Thursday, April 12, 2007

Jane and Karri in Hard Hats

Here we are on our weekly Wednesday walkthroughs (me on the right, and Karri, our Director of Education and Lead Vernisseur on the left). It's hard to look cool in a hard hat (unless you're our superintendent, Kirk, who wears his backwards).

This walkthrough was less intensive than the one last week, where we walked through with Bill, our electrician, identifying where every plug in the parlor should go. I've always taken electrical outlets for granted (except at coffee shops and airports that don't have enough for those of us with laptops).

I'm happy to proceed on many of these decisions (how high up should we put the light fixtures in the bathroom?) based on recommendations from knowledgable experts ("Bill, how high up do you usually put light fixtures in bathrooms?"). At Starbucks, there used to be a motto, "Everything matters." Howard Behar talks about how they debated whether the Starbucks logo should go on disposal napkins for hours on end.

While I admire and share the passion, I'm also wary of becoming a retail bridezilla. I'm trying to keep everything in perspective, which is easier on some days than others.

This week, my kids are sick (and waking up at all hours), I'm worried about recruiting enough great people, and getting ready for our Early Stage Investment Forum presentation next week.

So I just don't have enough bandwidth to give more than two seconds of thought to where the exit sign should be located. Kirk (our superintendent onsite from Wilcox) seems to have it under control. That is the great luxury of having a terrific team of people I can trust.