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SKO Day 1: Doing Well So Far
Feb. 16th, 2023 07:32 amWednesday was the first full day of our sales kickoff (SKO) meeting. Breakfast started at 7am, though I arrived closer to 8 after eating a protein bar quietly in my room. I was taking it easy after being up a little too late and drinking a little too much the night before. The meetings started at 8:30. From there it was 9 hours of Death By Powerpoint.
To their credit most of the people speaking avoided making it truly Death By Powerpoint. Yes, everyone had slides, but only one person had them so crammed full of information it felt impossible to absorb it all. And several of the speakers had genuinely interesting things to share.
Three presentations stuck out to me as most interesting. One was our VP Engineering outlining a few high-value features to be added to our flagship product. Another was an industry analyst with a jaw-dropping resume talking about trends with company valuations in our industry. A third was a board member and initial investor who presented a venture capitalist's view on why he's still very bullish about our company and what some of the challenges we need to continue solving are.
During the board member's brief Q&A period I asked a pointed question about one of the challenges he discussed. ...Pointed, because in my question I expressed concern that we are going in the opposite direction of what he said is necessary. I asked for his guidance on how we should do better. To his credit, he acknowledged we're currently in a sticky situation of our own making on that one issue and agreed we need to focus more there. I expected it was at least 50-50 he'd deny it and deflect the question. (Denial and deflection are sadly typical for executives when asked uncomfortable questions in front of large audiences.) His candid and thoughtful response raised my respect for him and gave me confidence that senior leaders in my company will also take seriously my concern that we need to do better in that area.
The day's program wrapped up at 5:30. My friends and I were all "done". Fortunately not like eyes-glazed-over done, but still done. We had a few hours to ourselves before a company dinner at 7:30. Many of my colleagues took power naps. I just relaxed in my room. Partly because I knew if I laid down for a nap I'd be out for at least 90 minutes, and I didn't want to spend that long.
Dinner was a buffet affair at a sushi restaurant at the Palazzo across the street. The food was fine. I thought I might avoid booze after overindulging slightly the night before, but nope! I downed 3 or 4 cocktails and a beer. I kept it reasonable, though. No staggering home.
I thought I might go out gambling after dinner. Eating gave me a second wind. It was 8+ hours after lunch so a lot of us were flagging. But then by 9pm I was feeling tired and sore, so I decided to call it a night after dinner ended at 9:30. I walked back to the Wynn. A dipshit colleague of mine had taken a taxi to the Palazzo, so I showed him the route home. Then I chilled in my room until lights out a bit after 11.
It's Thursday morning now. I got only an hour more sleep last night than the night before, but that small improvement— combined with drinking more modestly— makes a difference. I feel a lot better this morning than lost. Now onto Day 2 of Death By Powerpoint!
To their credit most of the people speaking avoided making it truly Death By Powerpoint. Yes, everyone had slides, but only one person had them so crammed full of information it felt impossible to absorb it all. And several of the speakers had genuinely interesting things to share.
Three presentations stuck out to me as most interesting. One was our VP Engineering outlining a few high-value features to be added to our flagship product. Another was an industry analyst with a jaw-dropping resume talking about trends with company valuations in our industry. A third was a board member and initial investor who presented a venture capitalist's view on why he's still very bullish about our company and what some of the challenges we need to continue solving are.
During the board member's brief Q&A period I asked a pointed question about one of the challenges he discussed. ...Pointed, because in my question I expressed concern that we are going in the opposite direction of what he said is necessary. I asked for his guidance on how we should do better. To his credit, he acknowledged we're currently in a sticky situation of our own making on that one issue and agreed we need to focus more there. I expected it was at least 50-50 he'd deny it and deflect the question. (Denial and deflection are sadly typical for executives when asked uncomfortable questions in front of large audiences.) His candid and thoughtful response raised my respect for him and gave me confidence that senior leaders in my company will also take seriously my concern that we need to do better in that area.
The day's program wrapped up at 5:30. My friends and I were all "done". Fortunately not like eyes-glazed-over done, but still done. We had a few hours to ourselves before a company dinner at 7:30. Many of my colleagues took power naps. I just relaxed in my room. Partly because I knew if I laid down for a nap I'd be out for at least 90 minutes, and I didn't want to spend that long.
Dinner was a buffet affair at a sushi restaurant at the Palazzo across the street. The food was fine. I thought I might avoid booze after overindulging slightly the night before, but nope! I downed 3 or 4 cocktails and a beer. I kept it reasonable, though. No staggering home.
I thought I might go out gambling after dinner. Eating gave me a second wind. It was 8+ hours after lunch so a lot of us were flagging. But then by 9pm I was feeling tired and sore, so I decided to call it a night after dinner ended at 9:30. I walked back to the Wynn. A dipshit colleague of mine had taken a taxi to the Palazzo, so I showed him the route home. Then I chilled in my room until lights out a bit after 11.
It's Thursday morning now. I got only an hour more sleep last night than the night before, but that small improvement— combined with drinking more modestly— makes a difference. I feel a lot better this morning than lost. Now onto Day 2 of Death By Powerpoint!
