Son of A Computer Programmer Man
A Tribute to my Dad since his Father’s Day card won’t get to him until Tuesday
Every Father’s Day weekend I’m reminded of some basic truths in life:
- I’m aware that this holiday is like Black Friday for all the tie and gold-toe sock manufacturers.
- I remember that the most thoughtful and lazy gift is a Best Buy gift card (Dad your card is on its way, I promise).
- The weekend is also such a peaceful experience when getting last minute reservations for brunch — unlike the hassle of Mother’s Day.
But the most important thing I am reminded this weekend is that I am fortunate to have an active and loving father in my life.
I’ve learned so much from my father over the years (and as I get older I realized how wise he is at this life thing) but there is something that I took for granted as a child — my dad was a computer programmer. I recall visiting him at his office in the Arkansas state capitol building and watching him write code on those terrible early 1990s monitors (with orange text). I would play around with some action figure as my Dad built things on the computer. And that was not just at his office. Computers (more like computer parts) had a constant presence in our Little Rock home. On weekends or weeknights, my Dad was always tinkering with a computer part or building a PC from scratch. So terms and concepts such as memory, PCs, Apple, and knowing the difference between a “notebook” computer or “laptop” were introduced to me by the age of 7. As early as junior high school, I recall proclaiming my preferred “major” for college would be computer science. But like many things from my adolescence, early interests faded to what I felt were more my own when I went off to Columbia in summer of 2003.
But now after 21 years since Earnest 3.0 built me my own desktop PC (that was in my own bedroom, I know fancy), I see how my comfort and knowledge of computers/technology has helped me quickly assess startups as an advisor and seed stage venture capitalist. So I would like to thank my Dad for the following things because he provided me with huge advantages in life by just following his passions and interests in the computer science world (also I feel bad I waited until Friday to mail his card):
- Thanks for being our family’s IT department. I never needed to call computer support or the Geek Squad, because I always had the smartest tech whiz just a room away.
- Thanks for showing me what passion is. You love computers, technology and gadgets. You weren’t getting paid for finding computer parts and or learning new coding languages but you did it in your free time. That’s a true sign that someone is doing what they love.
- Thanks for always answering my calls about some silly tech problem I am having, since I left for college. Even if you didn’t know the right solution, I appreciate you taking time to listen and brainstorm with me.
Although I decided to go the business route during college, I find myself back face to face with the world of technology as a venture capitalist. When I decided to make this transition about three years ago, I could have attempted to find every excuse of why I couldn’t succeed or felt intimidated about what I didn’t know (and trust me I initially did those things). But I found myself remembering that I have an early 90s tech inspiration. I didn’t read about him in a magazine. He didn’t live in Silicon Valley (didn’t know what it was as a kid). He wasn’t a billionaire named Gates or Jobs. I recalled a black man with glasses that I have known all my life. He was from Texas and always took the time to explain to me what a microchip was even if I was busy playing Nintendo games. Those early memories with my Dad reminded me of my natural comfort with computers and the natural curiosity I got from him when examining technology. These are the iconic memories I get energy from to succeed in my pursuits a tech investor.
Thanks, Dad. You’ve instilled so much more in me than just comfort with technology — but hey I write a tech blog. Happy Father’s Day and I hope my latest gift card will encourage you to buy a new gadget that you can tinker with from *Best Buy.
*Best Buy is not a sponsor of The Importance of Reading Earnest…but it can be for the right price.
Earnest Sweat is an Entrepreneurial Engineer for Camelback Ventures and an Investor in Residence for Backstage Capital. If you have any questions or requests please connect with Earnest through LinkedIn, Twitter, or AngelList.
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