Marc Sirkin's Mindnumbing Thoughts

I was going to blog about Google's new Virtual World and while I was installing it, I was flipping through the latest issue of Business Week. Rather than blab on about Livey (at first glance, it looks like yet another odd attempt to create a usable virtual space), I'd much prefer to talk about the interview Maria Bartiromo did with Jerry Levin . If you remember your dot com history lessons, Mr. Levin is the guy who was pushed into retirement after the Time Warner/AOL disaster. What I didn't remember, was that in 1997 his son Jonathan was robbed and killed by a former student. I'm always curious and interested to see how really successful people deal with tragedy, and what becomes of them. One of Maria's first quesitons was "What have you learned in the past half-dozen years that you didn't in all those years climbing to the top?" Levin's answer stopped me in my tracks. He talks about his relationships and perspective being in a "rather parochi...

I was digging around the wayback machine at some old web sites I managed and found this funny quote on an old Sirkin.com homepage... "Everything is different, but the same... things are more moderner than before... bigger, and yet smaller... it's computers... San Dimas High School football rules!" Anyone remember what movie that is from (heck yes I know the answer).

My daughter graduated 5th grade today and I was really blown away by what some of these kids have planned for the future. Brain surgeons, authors, athletes, aid workers and more. The ceremony was terrific and despite me having very bittersweet feelings about seeing my daughter graduate, it was a really good day. Earlier this year, I taught a Junior Achievement class to my daughter's 5th grade class. It was my 4th time doing this sort of volunteerism, and I continue to really love the experience. As with most volunteer activities, I started out thinking this would be a great way to give something back. In the end though, it's me that gets the most out of the time I think. This year's class wrote me notes after our sessions ended. While it's always nice to get a thank you, these notes really went over the top. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to show some of these kids more about business and to get them excited about their own futures. Stephen wrote "It was c...