DMC Metamorphosis :)

I feel like i've hit a turning point in my life.  Something has happened in the past 6 months, in the past 3 years since leaving Simply Hired & PayPal.  I'm not sure when it all clicked, but i've been fortunate to have a lot of wonderful things come my way lately.

Those things include but are not limited to:

• working with / investing in great startups like Mint (thx Aaron), SlideShare (thx Rashmi & Jon), TeachStreet (thx Dave), and many others
• running conferences like Startonomics SF (thx Debbie), Graphing Social Patterns (thx Gina & Tim), and Web 2.0 Expo SF (thx Brady & Jen)
• creating the now-infamous Stanford Facebook class (thx BJ, Yee, Jia, many others & our students!)
• coming up with Startup Metrics for Pirates AARRR! (thx Hiten, Andrew, Eric, *SO* many others) 
• getting Startup2Startup rolling last year (thx Leonard, Brian, Kat, Saar, & MANY friends/sponsors)
• joining FoundersFund this year (thx Sean Parker for giving me a shot)
• launching FF Angel LLC and investing in some great startups (thx FF, also Jeff Clavier & many other angels & VCs for great advice)
• retooling fbFund & creating the fbFund REV incubator program (thx Cat & folks at FB, Accel & FF, many others)
• kicking off GeeksOnaPlane Asia trip (thx Christine, George, lots others)
• putting Finance4Founders together & ready to rollout (thx Dan & others)

while this may seem like a laundry list, the one common thread in all of the above projects has been the amazing help of my friends & colleagues.  there is no way i could have accomplished any of these efforts without the patience, tolerance, brilliance, and sheer hard work of my home boys & girls.  you folks really do rock.  (and i know how much of a pain in the butt i am to work with!)

seriously: how lucky am i, to be blessed with so many incredible people in my life, who have given me so much, created such tremendous opportunities... while i remain the lazy, ADD, easily-distracted, crazy sonuvabitch i've always been, who barely manages to make rent each month. i mean, it's nothing short of a miracle that i can find my ass with both hands in the morning, and yet somehow after so many years in the valley i have found a nice little groove. how cool is that.

these days i actually wake up early & excited to do the work i'm doing, happy as a newborn puppy to spend time working on projects with people i like, and i keep pinching myself to make sure this shit doesn't disappear tomorrow.  well even if it did, i would treasure the moments thus far...

lastly, i must acknowledge the folks at home who help me find purpose and reason amidst all this insanity... thank you to my wife and our two beautiful kids.  you are the light of my life, and your smiles & laughter are precious beyond the treasure and measure of mortal men.  

truly, i am a very lucky person.  thank you to everyone :)

Comments

[Hiten Shah]

The ball is rolling, it aint stopping. It has been a real pleasure being part of the DMC fan club ;)

[daveschappell]

You're the best, Dave -- it's been wonderful getting to know you -- it's always interesting and fun!

[Matt (CEO, 1000 Markets)]

Go Dave!.

For those who don't know Dave, I offer this.

Dave and I only first met last year when I was fundraising for 1000 Markets. Of course, I had heard of dave, but it wasn't until we were simultaneously introduced by 3 great common friends (Jerry Michalski, Miko Matsumura, and Dave Schappell) that we talked for the first time. Dave is wicked smart and probably one of the straightest shooters I have ever met. He will not kiss your ass. He will not lie to you. If he likes you, he will tell you. If he says he will write you a check, he will write you a check. If he thinks your business model sucks, it probably does. He will also readily admit that while he has lots of opinons, many of them might be wrong.

He has rigor and humility. If you ever wonder why he has such a strong following, this is the reason.

Plus, he is a lot of fun.

[Dan Martell]

Even though you're an "ADD, easily-distracted, crazy sonuvabitch" it's been a blast working with you :-)

Everyone will probably agree that you give back way more than you ever ask for ... you always add value and you're an amazing connector.

Thanks for being you!

[holly]

Don't mean to rain on such a grateful post, but your link that goes to Startup2Startup is broken. It's missing a "2".

It's always nice to hear Valley folk take a break, reflect and see how other folks and interconnectedness has influenced their life =)

I know I've benefited from more than one of these programs. So thanks for leaving Simply Hired and Paypal =)

[Twilio]

Dave,

I think you're hitting your stride in your new role!

Welcome butterfly, you're fucking beautiful!

-jeff
Twilio CEO

[David Sachs]

Wait, *you're* Dave McClure? Who have I been sending email to all this time?