August 9th (4 page)

As for our wedding it looks like next June. Now that Maggie has her Masters in psychology she has a big decision to make. What does she want to do? Her options include teaching, therapist or research and that may mean even more school. We’ll see.

I forgot to tell you about Pink Floyd. They were so rad, especially the second half of the concert which featured songs from The Dark Side of the Moon. I’ve never heard music quite like it before. Incredibly, they performed five concerts on consecutive nights at the Sports Arena. There were fans around us who loved the group so much they bought tickets for all five.

Tess, I’m not sure I’ll ever go to another concert without seeing you. Strangely, even though I’ve written
about my new job and my engagement it doesn’t seem to affect my reality as it relates to you. I know that probably sounds crazy but you seem to be separate from everything. I hope you’re happy, healthy and living your dream.

Let me close by saluting one of my heroes. Coach Wooden retired after winning his 10th National Championship in March. I think I only had two conversations with him but the last has always stuck with me. He told me, “Never, ever be afraid to fail.” Thank you, Coach.

PS: As I finish this letter I reflect on the process for writing you a letter each year on the anniversary of the Zeppelin concert. Each letter forces me to prioritize events from that year, but I’m not sure I accurately convey the emotions I feel at the time the event occurs. Plus subsequent events often change my perspective. Now I can appreciate a diary, and only hope my writing isn’t boring you. Please understand after six letters I’m still confused about us.

Dear Tess,

We did it! We got married on June 19th, in a little church in Santa Monica.

Although Maggie and I are not religious we went along with our parents’ wishes and had the ceremony at a church. The reception was about five miles away at a private beach club. (Maggie’s parents are members) We had about 175 guests at the reception with an open bar, a buffet dinner and dancing until midnight with a local band, and later a DJ.

I don’t remember much of the day, but luckily we have plenty of photos to refresh our memories. One of my ushers insisted I take a couple hits off a joint to calm me down before the ceremony and also found me for a few more hits before dinner. When I mix in all the alcohol I guess it’s not that strange my memory is so hazy.

Do you remember seeing Maggie at the Zeppelin concert? I ask because for some reason I feel a little uncomfortable talking about how she looked and what she wore. I’ll just say she looked absolutely amazing. I had to wipe tears from my eyes when I first saw her coming down the aisle with her dad at the church. For our first dance we chose the Righteous Brothers, Unchained Melody. (We brought the album so we could have the DJ play the original version)

Unfortunately our honeymoon had to be postponed. It’s become so hectic at work that I couldn’t afford to take the time off. Maggie said she understood, but she always says she understands. I want to make it up to her with a great trip to either Hawaii or Europe.

Speaking of work, I won’t be surprised if the Company is sold, soon. I normally know what’s going on around here and I’m included in most discussions but that’s changed in the last month. What I have received is requests for lots of financial information. Maybe I should have chosen to work at Kleiner Perkins?

Have you played Pong? Our alliance with Sears was a huge success. We projected to sell 50,000 units last Christmas and sold more than 100,000. We’ve also got lots of new stuff in the pipeline. If possible, I’m working even more than last year. There’s just not enough time in the day to get everything done. Plus, every Wednesday evening I get together with a group of about a dozen other Stanford grads to discuss what’s going on in the Valley. We network about job opportunities, new companies and the latest technology. We’re split equally
between the business and tech side of things and it gives us a chance to keep abreast of what’s going on in the Valley.

Not sure if you remember me writing about Jeff, one of my neighbors at Stanford. He’s the nerd engineering genius. I ran into him at a conference over the summer and he works for the Palo Alto Research Center which is part of Xerox and next to the Stanford campus. He’s working on some really cool stuff including the Ethernet which is a system for connecting computers within a building using hardware running from machine to machine. At least that’s how he describes it. He believes someday everyone will be connected and that’s what his work is all about. The longer I work here the more I realize that Jeff and guys like him are the real drivers of technology. People like me just enable them to have the money and freedom to pursue the future. We call them far out or crazy until they come up with something that will change the world. At Stanford we used to joke about starting our own company, but today I think of it as potentially a great opportunity. Jeff’s a genius.

We also flew down to LA in June for my sister Janet’s graduation from UCLA. She was a history major which probably means law school. I don’t think she’s ever gotten anything but an “A” in every class she’s ever taken. Besides her natural intelligence she has an unbelievable study ethic, certainly way beyond mine. She’s also a better athlete than me although I’ll never admit that to her.

Everything seems to move so quickly up here and not just business. Maggie and I are already talking about
kids and buying our own home. They seem to go hand in hand. We agree on two children, but Maggie’s torn between pursuing a career and staying home to raise our family. I’m leaving that decision to her and will support whatever she decides. Interestingly, my mom worked most of my childhood while Maggie’s mom did not.

Tess, you’re still with me, everywhere, all the time. Despite all that’s happened in my life you are unique in what you represent and for that I remain grateful and hope you are flourishing.

Hi Tess,

I was right.

Atari was sold in October of last year to Warner Communications. The sale price was $32 million. I stayed until the end of the year while I interviewed with five companies. That’s when the networking I’ve been doing really paid off. It was a very different process from the interviews I had coming out of Stanford. This time I interviewed the companies as much as they interviewed me. Although Kleiner Perkins was one of the companies I spoke with I decided to join another, newer venture capital firm, Rogers Schmidt. The Schmidt part is a guy I met at Stanford who was a year ahead of me in the MBA program. His dad is a big investment banker in San Francisco which helps.

My role with Rogers Schmidt is similar to what I was doing at Atari. I analyze companies, their product(s), team, and strategy. I’m a junior partner. That’s relevant
since there are only three senior partners, myself and one other junior partner. Plus I’m making 50% more than I made at Atari with a very lucrative bonus plan.

We invest in early stage, high growth potential, startup companies. I try to quantify the risk which is something I love to do. The four companies we’ve funded since I started all have bright futures and we invest with an exit strategy of 3-5 years. We normally take an active role in the companies which includes seat(s) on their Board.

It seems there’s always something going on up here. There are two new companies that incorporated this year that everyone is talking about, Apple with computers and Oracle for software. We weren’t able to get into their capital raises but I might buy some of their stock if they become public.

Our office is in Menlo Park which is a very affluent area just north of Stanford. We’re on Sand Hill Road which is the prime location for venture capital firms in the Valley. Both Maggie and I love the area and it’s a good thing I’m making more money because housing is very expensive. Hopefully, my bonus this year will enable us to make a down payment on a home here. I’m also going to finish paying off my student loans by the end of this year. Yeah!

We’re ready. Maggie and I are ready to start a family. She’s been working for the Psychology Department at Cal and the nice part of her job is that she only has to be there twice a week. Whether she continues to work isn’t really about the money, at least not now. It’s more about
what she wants to do. We’re fortunate that I’m making enough money for us to live comfortably.

We had a scare in April when my dad had what the doctors are calling a minor heart attack. Luckily it happened on a weekend and my mom quickly called an ambulance. He was taken to the emergency room and spent two days in the hospital. Because of his family history of heart problems his doctor strongly advised him to start exercising and improve his diet. He’s now on this new low fat Pritikin Diet. His problem was a wakeup call for me. I need to get more exercise and probably cut back on cocktails.

It’s very refreshing to have Jimmy Carter as President and I love that he’s pardoned Vietnam draft evaders. It’s interesting that Ford pardoned Nixon but wouldn’t pardon those who took a stand against that unjust war.

How about Led Zeppelin? After we heard about the attendance record they set in April at the Pontiac Silverdome just outside Detroit, something like 76,000, we really wanted to see them at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum in July. Unfortunately we were in LA for one of Maggie’s best girlfriend’s wedding. Just as well we didn’t go because I heard it was a bad scene when a fight between promoter Bill Graham’s crew and the band’s crew erupted. Besides, I’ve already seen Led Zeppelin at their absolute unforgettable best!

There’s a phenomenon surrounding your image in my mind. Because I know almost nothing about you or if, in fact, you ever receive my letters I really don’t need
to think about things to ask you. That probably sounds strange but just reliving your image takes me to a wonderful place that needs nothing more.