The Entrepreneur Lifestyle

English: Dennis Crowley in Foursquare's New York office, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Crowley says it's been "super-stressful" on his relationship, too, but Skees, his fiancee, knows this life. They've been together since shortly before Foursquare's founding, and friends describe her as his rock--one that has tamed his out-all-night lifestyle while still supporting his dreams. They're currently planning their October wedding. A friend recently told Crowley that if he could go back in time, he wouldn't have put off having kids to do a startup. And Crowley is well aware of what's become of him: His identity is his company; he is only as mature as it is. "I've thought about it for a while, and to me it's like I've got to close this chapter in my life before I can go on to the next one," Crowley admits over beers in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, one Saturday afternoon, as parents stroll by with baby carriages. Earlier that day, we bumped into Alex Rainert, Foursquare's current head of product (and his Dodgeball cofounder), who was taking his daughter to ballet. "It's like arrested development--when you're stuck in the same place where you were at 26," Crowley continues. "My mind-set is of the person who is still unsure whether they have enough money in their ATM to go to another bar. I lived that way when I was unemployed, when I was a snowboard instructor, and when I was at NYU. A lot of my personality is stuck in those five years, and I don't know if that's ever gonna change."

Related articles

• Will Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley Finally Get It Right? | Fast Company | Business + Innovation
• Foursquare Has Been Working On A Secret Project Called 'Panda Time'
• Foursquare Co-Founders Haven't Talked Since Naveen Selvadurai Was Pushed Out Of The Company
• Obama Told Crowley To "Get The Transcript"
• 10 Successful Entrepreneurs on How to Be Awesome
• Foursquare's Tips Growing Faster Than Yelp's Reviews
• Foursquare Is Finally Making Money
• 20 Minutes with Dennis Crowley [Video]

So It Was Not Pretty?

2010 PSFK NY Conference - Naveen Selvadurai (Photo credit: Dave Pinter)

This summer, over dinner at a restaurant only 400 feet from Foursquare's headquarters, Selvadurai had his first on-the-record conversation about the exit. He's still visibly hurt by it, like a man not yet over his divorce, and yet spoke politely, if hesitantly. "It was definitely a surprise. I wanted to stay," Selvadurai says. He'd look away and take long pauses, trying to find the words. He wouldn't go into detail. "This was my baby. To leave everything behind--it was the worst kind of breakup ever. I truly feel like an orphan." Though he remains a shareholder, Selvadurai left the board in October. When asked if he's on good terms with Crowley, Selvadurai only says, "We haven't talked in a long time, since that last conversation."

My instincts at the time were right. The guy was jilted, after all. Now that I have the truth, the call I am making is it was a bad move. It is a DNA thing. A move like that hurts the company, I think.

Related articles

• Foursquare Cofounder Naveen Selvadurai Opens Up About His Exit: "I Wanted To Stay"
• Foursquare Co-Founders Haven't Talked Since Naveen Selvadurai Was Pushed Out Of The Company
• Booting Up: Naveen Selvadurai Admits He Didn't Want to Leave Foursquare
• Foursquare Co-Founders Haven't Talked Since Naveen Selvadurai Was Pushed Out Of The Company
• Cue violins: Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai leaving the company
• Foursquare Has Been Working On A Secret Project Called 'Panda Time'
• Behind closed doors: Naveen Selvadurai, Foursquare co-founder is leaving
• Will Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley Finally Get It Right? | Fast Company | Business + Innovation

The First Hour

How to spend the first hour after waking up? Not everyone has the luxury to ask. What if you have no choice but to spend that hour on your commute?

Should your time in the restroom be minimal? Should you work out some other time of the day? Should emails and phone calls be saved for the afternoon hours?

For some people the magic happens late at night, not first thing in the morning. But still.

Light meditation and prayers are also good ideas. A little yoga never hurt anyone.

What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day

Don’t Check Your Email for the First Hour. Seriously. Stop That. ..... David Karp will “try hard” not to check his email until 9:30 or 10 a.m. .... “Hour of Power,” “30 Minutes to Thrive,” or at least “Fifteen Minutes to Fulfillment.” Part of it involves light exercise, part of it involves motivational incantations, but the most accessible piece involves 10 minutes of thinking of everything you’re grateful for: in yourself, among your family and friends, in your career, and the like. After that, visualize “everything you want in your life as if you had it today.” .... if you eat a live frog first thing in the morning, you’ve got it behind you for the rest of the day, and nothing else looks so bad ..... tackling that terrible, weighty thing you don’t want to do first thing in the morning ..... If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" ..... Newmark says customers service “anchors me to reality.”

Related articles

• How to be more successful and productive
• How Do You Start Your Morning?
• Morning Rituals and Routines for the Writer
• Olympic Power Hour
• What Successful Night Owls Get Done Before Bed
• Tackle the Hard Stuff First to Make the Most of the First Hour of Your Day [Productivity]

Shane Snow's Contently

I first met Shane Snow last year at the FourSquare Day party. He asked me a few questions. Next thing you know I find myself quoted in Fast Company.

4/16: I Found Myself A Party: Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night
I Have Been Quoted In Fast Company

I saw him on and off here and there. We exchanged a few tweets along the way.

I saw him in a big way again at the end of the year at Charlie O'Donnell organized big snowball party in Madison Square Park. It was a blast.

Go Easy On Charlie Now
General Assembly: Singing Praises

Weeks later I met him again at a General Assembly party.

"What have you been up to lately?" I asked.

He mentioned the startup that looks like today stole the show at the TechStars Demo Day.

AdAge: Four Startups Marketers Need to Know: Contently ..... This is a writer marketplace for marketers looking to produce branded content. It's like LinkedIn for unemployed journalists looking to use their skills and expensive masters degrees to lure some of the dollars marketers are dedicating to produce their own content. Journos get free profile pages to show their stuff and, on the brand side, Contently is a tool to manage workflow, payments and all the other joys of editorial production. ..... "Ninety-thousand journalists lost their jobs in last decade," said Contently co-founder Shane Snow. "Great writers are out there, but there's no great way to find them." ...... What we love is that this is the exact opposite of so-called content farms such as Demand Media, which pays anyone on the internet pennies for posts on search-friendly topics. Contently is about linking real, trained journalists with brands who need professionally produced content. After launching in beta in January, the company amassed a network of 2,000 journalists and works with publishers such as LinkedIn, Best Buy, Comcast and Mint. Mr. Snow today announced a pilot program with American Express's small-business site, Open Forum. The site takes a cut of all transactions on its site and is on track to clear $1 million in sales this year. Contently closed $335,000 round of funding this summer and is raising $3 million in additional funding.

Good job, Shane Snow.

Fred Wilson: A DJ

Behind every success there is a team. Good job team.

I Have Been Quoted In Fast Company

This morning I had a DM - direct message - on Twitter from Shane Snow. (bio)(@shanesnow): Hey great meeting you the other day. Did you see your quote in the fastcompany story last weekend? Anyway, stay in touch!

I remembered this guy vividly from Fred Wilson's blog yesterday, but we have met? I shot him a DM: We met? I am quoted? Where? Send me the link. Thanks.

Fred Wilson: A DJ

Then I am thinking to myself, wait a minute. Is this the same guy I talked to at the FourSquare party?

4/16: I Found Myself A Party: Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night

I went to the Fast Company website and did a search on FourSquare.

Foursquare vs. Gowalla: Inside the Check-In Wars | Fast Company
Foursquare Steps Up its Location-Based Content With Zagat, HBO
Foursquare Adds Another Big Partner: Conde Nast's Lucky Magazine
Playing Foursquare: A Mobile Social Game That Makes Friend-Finding...
Foursquare Offers Analytics to Businesses, Enables Easy Customer...
Gowalla + Foursquare + Brightkite + Yelp + Google Maps=Checkin...
From Addiction to Apathy: The Five Stages of Foursquare Use | Fast...
Twitter Gut Checks Foursquare With "Points of Interest," Adds...
Foursquare Goes Mainstream, Teams With Bravo TV | Fast Company
Foursquare's Digital Graffiti, a Legally Nerve-Wracking Taste of...
Checking in at Foursquare's Hot Tubbin', Rooftop, Rock Star Moment...
Foursquare Makes Geotagging Generous, Points to Charity's AR...
Foursquare's Celebrity Mode Allows You to Avoid DJ Pauly D Like an...
Wall Street Journal an Foursquare: Geolocating City Newsrag...
Is Foursquare Poised to Rule Local Advertising? | Fast Company
foursquare| Fast Company
Foursquare Vows to Stop Those Cheating "Armchair Mayors" | Fast...
How Foursquare Can Steal Local from Twitter | Fast Company
Tweetsii Taps Twitter Locations, Mashes-Up Gowalla and Foursquar...

Kevin Rose was at the same party? If I had known I'd have stayed on longer and I'd have made a point to say hello to the guy.

Checking in at Foursquare's Hot Tubbin', Rooftop, Rock Star Moment...

"Paramendra Bhagat, an entrepreneur and Foursquare user at tonight's party says he started using Foursquare in February, when user activity started picking up dramatically. "When people say Foursquare is the next Twitter, I believe it," he says."