I’m sort of following Fred Wilson‘s lead here (simply because he did it first) but I’ve been thinking about explaining my somewhat odd avatar for a while. The story of Fred’s avatar is much more interesting so I’ll forgive you if you leave to read his instead of mine. *sniff*
My avatar is meant to be a metaphor. Back in the late-1990s we had a time period of business in the world of technology known as the dot-com bubble. Although not for the same reasons I felt some of the effects of the bubble bursting. I had several opportunities that otherwise dissolved during that period.
So, here we are in the now late first-decade of the 21st century and I’m onto other things. Many lessons were learned during that bad time period by everyone involved. Whether or not your company was built on speculation or not – if you made it through the late-90s you no doubt learned something. I know I did.
So now we hold the bubble. It wasn’t in our hands then. Well, it certainly wasn’t in mine at the time (I was only 19). It just got bigger and bigger and then burst. But now the bubble is pressed firmly in my hands, your hands, our hands. We have the control of whether or not it bursts. A bubble made with good materials can get quite big indeed without bursting.
So, that is why I chose my current avatar. I’m holding the bubble. I’m controlling it. I’m not going to let it burst. Yeah, I went there.
Photo credit: Eliza.