Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Last night, on a flight back to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, I got caught up in a Jim Rogers book, "Hot Commodities". He is now my favorite finance author, replacing all those "trashy finance novels" that I used to read (think Liars Poker, Monkey Business, Ben Mezrich's stuff, Michael Lewis). He's a bit of a crazy person, but he speaks to my strong interest in independence, investing, and understanding how the world truly works. Fascinating writer...

Regardless, midway through the reading, I began to think about where I've been over the last year, how my life is different from that of my parents and grandparents, and what it all adds up to. So bear with me here...

My grandparents on my mom's side were American-born, middle-upper class people who enjoyed much of the American Dream - Beautiful house in suburban Long Island, smart children attending the right schools and universities, a family business that was well-respected in the community, community leadership positions, beautiful big Cadillac (huge, "boat-like pimp-mobile", as my sister used to call it), vacations around the U.S. and some major cities in Europe and Israel... They were domestically oriented people for the most part, fairly content living their life in the suburb, traveling mostly by car within the tri-state area, and getting on an airplane a few times a year. Most of their friends and colleagues were Americans, with a good majority from the Jewish community.

My father's parents were Hungarian, having come to the U.S. at a very early age from Budapest to avoid Nazi persecution. They lived a more modest, immigrant lifestyle, based heavily around my grandfather's various businesses. My dad was brought up in a fairly religious home, where he was strongly encouraged to become a doctor (he became a dentist). My grandparents were not necessarily very wealthy, but they did provide what they could to my dad and his sister. They lived in the Bronx, in a strong Jewish community, and were very Jewish-community oriented folks. They rarely got on an airplane (usually once or twice a year), even post-retirement when they moved to Deerfield Beach, Florida. Their lives were domestic, very focused on communal leadership and were public transportation folks (my dad used to tell me about how my grandfather used to buy hot sweet potatoes sold on the street, by the train stations on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, before taking the long trip back to the Bronx). Nearly all of my grandparents friends were Jews from Hungarian/German or otherwise Ashkenazi background.

My parents have lived in Brooklyn since they got married over 30 years ago... My mom has been trained in Occupational Therapy and has been a nursing home administrator since I was a young boy. My dad is a retired dentist. Both of them have worked in environments with mixed ethnic employees and patients, yet both have friends who are almost entirely Jewish from New York. While my parents are comfortable flying on airplanes, with regular trips to Israel and other spots each year, they travel on roughly 4-8 flights per year. My parents rely heavily on their various automobiles (at one time we had four Toyotas) to travel within the tri-state.

My sisters and I stand at a fairly great contrast, representing the time and place we live in. To begin with, my oldest sister Mechal and her husband Chaim are constantly on airplanes across the continental U.S. and sometimes in Europe for work. They are very committed to the Jewish communities they participate in, particularly the religious community in Riverdale. Both have close colleagues from outside the Jewish community, and have fairly clear Internationally -oriented careers, but they have been nearly 100% U.S. focused.

My 2nd oldest sister Miriam, and her husband Mark, are Manhattanites through and through. They are both quite well-travelled within Europe and some other choice spots for both work and pleasure, and are fairly regularly taking their daughter Charlotte (see the blog on the right hand side) on long flights across the pond to get her passport stamped. They are both internationally oriented for their careers, although it is mostly within the developed western world (think UK/US for the most part). They do own a car in the city, but are primarily taxi riders and public transport people. They definitely count multiple non-Jewish friends from several parts of the globe.


As for me, I have been all over the globe, and I feel like I've just scratched the surface. I've got friends on nearly every continent. I look at airplanes like a seasoned business-traveler, namely the "Greyhound Bus System of the 21st Century", with mostly poor accommodations, poor lighting, air and general services, but unbeatable for time to destinations... While I enjoy driving a car, I don't expect to be dependent on one (that is, after my stay in Fontainebleau, France) as my career progresses. I've been a Jewish communal leader in high school, college and post-college, and hope to continue in that respect into the future, because its something important to me. However, the religion and its various rites are more complex for me to fully accept at face value (one day i'll post my thoughts, which are very complex, to say the least). Tradition is important, as long as its taken in stride and not the sole source of value in our daily lives.

My interest is in making an impact on international business, while also enjoying a work-life balance that my parents and grandparents were not able to achieve. Whereas mediocrity in certain respects seemed acceptable to past generations ("he's very smart and accomplished, so I guess I can overcome his weight problem" or "she comes from a good family, so you shouldn't worry about her making money"), it is not something people in my generation are willing to accept bar-none. We want it all, and we see it all within our grasps, so why settle...

While I am starting my post-INSEAD career in Tel Aviv, I am not sure where I will be in 5 years, let alone 10 or 15. When I'm 50, I expect to have spent significant time in the U.S., Israel, China, Singapore, South America and Africa. Whereas previous b-school students were told to take big corporate jobs to try to become a senior manager by the age of 55, I am seeking smaller, leaner organizations to make an impact and work towards independence.

I also fully subscribe to Marc Andreseen's view on a career as "portfolio", namely each job provides additional new skills that can be leveraged in an ambiguous future job that comes about strictly based on opportunity (e.g. when opportunity knocks, answer the door - no matter what is on the other side). Kind of radical.

Basically, I think we are living in exciting times, and i'm quite excited for the future. As mentioned in a prior post, my nail-biting has been increasing lately, as a direct indication of this incredible feeling of uncertainty, adrenaline and general excitement i'm feeling about my next step... I wonder what my great-great-grandparents would think?