Gabriella Draney Zielke

The Relationship Between Freedom and Safety

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 07:57:59 -0700

I walk my darling little Great Dane every morning that I’m on St. Croix. He waits patiently (most of the time) by my bedroom door until I am ready to go, then does the craziest happy dance as we make our way down the driveway.

He always wants to take a right out of our gate because the house to the left has a big pit chained to a tree and, during the day, the two small inside dogs are leashed by the front door. Guard dogs are commonplace here, as are dogs chained to trees. It’s something my parents did in the 80’s in our poor, rural neighborhood, so I get the mentality, though much of the world has moved to treating their dogs like children.

Last week, we took our usual right out of the gate and one of the small, fluffy dogs came running over, leash trailing behind it. It barked at Zed, nipped at his ankles and ran around him like a Banshee. It
finally gave up its unsuccessful fight and ran back home when Zed wouldn’t engage. Now, my big baby is terrified to leave the safety of our yard.

This morning, Zed ran for the opening in the gate as soon as the neighbor dogs started barking on our return home. I let him run in and closed the gate behind us. This got me thinking about the relationship between freedom and safety.

For two days I couldn’t get him to leave the fenced yard. It’s a nice 1.5 acres, so more than enough to get his exercise. But, he LOVES his walks. And he was willing to give them up because of fear.

Humans have long built great walled cities to keep out predators, one another, weather, and even contrary viewpoints. We now have technology with firewalls that protect the technology that protects us.

Yet, we all want freedom.

Zed used to run out of the gate when it was left open, free to roam as he pleased. After sufficient fear was born in him, he does not...Read More

Awakening Ain't Woke

Wed, 08 Jun 2022 05:13:45 -0700

One of my friends is going through a tough time. There’s nothing horribly wrong with her, but something’s wrong. My gut instinct is that her real self is trying to push free. I say it’s instinct, but when someone agrees that it feels like the universe is bitch slapping them around, I know what that means.

Mine started in 2009. It continues to this day (not the bitchslapping, fortunately). The thing about awakening is that one is never fully “woke”. It’s a journey, a process, and there is no destination in this lifetime…at least not that I’m aware of – yet?

Woke is described on Wikipedia as an English adjective meaning "alert to racial prejudice and discrimination" that originated in African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). Social media has warped that meaning a bit, actually, has appropriated it to mean anytime one has a conspiracy theory or doesn’t trust a power structure, none of which are to be trusted of course. Put bluntly, a word that used to really mean something has been reduced to a meme.

What I want to describe is awakening. Some (most) call it aspiritual awakening. In actuality it is awakening to yourself. Your real self. The one that has been conditioned to move through life without thinking too hard about why you’re doing the things you do.

How do you decide to pull the trigger on a great new business idea? I would tell you, but I’m struggling a bit. Life is different now from when I started Tech Wildcatters. I’m not a single mom. I’m not trying desperately to find my tribe. Money and I don’t have the same relationship. Yet the ideas keep coming.

Last year I somehow threw a party where 23 women and girls got together to hang out and make some DIY skincare stuff. I had started making my own masks, scrubs, tinctures, and oils. Island life requires a bit of self-reliance. Turns out, one of my good friends likes to make some of her own stuff, too. I invited her over to make stuff together, and well, let’s just say the guest list grew.

It was SO. MUCH. FUN!

So much fun that I thought it would make a good business (with global scale potential and all the things investors like me look for). I won’t go into all the details, but I’ve got a business ready to go. What I don’t have is a cofounder.

I don’t have a cofounder because I haven’t looked, asked, or tried anything to find one.

Now, let’s talk about manifesting. There are a lot of different interpretations out there. Mine is that you decide you want something. You write it down. You think about it. You tell other people. All the while, you take little actions toward it. Just as important, you don’t take so many actions that take you away from it. Eye on the prize, yo.

My problem is that I’ve got a lot going on, and I love it all. But this damn idea won’t leave me alone! So I keep working on it a little at a time. Maybe hoping the cofounder of my dreams will show up?

Thing is, the man of my dreams only showed up after I got real clear about what kind of person...Read More

Why Invest in Women?

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 06:44:03 -0700

Going back to my old world of startup investment in today’s gab. I just funded a company in the cybersecurity space, CyberPopup, led by a woman. I did it for the same reasons I write scifi that hopefully appeals to more women.

First, it’s a little lonely in here. Leaders in both spaces are traditionally male. It’s changing and I’m all about helping it along with more than just my presence. I want to bring others.

Second, both scifi and early stage technology pave the path to our future. It’s SHOCKING how few women have had a say in both. Is this really what we want to see in the world?

This is me raising my hand, and my wallet, to say that women can create as good of and absolutely a better world if we are half of the voices at the leading edge.

When I ran Tech Wildcatters, we cast a very wide global net. The only criteria was that they receive their revenue from businesses, rather than straight consumer. It was Dallas, TX. We weren’t exactly known as a cool place to start a cool brand. But, we had big businesses with lots of problems to solve. I had investor money to protect and there wasn’t enough deal flow or enough support/understanding of women in tech to feel like I was a good steward of capital if I focused solely on teams with female founders. We always had a few, but they were in a tiny minority – or relegated to support roles.

I don’t have that concern now. And there are a lot more women (and men!) out there doing what I am. The lead investor of today’s deal, Vitalize, is a fund headed up by a man and two women. The Fund, with separate funds in Austin, NYC, Chicago, Colorado, LA,...Read More

Out of Focus

Thu, 24 Mar 2022 07:17:54 -0700

After traveling last week, my routine is all thrown off. I can’t seem to focus on anything. See, just now I took my fingers off the keyboard to look at my journal in the hopes that maybe it holds some answers. Writing out my thoughts usually helps, but I’m already writing.

Maybe if I write down some of the tricks and tools I use to focus, it will help me and possibly even another person. I see you opening that social media app. And you with the Spider Solitaire. (ok, it’s really me)

When I lose the ability to focus, it’s generally time to step back and reassess things. What are my priorities and why? Am I neglecting some part of myself – health, finances, home, relationships, work. How are all these things going? What do I want to be focusing on?

Yeah, I just picked up my phone again. Why did I do that? What am I avoiding in my writing?

Recently, it feels like a block rather than lack of discipline. I got back into my workout routine yesterday without a problem. I’ve also been flowing with my fire props a couple of times every day. My eating kinda sucks, but it’s a full-time job to eat healthy on this island. Though I somehow found the time to bake brownies rather than vegetables yesterday. Hehe! Hmmmm...

If you’re reading this, you can probably see this pattern of my mind skipping all over the place. It’s actually a lot crazier up in here, but I’ll spare you. For now, I need to get some of this out, then find my center and work from there.

Meditation can help. I find I can’t sit still until I get out some of the frenetic energy. Running used to help. I’m kinder to my joints these days.

I left the keyboard for about twenty minutes to try a couple of things that sometimes...Read More

Living A Secret Life

Sat, 19 Mar 2022 08:49:18 -0700

This post changed tracks on me, but I'm putting it out unchanged.

I’m writing a short story for philosophy class about the superhero whose origin I wrote last month. The focus is on maintaining a secret identity in today’s hyperconnected world where you no longer need to scan your passport for immigration to know it’s you. We’re gonna’ need better masks, Batman!

I hear that my scifi writing and fire dancing has come as a surprise to people who know me as a professional tech investor. I was very open about my dream to pass the baton and write novels, but it turns out that people want to believe what they want to believe about you…and dreams don’t come up that often in business meetings.

Should we discuss our dreams with people? When we do, why don’t most people associate us with them?

There seems to be some unwritten rule that we can’t have dreams and focus on our jobs/family/obligations at the same time. It’s one of those things I can’t make any sense of. Without dreams to build into reality, what’s the point of all this? Caveat: you're allowed dreams of a family, nice home, nice car, and obtaining other status symbols, but those aren't the dreams I'm talking about.

I think many people wanted to believe that what I used to do for a living was my only dream. It turns out I have a lot more…and that one was realized. My vision was simple – Texas will be one of the top 3 centers of innovation in the world by 2025.

I worked on the grassroots then watched it unfold. Like MAGIC. Hello Great Migration! I don’t even live in Texas to enjoy it, but that was never my plan. As my old company motto says, “We Start Shit”.

With my novels, I’m not supposed to say it, but I want to see some of my ideas become...Read More

About my Island Home of St. Croix

Mon, 14 Mar 2022 04:52:48 -0700

I’m writing from 30K feet this morning, headed to Texas. While St. Croix is part of the US, we still go through customs at the airport. The man who checked my documents this morning asked what I do for a living and to keep things simple, I replied that I’m a writer. He asked if I write about St. Croix. I said I’ve written some fiction short stories, but no, nothing directly about the island yet.

What would I say about my island home? We’ve lived here three and half years, not even long to have experienced a real hurricane…not that I have any desire to. I think back to what my friends stateside know about the island, about what I knew before first exploring the idea of moving. I had been to the British Virgin Islands once, and hopped around the cluster of St. Thomas, St. John and the BVI’s. We asked if it was possible to visit St. Croix but got shot down due to the 45 miles of ocean between it and its sister islands. Why bother when you already have so many islands to visit right there? So, St. Croix exists off the beaten path, sporadically graced by the looming shadow of a cruise ship, and frequented by people like our current President who’s been vacationing here for many years.

I love my island home in many of the same ways I love Dallas. I don’t really fit in, but I kinda do because of the diversity oftransplants who have moved here. The population is a paradox of itself. You never know what kind of an encounter you’ll have with a person. We say good morning, good afternoon, or good night when we walk in anywhere or we might get lectured about our manners. People in Dallas look at me funny because I forget and greet everyone I pass on the sidewalk. Not in the small Texas towns though. They still give and expect greetings like 'how are you'.

It is a place at war with itself, not wanting to admit that tourism is its biggest...Read More

Follow Your Inclinations, Not Your Passions

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:08:38 -0800

The Cambridge Dictionary defines inclination as “a feeling that you want to do a particular thing, or the fact that you prefer or are more likely to do a particular thing.”

I’m about a quarter through the book Mastery. Early on, it advises that in order to find your unique path that you should return to your childhood inclinations, and pay attention to those that call the loudest. I happen to have finally answered the call to write that I’ve had since I desperately wanted to learn to read at about four years old. Mom told me I would have to wait until I went to kindergarten. That didn’t stop me from teaching myself how to write simple words, and lovingly engrave “Mom” into our dining room table. She was not impressed.

When I finally made it to school and was introduced to the fundamentals of reading, an entire new world opened up. I immediately flew through every Nancy Drew mystery, then moved on to The Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High; and who can forget the classics Charlotte’s Web, A Wrinkle in Time, The Giving Tree.

So how is it that I ended up with degrees in Finance and a career in tech investing? Turns out, I followed inclinations there as well. I started counting the bills in my dad’s wallet about the same time I begged for someone to teach me to read. I balanced checkbooks, saved any money I received, tallied the grocery bill in my head, and so on. When choosing a major, I actually went back to those inclinations to decide which path to take.

In my second novel, I’m introducing a technology that’s been haunting my mind for over a decade. It started with a short story, born from an exercise at Read More

If Women Want to Help Build the Future, They Should Read Science Fiction

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 10:08:55 -0800

If you had asked me in my 20’s if I would write scifi novels, I would have laughed at you. Scifi was for boys who wanted to feel smart. And with four 20-something boys now, I can confirm that they exist in a constant battle of wits and knowing. It's not all the time, and it's not every book written by a male author, but it's enough for some people to not finish a book (or conversation).

Luckily, Ray Bradbury changed my mind with his book Zen in the Art of Writing (free pdf), specifically the essay On the Shoulders of Giants. He credits children with spurring our rapid innovation over the past 60 years. Why? Because they championed science fiction in schools and libraries around the world. What Bradbury posits is that teachers, librarians, and parents learned these books are full of IDEAS, not just escapist daydreaming. Hmmm, I never thought about why A Wrinkle in Time was my favorite book growing up. Maybe Bradbury was on to something.

Now, let’s consider Rankers list of the top 10 scifi authors. In order: Issac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Jules Verne, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, H.G. Wells, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Douglas Adams.

This is a pretty simple line of logic to follow. One woman listed among the top 10 idea pushers. What do you think that’s meant for technology and its rapid expansion?

So, when I set about to write science fiction, I wondered if it was possible to write in a way that more women and non scifi readers would enjoy the stories, and consider the ideas within. Readers who looked a lot like, well, yours truly. So far,...Read More

What About God?

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 04:54:47 -0800

I’ve got class tonight and am thinking about our topic of the philosophy of God (not to be confused with the religion of God, somehow), so it’s what I’m gab-bing about this morning over coffee. It sounds like a classmate was raised in a very Christian environment, possibly even evangelical like I was, so this particular topic has the gravitational pull and threat of the sun. Watch out! Your views may be challenged, it says.

My views are of an agnostic nature these days. Some of them come up in my book. It is, after all, about the apprentice who created Earth. He did not, however, create the multiverse.

This week’s lectures and discussion have me delving into the idea of comparison. In many traditions, comparison is considered the ideal that holds us back from reaching our full potential (in itself a comparison…oy vey!). The premise of God for philosophical purposes, specifically ontological,relies on comparison. If there is a God, they are a perfect being; all knowing, all good, all powerful, etc. See what I mean? Compared to what? Lesser Gods? Us?? So we are inferior by nature. Well that feels great. Until you consider the Bible’s idea that God lives within us. That we are all God. I’ll let thethree people who read this post unpack that one.

Then there is the idea of God as designer. If God is perfect and created a world where people kill one another because their egos can’t be controlled, how is that considered perfect? So, maybe God started the whole thing and left evolution to itself. I find myself leaning toward the latter explanation.

I won’t get into Pascal’s Wager that it’s better to believe in God because of the consequences. Honestly, most of the theories are very circular in their logic. Then again, don’t most things eventually circle...Read More