Santiago Bilinkis l Risk and Reward - Trying to live a life out of the comfort zone

Along the lines of comparing the learnings from paragliding with becoming an Entrepreneur, the first post covered the stage of preparation. Now is the time to focus on the start-up phase. And as Wes Harman, the author of this photo, graciously reminds us, no start-up is ever the first or last to die!

So back to Tucuman and my paragliding course. After two hours of suffering and being blown by the wind on the flat, the instructor said it was time to move on to the next stage: the first take off. We moved to a different location, where we could walk up a hill about 100 feet high. Naive, I asked: “We are going to fly in tandem, right?”. The professor laughed. With only two hours of practice, it was time for my first flight alone.

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Very few things in my life took me out of my comfort zone so much as when a few years back I traveled with a group of friends to learn to fly a paraglider. Trips with my friends are chosen by voting, and, needless to say, that year I lost.

So I travelled to Tafí del Valle in Tucuman, Argentina, pretty scared, but determined to start the course, which I knew started on a totally flat place.  I thought the next step was to fly in tandem with a professor and that I was willing to try. Then when the time came to fly on my own, I would see what I did.

The experience was very interesting and what I will do now is write a series of four posts connecting what I lived while learning to fly with the stages of founding and starting up a company.

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From the day about five years ago, when I started using an iPod I always thought someone had to solve the problem of the Shuffle inconsistency: whether you listen to your own predesigned playlists (and end up listening always the same old stuff) or you use Shuffle but have to deal with absurd combinations (like going non stop from Rage Against the Machine to Peter Cetera!).

Well, Apple finally did what I have been waiting all these years!

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The post I wrote last week about the future of Internet companies left me feeling a bit nostalgic. I remember my first time as it was only yesterday.

One of my best friends worked as an IT manager at a local Hospital. One Saturday night we were hanging around doing nothing and then he threw the fatal question: “Have you ever done it?”. And I, totally ashamed, answered with the truth: “No, never”. I was 24 back then.

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Here I am with the second edition of the Bilinkis Top 20 Songs! After the debate generated in the comments to the previous post (in Spanish), this month comes with an improved layout and some thoughts.

On one hand, for those who complained for the lack of music in Spanish, Catupecu enters one more song so that makes two of them!

And that has nothing to do with the fact that my brother Mariano has recorded and mixed this album and the last few from the band. The acoustic cover version of “Seguir viviendo sin tu amor” is fabulous and if you haven’t heard it yet I recommend you do it now.

On another hand, the strongest critic of all was that because of mp3 there were no two songs by the same band. Well, again, Catupecu has two!

Lastly, before we move on to the ranking, despite my own resistence please note that the songs ranked #10 and #14 reveal my 80’s side. In the end I believe that regardless when you were born, we all carry a little 80’s side inside of us… For those who want to comment: why do you think the 80’s were soooo good and there was not a decade like that before or after?

Now, the top 20:

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I do not know how many of you I may have convinced to give American Football a chance. But the season is about to begin! To the fans who have been deprived for seven months, it is like finding the oasis after crossing the Sahara for 7 months.

So here is my final attempt to get you fired up with some unbelievable videos and the info to watch the first games for those who want to give it a try.

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A lot has been written about how to select a good team. So you may well be wondering why would I blog about something like that. Well, the answer is that this post is not about what you expect.

Today is a Saturday, so I am not writing about business or Entrepreneurship.

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A post for the weekend for those browsing the web on their off time.

Starting this month, on the first Saturday each month I will post the Bilinkis Top 20. Yes, I know nobody cares. But I have been doing it for myself for so many years I could not resist the urge to share it. I promise will try to improve the formatting next month.

This list is based on the songs with more plays in my iTunes (as per iTunes play count) in the last four months, but with a higher weight given to the last two months, than the previous two.

I hope you like it!
20 ▼ (down) - The Good Left Undone - Rise Against
19 ▼ (down) - Calling You - Blue October
18 ▲ (up)     - Salute Your Solution - The Raconteurs
17 ▲ (up)     - Seguir viviendo sin tu amor - Catupecu Machu
16 ▲ (up)     - I’m In Love With A Girl - Gavin DeGraw
15 ▼ (down) - So Happy - Theory Of A Deadman
14 ▼ (down) - Believe - The Bravery
13 ▼ (down) - It’s Not My Time - 3 Doors Down
12 ▼ (down) - Bleeding Love (Album Version) - Leona Lewis
11 ▼ (down) - The Stone - Ashes Divide

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Those who know me well, know that one of my biggest passions is Football… Yes, that is not a typo for Futbol (Soccer). I mean American Football. This blog would not be a true reflection of who I am without some space devoted to that.

All of you reading this outside of the USA must be thinking: “Ugh! That boring game that lasts three hours and stops for commercials all the time?!”. Well, I want to make a bet here: Without knowing anything about you, if you like business, economics or finance, the day you give Football a chance you will never leave it.

And, believe it or not, the reason why it is so captivating is precisely because it stops so much. Let’s see…

Futbol (Soccer) is an Analog game. It is continuous. Even when the ball goes out the field, the clock does not stop and what players are doing is not significantly affected. The game flows…

Football is Digital! It is a long succession of confrontations, with a begging and an end, as if they were zeros and ones.

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