Former Digg CEO asks Twitter followers to plan his newly unemployed lifestyle - Los Angeles Times
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Former Digg CEO asks Twitter followers to plan his newly unemployed lifestyle

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After a practically nonstop 20-year career working at and building technology companies, what should Jay Adelson do with his time off?

Seriously, what should he do? He’s looking for ideas.

Adelson, 39, abruptly resigned as Digg chief executive on Monday. During his five-year stint, he led the company’s efforts in establishing itself as a top social news website, launching a new kind of advertising platform and acquiring WeFollow, the pet project of Kevin Rose -- Digg’s founder and his successor as CEO. Adelson is also chairman of the online video network Revision3.

Before that, he was the founder of Equinix, a public networking company that houses data centers responsible for keeping major parts of the Internet running.

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Now, for the most part, he’s free of day-to-day corporate responsibilities -- for now.

‘Well, honestly I have plenty of projects to occupy myself with as you probably can imagine,’ Adelson wrote in an e-mail. ‘However, quite literally, I haven’t been unemployed in my adult life.’

In a blog post on Digg, Adelson wrote, ‘The entrepreneurial calling is strong, and I am ready to incubate some new business ideas over the next 12 months.’

But he plans to take a much-needed break before then. Friends and family are pushing him to take a breather, he said.

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Adelson called out to his Twitter followers for suggestions of what to do, and they responded with dozens of picks. After evaluating the responses, Adelson tweeted, ‘Thank you all for your ideas on what to do with my first break in 20 years. I’ve decided to do them all.’

‘The general ideas were great,’ he told us. ‘I could see doing most of it.’

Most? You said all, Adelson, so we’re holding you to that.

Many of the suggestions aren’t surprising -- spend time with family, travel, etc. But here are some of the more off-the-wall tips Adelson publicly committed to.

@androslee: perfect timing for college spring break?

@exula: buy a motorcycle, get a tent. Ride cross country.@adholden: read the Twilight Saga@nickweikert: Do a barrel roll.@davidhuynh: fly a kite.@chasestanford: go play lots of video games jay....just go..@ianb: Probably too late to form a boy band.

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Better late than never!

-- Mark Milian
twitter.com/markmilian

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