Giving Thanks

As is my tradition on this day every year, I just want to say thanks to everyone who makes my life what it is.

– My family led by the incredible Gotham Gal, who as JLM would say, "never met a to do list she couldn't master".

– My work. I get to work in a true partnership where everyone has a say and uses it regularly. Brad and I created the firm we wanted to work in and it is such a joy to be able to do that.

– Entrepreneurs are special people. I spend my days with them, they challenge me, they enrich me, and they entertain me.

– The AVC community. I write every day because you read every day. Thanks.

– My extracurricular activities – The list grows longer by the day but that is because there is so much I want to do and not so much time to do it in.

I live an incredibly rewarding, exciting, and enriching life. And I am very thankful for it.

#Random Posts

Comments (Archived):

  1. Pravin J

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  2. takingpitches

    Thanks for this blog Fred!I remember in the mid-late 1990s how opaque this world, and it’s a tremendous service that you have done to open it up and show everyone else how successful one could be by doing so so that they followed.Happy Thanksgiving Fred!

  3. William Mougayar

    Thanks Fred for continuing to invest a lot of your time and energy in this community.Your blog is a rich inspiration for many.

    1. Techman

      Indeed. I give thanks to Fred not only for his business knowledge he shares with us, but for jump starting Techman’s World into a site that is now growing very quickly.

  4. Carl Rahn Griffith

    I have always had a soft-spot for the whole Thanksgiving Day tradition/experience – even with all the time I have spent on and off in the USA over the decades, and even when living in NYC, I have only ever spent one Thanksgiving Day in the USA – loved it; even though I was on my own in a bar, lol – Langan’s; which I later got engaged in!Have a wonderful time, all – reflect, enjoy.

  5. RichardF

    Happy Thanksgiving AVC’ers. I’m thankful to be part of a great community here.Wish we had thankgiving here in the UK! It’s a great tradition (and you get to eat Turkey twice in the space of a month!)

    1. Carl Rahn Griffith

      Indeed!

    2. William Mougayar

      But you’re the reason for it 🙂

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        And what thanks do we get? If it hadn’t have been for those pesky French … 😉

      2. RichardF

        I know but Harvest Festival doesn’t get celebrated in the same way!

    3. kidmercury

      holidays are overrated, people should be thankful for everyday. my family never celebrated western holidays until recently when we got some in laws who like to enjoy life, i miss the good old days of not celebrating and working a double shift to get paid an extra holiday bonus if we had hourly wage jobs.

      1. RichardF

        I completely disagree! ;)edit: (not about the being thankful every day part)

      2. takingpitches

        We were the same way – in high school, would get paid 3x the minimum wage to work these holidays. I like the “new days” better!

      3. Donna Brewington White

        Yeah, you are right that we should be thankful everyday. But sometimes setting time aside to focus on it, spills into the rest of life. Gratitude just has to be a discipline.

  6. Tom Labus

    Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here at AVC.Thanks Fred for starting and maintaining this great community!!

  7. kidmercury

    i’m grateful for the internet, for serving as the springboard for kookology. fringe groups love the internet and while we’re in “one world internet” now where everyone lives on a single platform (mainly google) we will eventually evolve to a federation of fringes. a kook’s dream come true!i’d also like to go meta and give thanks for thanks, as without gratitude i would not have the ability to continue striving to do better after failing an embarrassing number of times.

    1. Wavelengths

      Gratitude is the grease that oils the wheels of the Universe.

      1. Carl Rahn Griffith

        And greed is the sand in the grease…

        1. Wavelengths

          Notice how greedy people are never grateful?

          1. Carl Rahn Griffith

            Absolutely. It’s a sense of being detached from humility and mortality, I guess. There’s a pervasive sense of self-serving entitlement to them.I bet they have crap Thanksgiving Days, lol 😉

          2. Wavelengths

            I’m just a teensy bit grateful for that. (Snicker.)

      2. kidmercury

        #truth

      3. Drew Ryder

        Another good line (which I can’t take credit for): gratitude serves as a powerful antidote to our culture’s constant encouragement to want something more.

    2. matthughes

      “give thanks for thanks”I’m giving thanks for that quote – well said.

    3. William Mougayar

      Go Meta or Go home 🙂 Well said

  8. awaldstein

    A great one to all.I’ve obsessed over communities for long time. This one is real and always give back in huge multiples from what I invest.Happy Thanksgiving.

  9. leigh

    Happy thanks giving everyone 🙂

  10. Kirsten Lambertsen

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone here! I’ll bet Thanksgiving at the Wilson residence is outta site.

  11. Luke Chamberlin

    Thanksgiving cat. Happy Thanksgiving.

    1. ShanaC

      poor cat

      1. Luke Chamberlin

        I think this whenever I shop on Etsy: “look at all these poor cats and babies, pressed into model service.”

        1. ShanaC

          bwhaha

  12. BradDorchinecz

    Thanks Fred for blogging your thoughts and ideas every day.

  13. Wavelengths

    Someone said to me a few days ago that “The AVC community is absolutely the nicest, most polite community on the internet. Obviously intelligent, but always courteous. I come here for inspiration.”I’m borrowing the quote, but probably many of you might have said it.Thank you, Fred for creating this landscape, and thank you to all the AVC regulars and visitors for populating this community and making it real.I have many more things to be thankful for, and I’m sure the rest of you do, so get on with it!

    1. ShanaC

      🙂

    2. David Petersen

      It’s like we aren’t even on the Internet.

      1. Wavelengths

        Can I top off your wine for you? Nice of AWaldstein to bring it. 🙂

    3. John Revay

      Nicely stated.I really enjoy hanging out at this place, always interesting conversations

    4. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      resonanced 🙂

    5. Donna Brewington White

      I don’t know if you are new to AVC within the past year or if you just started speaking up more, but it’s been nice having your voice (and all that it represents) adding to the richness of the conversation.

      1. Wavelengths

        Thank you. I’m back after having been, shall we say, wandering in the wilderness. Feels like coming home to be here.

  14. johndefi

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  15. jason wright

    immutable law of the universe – the more you put in the more you get outyour autobiography would be a good read

    1. Carl Rahn Griffith

      For sure, you reap what you sow, sooner or later…

  16. Elia Freedman

    Happy thanksgiving all. I am thankful for this community, too, as it gives me a place to learn something new every day and a great group of people to discuss it with.

    1. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      something new every day … AVC’s slogan of the year.

      1. Donna Brewington White

        Not bad.

  17. Phillip Trotter

    I rarely post, but read often and I am thankful that this small point of the internet has the character that it does and is populated by the folks that are here. Have a good thanksgiving one and all!

    1. ShanaC

      It only works because of people like you.

    2. Donna Brewington White

      I love this comment.

  18. Abdallah Al-Hakim

    Happy thanks giving to Fred and the AVC community. I was thinking today that Americans do this holiday much better than Canadians – you get Thursday/Friday off and you have time to recover post turkey dinner 🙂

    1. William Mougayar

      They go shopping on Friday 🙂

      1. Donna Brewington White

        My daughter and friends went to the mall at midnight when it opened for Black Friday! Yikes! I stay far away from retail on Black Fridays — the crowds and lines are not worth whatever deals I might find. Brick and mortar retail that is since now Black Friday is on the internet as well and there is also Cyber Monday!

        1. ShanaC

          ooo, so far the best black friday deals so far are jcrew and uniqlo (they have cashmere for like $30, yes you read that correctly)I should not be talking 🙂

          1. Donna Brewington White

            Oooo, thanks.

        2. William Mougayar

          Wow…It’s part of a ritual I guess. Here malls opened at 6AM this morning.

    2. Dave Pinsen

      Not everyone gets Friday off. Financial markets are open a half day tomorrow, for example, so folks in that industry have to go to work. And of course it’s the biggest day of the year for retail workers.

      1. Abdallah Al-Hakim

        In Canada, the traditional thanksgiving dinner is on the holiday Monday and then almost everyone is back to work the next day! Also, we don’t have black Friday 🙂

  19. jason wright

    wishing you all a very hearty holiday, here’s hoping your turkey hasn’t been in deep freezer storage for the last five years, and a toast to a swift resumption of our most excellent gobble gobblings.

  20. Reddy_s

    Thank you Fred for sharing your wisdom , thoughts day in day out and enriching my thought process ( and many others ).This is the first place on the Internet I come to for ‘ Inspiration , wisdom , perspective , ideas …..’

  21. FlavioGomes

    🙂 thank-you

  22. ShanaC

    At a minimum, I’m thankful for a warm house and bed this morning.I’m thankful for all of you too 🙂

  23. matthughes

    Thanks Fred – AVC is awesome.

  24. aminTorres

    Happy Thanksgiving Fred, from DC with family…following the tasty photos of the GG on instagram… a happy thanksgiving to you and everyone on AVC.

  25. Pete Griffiths

    Happy thanksgiving everyone.Many thanks to Fred for hosting AVC. It is an enormous commitment and I am in awe of his stamina.Many thanks to everyone here for their contributions. I have found this community to be rare and valuable.:)Pete

  26. andyidsinga

    happy thanksgiving all – take care and be good.

  27. Dave Pinsen

    Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.Thanks to Fred for opening the bar, and to all the regulars and less frequent patrons who make it a great watering hole. It’s been good to meet some new folks in person from here this year, including Fred himself and Aaron Klein, and catch up with others again such as Arnold Waldstein and Kevin Marshall.

  28. ijuarez

    happy Thanksgiving Fred, and all of you, this place is amazing, a way to learn everyday,

  29. JLM

    .Happy Thanksgiving to all. Be good to yourselves. You deserve it.Surrounded by family today and giddy with the prospect of eating turkey and all the trimmings and then going to see the UT v TCU football game, I am extremely grateful for the entire AVC.com family.I wish I had enough tickets to invite you all to the game. Stadium probably isn’t big enough anyway.Thanks to Fred for making this all possible and thanks to what is easily the most intelligent, curious, thoughtful and gracious club — salon really — with which I have ever been associated.Next year Thanksgiving at my house..

    1. John Revay

      Hi JLMAlways enjoy reading your commentary at this salonHappy turkey day to you and your family

      1. JLM

        Thx, John and may you and your family shine tonight.

    2. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

      Be good to yourself … On dot JLM as always.

      1. JLM

        Thx, Kasi and back at you!

  30. David Petersen

    I’d like to thank the makers of Dancing with the Stars for distracting my girlfriend for 2 hours every Monday and Tuesday night so that I can work in peace on those evenings.I’d like to thank RG3 for making this the most entertaining Redskins season since 1991.I’d like to thank Google for making it possible to build a business based on search traffic, and A/B testing for helping me optimize our landing pages.

    1. fredwilson

      I have given up on the Jets this season. So I have adopted RG3 and the skins

  31. laurie kalmanson

    Thank ****you****

  32. davidhclark

    Fred, thank you so much for writing this blog. It’s my go-to place for any learning how to build a killer company. I’ve learned so much valuable information from you and the AVC community. Thank you!

  33. Kasi Viswanathan Agilandam

    I just upvoted every main comment thread today and that is my ‘thanks’ to everyone here.Happily thanking everyone.Kasi

  34. panterosa,

    I appreciate the tone here most of all. Set by the bartender, upheld by the drinkers, tone frames the discussions, leading through curiosity, questioning, passion, and thirst. Drink up!

  35. Krishna

    Long time reader, and first time poster! This community is a delight!

    1. Donna Brewington White

      I am thankful for first time commenters. 😉

      1. ShanaC

        thank you 🙂

    2. ShanaC

      It only works because of people like you. Feel free to come back at any time (PS, ask questions, it is a great way to get involved!)

  36. Donna Brewington White

    Wow, what an inspiring list of people and situations for which to be grateful.Your zest for life and quest for discovery seem to be at the heart of so much of what you do and AVC is one of the results of the overflow.Keep being happy and grateful. It seems to be good fuel from which many of us benefit.I’ve said so many times how much I appreciate AVC. I am not the same person I was when I first ventured here and it is now hard to imagine life without this “place.” Thank you so very much for all that you do to sustain it.Happy belated Thanksgiving AVC tribe. I appreciate you!

  37. pointsnfigures

    echo your sentiments. we have a lot to be thankful for. mine starts with my wife too.

  38. Mark Essel

    Happy belated Turkey Day, saw some pics care of GG (Instagram maybe), looked yummy. My extra curricular activities are near zero at the moment, my thoughts/energy are consumed by one thing. I miss having more free time, maybe in a few years 🙂

  39. Robert Holtz

    Happy Thanksgiving, AVC… and thanks so much Fred.