Business and Government, Public Service, & Strong Leadership

1) I sometimes joke that the past 10 years I’ve operated a bit like the infantry units I served with on active duty. I move at night, and I schedule most if not all of my travel in the evening. I do this because I serve many people: founders, investors, teammates, customers, and my family. I’m typically needed in the day so I will travel when I’m not needed. This has meant a fair bit of red eye flights.

2) I arrived in Washington DC yesterday morning at 2am to attend the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) dinner yesterday evening. It was a fantastic evening where I connected with old acquaintances and made new ones.

3) A highlight of my evening was meeting Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Listening to her and learning about her background made me quickly remember just how important public service is and how important it is to have great leaders in government.

Here are some quotes from her speech yesterday evening:

➡ My job is to enhance the competitiveness of the United States, and make us more competitive.
➡ My team and our government is investing in the USA: manufacturing, supply chain, talent, AI, & semiconductor chips.
➡ National security is economic security.
➡ The world is a safer place when America leads and when America's economy is strong, dynamic, and innovative. When America leads it is good for the global order.
➡ When the US business sector gets together with the government sector and shows up with the American flag, we are unstoppable.

4) Secretary Raimondo has an impressive background and I’m thankful for all of the public servants like her who serve our incredible country:

⚡ First woman governor of Rhode Island
⚡ Her father was a World War II Navy veteran and became the first in his family to attend college thanks to the GI Bill.
⚡ Valedictorian of her high school.
⚡ Honors graduate at Harvard and top economics student in her class
Rhodes Scholar
⚡ Yale Law School graduate
⚡ Founded Point Judith Capital, a venture capital firm
⚡ As General Treasurer of Rhode Island she tackled the state’s $7 billion unfunded pension liability.

5) I’m looking forward to attending Applied Intuition's Nexus conference today and attending the Council on Foreign Relations National Conference this evening.

6) Some great quotes on public service:
“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

― Martin Luther King Jr.