Note to Flipside: 11/22/24

Note to Flipside: 11/22/24

It’s Sabbatical Season

Hello. My name is Dave, and I’m taking a sabbatical.

<nice to meet you, Dave>

Apparently the first step to taking a sabbatical is admitting you need one.
So, here I am. Raw. Exposed. Tender.

<ok stop it, this is all very dramatic>

Ok, ok, true story. No drama here. And it’s not really anything to get worked up about.

Here’s what’s happening: I’m going to be taking some break time, in reality a total of about 5 weeks, starting December 18th and ending January 25th. It’s hardly long enough to even call it a sabbatical, more of a sabbat’ — or an ’atical, if you want to get all fancy like that.

‘What gives?’ you might be asking.

That doesn’t sound like Dave, you might postulate.

True, those would be fair and natural contemplations. So let me break it down for you.

I’m a bit tired, it’s true, I can admit that.

<admission is the first step to recovery>

There’s the part where I’ve been building companies for nearly thirty years, (since the mid-1990s if you’re trying to count on your hands), and the part where the longest vacation I’ve taken over that period is two weeks (really 12.63 days but who’s counting?). And — yes we all know this — it is rather rare for me to actually disconnect during these vacations.

There’s — of course — the part about the crypto being an all out assault for the past seven years, full of meteoric rises and fingertips-gripping-the-cliffside descents. And certainly the part where Flipside is wonderfully, substantively relentless, with plates spinning wildly and faster and faster and faster and faster.

And, in my fifth decade, there is indeed some introspection and self-awareness and what it takes to deliver my best work.

People who have been around me long enough know that I’m conceptually dumbfounded by the concept of burnout. This ignorance likely a genetic trait bestowed upon me in equal parts nature and nurture, it has afforded me a generous share of achievements. But this peculiarity does have its challenges; namely I just keep going and going and going, and so, eventually, it might make the most sense to just yank the electric cord from the wallsocket and take the D batteries out for a bit.

As support for all of this, there is the reflection that Flipside has had a tremendous 2024, nearly tripling revenue, doubling our customers, solving real customer pain. We have clear direction with a spyglass aimed acutely toward a limitless horizon; we have a highly capable and effective team deftly guiding the rudder as the mainsails fill with wind. Things will get done in my absence, and they’ll get done incredibly well. And, in spots that require a bit more leadership, it can and it will wait.

So, what the hell will I be doing during this blip in time? No, I won’t be gagging and evacuating my soul during an Ayahuasca retreat (how 2022 of you). Rather, there are four different itches I’ll be scratching:

• Hiking. Horizons, vistas, trails, challenges. I’ll be trekking a multiple day journey through Death Valley, where I’ll dodge scorpions and get all Yvon Chouinard in my one-ness with nature.
• Planting. Turns out Sarah’s uncle is a world famous horticulturalist who happens to be an expert on a variety of succulents that go by the name dudleya (one he discovered he named Dudleya Hendrixii after Jimi, how cool is that?). He’s kindly offering to let me trudge around behind him for some afternoons — learning how to prune, water, fertilize, and coo at plants as if they were cute little babies seeking their mother’s adoration.
• Writing. Writing, writing, writing. No news here, I like to pen some things. No, I won’t be hiding out in a victorian house reading other people’s poetry (OPP) or anything like that. If Butman were still on this astral plane, we’d probably gurgle vats of coffee and trade pages and edits and the like; the alternative fantasy of a week of immersion with Murakami seems off that table given he’s a practical recluse living in Japan. However, cards out, a clue: I’ve realized that I write best in essay form, documenting direct experiences, so do have a few tricks up my sleeve; two aces and a king of hearts and all that.
• Strumming. I did my damndest to find a guitar teacher who had the time and capacity to take me to the woodshed for 10 hours a day for a week straight, hoping they’d deepen the callouses in my fingertips, train my ear to tell 9s from 7s, and demand I practice the same fugue 240 times straight. Turns out an unintentionally sneaky trick is to call guitar-playing friends for recommendations, because a few offered to just hang out for a few days of playing (Jack White said he’ll teach me Seven Nation Army in every key, which is cool, I guess). Cue the musical roadtrip documentary.

So, yeah, observations are in order: I’m going to be busy. No dog-earing a Nora Ephron novel on a sandy beach, or practicing cultural immersion in a hard-to-reach destination. Just the right hobbies and the space to activate them, stuff to keep the boredom willies at bay. All of which is to say that I’ll have so much to do I won’t even have time to check in. I’ll delete all the apps. Maybe I’ll temporarily brick my phone like they offer in instagram ads.

Yeah, I’ll aim to be officially OTG.

Will it work?

Is it possible?

Can I achieve this, too?

Consider this a forewarning — or a blessing. I’ll be around, but you won’t see me. Of course, yes, I’m excited for what’s to come before, during and after this briefest of excursions. And, in the meantime — as they say anytime a colloquialism is required to capture just the right spirit — I’ll catch you on the Flipside.

PS: I’m not really playing guitar with Jack White. That would have been cool tho.

Originally posted on medium.com