher education, R&D spending, innovative SMEs, collaboration between SMEs, knowledge-intensive employment and patents. While it is a subset of the variables used in the broader Innovation Union Scoreboard (which does the same classification at a country level and therefore with broader availability of data), it remains a good indicator as to the relative positions and the trends of the different regions. Each "Innovation Leader" region shows different flavours of these variables; the Portuguese Lisbon area shows a good balance of the key indicators used and shows a positive trend, having evolved from being an "Innovation Follower" in the 2009 version of this study.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSQKX3e5rRuIiJaSGHf9EPqugzYLC3Bvj5QyQb-OkNWnCt62cpj8sy1wVJud-7Jhie-D62KZ_Of9MNqei93GP2LGmtb_qZxw6-BxZg6UNLb7j6KS3bu8WXBNrg2YNHuBDflnkAI2_RZE0/s1600/image.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSQKX3e5rRuIiJaSGHf9EPqugzYLC3Bvj5QyQb-OkNWnCt62cpj8sy1wVJud-7Jhie-D62KZ_Of9MNqei93GP2LGmtb_qZxw6-BxZg6UNLb7j6KS3bu8WXBNrg2YNHuBDflnkAI2_RZE0/s1600/image.png" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ophd84PTPcxeTnsEyOVdLTsIR9cczj9sPmJjPJP_HxNggDw8OFuxp9mDM1r7R_byx2pypON2bcITK_-VKgJegAMH8HZiXzi-kQpq8WJUqM9Dls8SL899vDmEF5XK0mPOBverBJdeZhGo/s1600/image+(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Ophd84PTPcxeTnsEyOVdLTsIR9cczj9sPmJjPJP_HxNggDw8OFuxp9mDM1r7R_byx2pypON2bcITK_-VKgJegAMH8HZiXzi-kQpq8WJUqM9Dls8SL899vDmEF5XK0mPOBverBJdeZhGo/s1600/image+(1).png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: European Commission - Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2012</td></tr>
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This is something that I've been having the privilege to witness regularly in my work: as venture capitalists, we look at literally many hundreds of young companies, yearly, in our global deal flow - which is industry jargon for the pipeline of investment opportunities. Now, there are not many Venture Capital investors active around here, and so I can confidently, and humbly, say that we look at the large majority of the young Portuguese startups that are looking for funding and support for growing their businesses. What we're seeing is a systematic growth in the number of these Portuguese companies. In fact, that number has multiplied practically seven-fold since 2008. That's something in itself, but what's even more remarkable is that the quality of the best opportunities and the preparedness of the entrepreneurs has been also increasing, and so it is not just an effect of many non-interesting companies being created at the bottom of the pile, just because it's cool now to be an entrepreneur. It's both a growth in numbers and a consistent evolution in terms of quality. And that is something!</div>
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Moreover, this transformation is happening, in my view (and some will hate me for saying that), not because of new policies that our government is implementing, but in spite of the lack thereof, at least until recently. Indeed, only very recently have there been important initiatives to make an entrepreneur's life a little easier (the very recent <a href="http://www.impulsojovemportugal.pt/uploader/index.php?action=download&field=http://www.impulsojovemportugal.pt/files/b76bd179bb3d286a49493157bd75bb429cbd64bf.pdf&fileDesc=PortariaPassaporteEmpreendedorismo" target="_blank" title="">Passaporte para o Empreendedorismo</a>, and the general <a href="http://www.ei.gov.pt/index/" target="_blank" title="">+e+i Programa Estratégico para o Empreendedorismo e a Inovação</a> are two examples), but they are mostly tactical to some extent. We're still lacking the more structural reforms that can transform the ecosystem, such as policies to attract and retain talent, or initiatives to create a real venture capital industry. I sincerely hope that the recent reform of the government venture capital does not miss a terrific opportunity to do the latter!</div>
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So, what's going on? Why is this happening? I don't have a categoric answer, and I think no-one really knows - it's still soon to draw conclusions and empirical evidence is still scarce - but a number of factors may be coming into play. </div>
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Portugal has not had a (recent) culture of entrepreneurship. Fear of failure has loomed for long, jobs for life and corporate careers have long been the standard. That is changing. The current economic downturn may have something to do with it, as more and more people see the need to create their own jobs. There is also some sort of a societal push: it has become clear that innovation and entrepreneurship are a critical requirement for economic development, in creating qualified jobs and exports, so both private and public entities have started promoting this type of activity, rewarding innovation, fostering a debate about the subject. And the social media had obviously picked it up - it's rare to find a business or a technical newspaper today that doesn't mention the words "entrepreneur" or "innovation". There's a whole hype around it, and being an entrepreneur has become really cool!</div>
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One thing Portugal has had also for long is a strong technical knowledge base. The country has excellent engineering and science schools, some of which are of the oldest European universities. However, the universities and their students have had their backs turned to the business world. The best would do research and stay for ever in academia, the more restless would go do R&D in large multinationals (most often located abroad), most of everyone else would look for a good stable corporate job. Now, as the mentality begins to shift, restlessness grows among the ranks of students, and that strong technical background is extremely valuable, and it's being put to good use.</div>
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Finally, we have historically lacked strong management skills. That too is beginning to shift. Many Portuguese students, from diverse backgrounds, attend some of the best international business schools every year and return to their home country. The Portuguese business schools have significantly raised in international recognition. Professionals who were on the first waves of that have now gathered a significant practical management experience working for large corporations. The great management schools that the big consulting firms are have now collected a large army of alumni. All that knowledge and experience is now starting to be put to good use at some of the best start ups.</div>
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This is just the beginning, and a lot needs to be done. Namely, the financing side of it still needs to be greatly developed. Among other things, we need a much more active and well financed VC industry to make whole the ecosystem. Hopefully, this buzz that is growing in Lisbon will be able to attract some international investors, who will like to co-invest along local partners that they trust, and events such as SVC2Lx are an excellent showcase for that. </div>
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On their part, the entrepreneurs will need to show a great level of resilience and resourcefulness to thrive in this nascent environment. This is a wave, potentially a large wave, and many of these promising young companies will fail. Since they are mostly all on the same first wave, that can be a harsh thing to witness, but that's just the nature of the business and it's no reason to give up. As more waves are created, waves will turn into a constant flow of exciting companies, of which some succeed to become large, successful global companies, and some don't - and that hopefully becomes a normal thing for everyone, failures become just as important as successes in an entrepreneur's life experience, and innovative companies become a driver for our economy. Something's happening in Lisbon... Surf's up! Let's keep paddling!</div>
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Thanks for reading.</div>
Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5228817599877123894.post-46499466791495979542012-11-06T02:17:00.000+00:002012-11-07T16:17:44.090+00:00US – going greener or browner?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
Okay, so
I've been away from this blog for a long time, and I'm yet to finish the
"what I like about Venture Capital" series. But this one is just
really timely, and I'd either do it today or not do it at all!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
I've just
been reading a piece from Scientific American in which they asked the two US
presidential candidates where they stood on topics such as Innovation and
Entrepreneurship, Scientific education and R&D, Energy, Water and other
environmental concerns. And the candidates answered. Or at least their staff
did. Interesting reading <span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–</span> find it <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=obama-romney-science-debate" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
Now, to
some extent, it's what you might expect from two campaigning candidates. The
answers from the President in office tend to be shorter and in praise of the
accomplishments of the current term, and how those good deeds will be continued
and strengthened in the next one. The replies from the defying candidate tend
to be longer and more elaborate, as they first have to deal with how bad the
current policies have been, and then describe what the new presidency would, or
will, do differently. And frankly, to the vast majority of us used to more
diverse and sometimes extreme multipartidarism, it's not always easy to discern
very dissenting points of view between the two.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
A good
example is their answer to a topic as important as the role of innovation and
entrepreneurship. Both candidates agree that it plays a critical role in
economic development, which is not surprising in a country that has
historically spawned so many large and successful companies from their
founders' garages; Romney's side does give a more articulate description of
measures that would contribute to making the US regaining its edge <span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–</span> some of which are good practices that some countries could
learn from, and some actually have, such as fostering the immigration of
talent. I don't know enough about the candidates' programmes to state that
Obama's does not contain equivalently important measures, but the fact is that
his answer is not as rich as his competitor's.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
However,
there is one aspect, or one set of aspects, in which the two candidates differ
significantly, and that is <b>climate
change</b> and <b>energy</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
Let me
first say that, while I naturally have my own personal preference – as a non-voting, non-American citizen – on the next US president, it's not my intent to represent that or take sides in here. Let me also say that I'm not an environmentalist. But bear with
me, specifically on the topic at hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
Romney's
side accuses Obama's of blindly trying to slash carbon dioxide emissions
through various mechanisms. Specifically, it accuses Obama's administration of
"playing the role of venture capitalist, pick winners and losers" and
unwisely spend the US taxpayers' money in the investments made <span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–</span> in a clear reference to mediatically-failed
"green" companies such as Solyndra and A123 <span style="font-family: "Arial Unicode MS"; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">–</span> with a questionable impact on the environment. In their
view, the "lack of scientific consensus on the extent of the warming, the
extent of the human contribution, and the severity of the risk" does not
justify the investment in clean energy and the type of green innovation that
puts at risk the large industries of oil, gas and coal, as well as new
investments in nuclear energy. Moreover, the defying candidate contends that
"the problem is called Global Warming, not America Warming" and hence
it is not America's duty to take action when developing countries are
responsible for a larger and growing portion of the world's emissions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
That, to
me, is hard to understand. Firstly, it is a fact that there is no scientific
consensus on the causes and effects of Global Warming. But is that cause for
inaction? Isn't the mere hypothesis of Global Warming a good enough reason to
take preventive measures and adopt a more sustainable way of life while we're
at it? If the defendants of the Global Warming theories are right (and frankly
it's hard to believe in a concerted conspiracy theory or in global paranoia on
this one) the costs of doing nothing are just too high. No doubt, continued
debate and investigation is required to truly identify the magnitude, the
timing, and the addressable causes of global warming, but I for one think it's
madness to sit on our hands and continue doing what we've been doing when there
is a possibility that that has a direct impact on the quality of life of the
next few generations. Now, whose responsibility is it to take the initiative to
address this possibility? Well, there is a reason why developed countries are
developed and that's partly because they underwent tremendous industrial
development stages, that the developing countries are still going through, and
need to go through if they are to become developed. So the mentality of
"not our problem" from one of the more developed countries in the
world, and one of those with the more adequate resources to tackle the issue
just strikes me as short-sighted and self-serving.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
It is
understandable that the argument from a candidate to the US presidency needs to
take into account the interests of the American economy in the first place, and
Romney does build a sound and very articulate argument in defense of the jobs
associated with fossil fuel energy. He defends a view that "economic
growth and technological innovation [...] is the key to environmental
protection in the long run", which is reasonable, but the key difference
between the two candidates in this respect, I guess, is on where that
innovation needs to take place. Innovation in more efficient consumption of
fossil fuel is, by all means, very important as it will certainly minimize and
postpone the problem, an that is unquestionably important; but innovation in
clean energies is critical in the long run, and if the more developed and
capable countries don't want to play a role in it, then who will? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Like I said, I am not an environmentalist. But I like technology and I'm a defender of the power of innovation and entrepreneurship in economic development. And Clean Tech has been an important engine of innovation and scientific development and its application to the real world. Backtracking on that trend would be, well, ... the opposite of progress.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
True, the
choices of the green technology companies that were backed by the federal
government have had some spectacular failures that cost money to US taxpayers.
I have no idea on what were the criteria behind those choices, and whether
there were some self-serving interests behind them, as the opposition seems to
suggest. No doubt that the large media coverage they received <i>because</i> they had received government
money was harmful for their respective industries as a whole. At the very
least, the whole thing begs the question as to whether governments should
indeed have a direct investment responsibility in companies, or whether they
should rely on private professional investors to deploy government money,
matched by private funds. But if indeed the Obama administration took a VC
approach in its direct money deployments, then we must not forget that a
significant portion of VC investments are bound for failure. It's the nature of
the business and moreover, failures do tend to be known sooner than the few
successes that make a good Venture Capital fund. So it's really hard to say,
without a lot more information, that the very visible failures of those direct
investments represent a failure of the policy of investments in clean energy.
Aren't there other companies out there, that have received those investments,
that are doing ok, with the potential to become successful, and more
importantly, impactful companies?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
Anyway,
tomorrow is Election Day in the US, and we'll see how it turns out. Right or
wrong, a victory from the Republican
candidate has the potential to be detrimental to the progress of Clean Tech development in one of the countries that has historically been more active at
it, and hence an important change of direction in how the world sees and
addresses this important issue. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: #0400; mso-bidi-language: X-NONE; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #0400;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
Thanks for reading.</div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5_SjW6brsOEM7YQf9XQ3eJ99EEyVzHFmBDMAviPjSBnEuA20i2bxAkIa6XQiCzI8wjkYT2SSdd0pKTzXU_la0LMHvX0CHrmux9fv80QmmVQ1_q0kAXd57pQ2-Vd01iZay9xyqs2kdOdX/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-11-06+at+2.15.31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX5_SjW6brsOEM7YQf9XQ3eJ99EEyVzHFmBDMAviPjSBnEuA20i2bxAkIa6XQiCzI8wjkYT2SSdd0pKTzXU_la0LMHvX0CHrmux9fv80QmmVQ1_q0kAXd57pQ2-Vd01iZay9xyqs2kdOdX/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-11-06+at+2.15.31.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5228817599877123894.post-64258968053490694872012-04-21T19:45:00.000+01:002012-04-22T00:13:56.004+01:00Scared of Facebook<br />
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I have a
Facebook account. Chances are, so do you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But I'm
probably not your typical Facebook user. The truth is, I rarely go there
anymore, or at least not nearly as often as I did in the past. I don't have too
many "friends", I don't have much information in there that my
"friends" can see, and I don't allow all those that aren't my
"friends" to see any of it. The truth is, it kind of scares me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I
consider myself to be a tech-savvy person. I love technology, I love gadgets, I
am part of the generation that had the privilege of watching the digital age
come to life – unlike my kid who was born
already onto it and for whom it will be a great generation-divide to know that
her parents had no internet when they were growing up. I never think twice
about using online services, doing my shopping, or filing my taxes online. I
don't have nightmares about "Big Brother" or conspiracy theories.
When Facebook started to grow, I thought – and still think – that it is a great idea and that it is very useful. It
allowed me, and others, to find and re-connect to friends whom I had lost track
of; it allowed me to make more tangible and permanent contacts that I had had
sporadically with a person in the physical world, that would otherwise simply
have been dissolved by time; it allowed me to, very easily, publicize and
assemble friends for my 40th birthday party; it also allowed a lot of situation
and mood sharing...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The
sharing is obviously a big part of Facebook. The sharing and the instant
gratification of having someone acknowledge your sharing, if only by
"Liking" your post. I personally feel that this is somewhat
gratuitous and of questionable social value (it's just too easy to
"Like" something – does it actually mean
anything? An interesting exercise: request "friendships" from a few
people that are in no way connected to you, and see how many accept... I think
you'll be surprised), with a strong risk of creating addiction which, as all
addictions, can be dangerous. But I don't think I am even qualified to evaluate
Facebook from a social perspective, so I'll leave that to others. It's way too
novel and complex as a social phenomena, and it's not what really bothers me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What
truly bothers me is something much more practical, pragmatical, down to earth.
What bothers me is the information. The incredible amount and richness of data
that Facebook has of its users. And the mechanisms that it finds to get its
users to confidently give them more and more detailed information, both
structured, and unstructured. And the value attributed to that information,
even though it does not yet have a defined purpose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Just
think about it. 800 million active users, growing by the day. More than one
account for every 10 living persons on Earth. Each one will have fed in his
basic personal information: name, age, address. Then some more information:
education, professional experience. Then preferences: sexual, musical,
ideological,... Then the geo-referencing. This is the structured part of a
user's profile. Then the unstructured. With each post, Facebook compiles
information on where the user is, with whom, what he is doing, how he feels.
Through a user's history of posts, Facebook can construct each user's profile
to the finest detail. What he thinks about each subject, be it of a social,
political, religious, scientific or any other nature, his opinions and
positions, his actual preferences. Naturally, also, the characterization of
each relation between "friends": the type of tie (family, friendship,
professional, ...), the frequency of interaction, the nature of the relation.
With each photo, additional information on a user, and on each of the users
"tagged" in it. More recently, with the introduction of
"Timeline" Facebook also started to compile data on the part of people's
life's on which it hadn't any: their pasts, before Facebook even existed.
Nevermind the fact that each user can decide what gets shared, and I don't have
any particular opinion on how well Facebook respects those preferences. The
fact is that they have the information, and it's massive. It just blows my
mind!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">But the
really scary part is not that they have it, it's the value that is attributed
to that information. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Facebook's
IPO is one on the most anticipated in history, and is expected to value the
company above USD 100 billion. That's a little less than half of the Portuguese
GDP, half the valuation of the likes of Google. And that's not accounting for
the money that an IPO is supposed to leave on the table for investors. We don't
know that that's going to happen, but it's a lot of money, on any account. And
what supports that? There are many opinions being voiced on the business media.
I argue that it is the sheer volume and richness of information that sits on
Facebook's servers, of which we can only imagine the uses. Yes, that, to me, is
the scary part. No-one knows what it is actually good for, but everyone knows
it will somehow be worth a whole lot of money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Some will
argue that this is not new: we've seen it happen with Google. To a certain
extent that is true: Google has indeed found ways to capture data from its
users by offering services, such as GMail, that make it worth for users to be
logged in when they perform their searches. E-mail messages through GMail, it
can be argued, can be seen as information of the un-structured kind that allows
Google to fine-tune its advertising to its users. But at least, as far as we
know, that's what Google is: a giant advertising machine. We know that every
bit of data that goes through its servers – and there's unquestionably
gigantic volumes of it – will be used to target its
ads, and the result of that is visible each time you perform a search, or each
time you access your free GMail account. And there are a lot of people and
companies willing to pay for such a richly targeted advertising, which
justifies the valuation of Google. But that's not Facebook. Sure enough, there
is advertising in Facebook. In fact (have you noticed?) the far right of a
Facebook web page is populated by ads, and it is unquestionable that they have
enough data for those to be very well targeted, assuming they have built the
right algorithms for their selection. But come on, how many of you have even
bothered to look at them? When people do a search on Google, there is some likelihood
that they are looking for a service, for a product that they want to buy;
resulting ads appear at the top of a list that the user asked for and at which
it is certain he will look. When people navigate on Facebook's pages, they are
focused on its functionality and specific content, they are there for the
social interaction with their friends; they will not be bothered by a blur of
unsolicited information appearing on a part of the page that they programmed
themselves not even to look at. Moreover, Facebook ads have not, so far, been
present on the mobile world, rightly choosing not to clutter a smaller screen
with unsolicited information, despite the fact that more and more users
transition every day from the desktop-bound to the more spontaneous and free
mobile access. So, I am not convinced that the value of Facebook's big data
resides solely on its advertising potential. I think that investors are betting
on the value of the information itself while the full extent of its usage is
not yet known, by anyone. It is just so rich and big, that it must be worth a
lot, right? And you and I, as Facebook users, are giving it away for free.
Isn't that something?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A friend
has recently commented that he thinks we will one day regret having shared so
much personal information. I share that view. Don't get me wrong, I am not
paranoid, I am all in favor of the speeding evolution of the digital age, I see
that it does enable a lot of sharing that was otherwise impossible, and I
recognize that there is tremendous value in that, in social terms, in creating
better bridges between people and between organizations, in disseminating and
democratizing knowledge – today, I wouldn't know what
to do without the likes of Wikipedia... Indeed, I even go to the extent of
investing in companies in that space. I also know that we are only now
scratching the surface of what that revolution can be in the future. But I am
just weary that maybe we're not yet conscious of how all that information we're
casually giving away can actually be put to use, and that maybe we're not yet
equipped to ensure it is put to the most productive use.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Now I'll
hit the "Publish" button for this blog post, and then go share it on
Facebook...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks
for reading.</span><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body1" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5228817599877123894.post-71182255289965395752012-04-18T00:10:00.000+01:002012-04-18T00:14:26.735+01:00What I like about Venture Capital - part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, so
I've briefly introduced what Venture Capital is, in <a href="http://prs-learningtofly.blogspot.pt/2012/04/what-i-like-about-venture-capital-part.html">the previous post</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Now, on
to more interesting stuff: what's so special about it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Well, a
number of things, really, but let me start by one aspect that is rarely
discussed: VC deals, once they are consummated, are one of the very rare
occasions in business where <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">interests
are fully aligned</b> for all the stakeholders. All share the same ultimate
goal of building a big and valuable company. That means, very objectively, that
the value of the shares of the company becomes higher than what each party paid
for them, or put into them. Both success and failure are truly shared. Let's
look into that in some detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">First, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the entrepreneur</b>, and the team that he
chose. Unlike other types of investment logics, the VC will not be looking to
replace the incumbent management team. Indeed, the VC will steer away from an
investment opportunity if he is not impressed with the people behind it. In
fact, most VC investors will put that at the top of their investment criteria,
and will investigate it in depth – there needs to be evidence of
competence, of great resilience, of unquestionable integrity, of leadership
skills and of a strong will to take the company forward, and there needs to be
a good level of "chemistry" between the team and the VC. So, the VC
will be backing not just the company, but the team itself. At times, there may
be competency gaps that need to be covered as part of the development process
of the company (the most typical example is the entrepreneur with a solid
scientific background but who lacks management skills); these gaps are usually
openly identified and discussed, and, for the good of the company, the means
and timing to overcome them are agreed, usually finding mechanisms to keep the
founding entrepreneurs adequately involved and rewarded. At the end of the day,
the entrepreneur's reward is being a shareholder in a valuable company that he
created – and deciding whether or not
(or when), he will be cashing it in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The same
goes for the rest of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the company's
employees</b>. In a well managed venture-backed company, a significant amount
of shares will have been reserved for, and distributed among, the key staff.
Throughout the life of the investment, that stake in the company works not just
as a retention mechanism, but also in ensuring, once again, the employees are
fully committed to the development of the company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At the
other end of the investing value chain, are the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">entities that invested in the Venture Capital fund</b> that subsequently
invested in the company. Individuals, family offices, institutional and
corporate investors, pension funds, economic development funds. Many of them
look for a purely financial return on their investment; some of them aim for
local economic development; all of them benefit from the positive development
of the companies in the VC fund's portfolio, and will be incentivized, if
called on it (albeit perhaps somewhat rarely), to help in the process – for example, by opening doors for commercialization of a
given product that is more closely related to their core activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">In the
middle, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the VC investor</b>. He chose
the company in which to invest their investors' money. He chose it over other
investment opportunities that he had. He did so at a time when the company was
very young and the investment very risky. He invested in a very illiquid asset,
because he believed in its potential for a high reward. So, he will be in it
for the long run, not seeking quick returns. He will want to take the company
to a stage where he can exit from the investment with a significant return, but
he is ready to wait for the right time, and to contribute actively. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Most
importantly, he's got skin in the game: firstly he has the obligation to
provide strong returns on the capital invested to his own fund investors – if he does not, then those investors will not be coming
back, and his ability to raise more funds to invest is at risk, and so is his
activity as a VC; secondly, the VC investor will usually take a share of the
gains above a certain level of return to his investors, so no return means no
bonus – and that is typically a very
heavy component of his pay. So, the VC investor's interests are fully in sync
with everyone else's: to turn the startup into a big, successful, valuable
company. For that, he will be allocating a significant portion of the time of
one of its most senior people to help develop those companies, and more often
than not, share in on the accountability by occupying a position in the
company's Board of Directors. That person is fully motivated to carefully
monitor and contribute very actively in the company's development. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Surely
enough, different VCs will have invested in a given company at different times
and with different valuations, and that does tweak each one's expectations:
those that came in earlier will want to exit earlier; those that invested at a
lower valuation will have good returns from lower exit valuations; the dilution
suffered by each will also play a role in its motivation. But ultimately, they
will all benefit from the most successful development of the company. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, so
interests are aligned. So what? Well, this little fact makes things a whole lot
easier for everyone. There's virtually no politics, there's no hidden agendas,
no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bullshit</i>. Sure, there will always
be exceptions to this. It is a business dealing with many variables, and it
does involve money, so let me know when you find a system that is immune to
being corrupted if it gets contaminated by external or crossed interests. But
the point that I'm trying to make is that that's what they are: exceptions to a
model that, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">by design</b>, is efficient.
This may not mean much for everyone. In fact, some would miss the complexity of
a more politicized game where you play with other parties without necessarily
knowing their hand nor, more importantly, their overarching objective – that is a discipline in itself and there is undoubtfully
merit to those that truly master that art. Me, I like the transparency that is
inherent to VC, and I'm truly happy to work in an industry with this feature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">While
this is, to me, a key characteristic, it is hardly the only one that I like
about VC. For my next post on this topic, I will dig into a few other aspects
that make this such an appealing activity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks
for reading.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0EjXTsvMTLpw_06iG9f_m-exfVZdYD_vGyS1lvrun4Jv6vGGmKGwARpfo278rCPXKp1DWGIPgzp9WGPRizOxt1DrzRjiNhSD7CE4FomFqTdHHPMIW05VOd3J5MiWUhka4d9YTLNO_Rqt/s1600/IMG_1829.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg0EjXTsvMTLpw_06iG9f_m-exfVZdYD_vGyS1lvrun4Jv6vGGmKGwARpfo278rCPXKp1DWGIPgzp9WGPRizOxt1DrzRjiNhSD7CE4FomFqTdHHPMIW05VOd3J5MiWUhka4d9YTLNO_Rqt/s320/IMG_1829.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In it for the long run...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5228817599877123894.post-66090547831305283002012-04-06T01:58:00.000+01:002012-04-22T00:07:34.621+01:00What I like about Venture Capital - part I<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Have you ever had a moment in your professional (or, for that matter, personal) life in
which you feel like you've lost touch with the reasons that made you make that career (or
other) choice in the first place? Or worse, like you've forgotten what they were? There is
nothing unusual about that – it's only human nature never to be satisfied with what you
have. But those are the moments in which you will need to reassess your choices and
make new decisions or renew old ones. A good recollection of what those reasons were
will be an invaluable help...</span></div>
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For my first series of posts in this blog, I chose to write about what I do for a living, and what I
find about it that makes it very special for me. Hopefully, this will serve two purposes: that
of sharing something that is meaningful to me with anyone that is willing to read, and as a
personal record for me to check back into in the future, if and whenever I feel that I need to
remind myself of a few important things...</div>
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I'm a Venture Capitalist.</div>
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I haven't been one for a very long time – I have only started it a little over two years ago –
(so if you're an experienced VC reading this post, feel free to drop off now... or read on for
a possibly <span style="font-style: oblique;">naïve, </span>but maybe refreshing, and surely honest, view on what we do), and it's not even something I planned to do, but it's
been extremely rewarding. We all try to do what we love best or do best for a living. Every
voluntary job/career/life change brings with it a certain enchantment for the novelty, and a
sense of pursuit of an ideal. More often than not, however, the novelty quickly wears off,
and the pursuit of something (even) better goes on. Again, that's human nature, and it's
healthy. Like I said, I'm relatively new to Venture Capital. Yet, I find that it's being fulfilling in
more ways than I had imagined, and the enchantment for the novelty hasn't worn off. I'm
finding myself thinking that that pursuit can be continued <span style="font-weight: 700;">within </span>this line of work. That, to
me, is a first. So, I've been putting some thinking into this. Into what I'm finding in it that is
so gratifying for me, personally. That's what I intend to share in these lines.</div>
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I hope to do that in a way that is readable and understandable by those who don't have
any knowledge about Venture Capital. In doing so, I've come to realize that I need to write
more lines than what I initially thought I would, so I will be splitting this post into a few
separate posts. Whatever your views and opinions, I welcome your comments.</div>
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First, for those who are are less familiar with what VC is all about, let me try to de-construct the myth and explain it, in
very simple terms (if you're the experienced VC who decided to read on, go ahead and
skip this paragraph). A "Venture Capitalist" (more accurately, – generally and most
certainly in my case – a "Venture Capital funds manager", in the sense that the people
who do it don't usually actually own the capital that they manage – and I'll leave it to you to
dwell into what the term "Capitalist" and its declinations actually mean) is an investor who
will invest in very risky companies in a very early stage of their development, and then
actively help in building them up, trying to make very successful companies out of them.
So, imagine you are the inventor of a new technology that has the potential to change the
world in some way, and that you are also an entrepreneur, eager to take that invention and
turn it into something big. You have assembled a small and strongly motivated team,
created your start-up with a cool name and logo and are ready to go. But you still need a
couple of things. First, you need <span style="font-weight: 700;">money </span>to really get things going. Maybe your technology
still needs some development, like needing to build a prototype that will demonstrate to
others that your invention will do as well as you are certain that it will. Maybe you need to
build your first small plant. Maybe you need to go out and hire a sales team that will get your product to the market. The money from that research grant was critical to get you to
where you are now, but is now long gone. You've convinced your family and your friends to
chip in, but you understand that is hardly enough. You turn to the more traditional means of
financing, such as banks, but only to find out that those guys kick you out the door when
you explain to them what you intend to do, and they perceive it as too risky for them –
banks will only loan money to people they feel that they can collect from, or they have
something tangible to secure the loan (such as a mortgage when you seek credit for your
house); such is their business and it's unreasonable to expect them to see it any other
way; your start-up – let's face it – may not be here tomorrow... Second, you need someone
with some experience that will <span style="font-weight: 700;">help </span>you in overcoming many of the challenges and hurdles
that you will face in turning your company into something really significant. Maybe you
simply don't have the required management skills. Maybe you need help in understanding
and navigating the complex web of relationships in the industry that you need to develop.
Maybe you need someone that will challenge your ideas and with whom you can discuss
alternative strategies for your company, who will keep you focused and motivated to
pursue only the best options, because it gets quite lonely at the top. In other words, in
what has become quite a <span style="font-style: oblique;">cliché </span>in the industry, you need <span style="font-weight: 700;">"smart money". </span>That's where a
VC comes in. He will study your ideas, your technology and your team in depth and with
great care, and if he believes strongly enough in them, he will want to invest in your
company. That means he will be willing to take the risk. He will provide financing in
exchange for an equity position in your company, and he will become your partner for the
next few years in the life of your start-up, actively contributing and putting his experience
and his network to work for its development. Naturally, he will not do this out of altruism:
his ultimate goal is to provide a financial return for the people who actually provided the
money for the investment, which also means he will be in it for a given amount of time
(sometimes up to 10 years) and need a way to "exit", to transform his position in the
company back into actual money (hopefully worth much more than what he initially
invested) after that period. But while he is riding with you, he will be looking for ways to
help you build something big and valuable. That, in a nutshell, is Venture Capital.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the <a href="http://prs-learningtofly.blogspot.pt/2012/04/what-i-like-about-venture-capital-part_18.html">next post on this subject</a>, I will start to dwell on the reasons why I find VC to be such
a positively engaging activity, starting with a key characteristic that is not usually very
discussed in the literature: the full alignment of interests among everyone involved.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thanks for reading. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82Me6f7IEHkpeaUk9EZzwMmy7riC0pow2hRONSl5MDsnBMypPla-M2qdSMpiQyXyHqfUf2LCGl78SvvXhepi5PKGbcaBTd6cliPr2UuEenuX5Dv6sqyrxcE-TEefmQ5DLEKKYcu9Mv6OB/s1600/100-0053_IMG_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82Me6f7IEHkpeaUk9EZzwMmy7riC0pow2hRONSl5MDsnBMypPla-M2qdSMpiQyXyHqfUf2LCGl78SvvXhepi5PKGbcaBTd6cliPr2UuEenuX5Dv6sqyrxcE-TEefmQ5DLEKKYcu9Mv6OB/s320/100-0053_IMG_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Risk and reward... (Mação, Portugal, 2004)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5228817599877123894.post-56208273125906851132012-03-21T15:00:00.001+00:002012-04-22T00:08:41.949+01:00What this blog is all about<br />
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<b>This is a blog</b>. Not a journal, not a publicity stunt, not an ad in disguise, not a leaflet for ideological propaganda, not an exercise of self-promotion. Just a blog.</div>
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By this, I mean that this is a place where, once in a while, I will come to write about whatever is on my mind. I will write about work, about play, about people, about ideas, about cool stuff or about stuff that makes me angry. I don't mean this blog to follow any particular theme. I don't know where it will take me. I'm starting this just as a way to put down some of the things that go through my mind and my life, instead of just letting them get lost in time.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
But this is also not a replacement for Facebook. I don't intend to post that I've just checked in at the local groceries store. I intend to put some thought into whatever I end up posting here. I am not the most well-educated, the smartest, the most travelled, the most experienced, the most charming or the funniest person I know – for each of those characteristics I can think of a dozen people that are one-hundred-fold what I am. But I've lived a fair share, collected a few different personal and professional experiences, and at the age of 40 I feel, without any presumption of the ability to teach anyone about anything, that I have something to share about stuff that I learn (more on this later) – about Venture Capital, about technology, about music and other stuff that moves me. This blog is a way for me to do this.</div>
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It will start unstructured, and hopefully gain some sort of shape. It will be intermittent or erratic, and always casual, as I don't intend to make this an obligation – I will spend as much or as little time on it as I please, and as my work- and personal-life permits. As such, I have no expectation to attract any number of regular followers. However, I do hope to be thought-provoking to those few that, for whatever reason, choose to follow my posts, and I will welcome any comments. I hope you will find something in it for you.</div>
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A word about the title. <b>Learning to Fly</b>.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
If I had to pick one theme, one common-thread to what I intend to do here, it's "<b>Learning</b>". For me, learning is a key driver in life. From learning what a hand looks like to learning how the Universe works (or at least trying to...), learning is what makes us rich, learning is what makes us human. We all spend our lives learning, and indeed some risk their lives to learn. And we've all experienced the joy of understanding what we've learnt, and of sharing that with others. That's what I hope to do. About <b>flying</b>. Flying is probably something we would all like to learn. We have learnt a lot about it and engineered ways to do it. This goes back to my paragliding days and the joy of actually taking off and flying for a few hours, free from all other concerns. Yet, we are clumsy at it, and unless evolution leads us to grow wings in a few million years, we will most likely never fully comprehend flying. That doesn't keep us from trying. <b>"Learning to Fly"</b> thus represents our continuous will to learn. Oh, and it's also the title of a song by one of the most important bands of all times, Pink Floyd – granted, not at their best, and those of you who know me will know that it's not the sort of tune that plays in <i>repeat</i> mode in my iPod, but still, a cool title and a nice song.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMB2pKLvRSR_B4JmW0uLU3FBfdUa2F1gaJYewtw0yQtDDqJHsfFpFOPgLu5CF2t9Kf0vKWb-BRuIMMakjpyfaWDXRyvBubdjLbEWEQ47ufuN6Cd_CT_5MSmOSHDbvKX8JdE8WHN20MYPV3/s1600/100-0067_IMG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMB2pKLvRSR_B4JmW0uLU3FBfdUa2F1gaJYewtw0yQtDDqJHsfFpFOPgLu5CF2t9Kf0vKWb-BRuIMMakjpyfaWDXRyvBubdjLbEWEQ47ufuN6Cd_CT_5MSmOSHDbvKX8JdE8WHN20MYPV3/s400/100-0067_IMG.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm the guy on the upper right. (Sagres, Portugal, 2004)</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Pedro Ribeiro Santoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04941211823724287700noreply@blogger.com1