Story of a Streetwalker

Yesterday I attended the Heath Lecture at my alma mater, Stevens Institute of Technology. David Rose, angel investor extraordinaire, gave a presentation and it was standing room only. Of COURSE I was late (my life is still working on a 15 minute delay), but I really came to see my friend Mark LaRosa. Mark is one of my idols. He has successfully launched and sold a business and has now created a new venture, Quota Crush, that is already generating revenue.

From my vantage point standing near the entrance, I had the opportunity to scan the audience - and it was disheartening. I still can't stop myself from counting the number of women in attendance, the number of non-white faces in the group, and the number of non-white women. The numbers ran from about 5 to 2 to 0. I try not to make these reviews, but as I get older I find myself doing it more. David Rose is a successful entrepreneur who has much information to impart - and this was a great opportunity to interact with him. I did find it entertaining how many people tried to impress David - only to sound inane. I, on the other hand, did my usual - and stayed far away. If Mark had introduced me to him, then I would have hoped that I would not have made my usual "duh" moves, but that was never the case (hey, Mark - how come?). Regardless, I don't know if I feel confident enough to sell myself yet to him. I mean, really, entrepreneurs are prostitutes sometimes. We dress ourselves / products up in the most provocative ways in the hope to turn the eye of someone who will give us money. Now, sometimes I do feel that I have an advantage over the other ones on the corner since I am usually very different from the other hookers, but I have yet figured out how to properly strut my stuff.

Hmm, I wonder if I investors liken themselves to pimps behind closed doors. I am sure that somewhere there is a hat with a feather that is used as a trophy.