Openness, freedom, no limits on space, no constraints on time, no timeclock. Foul lines shoot and dreams soar towards infinity. Not pinned indoors like basketball or hockey — but unfolding outdoors cradled by an open sky and merging with nature. A game of captivating simplicity —BUT one with nuances that take a lifetime to understand and master. A game where the now stretches out and snaps back – elastic. A game so statistics laden, that it is a paradise of numbers for software engineers. What could be more ValleyZen than this?

On Thursday we went to AT&T Park to watch the Giants edge out the Marlins. From a Fenwick & West Suite we had the relaxing chance to…

Craig Newmark speaks candidly about Barack Obama and John McCain, Presidential Zen and the Art of Service. Watch ValleyZen’s video interview here shot in San Francisco on location at Craig’s favorite hang. Craig opens up under California sun-dappled Japanese maples. Highlights include:

• Craig as eye candy — It’s tough being the glamorous poster boy for Craigslist!
• The art of customer service – Craig is the Master. The word Samurai means to serve. Craig’s twist on service.
• Presidential Zen — Barack Obama and John McCain — How do they set their Zen Compass?

Today’s post is the sequel to the preceding post “Zen and Venn” (below). Self-study is a prerequisite to finding the Venn lemon shaped common ground. We cannot know what we have in common with another if we do not know our own interests and objectives. One of the most common errors in technology licensing is that the parties come to the negotiating table without having prepared. To avoid this, advance preparation for negotiation means studying, identifying, and discussing within the negotiation team, our positions on key terms, while remaining flexible…

Zen theory and practice can help lawyers, technologists and businesspersons meet the fundamental challenge of negotiation of technology deals: finding the overlapping space in two distinct circles of interest, otherwise known as a Venn diagram…