“Scooter accident” sounded so silly to say out loud that I was embarrassed every time I explained it.
I felt okay right after it happened. By the end of the weekend I was getting X-rays and trying to figure out whether I had broken something. No break, thankfully. The working theory was a torn rotator cuff, with an MRI still needed to understand how bad it was and whether the answer was surgery or physical therapy.
I could jog slowly enough to get some base miles, which felt like a win. The arm was a pain in the arse and getting more painful every day.
The timing was ridiculous.
Ad Hoc Labs had asked me to come to Los Angeles for concentrated time with the team. The conversations had gone well and they sounded close to making a decision. I wanted to go. I also needed a few more days in New York to get the shoulder sorted out, so I asked whether we could do the next round virtually or push the trip.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee process was reaching the end at the same time. Feedback from one round had been okay but not great. My next call felt much better, and I asked for another 30 minutes with the hiring manager because I wanted to see it through. The job connected product, technology, fans, and athletes in a way that was genuinely exciting to me.
Then they passed.
The feedback was direct. They appreciated the research and thought the final call went well, but other candidates had more experience in organizations like theirs. I wrote back, “Right on,” thanked the recruiter, and asked him to keep me in mind.
Six minutes later I sent another note with the rest of the board. I had final interviews coming with Pinata and Ad Hoc Labs. Earlier conversations were moving with Blackbird and Carrot Fertility. The roles were good, the companies were interesting, and the cap tables could make bringing in a senior person complicated.
That was the week: one torn shoulder, one job gone, four other company conversations, and Mona yawning behind my head while I took calls from the couch. I told one person that the meds might be making me crazy.
I was calling this the first break of my career and loving it. It was not exactly sitting still.