Sofcoast

Quell the storm and ride the thunder

The end of May is often a difficult time for many Americans.  It's a time when we reflect, remember and are reminded of the ultimate sacrifice that American men and women and their families have made in service to our nation to protect our freedoms and way of life.

Over the long weekend I found myself reflecting about my life and my close personal friendships, specifically my relationships with two great American hero's in every sense of the word.  I am grateful to have known these brave men and to have been known by them and called friend and mate by them.  Chris Mueller and Mark Metherell laid down their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might live free.

In times of hardship and difficulty it is comforting for me to remember brave Americans like Chris and Mark.  I also found myself reflecting on a quote I carry with me to this day. This is a quote Chris shared with me when we were fellow "road guards" as BUD/S students.  The quote is a brief excerpt from the Citizenship in a Republic speech given by Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States on April 23rd, 1910 in Paris, France.


The excerpt is called "The Man in the Arena".

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Recently, I've come to appreciate the paragraph that follows the famous "Man in the Arena" quote. I thought I'd share it with you as well.

"Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world.  Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows.  Still less room is there for those who deride the sight of what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are.  The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary.  There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder."

I've spoken briefly about Chris Mueller and Mark Metherell in a previous post called "Transitions (Part Two)"  and I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the sacrifices of all of those brave men and women who've made the ultimate sacrifice along with the 4,302 Americans who have been Killed in Action in Iraq since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and the 682 Americans who have been Killed in Action in Afganistan since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).  See the Defenselink source.


I will also say thank you, however it's not enough.  That's another reason I started Sofcoast, which I'll discuss another time.

Chris Mueller was killed in Action on October 25,  2003 in Afghanistan.

Here's a pic I pulled from a UCSD article about Chris.  Chris is standing tall at a static display in Coronado, California.

Here's another pic of Chris Mueller on the Drop Zone at Military Freefall Training in Yuma, Arizona.  (Note the yellow jumpsuit and yellow helmet indicates student in training).
 

Mark Metherell was killed in action on April 11, 2008 in Iraq. 



This is a picture I took at Mark's gravesite on Memorial day 2009. My youngest son is pictured wearing a "Hoo-Ya" ballcap and super man t-Shirt with kaki shorts and sandals. I smiled because I could picture Mark and Chris dressed much the same way.  I still take great pleasure in wearing my sandals and shorts. I guess that's what I remember most about our time together.  Stressful job handled gratefully, gracefully, with a genuine unassuming warmth and good nature.

I sat down beside Mark's grave, said a prayer for Chris and his family, Mark, his family, his wife Sarah and his daughter Cora, pulled out my tin of copenhagen had a dip and imagined he, Chris and I having a dip and discussing our lives, our mission and our family.



Here's another picture of Mark with his baby girl Cora from Mark's memorial website, www.markmetherell.com.

We miss you, Mark and Chris.

Charlie Mike.

BTBT
KKKK

Cheers,

John Surmont, founder & CEO
Sofcoast, Inc.

 

The only easy day was yesterday

Today marks our 5 month anniversary as being an investor backed technology company.  We closed our initial financing round in November, 2008 at pretty much the worst time imaginable in human history.  Really. It was hard.

We're thankful to have the investor support that we have.  We're also happy to have those ever critical first customer's that we have developed since last December.

I wanted to take a couple of minutes to share where the "big idea" actually came from.  I am a former Navy SEAL.  Navy SEAL's are the maritime  component for The United States Special Operations Command (aka SOCOM) as well as the Special Operations component for the United States Navy. 

Got what it takes? Check out the Official SEAL Team Site

At any rate this means that as a Navy SEAL, I spent an enormous amount of time and energy in and around the water. 

We have a saying in the teams "The only easy day was yesterday." I'm not sure who actually coined the phrase, but I will tell you that there's an entire philosophy behind that phrase for me. Anything worth doing is likely enormously challenging.  It's hard.  It's difficult.  Again, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.  Maybe (in my case) people think I'm crazy for leaving a 15 year career as a Navy SEAL and launching this company in the worst economy since the great depression. Well, I guess that depends doesn't it? 

One of my advisor's sent me a quote by George Bernard Shaw.   "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world.  The unreasonable man persists in trying to make the world adapt to him.  Therefore, all progress is a result of the unreasonable man."

Do you think Navy SEAL's are reasonable men or unreasonable men?  Do you think entrepreneur's are reasonable people or unreasonable people? I guess it depends on your convictions and how you see yourself and your world. 

A man that decides to join the Navy and become a SEAL recognizes that the odds are against him, yet he pursues this endeavor.  His belief, his conviction, his vision, his abilities carry him forward.

Is this any different than starting a company to change the world?  How could it be?

We have another saying in the teams.  That saying is "Everyone wants to be a frogman on a sunny day."  What this means to me is that the things SEAL's do really look cool on a warm day in southern california.  It's an entirely different story in heavy sea's, frigid water, or in below zero conditions at 12,000 ft. in the middle of nowhere.

I kind of see starting this company in this environment like this.  If you're truly a warrior then be a warrior. If your truly an entrepreneur, inventor, tech executive than can you really change because of the economic cycle you're in?  I can't. So here we are.

Anyway, back to my "and there I was story"...

As fate would have it, sometime in the year 2000, I was running on the beach in Coronado, California one morning when I had a really bizarre thought.  "If a person were drowning in the water off the coast of San Diego, California it wouldn't matter to a lifeguard in Miami, Florida."

Huh?

That's what I thought too.  What was I thinking?  Well, it took me 5 years to figure out that there was "something there" and I've spent the past 3 years in working to launch this company. 

• Localized context. (someone is in trouble in the water somewhere)
• First Responder's (Lifeguard or someone who actually can help)
• Relevant and actionable information (the lifeguard that can help knows where to help and who to help)

It doesn't get any more critical than when people's lives are at risk.    And the most interesting thing is that it's always local information. 

Imagine the scenario isn't a drowning victim and a lifeguard.  Imagine that it's someone you love in a small town... say a lost child in the woods....

What would you do?   What could you do?

That's what Sofcoast is about.  Delivering critical information to lifesavers.

Stay tuned!

Cheers,

John Surmont, founder & CEO
Sofcoast, Inc.