Posted 7:45 AM by Andy
It has been a long while since I've journaled so let me do a quick update.

Work. Truth be told, ever since late spring I have been antsy to make a change. By summer most of the expats at eBay China have left for greener pastures. I was going through the motions of releasing the new site, which was unveiled in early July at www.eachnet.com. Whether this proves to make a dent in the fortress that is Taobao remains to be seen, especially as Alibaba is set to go public in a few weeks. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have learned the nuances of Internet product management from a stalwart firm, but I resigned in early September to explore new opportunities.

Vacation. I took a 3-week break back home to LA last month. I wanted to find out whether this would be the appropriate time to re-integrate into US society. I talked to LegalZoom, a firm started by Bob Shapiro, based in Hollywood. The meeting was non-eventful, but afterwards I picked up a copy of "Hollywood Animal" by Joe Esterhas of Basic Instinct fame. He's been demonized by his liberal and controversial screenplays but wielded enormous clout in the industry. In the end he found God. I saw Suzy briefly. It was cool to hear about her plans to take acting lessons to adopt the Elmo role in theater productions of Sesame Street. I met Julie in LA at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. It was good to see her following her dreams in preparation for a career in international health and development. I hung out with Pat and Cherene a couple times at their Mosaic small group in Pasadena. I caught up with Tina near USC and heard about her plans to apply to CEIBS and possibly move to Shanghai. I saw Mike in Torrance, and noted how he is using eHarmony now to find his dates. I hung out with Allen twice at his Redondo Beach pad and met his fiance. We got into a deep discussion about faith and how we know God is real. His colleague was there defending his atheistic stance. I tried to point out the logical conclusion of his worldview, which is ultimately nihilistic. He admitted the prospect of death terrifies him. I went to Vegas with Jason, aka Spanx. The 39-hour escape was packed. Some highlights include eating at Alain Ducasse's joint and Picasso. We also watched Cirque's water show. The costumes and theatrics were extravagant. The rest of the break I hung out with my relatives and watched old NBA playoff games. God bless NBA TV. I also watched some episodes of a Chinese soap opera on Youtube in my down-time. The sap in me cannot be quenched. I lost $630 on one hand in poker when my pair of Kings was reamed by a straight on the river. I made $20K in the stock market when FMCN proved its compliance with federal regulators on accounting charges.

Books. I read 8 books when I was on break. Black Swan: There are outliers and cataclysmic events that cannot be foreseen. Gaussian bell-curves are mis-applied in many instances. Alwaleed: Saudi prince made his fortune with shrewd investments in Citigroup and hotel properties. Way of the Turtle: tale of technical trading program and the different results in application due to human foibles. End of Poverty: Jeff Sachs' macro account of development path taken by various countries. 1984 Draft: Inside scoop on the machinations that produced the seminal draft class with Jordan, Olajuwon, and Stockton. Shed light on why Sam Bowie was picked ahead of Mike. Making of an American Capitalist: biography of Warren Buffett. He had an aptitude for numbers at a young age and made good on that skill. The Last Tycoons: history of the Lazard Freres banking partnership with huge egos like Felix Rohatyn profiled in detail. 3:16: Max Lucado's exegesis of the most powerful verse in the Bible.

Next. The US seemed strangely foreign to me. Places were familiar and the lifestyle is very comfortable, but I felt eerily out of place. Since I had no gig there, I came back to Shanghai. Within a week of my return, I received two job offers. The first is with a huge English training firm who is planning to launch a wireless product line. The team is very international and the office environment is blended with classrooms and office space in the same location. The second is with one lady who is starting her own firm and looking for a business partner. She wants to build stock option software for Chinese firms. If I join her, I would help with product strategy, business development and likely investor relations. She sees a void here for China and I agree with her. It's the classic stability versus uncertainty question. Do I value safe slow growth or a risky volatile trajectory? It's difficult to project how much the upside is if we succeed with the startup, but the ride will definitely be interesting. I haven't made my final decision yet but I'm leaning towards the uncharted path.