Successful people, consistently successful people, understand the difference between process and results. A recent article in the Boston Herald about Theo Epstein, the general manager of the Boston Red Sox, shows that Theo understands this principle well. It is the primary reason behind the consistent competitiveness of the Boston Red Sox since the beginning of the Epstein Era. I love this team more than ever because it has become such a model of scientific excellence, marketing genius, innovative management, and patient execution.
Are you judging your personal, professional, and organizational results on …

Rumors abound that my beloved Boston Red Sox plan to bid vigorously for the services of free agent Mark Teixeira and Japanese pitching phenom Junichi Tazawa. Although I’d like to see the team take the challenge of developing and sustaining a winning team in a major market with a Moneyball philosophy, I’m actually excited by the possibilities of these two signings. I’d rather see the team stay competitive while reducing its overall payroll, but if we’re going to spend money in the free agent market, then we should spend the …

In highly entrepreneurial hot spots like Silicon Valley, San Francisco where I grew up, Route 128, Washington DC, Seattle, Los Angeles where an impressive raft of social networking and new media startups has sprouted, and biotechnology-focused San Diego, critical mass of entrepreneurial activity organically attracts venture capital. In other words, a rich “ecosystem” – where entrepreneurs can assemble readily available capital, talent, and relationships – can only come about when entrepreneurs first satisfy the initial criterion of creating innovation and value to a significant degree. In emerging hot spots such …

Waking up at 4am this morning was a trying ordeal despite my excitement for opening day. But it was all worth it when I tuned into ESPN2 (DIS) and found my boys from Beantown duking it out against the Oakland Athletics in a seesaw battle. In the end, the Red Sox won a tight 6-5 match and started the defense of their championship title positively.
Manny Ramirez, usually a slow starter, drove in four ribbies. Ramirez is jockeying for a contract extension so I expect him to get off to an …

I get up very early in the morning to prepare for the markets’ open. The usual routine involves checking my inbox for important emails from friends or respected professionals, quickly poring over all the news, running through my RSS feeds, tracking my investment ideas through Google (GOOG) Alerts and some proprietary software that automatically populate my database of companies to investigate further. I find that having a discipline or process helps me to keep my mind focused, sharp, and ready to generate new ideas.
Early tomorrow morning, I’m changing my routine …