Title: The Friends We Make: Laura Muro, IntimateMath Lead Video Editor
Date: March 27, 2010

Hi I^M’ers,

Meet Laura Muro! Laura is our Lead Video Editor. I was introduced to Laura by Michael Z Huber a few months back. It was pretty much love at first sight; we connected instantly, like two girlfriends who had known each other ever since childhood. We had so many similarities: we agreed about how we had to try and give life our best, how we had to ignore the expectations of who we were supposed to be, and how we shouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

She shares her dream with me… as I share mine with her.  Working with her has never felt like actual work. She leads all her I^M projects independently. And when we do get together to meet about making final touches on I^M’s videos, we spend about 30 minutes on them. With the remaining time, we talk about life: what we’ve done, our future plans, and our dreams.

I’m a little heartbroken because I know soon enough Laura will leave I^M and me, and there is nothing I can do to keep her, nor should I try to do anything about it. She will be following her dreams, and I should be nothing but supportive.

I told her, “I don’t want you to leave. Let me know what I have to do to keep you.” She responded, “Kim, I’m following my dream. You only feel attached because of the friendship we have created. You will find many more friends in your journey.”

Laura,

I wish you the best in all your future endeavors! And I will always be here for you! Cheers to your future! Thank you for challenging me and making IntimateMath better. You pushed me to accomplish things that were difficult to do: videoing the intros and publishing the videos I didn’t want to post. But most importantly, thank you for being part of my journey!

Love,
Kim

Laura Muro, IntimateMath's Lead Video Editor

Laura Muro and I Transferring Videos (it took a long, long time)

Laura Muro and I Buying Another External Hard Drive

Laura Muro and I at Best Buy in Mountain View, CA

Title: Most Projects Start Inside a Home
Date: March 26, 2010

Title: Why IntimateMath? What for?
Date: March 23, 2010

Dear I^M’ers,

When I first brainstormed the concept of creating this site, I knew I wanted to share what I had seen through my eyes and experienced as someone living in one of the leading centers of technology and entrepreneurship. I always felt incredibly fortunate to be around so many amazing thinkers, doers, and risk takers— individuals who were creating things from nothing. To learn from and be around such people and energy was always an exciting and valuable experience. In a sense, I felt as though I was always watching a movie because a lot of what I was experiencing — taking in emotionally and mentally—was the same as what I would get from watching movies. We watch movies to be inspired, be awed, and to get that adrenaline rush, but most importantly, to relate to the main character.

After time, I found myself watching less television and movies. And although I was born to love fashion and appreciate beauty, I didn’t pick up US Weekly or Vogue magazines as much as I once did. I was no longer celebrity-awed (well, except by Matt Damon), nor was I concerned about what Kate Moss was wearing. I found myself founder-awed as I was talking more about and conversing with entrepreneurs — not necessarily about their products and what they were creating, but more about who they were as people. I was curious to learn what consumed their thoughts, what drove them, what made them tick, and what inspired them. Ultimately, I wanted to know if in some way or form they were similar to me, because that would mean I was just as capable of logically applying my passion like they had.

I wanted to know these people who sat in the hot seat and went to war silently with themselves and the world every day, who had to make decisions that would result in the fate of their company, which also meant answering to their team and employees. These founders and entrepreneurs don’t have daily pressures; they have what I like to call minutely pressures (yes, “minute” as in “every minute”). They have the minute pressure to successfully decide, execute and deliver. To me, these founders and entrepreneurs were way cooler than celebrities and models (don’t get me wrong, celebs and models are still cool but in a different way) because they changed and influenced the way we live and play, and in my eyes, they weren’t getting the credit they deserved. These were the game players who couldn’t re-touch their work with Photoshop, re-take, or say, “Cut!” They were the real deal. They are the main characters of reality.

Now, I share these stories and conversations with you. I hope you look to these founders’ stories to find inspiration that will lead you to create and build such things that are meaningful to you. Live a life filled with Logical passion.

Best,
Kim Ngo