Vol. 4, Issue 2: Renewal and the Urge to Be Great
Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love Myself
When I was young, the only thing that I wanted to do when I grew up was move to New York City’s Upper West Side*. I wanted to live in an apartment with big bookshelves lining the walls, shop at Zabar’s and Fairway, pick up the big Sunday New York Times at the newsstand on Saturday night, ride the subway to work, etc., etc. All the things.
*I’ve possibly told this story before, but one of the primary drivers of that was a Bud Light commercial featuring an extremely pretty woman who, when asked offscreen where she was drinking her Bud Light, said “Amsterdam Avenue” directly to the camera or, in my pubescent brain, me - and when I asked my parents where Amsterdam Avenue was and they told me, I said “I’m going to live there”. So thanks for everything, Anheuser-Busch
And I did all of those things, except (ironically) live on Amsterdam Avenue specifically. They were wonderful, all of them. Every minute I lived in New York City is a minute I treasure and every time I’m back here, as I have been for the past week, every minute feels like home - it’s comfortable, familiar. It suits me. And the affinity that I felt for New York when I was young and my parents brought us here to see a show or go to a museum or have a fun meal or whatever hasn’t died. If anything, it’s been magnified. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Except …
New York is a commerce driven city. Nearly every building on every avenue is mixed use - it’s a commercial building with storefronts or it’s an apartment building with storefronts. And a lot of those storefronts are empty. I don’t have to go into consumption patterns shifting with the invention of the internet and the onset of the pandemic, but suffice it to say people don’t shop the way they used to. There’s nothing really wrong with that necessarily (beyond the shipping waste, carbon emissions and algorithmic exploitation of your brain’s chemistry)*, but it has changed the landscape of the city.
*I’m going to highly recommend watching the documentary Buy Now on Netflix. It’s jarring to say the very least
Which brings me to renewal.
The universe is in a constant state of renewal and so it seems is New York. I find myself lamenting “old” New York a lot - I was just saying the other day to someone that I’d give 2 years of my life to have one more meal at Ernie’s restaurant*. That’s just one of the many places that has come and gone since I established residency on the Upper West Side.
*Which is ridiculous on its face because a) Ernie’s wasn’t that great a restaurant and b) I earmarked those two years to take the course to become a notary public. But because I can’t eat there again, I’ll happily say something that stupid because no one can call me on it
But “new” New York ain’t so bad, guys. And neither is renewal. I think New York is figuring out what it is in a world where people don’t always go into large buildings to work together, where there are significant economic sustainability challenges in retail, and all of the other difficulties that come with large populations living in small spaces. It’ll figure it out. It always does. And I suspect the new New York, whatever it is, will be a New York worth living in, visiting, whatever.
I believe it’s the Bible that says “In auto parts, you’re either growin’ or dyin’, there ain’t no third option”*. And so it is for auto parts. And so it is for cities. And so it is for people.
*This might be Brian Dennehy in Tommy Boy
Which leads to the lede that I’ve successfully buried: I’ve left OpenX and am undergoing my own renewal. I’ve got nothing but love for the OpenX organization, a company full of wonderful people who care deeply about the work that they do. But everyone’s time comes and after 27 years across multiple companies doing effectively the same thing, it was my time.
What am I working on now? Well, a few things:
In the short term for things that are tangible, I’ve put out a shingle and started JPEG Consulting. Right now, I’m set up working with an EU-based identity resolution company to transition and get their product ready for a move into the US. Everything from getting feedback on how it might integrate for the market with existing solutions to go-to-market strategy and materials. The whole gamut. It’s an exciting company and an exciting opportunity and I’m thrilled to be working with them. I’ve got a couple of other proposals out there and I’m doing some super interesting things.*
*And of course if you’re reading this and have a need, you know where to find me
But intangibly, I’m working on a couple of other things:
How I define/see myself vs. how others/see define me
How I can embrace the change and lean into the things I’m passionate about
But more than anything, as I navigate my personal renewal, there’s one overarching thing that I’m using as the guiding principle: how can I be great *and* love myself? Those things are not mutually exclusive.
I say this a lot, but I’m hoping to get these out the door more frequently and ideally in a more organized effort around the production of this content and other interesting stuff. So stay tuned.
As always, until next time friends.