It’s amazing when we are young – the more fearless we are. The older we get, the more fearful we become. I think it comes down to the idea of failure consuming us. Meet the most fearless 4 year old you will ever meet, Kaitlyn Maher. I saw her on TV today performing on a TV show.

As you watch this – you’ll realize that she’s not only talented but completely fearless of her surroundings. Perhaps, that’s what the beauty of being young is – you really don’t know what failure is – so you don’t spend any time thinking about it and you end up just doing what you love best.

I’ve been risk taker all my life – but I ended up taking my first risk at 16, not 4. So, even for me, this was great to watch someone so adorable, talented, and amazing perform to her best talents.

If at 4 she is this fearless, I am sure she’s going to live up to her dreams. I wish Katilyn Maher the very best.

It’s not every day – you’re a flipping through channels (especially when you don’t watch much TV) and come across something that truly inspires you. Well for me that day was today. I ran across Dr. Randy Pausch. He recapped the original speech he had given as his “last lecture” at Carnegie Mellon. The wrinkle in all of this, he is dying from pancreatic cancer. Therefore, he used his last lecture to discuss the life lessons he learned and gave advice on how you can achieve your very own childhood dreams. The truth was, he really didn’t create this speech for his 400 people at Carnegie Mellon who came; he did it for only three people, his three children.

Here are some notable quotes that Randy said that stuck with me:

•    The Inspiration and Permission to Dream is Huge.

•    You can’t control the cards you’re dealt, just how you play the hand.

•    Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

•    If there’s anything I want to do so badly, I should have already done it.

•    Find the best in everybody. Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you. It might even take years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting.

•    If you want to achieve your dreams, you better learn to work and play well with others. You have to live with integrity.

•    When you are doing something badly and no one’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are the ones still telling you they love you and care.

•    Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre.

•    Understand the importance of People vs. Things

•    Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.

•    Be prepared. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

And my favorite quote from his lecture was:

•    Never stop dreaming. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.

I believe Dr. Randy Pauch’s philosophy and courage is a true inspiration for all of us. Hopefully we can all ground ourselves this way, as we choose the way we live our lives.

I realized that the show I had just watched was an actual rerun but then found the original lecture. For those of you that haven’t heard his entire speech by now, I encourage you all to dedicate at least 77 minutes and watch it here:

It will inspire you, as it inspired me.

The Dot-Com Bubble. For those of you that forgot – this is where a lot of people made a lot of money, and for those who didn’t time it right, lost a lot of the money they helped create. Welcome circa March 2000, when the NASDAQ window shut any chance to take your Company public. Prior to March 2000, the strategy was simple. Build a dot-com, let it be any dot-com, forget about making money, raise venture capital, and then raise some more. When you finally raised 3 to 4 rounds, you hired an investment bank – and went public. And, viola – companies went public and overnight some turned into billion dollar market caps, without every making a penny. On paper, at least.

This was when I first got introduced entrepreneurism. I started ClickAgents, one of the first ad networks focused on performance based advertising. I actually didn’t raise any venture capital – since truth be told I was nervous to take any. Looking back at all the different meetings I had, one conversation came to mind. This was from a prominent investor, who basically suggested that my strategy was “flawed.” ClickAgents was doing the exact opposite of most companies he saw. We were actually profitable. Which meant we’d be valued at an EBITDA (just like a traditional company) rather than a hyped up multiple on the perception that we’d make money someday. Needless to say, ClickAgents didn’t become a billion-dollar IPO, but instead got acquired by ValueClick for $40 million. Valued of course on real metrics (profitability).

As many of you know, I then started BlueLithium and last October 2007 – sold it to Yahoo for $300 million. We were growing rapidly and were also profitable. So, we were again valued on real company metrics (profitability).

What makes me nervous – we claim the economy is in a recession, but the Web 2.0 private companies aren’t. Some of the astronomical valuations – I’ve seen from various companies, almost makes me remember 1999 all over again. The big difference here is – back when the first bubble hit – the valuations were still low in the private markets, but the public markets exaggerated them. Which meant the investors, employees, and founders could eventually cash out when the company went public. In today’s euphoria, these Web 2.0 companies are getting skyrocket valuations during their investment round. When you look at the brutality of the public markets this year and what Sarbox compliance has required to take companies public – it makes you wonder what exit strategy do these companies have if they can’t go public. I guess, that’s simple – there hoping to get bought for an even higher price.

However, I’m not sure there are buyers at these levels. At least, not enough of them.

Here are some recent valuations:

1. Slide – a Web 2.0 widget company. I’ve met the CEO myself a few times, who I respect and think very highly of, but this is a company that recently raised $50 million on a $500 million valuation. It’s supposed to do $10 to $12 million in revenue this year. Not profitable.

2. RockYou – a Web 2.0 widget company like Slide but the “mini-me” version. Is rumored to close a round of financing in the $400 million range. The revenue is supposed to be smaller than Slide. And of course, not profitable.

3. Twitter – the Web 2.0 site that lets you tell your friends what you’re doing. No revenue, no profitability, and no business model. But, about to close a round at a $100 million valuation.

4. Facebook – a great product that has close to 100 million users worldwide. But, a $15 billion valuation on $150 million in revenue. A ridiculous multiple of 100X revenue.

Some of these companies have great products, features and great teams – but also great valuations on the hope that same day they’ll turn black. This is happening – when the memory of the dot-com bust is fresh with us from 8 years ago. If this is a bubble – which I believe it to be – I hope it doesn’t cause the economy to enter into a bigger recession.

I also hope this doesn’t wipe off valuable equity created from a lot of entrepreneurs, investors, and employees who end up waiting too long to make an exit.

People should always remember, in the game of musical chairs, the music always stops. And even if the music stops it’s okay – so long as you have a business that is rapidly growing with real metrics…

I’ll probably have to say not only in the world of business – but in the grand scheme of things…in order to thrive in today’s society – you have to grow a thick skin. In most instances, we do live in a world that can provide ample negative energy. And if all you do is – dwell on that energy – you basically become a weaker person and move further away from your goals. Countless times, I’ve heard people tell me that I was going to fail or that I shouldn’t do X, Y or Z (I’ve got plenty of those examples in my book). Or, more or less distract me from the end game, which was pursuing something I really wanted to do (let that be in business or personal).

So, one of the things I did very early on in life is grow a very thick skin. Some people live in a world of pessimism and that translates to the negative energy they exude. I like to live in a world of optimism – which is if I believe I want to do something – I’m not going to let anyone stop me for doing it.

That independence leads to confidence which becomes the only voice that matters. I encourage all of you to follow your heart’s desire on any matter – and never let anyone stop you from doing what you love. It might be painful – but after a while – the skin becomes thick enough to handle anything…

It works for me.

Two very different things. And also something a lot of people get confused with a lot. Many try to exude confidence through arrogance. I consider myself very confident but at the same time grounded enough to never be arrogant. The difference between the two in my perspective is simple. When your confident about something no matter how sure you are – you look around yourself and never insult or degrade anyone, diplomatically you listen and then you behave the same way you want to be treated. When you’re arrogant, you tend to be insecure of your surroundings and tend to offend others.

Recently, I was at a black tie event and I was introduced to a couple. I didn’t know who they were or the fact they were wealthy (since that doesn’t really matter to me, I’m not really into researching anyone else’s W-2). When the wife looked at me, she saw an unfamiliar face of youth and with her first few comments made it seem as if I didn’t belong there. Later, that evening after learning who I was – she tried to revive things. I never struck a chord with her again. I was polite, smiled and walked away. I guess, that’s an example of knowing who you are and sticking to it (confidently) – rather than let arrogance of others force you to react a certain way.

I’ve been through the phase of having everyone wanting to be around you because of what you have – and not who you are. That phase never appealed to me. Because, life really is too short. If at the end of the day you have a handful of friends and family around you – you end up living a very rich life…