Mark Grondin: If I sit here too long someone might park on me...

True... although it is only a few days before a reunion that I will attend, I finally decided to blog. I figured it would give me a chance to describe my last twenty years, so that I can talk about truly interesting topics at the reunion - namely, what you all have been doing. So here it is, twenty years in not-so-brief....

After leaving the Nade, I didn't go far. I spent two years at the illustrious institute of Pierce College-most of that time focused on playing volleyball. It was fun for a couple years, but I figured there was more out there. So instead of going on to play volleyball at UCSD, I opted instead to study and headed out to George Washington University in Washington D.C. Although I had never lived outside of CA, it was a great choice. You can't beat studying Soviet and Eastern European Studies across the street from the State Department, and DC is just a great place to live. I even had a chance to study in Russia for some months in 1991 and ended up on Red Square during the famous revolt when the communists tried to boot Gorbachev and take back power. I have some great pictures sitting on a tank in Red Square surrounded by teenage Soviet soldiers. The result being: the revolt did not succeed, Gorbachev came back to power, and there was no more Soviet Union in a few short years. So much for my degree in Soviet studies.

After college I opted to stay in DC and work for a big NY Law Firm, thinking that I would become a lawyer instead of a diplomat. Almost four years as a paralegal thoroughly cured me of this affliction and I instead decided to go to business school to learn a trade. I chose to attend the international MBA program at the University of South Carolina (the other USC) for the ridiculous reason that Jon van Steinburg and I had decided to open a donut store in Germany. (Would I lie about this?) So I spent two years learning business skills and German language so that I could bring fine rounds of sweet, fried dough to das mutterland. Fortunately, this plan fell through, and I instead went into the technology business. Donuts or
technology - yes, it was a tough decision.

During my in-country internship for my MBA, I met a beautiful Czech woman. My internship was for Volkswagen in Prague and she was my translator. Having no background in finance terms (I was interning for the financial controller), she was not a very good translator, but I quickly forgave her... After finishing my MBA, we moved together to Germany, then to Switzerland and then were married outside of Prague in 1998. Jon VS was my best man, and I was lucky enough to have Tommy Bratko, Marky B, and Lynn Coyle at my wedding.

On the career side I got into the Internet thing - that seemed to be where the opportunity was in 1996 - remember that? I worked for a company around Europe for a while (based in Frankfurt, then Zurich) - teaching Europeans about the "interwebs". I then started a small company with some colleagues - making Web sites for medium-sized companies in the US. I started the Prague office for that company, as we could develop sites for about 20% of the cost at the time. After a little disagreement about company growth, I decided to move to another company that I founded in Germany with 5 Germans - not something I would recommend.

This was a true dot-com. We got lots o investment and spent it recklessly. Well, not as recklessly as pets.com, but we never did get to "go public" as the market crashed about 6 months ahead of our IPO. For those of you who experienced dot-bomb from the inside, I think you will agree that it was a great experience. Who else would have given me the opportunity (money)
to build up a big office in Prague to develop cool technology. I left the company after the crash, but unlike pets.com it did make money and weathered the storm, selling out to another company last year.

After this experience, I got some sleep and took weekends off. That was when I decided that after 8 years in Europe and 15 years outside of California it was time to return to my mutterland. Radka (wife) and I packed up and moved to San Luis Obispo, where my parents had relocated. Five years later, I am now working at another Internet startup - albeit a more sane one - still enjoying the technology. I have two of the sweetest little girls in the world who call me Tata (Czech for daddy) - Katerina and Natalia. I also get to spend time with Marky B mountain biking, wine tasting and ocean kayaking. I still talk to Dani C, Jon VS, and Tommy Brat as often as I can. Good friends last forever.

Thanks for indulging me. I know it's too long, but this was very therapeutic. (Repeat after me: No, I have not wasted 20 years of my life.) I look forward to getting to know some interesting people at the reunion and picnic. If you know any Czech words, feel free to use them on the Grondin family...

I will teach you one here... cau (pronounced "chow", means "later")

Mark.

Oh, and here is a picture - Daniela, Tom B and I at Marky B's wedding