David Hayden has had a bad decade. The curly-haired entrepreneur's latest startup, Jeteye, is behind with the rent. He owes his bank over $30m, because he borrowed against the stock, now worthless, of his previous company, Critical Path. He told the New York Times, earlier this month, that he'd been
forced to sell off furniture to cover bills. Throughout it all, he's remained curiously serene. How does he do it? Here's a clue, reprinted after the jump, from a post on
Hayden's Jeteye page:
Sun, 18 Feb 2007 18:33:23 GMT
The only truth in life is love. Absent is all fear, arrogance, ego, analysis. Left for us is only clarity. When we invest of ourselves for any reason other than our truth, we take ourselves further from our Source, to a place where we are almost unrecognizable to our Selves, to a place where the unreal and bizarre, the insane and the depressed, become our drivers and our reality. To truth then, may in live and flourish in our hearts, and in all we do. David Hayden
Valleywag
Comments
Poor guy.
Cheesy, but I like it. Can't beat inner peace~
Blah blah blah...
Why are we facinated by a man that loses $30M?
I'm not.
BTW - is that a supercut?
@realman: I've always thought there's too much emphasis on the Silicon Valley winners. Anyone would think that success is guaranteed: that the track of a Kevin Rose and Chad Hurley and Larry Page is the rule, rather than the exception. You can read all about them in rah-rah pubs like Business Week. Expect slightly gloomier stories on Valleywag.
Serenity comes from having a Swiss bank account, multiple identities, and an escape plan that will have him in a country without an extradition treaty inside of twelve hours. I'm not accusing, I'm just speculating.
Or maybe he has a false tooth filled with cyanide and a romantic view of the world. Who knows?
@Nick Denton: Kevin Rose is hardly on the track of Chad, much less Larry. At least not with Digg.
I can think of a few other people who got bruised if not wiped out like that from the last tech boom. Whether it's $30M or $30k, when you don't have it, you don't have it. It sucks.
@Nick Denton: And gloomier stories is a differentiator for Valleywag, and why I like this site. If Valleywag was only echo'ing all the same brou-ha-ha like everybody else .. VW would become a me-too.
Dose of reality is awesome. Great job, Nick. Cheers.
I like Hayden's attitude. It would have been easy for him to retreat into anger and depression over his losses. His equanimity is refreshing and is an example to us all. He is obviously a intelligent and driven man who just made some bets that went the wrong way. He could have easily been a "winner" under a different scenario. I don't read his story as something sad or gloomy. There are elements of sadness to it to be sure, but overall I think the point he is trying to make is exactly what he said: "that the only truth in life is LOVE," and that despite his financial losses he hasn't lost that.
You can say he is cheesey, look down on him, feel sorry for him and go back to worshipping the Google guys, Gates, Ellison, or whoever but I think what he had to say is just as valuable and noteworthy as if it had come out of the mouth of a Silicon valley "winner."
The "winners" may get to write history and receive the bulk of the media's attention but that doesn't make what they say the truth or give them a monopoly on wisdom.
Dave is right, if things had gone differently Hayden would be the same man but we'd all be thinking of him with some kind of involuntary "AH!" bended knee reflex. I think we are big enough to respect a man for more than just making it big; how about for becoming wise?
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