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Father Son Weekend

 

Stanley Feld M.D.,FACP,MACE

In 2006 Brad suggested I write a blog since I had so many ideas about Repairing the Healthcare System.

In the course of writing the blog Brad and I decided to write about each other occasionally. We have done a Father and Son Weekend for a number of years.

Brad in NYT

This year we spent our Father Son Weekend in San Diego. We have no goal. We simply hang out. Every year I come home invigorated.

We went to Coronado because Coronado is the “World Headquarters” of Howard Lindzon’s Stockwits.com.

Last year Cecelia and I meet Howard in Phoenix two years. Brad has invested in a few of Howard’s companies. Howard is a guy who has an idea a minute. He is a vibrant personality. He never stops churning. His vibrancy can be seen on  video feeds. Stockwits tag line is Real Investors, Real Ideas, Real Time.

This year is the year of Howard’s first annual LindzonPaloza. He invited 45 venture capitalist, investors, and entrepreneurs from all over the country and me to the LindzonPaloza. Forty four people showed up.

I was invited because I am Brad Feld’s Dad.

What is a LindzonPaloza? It is a Meet and Greet sponsored by Social Leverage one of Howard’s companies. “Social Leverage’s” tagline is Invest, Syndicate. And Grow.

I was hanging out with some of the brightest people in the world. All were under the age of 45. I learned about their views of the world, their attitudes and impressions of the future.

Brad vigulucii 2010

Let me tell you folks, their view is a very optimistic view of the world.

Everyone had at least two smart phones. During lunch on Friday part of the discussion was which was the best smart phone. Brad had just been on a couple of panels at the I/O Google conference. Google sent him a Droid with an Android OS 2.1 before the conference and gave him an EVO Android 2.1 at the conference. One guy had Incredible Android 2.1. Everyone had an IPhone.

I concluded from the smart phone discussions that Apple had better watch out. Steve Jobs’ party is almost over. He will not be able to play catch up. It had Sprint since 1982. I quit Sprint 2 years ago because they did not have an adequate smart phone.

I think I am going back to Sprint as soon as the EVO with Android 2.2 is released. This is just one of the many things I learned over the weekend.

Most fascinating was the many philosophies of venture capitalist investing. These guys have big ideas. They are all smart and articulate. They are going to revolutionize our existence. The different philosophies were directly related to the differences in personality.

After lunch we wandered over to Howard’s Stockwits Headquarters. Howard interviewed Brad on Stockwits for 30 minutes.

Howard talked us into spending some time     shooting the breeze on the patio at the del Coronado. I stuck close to Brad all weekend learned a lot from him.

Howard continued the Meet Up with hors d’ouerves and wine on the patio. My brother, Charlie Feld, and I were concerned that healthy people between the ages of 40-55 were not interested in President Obama’s healthcare proposals.

I had a chance to pitch my views. Brad and Howard made the introduction about healthcare to get me started. I was pleased that most of these guys were very concerned. .

At 6pm PDT it was either eating with the group or on your own. It was time for the famous Feld Men’s nap. The timing was just right. I was 4 pm Dallas time. A fifteen minute snooze and we were all set for dinner.

Neither Brad nor I remembered that we were scheduled to eat at Vigilucci’s on Saturday night. We had Friday dinner together at Vigilucci’s.

stan in california If you’re in Coronado for dinner go to Vigilucci’s. Brad and I spoke about life, the past and the future for two and a half hours. Love that boy!

At nine o’clock we split to go to our separate rooms. I think I was asleep by nine fifteen. Saturday morning I jogged at 7 am along the bayside. Brad and I were going to meet for breakfast at 9 a.m. It was cold in San Diego. I had a windbreaker and hat on and was shivering. Brad didn’t show up at nine. He was swimming in the pool. He didn’t wake up until 9. I tried to get his attention while he was swimming but he was in a zone.

We finally went to breakfast at 10.30 a.m. Clayton’s Diner was packed. We had at least a 25 minute wait. We decided to have chocolate ice cream at Moo Time Creamery before breakfast. Chocolate ice cream before breakfast is not a bad idea.

We finished breakfast at noon and hurried back to the “del” to meet up with anyone that wanted to go to Iron Man 2 with us. David Cohen  and Micah Baldwin were the only people interested.

The taxi took us somewhere in San Diego. Iron Man 2 is a campy movie. It must be seen with the right attitude. The movie held my attention. I slept only for ten minutes.

LindzonPaloza is a Meet-Up. We went back to the “del” patio to continue discussions after the movies.

Next event was a group dinner at Vigilucci’s. I thought I met and spoke to everyone. I was wrong. I kept meeting additional intelligent, critical thinkers. They were all 25 to 35 years my junior. I think America will be in good hands. They all know what’s going on.

Howard threw a spectacular Meet Up. I thank him for letting me participate. Many people were leaving on Sunday morning. Howard told us to meet him at 9 am in the Coffee Shop on Orange. Neither Brad nor I had the vaguest idea where the Coffee Shop was located but we figured we would be smart enough to find it. We got lost because we were talking so much.

I had a great weekend.

Everyone should spend at least one weekend a year alone with their kid. I guarantee it will be invigorating.

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