My name is Mick Hagen.
Founder of Zinch.
Laughing at Dweebist.
Drop-out at Princeton.
Top 100 Entrepreneur.
Devout Mormon.
Millions of views on Youtube.
Meet my better half.
Meet my new son.
We live in San Francisco.
This is my life.
Welcome.
I was out of town this weekend watching BYU basketball in Vegas. I missed these two so much. They are everything to me.
I want them to be happy. These pictures show nothing but happiness. This is what I want every single day of my life. It’s what i’m working for. It’s my most important job.
I didn’t put up a single post in February — things have been busy. I just put up a bunch of pics from my iPhone, taken during February. Mostly of Sam, of course.
For those who aren’t aware, i’ve also been blogging at Founder Diaries. I talk about startups and entrepreneurship. A lot of text, unlike this blog.
Sam is growing up so quickly. He’s looking more and more like a little boy. In this last month he’s become a lot stronger. He’s army crawling around (not quite a full crawl) like he’s in British Special Forces. He sits up quickly and easily. He can stand up if he’s leaning against something or holding on. And when he’s giving resistance (changing his diapers, etc), he puts up a fight.
He’s definitely gonna be full of mischief as he grows up. He’s smart. He’s curious. And his smile/eyes will make your heart melt. This kid will be a handful. No complaints. I’ll love chasing this kid around making sure he doesn’t eat too many grasshoppers or look under too many girls’ skirts. I love him so much.
Sam knows how to pose. He was so cute and happy today. He only got one nap and he even went to bed way past his bedtime (we had dinner at friends)… yet he still was his happy, fun, charming self all day long. What a great kid.
Rachel’s family was in town this weekend (parents, brother, sister) so we did some site-seeing. We went to Muir Woods and it was breathtaking. Beautiful redwood trees that climb and climb and climb into the sky. It was really cool. Sam just soaked it all in and really enjoyed it. Stuff like this is 10x more fun with the little guy.
Early this morning Rachel brought Sam in to the bedroom to hang out, as she often does. It took me a little longer to wake up this morning and get out of bed. It was a late night at the office last night.
We cuddled, wrestled around, tickled, played. He still can’t crawl but he somehow manages to roll and wiggle around to his desired spot. He was rockin’ some stylish jammies that his mother recently got him. He had wide smiles and lots of energy.
He’s starting to reach for me more. Sometimes it’s him reaching because he wants me to hold him or play. But when he’s real close, like this morning, it’s different. He’ll grab my nose (and stick his fingers up there). He’ll grab my lips, or my tongue if i’m sticking it out and teasing. He’ll grab my ears or hair. He’ll try to pull my eyeballs out. He’ll feel my prickly facial hair.
I love to feel his touch.
It’s new. It’s different. It’s not me reaching for him, as it’s always been. It’s him reaching for me.
I hope this is just the beginning of many years of him reaching out to me. I hope he always feels like he can come to me, approach me, talk to me, trust me, and know that I am there for him. I hope he always knows and feels that no matter what, I love him.
I walked to work today thinking that it was all down hill from there. I love work and I love my typical day. But few things can compete or match what I had just experienced.
The little guy is growing up. He’s becoming more and more like a little boy. It’s beautiful to see. It’s a miracle.
Here are a few pics from this last week. They were shared throughout the week on Twitter.
The night we got into Utah, it snowed a lot. I love snow during Christmas time. Feels right. Below we’re helping my grandpa shovel snow.
Early in the week Rachel showed me some of her interior design work that she’d done with some clients in SLC. Amazing work. So much more than just this.
I love my little guy. Spent a lot of time playing with him this week.
Sam at Barnes & Noble, helping me do a little Christmas shopping.
On Christmas Eve, we had a killer party with all my cousins/relatives. Lots of gifts. Talent Show (Rachel and I sang a duet, “Baby, it’s cold outside” — Glee version). We also had a Gingerbread House contest. Of course our family won.
Sam opening some Christmas presents. I still believe in Santa.
My bro-in-law is going on a Mormon mission to Korea. So we did a quick trip down to Arizona to hear his farewell address. We also did family pictures. Below is all grandkids on wife’s side of the fam. Sam is the one screaming his head off. Not happy.
Sam in the airplane on our way back to Utah. We’ll be here one more week.
This is from a month or so ago, before I went to China. Chris Michel took the picture. He’s an amazing photographer (not to mention super successful entrepreneur). Starting from left to right: Anne Dwane our CEO; Ed Zschau, successful entrepreneur/investor and currently teaching at Princeton; Me; Jonathan Assayag, recent Harvard Business School grad and now Zinch product manager; John Danner, faculty at Berkeley.
I love living in the Bay Area because I get to meet and mingle with amazing people all the time.
Went over to Chaoyang District again tonight. That place just has more going on. Stopped by to pick up my tailored suits (had them measured/fitted a few weeks ago) at YaShow. Went do dinner at Let’s Burgers (best in Beijing) with Cache and Chip (he lives here in Beijing). Then we went and got some Chinese Massages by Chip’s place. Cost just over $20 USD for 60 minutes of full body massage. It was great. The lady (she looked 12) on me was rough and strong. I was basically getting beaten up. Cache even mentioned that every time he would glance over, it looked like my lady was really working hard, digging and grinding her hands into my back. It certainly felt that way. There were parts that simply hurt. I kept trying to tell her to soften up, but she had no idea what I was saying and instead would push harder. Ha. Quite the experience. Overall, I still loved it and would totally do it again. Best $20 i’ve spent in Beijing. Fun night with the fellas. Sorry for the grainy pic. Oh and they gave us Peter Pan outfits to wear. Either that or I totally felt like an “Other” from Lost.
I tweeted about this last night. Photographic evidence has popped up on our company yammer page so now I have to just share them with everyone.
We went out to dinner with our Zinch crew to a really nice Middle Eastern place in Chaoyang District. Delicious food. Super fine dining. Anyway, every so often they’d bring out a belly dancer to do a quick performance. During one of these performances, she tried pulling up people to dance with her. My Chinese colleagues were all too scared to go up. They denied her invitations. She approached me and I just said what the heck, i’ll do it. I didn’t do anything that would have embarrassed my wife (had she been there). I just had fun. I did a little Harlem Shake…a little Carlton…the works. It was a good night overall. BodyHype (my Princeton dance crew) would’ve been proud.
