Some of you may already know this, but I’ve accepted a position at iLike as a Product Manager.   iLike is a funded technology startup in the music space.  The purpose of their product is to introduce users to new artists and bands.  Super cool.  You may have heard of them from the web site: www.iLike.com, or their Facebook App.  They also have a growing presence on other social networks like Orkut, and hi5, and MySpace.

The details of this transition are interesting, but before that, here’s an article about them from recently, which includes a video of our offices: http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080723/kara-visits-ilike-in-seattle/

Speaking of the offices, one of the cool perks, is that artists come in and give small performances for us.  This month, Darius Rucker (of Hootie and Blowfish fame) and Little Big Town will be coming by.  Sweet.

What are you doing at iLike?

I’m the “Revenue” product manager, and I’ll largely be focused on anything that is revenue generating.  This includes doing proposals for large ad campaigns from companies like Sony Pictures, McDonalds and Motorola.  Working with ad networks, both locally and for the international markets.  Working with concert promoters and labels who want to advertise tours or new albums.   Doing A/B testing to optimize the site, and increase conversion on music sales, invites, ticket sales, etc.

I’m hoping to learn a lot about this space, and I like that fact that I’ll be at the crux of advertising and music, which are both being interrupted by tech.  I’m also working directly under Hadi and Ali Partovi, which I’m sure will be a great learning experience. I think I’m either employee number 29 or 30.

So what about your outsourcing business?

In short, it wasn’t turning out to be as exciting as I would want it to be, for something I was doing full time. I had offers for people who wanted me to consult/project manage, but I was only willing to do that if they were going to fully use my resources, as it wasn’t scalable otherwise.  This is definitely not what I had in mind if you had asked me 12 months ago, but the last few months I discovered I really wasn’t enjoying working from home by myself, and that the interesting part of the outsourcing practice was the part in India, and the part of being a service provider here was rather tedious.  The fact that I’m SUPER excited about iLike has made this transition pretty easy.

I did learn a hell of a lot, and have a feeling it will come in handy at some point in the future.  I’m keeping my partnerships with two companies in town.  One does Silverlight/WPF work and the other focuses on Sharepoint integration and BI.   Both are very high quality, and it’s not too much overhead to pass them work and keep that partnership alive.
I’m largely separating from my companies in India, though I might work with a couple of them on a looser basis, just handing off work.  It will not be my focus anymore, but who knows what will happen…

So you’re full-time, normal 9-5 dude now?

Well, kind of.

1) I’m happy to be in an actual office.  I’ve discovered I don’t really like working from home.  It’s lonely, and I’m not as effective, and it bleeds into the rest of my life.  What I like is flexibility.  This job will definitely mean less of that for now, but for many reasons, I’m okay with leaving my vagabond existence behind for some time.   2) The office is in cap hill, so it’s close, I’m biking, and yeah, I probably will be putting in many more than 40 hours a week.

Any other details?

I’ve been there for two weeks, and thus far, I’m super psyched about the work I’ve been doing. It’s important to the life of the company, I enjoy it, and I’m learning a lot. I also like biking to work, and the free Odwalla in the office.

Oh yeah, and this was what spurred my transition to the Mac.

Also, this is a lot of changes, and I’m really happy about them.  I completely concede that it might all be cognitive dissonance/rationalization,… but I don’t really care. 

Since returning from my trip to India, I’ve reconnected with a number of friends, and I routinely get the “So,… what are you doing now?” question. After fielding it a number of times over this past weekend, I thought I should do a better job of getting the word out to my friends.

I’ve been out of Microsoft for over two years, and after working for an outsourcing firm on contract for a year, I split off and decided I could do a better job of it myself. I had been working with the one company that had approached me, and I wasn’t tremendously happy with their work, so I decided to go to India myself, find the best companies possible, and work with them instead. This let me cherry pick the best, as well as spread the number of services I could offer to my US clients.

Now that I’m back, I’ve partnered with three firms (working on the 4th). The first is a market research firm, called ValueNotes, who is like an outsourced version of Forrester or Gartner, and does custom research reports in a number of industries. Competitive research and customer intelligence are specifically what I deal with, and any size company that needs to know more about their customers or competitors is a potential client.

The other two companies are in the more familiar IT sector. Synerzip does software development for funded companies, and Verisoft specializes in doing software testing. Both of these companies focus on creating teams and long term relationships.

I chose these three companies because I trusted their management, and found that their hiring practices were sound. There were a multitude of other factors involved, but those two things went a long way to solving a lot of the issues most people complain about when it comes to outsourcing.

So now that I’m back, and I’m working on the client side of things, which is reaching out to companies who want to utilize resources overseas, and need to find a provider they can trust. I’m happy to talk to anyone who needs to know more about outsourcing. I’ve made a number of contacts in India, in a number of industries where outsourcing now takes place (including software, market research, legal services, publishing, telemarketing, etc) and I’m happy to talk to friends of friends who need to know more about the landscape there.

How can I help people you know? To make it simple: If you hear someone talk about needing more resources, or about outsourcing… point them my way. I’m happy to help out in whatever way I can.

You can reach me at craig (at) dossantospartners.com, and my company website is www.dossantospartners.com

I have been on the road for over a month now, and I’ve finally found myself back in Mahableshwar, and on vacation until the second week of January. This break really couldn’t have come at a better time, as I am really feeling the effects of traveling and working for a month. So far, the trip has been:

• Fly into Bombay, 1 day recovery, then meetings all of week 1.
• Relaxing weekend in Mahableshwar
• Hectic week full of meetings in Pune
• Fly to Bangalore, repeat hectic week of meetings
• Fly back to Bombay, 4th week of meetings.
• Leave on Thursday night for Pune, for 2 more meetings on Friday.
• Leave Saturday for Mahableshwar.

All of this has been exciting from a career perspective, but extremely taxing in other ways. The transportation has been what makes it hectic, as each meeting requires careful planning in order to not get lost in the maze of taxis, rickshaws and trains in a metropolis area that takes 2 hours to cross from end to end (due to traffic) and has no roadsigns and no drivers that speak English. Thankfully, I’ve been able to find accommodations with family everywhere so far, which made things easier.

Also playing a part have been my eating and exercise habits. Staying with family means Indian hospitality of continuously shoveling food on your plate. This makes breakfast and lunch much heavier meals than I’m used to, and dinner is usually after 9pm. I’m still running, but it has been quite difficult in the cities.

I’m happy to be back with family in Mahableshwar, where I can run out to beautiful scenic points, relax during the day, and play with our new German Shepard puppy, who we picked up in Pune yesterday. We bonded last night as he kept me awake all night, and is now sleeping on my feet as I type. My family is arriving in two days, and my friend shortly thereafter, so while it doesn’t feel like a traditional Christmas, I’m looking forward to the holidays more than ever.

The leaves are falling in Seattle, and for the third year in a row, I’ll be taking off in a couple weeks for warmer climates below the equator. The difference this year, is that I’m going primarily for work purposes, and I’ll be traveling around India instead of to Brazil, as I did the last two years.

This trip marks a big step in my entrepreneurial journey. Over the past two years, I’ve dabbled in a number of projects, including founding a magazine, twisting balloons, numerous web 2.0 site ideas and speaking professionally on Memory Improvement. It’s been a wild ride, and interspersed with many good times, a lot of traveling, and a lot of pushing my boundaries. This trip is a big deal because I’m finally putting my eggs in one basket, and have gone forward with creating an Outsourcing Partnership called dos Santos and Partners.

The premise is that there are plenty of medium size vendor companies (in numerous industries, including IT, Healthcare, Financial and Publishing) in India that need help with offering their services to US clients. In the US, the other side of the equation is that medium size companies don’t have dedicated people to find appropriate vendor companies abroad. I’m aiming to service both of these sides, by acting as a US front for the Indian companies, and a international liaison for my US clients.

I’ll be leaving November 15th, spending a month in Bombay and Pune (possibly some time in Delhi) meeting with companies. Then I’ll take a break, spend the holidays with my family in Mahableshwar and Goa. My good friends Trevin, Shaheen, Fil, Chaitanya and Suraj will be joining me for the holidays, and after the New Year we plan on traveling south. I’ll then spend the 2nd and 3rd week of Jan in Bangalore and Chennai, meeting with more vendor companies, before returning to the US in late January. I’m currently working with my Indian contacts, as well as a research firm to find the appropriate companies. I’ve also incorporated as an LLC, and have begun working out the legal contracting details.

I’m both excited and nervous at taking this step. I believe I’m moving in the right direction and am confident of the potential of my business. I’ve been doing my own research on outsourcing, and have been happy to learn that the South American market is growing as a place to outsource, so it’s entirely possible that I’ll be back in Brazil again soon, and for both business and pleasure.

I’ll be updating from the road.

In the last two weeks, I’ve been in touch with a lot of friends and family members, all offering their congratulations on my race. Life has been different after coming back from Ironman. I am still inwardly glowing about my accomplishment, which I hope will continue to be the case for a while. I feel it’s the first time in a long time where I actually feel as proud as those congratulating me seem to expect.

Recovery
There is a concept of “post Ironman depression” which comes from all of a sudden not having that goal to look forward to.  In addition, there is the loss of physiological benefits of all that exercise because I had to take some days off after the race for recovery.  After acclimating to 3-6 hours of exercise per day, taking off days following the race was tough. I was sore for about 3 days, and after that I was just going crazy. I ended up taking off Monday-Friday, then doing a 10-miler Saturday and realizing Sunday morning it was a bad idea. Sunday was a rest day, and but I’ve been back on the road for at least an hour of biking or running since.

I’ve definitely felt the addictive pull of running before, but never like this. I wake up and feel absolutely compelled to get outside. It’s nice in a way, because I really enjoy the workout, but I don’t feel completely in control, which is not ideal. It’s been over two weeks now, and I think the mental post-race downswing has mostly passed.

What comes next?
Everyone has been asking me what comes next. In truth, I have made a decision to step away from triathlons and marathons for a while to concentrate on my career. I do have a desire to do this again, but not for a while. Training takes up an extraordinary amount of time, and I have other goals to pursue. Eventually, I have my sites set on an Ultramarathon, specifically, the Western States Endurance Run (100 miles through the Cascades), and now that I see what I’m capable of in triathlons, I’d like to try to make it to World Champs in Kona, Hawaii, which would require a sub 10-hour finish. With a better bike, and many more miles in the saddle, I think I am capable of this. This is all in the distant future, and nothing I’m really planning for right now.

So I made it! Yesterday at this time, I was somewhere in the Ohio river, taking strokes toward the finish of the swim of Ironman Louisville. To say that I’m happy with my race would be the understatement of the year… Right now, I think it might have just topped the rest to be my favorite performance I’ve given so far. Everything came together, and I crushed all my expectations. I was set on finishing before nightfall, (13+ hours) and hoping I would beat the 12 hour time mark if I had a good race.

My finishing time ended up being 10:51:48, putting me at #115 out of about 2100 competitors, including 42 pros. Those not familiar with Ironman competitions may not understand why I’m so happy with my time, but I’ll put it in comparison with my half-Ironman time to give you a sense. During my half-Ironman race, which I was happy with, I finished at 5:10, which included a 34 minute swim, 3 hour bike and 1:30 run. Yesterday, I was faster at double the distance for both the swim and bike (1:07 and 5:59 respectively), and my run was only 35 minutes slower for a full marathon versus the half. I’m ecstatic! Here is a recap of the day in pictures, and in words:

The Start
I woke up at 4am, but really was awake in bed since about 1:30. My mind was racing with details about transition, my equipment, and things I needed to check on in the morning. Dad dropped me at transition at 5:30, and I checked over my bike, handed in my bags of special food items that would be handed to me at the midway points of the run and bike legs. Dad walked with me to the start at which point I was REALLY nervous. I was trying not to think of the whole day and start by thinking of one leg at a time. After waiting and stretching for about an hour, they started the pros 10 minutes early, then started us with a rolling start. (People were starting off a dock, because of the altered swim route). As I neared the dock, I was struggling to keep my mind on the next ten minutes instead of thinking about the whole day all at one time.

The Swim
The water was warm, and I could feel myself slipping through it due to the effects of shaving. I spent the first mile or so trying to draft off different people, but I was moving up in the field and wasn’t finding any ideal people to draft off of. That, and I got kicked in the face when people bunched up at one of the course buoys, and since my goggles have no padding, I was scared of having it happen again, which could have been seriously compromising. The current was noticeable on the way out, and helped on the way back. I swam pretty strong, and was passing people most of the way home. I finished in 1:07:17, which was about a minute faster than my pace during my half Ironman.

Transition 1
I moved pretty steadily through transition one, and was really excited to see my family and friends cheering me on wildly. I went down the wrong lane to get my transition bag, and had to do a stop, drop and roll to get the the adjacent lane and grab my bag. I was feeling pretty good at this point, so no problem.

The Bike
I felt fine on the bike, and was trying to rehearse my race plan. (0-30: hold back, 30-60: steady, 60-90: work and move up, 90-112: work and stay relaxed). Executing this without getting caught up in the crowds that passed me initially is the reason the race went so well. I was absolutely dismayed at the number of people flying by me on the first 30-45 miles. I was trying to focus on the feeling of holding back, rather than a pace, and it seemed most everyone else was just hammering it. It’s natural to feel really strong at this point in the race, but it was still really early. We went up quite a few hills in the first 30 miles, and I really slowed down, to prevent any anaerobic effort.

I looked at my average pace at about mile 16, and saw it was 14.4, which is insanely slow. At that point, I just released my expectations for time, and just tried to focus on my race plan. I was tempted to try to play keep up with the people around me, but instead I just let people go. Going through the LaGrange street festival at mile 38 was fantastic; I saw my family and friends yelling, holding signs and cheering.

On the back end of the first 30 mile loop, I started to find my stride, and I was happy to see that after all that time (3 hours) holding back, I had passed through the first half (56 miles) in about 3:02. I then started to work, and found myself picking people off left and right during the entire second half. I negative split the bike leg, and came in at 5:59:19, averaging 18.7mph.

It was a long, long ride. So many details to focus on! I was timing my electrolyte pills, and taking a stock of them on the hour. I was taking in my main liquid food source, Perpetuem, and swapped bottles half way through as I had kept one in my special needs bag. This forced me to take it in evenly. It also helped me focus on each segment of the race separately, and not think about the whole thing, which was overwhelming. At every aid station, I took 2-3 water bottles, replacing my stores and dumping the rest on myself to keep wet and cool. (It was getting warm at this point in the day). Having my family and friends at miles 38, and 68 gave me something to look forward to, which helped immensely.

Transition 2
I tried to stay really relaxed during the last 10 miles, and I was testing my legs by standing and flexing them, to see how tired they were. I felt pretty good, and even managed to take off my shoes while still on the bike, which enabled me to jump off and not be hindered by running in cleats. Again, seeing my family at transition was great. At this point, I knew I was doing well, and I was eager to start the run, where I didn’t have to worry about any external factors affecting my race. (On the bike, I was worried about penalties for following someone too closely, flat tires, crashing into another bike due to a lapse in concentration, etc).

The Run
I felt great starting into the run. I knew my plan for the bike had worked like a charm, and I wanted to focus on sticking with my plan for the run, which was to keep the feeling of having something left in the tank. I wanted to know I could go faster at any point in time, so I focused on that feeling and started chugging along. I was running 7:50′s to start, and kept this up for a while. It was getting really hot, so I walked through part of the aid station, so I could take in a lot of water, dump ice in my shirt and more ice water on my head.

I was really not feeling like eating, and actually feeling a bit uneasy from all the liquid food I’d taken in during the last 30 miles on the bike. I kept reminding myself that my nutrition was the most important thing at this point, and despite my distaste, kept taking in gels, electrolyte tabs, and Perpetuem.

The first lap (14 miles) went fairly well. I slowed down to 8 minute miles, but was feeling pretty good. As I looped around, I got a glance at the finish, and tried to get the thought out of my head, since I still had 12 miles to go. The second lap was tough. I was still trying to get in fluids, but was feeling really hot. The shock of dumping ice water over myself was getting worse and worse, as I was heating up in between the aid stations. I was trying to make it to mile 20 before making any assessments on how I was feeling, but I knew I was tiring. I did my best to pick it up, but I think I was still struggling to keep about an 8 minute pace, with another 20 seconds or so to refuel and get water at the aid stations. I started counting down the miles from 22 on, and finally letting myself think about the finish. It sounds silly now, but my eyes were welling up every time I thought about it. I finally picked it up during the last two miles and when I rounded the corner, I let it all out. I wanted to finish strong, and was overcome with emotion as I crossed the line.

My friend Alyson Tudor was there to give my my finishers medal, and the volunteers grabbed me and helped me over to my family. I was completely physically and emotionally overcome. It was great to see everyone and I was ecstatic because I knew I had broken 11 hours.

My Fans

My family was the best. They really came through this past week, and did everything for me. My sisters even organized the making of custom T-shirts so I could spot them along the course! Alyson Tudor, who had helped organize the whole event was there to cheer me on as well. My friend Whitney York, and her friends Millie and Meredith were all over the entire course, and it was fantastic to have their support. I was so happy to see everyone at the end… it really made it into a perfect day for me. In a race like this, which is so mental, having the support along the way makes all the difference.

Closing Thoughts

After all the training, I couldn’t have asked for a better performance, or a more perfect race. People have already been asking me if I’ll do it again. I have to say, it’s tempting… but for the foreseeable future, the answer is no. I am really happy with my race, and I don’t have anything left to prove to myself. I’ll probably do it again at some point, but right now, I have other goals I want to focus on. I’m so happy I did this. It was a huge undertaking and I am ecstatic that everything came together so well.

I arrived home in Louisville yesterday. I have one week until my Ironman competition. There are so many thoughts going through my mind. I’ve been training for this for 9 months, and it has pretty much taken over my life since February. I’ve faced a few setbacks, including a torn hamstring in April, and a 10-day bacterial infection earlier this month from swimming in a contaminated lake. (I’ll let you guess at what it was contaminated with…)

But right now, I’m about 16 days into my taper, and I’m feeling really ready. I’m constantly switching between feeling lethargic and being full of nervous energy. For the first time in a while, I’m holding back on my normal eat-as-much-as-possible diet, so that I don’t gain weight now that my workouts are knocked down to an hour or so per day.

My mind is constantly racing over the details of the race, trying to anticipate what it will feel like at different stages. In truth, I don’t think I can come close to imagining what it will feel like in reality. I’m a bit nervous, because today is the 21st straight 90 degree day in Louisville, so it’s going to be a hot day on Sunday.

My main training book, Going Long: Training for Ironman-Distance Triathlons by Joe Friel says this about race day:

“Odds are that sometime during the day you are going to feel really, really bad. This feeling is normal, and things will get better if you persevere to the end. Finish at all costs, and you will thank yourself later.”

I have to admit that after typing that, it seems kind of nuts…

I can’t wait.

Someone did a great job of marketing this book… which, after reading it, doesn’t surprise me at all. Keith probably knows all the right people that would put his book front and center at every major bookstore in the US. Even though I just read it, I’ve known about it since it came out. It was all over Barnes and Noble in 2005, when it came out, and even today, the cover really pops out at you.
The book focuses on the art of networking, and creating what Keith calls a “relationship based career.” Through this book, and a few other factors that have come up lately, I’ve realized that connecting with people may be the missing piece at this point of my entrepreneurial journey. It seems that when I reach out and meet people for lunch, or go out of my way to connect with old bosses, colleagues, and new friends, things start to happen. Opportunities open up, I get new ideas, I meet people who can help me, and it keeps me from stagnating.

The trap I’ve been following into, is that because I work for myself, I stay home behind my laptop all day. This can be productive, but it’s definitely not tapping into my strength as someone who connects people. In the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that

• I have both a friend a McKinsey who’s going into non-profit and another who is going to intern there and is interested in the same.
• I have a friend who is a local Louisville artist, and another who likes to buy art from young, local Louisville artists.
• I have a friend in NYC who works for the Daily show, and another who is in school at NYU for comedic writing, and looking for jobs.

In short, these people need to meet, and if I don’t make it happen, who will?

This book was great for showing you the importance in meeting people, and how specifically, to go about meeting the right ones. It was the right mix of specific advice, and background on why the advice is important. I’m definitely going to concentrate more on connecting with those around me… and being around those I want to connect with.

An hour ago, I landed in Brazil. It’s amazing how the life I left 9 months ago can come back in 9 seconds. The soft sounds of Portuguese, the building construction, the favelas I can see off in the distance out the airport window… I haven’t even set foot outside of the airport, and already I can feel the environment changing me. It’s interesting how much our environment affects us, as I usually assume that I am in control. Recently Niels and I spoke about how changing the environment you live in can serve as a catalyst for changing the rest of your life. That said, since we are both off the beaten track, (he left his PhD program this past fall), we decided to move in together when our lives settle down this summer. Niels is still in the midst of fame and fortune, as Beauty and the Geek is in full swing, and he’s starring in it this season. I’m just beginning a month hiatus in Brazil. A much needed break to recharge. At least that’s the excuse I’m giving.

I’m extremely excited to be moving in with Niels again. We were close and got along well in college, and that has only improved in the past few years. Now that are lives are running parallel again, it’s only fitting to see how we can learn from each other. And there is always loads that I learn from Niels. While the plans aren’t set in stone, we’re committed to our goals, and to the pursuit of excellence in life. It’s looking to be a groundbreaking year,… again!

18 months ago my life was the Chutes and Ladders board game. I had a path laid out ahead of me, and while there were both great achievements and setbacks, it was just a matter of time until I reach the destination. The problem was that I didn’t to choose the destination. I was working hard to get there as fast as possible, and I experienced progress, but towards what?

At some point, I started to realize that I didn’t want to play Chutes and Ladders. I wanted to device my own game instead. A game where I not only have control over whether I achieve the next step, but I get to select what that next step will be. Best of all, I can keep creating more destinations, so the game never has to end. Sure, like any game, there will be ups and downs, but now when there is progress, and I get to direct that progress. It is a continuous journey that I create as I go.

What I’ve learned since I’ve changed games:

• I’d rather play my game than anyone elses.
• At times, I get confused, because there is no set path ahead of me. I don’t know if I’m on a ladder or a chute.
• Helpful friends and time spent in contemplation helps me to focus on my next destination.
• Playing my game as a team, rather than against anyone, aids me in reaching my goals faster.
• I only want to play with people who want to be on my team.
• It’s a challenge to pick destinations. I must allot time to do it, and prioritize this time above all else.