Fishing the Waterways With Sak Narwal

In the modern era, fishing is both a professional career and a favorite pastime for hobbyists all around the world. Sakwinder "Sak" Narwal, a self-identified "catch-and-release" fisherman and enthusiast, belongs to the latter group. Sak Narwal has enjoyed the sport of fishing for much of his life, and has traveled far in pursuit of his passion for aquatic environments and the science of fishing.

Sak Narwal has fished in many locations across the United States, including California, Alaska, New York and the Florida Keys, where he seeks out permit, tarpon and bonefish. The Keys are a well-liked environment, full of bays, flats and mangrove islands that provide beautiful scenery as well as plenty of fish. Sak Narwal has also fished for redfish in Louisiana, shad in the Delaware River, and sharks in Long Island.

Open Source Software and Ron Bongo

Ron Bongo, the CEO of Corra Technology, has spent many years in management consulting and finance. Early in his career, he was the vice president for two management consulting firms and founded Financialpro.Com. He has also directed business development in North America for SymphonyRPM before becoming involved with CorraTech. Today, Ron Bongo is responsible for directing CorraTech's management team and managing its corporate strategy. He is also a proponent of open source technology in the software industry.

The term "open source software" refers to the practice of allowing access to a software program's source code, which is supposed to encourage peer collaboration and increased product diversity across the industry. Ron Bongo was an early adopter of this idea, and today advocates OSA, the Open Solutions Alliance, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting open source to companies all over the world.

Personal Service, Bridal Boutiques and Gina Penzarella

Choosing the proper dress for a formal occasion like a wedding or prom can often be a huge hassle. Even without the added issue of cost, simply finding a dress that fits and flatters can make dress shopping unpleasant. Many women have difficulties discovering the right shapes and colors for their bodies, and could use a helping hand from time to time. One way to get that help is to frequent dress-specific shops, such as bridal boutiques, which give more attention to the individual shopper. Gina Penzarella runs such a boutique out of Easton, Pennsylvania.

Gina Penzarella's boutique, Footlights, services wedding parties, prom attendees and other women looking for special occasion dresses. This type of boutique is often a preferred choice for women with shape and fit issues, or who have special requests that other stores are unwilling to meet. For example, Gina Penzarella assures her prom-going customers that she will not sell duplicate dresses to the same schools, so that no young woman need be embarrassed by seeing her chosen dress on her classmates.

Flowers Through Time

Humans have been using flowers as gifts, offerings and commemorative decorations for more centuries than are recorded in history. The analysis of flower fossils found in archaeological digs show that early humans used flowers to express their feelings during the Paleolithic period, which ended some 10,000 years ago. Burial flowers from these digs are often of the types that have therapeutic qualities, and came in a wide variety.

Modern humans are not terribly different in this respect; we also choose many disparate types of flowers to express our appreciation for others, in addition to purchasing therapeutic flower gifts in the form of aromatherapy products. Most often, we show appreciation through bouquets and other visually-pleasing arrangements such as those found through 1-800 Flowers. 1-800 Flowers is a popular flower delivery service that offers a wide selection of bouquets, gift baskets, plants, and other gifts. Rather than picking flowers myself like my Paleolithic predecessors, I usually opt for services like 1-800 Flowers to send my love to others on holidays and special occasions, and sometimes just because.

Deven Parekh Insight Venture Partners

Insight Venture Partners is a private equity and venture capital firm. Based in New York and founded in 1995 by Jerry Murdock and Jeff Horing, the firm has Robert Rubin and Steve Friedman on its Executive Advisory Board. With managing director Deven Parek Insight Venture Partners deals with Internet-enabled businesses and software. The firm has a three billion dollar capital base.


Deven Parekh Insight Venture Partners managing director has previously been involved with The Blackstone Group and Berenson Minella & Company. When he was with The Blackstone Group, he had a hand in principal activities as well as M&A advisory. He continued this work at Berenson Minella & Company, where he was on the M&A Committee. Parekh is also a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, which endeavors to promote leadership qualities among business-minded individuals. Deven Parekh Insight Venture Partners managing director is also involved with the non-profit activities of Publicolor, an organization that works with disaffected youth.

Deven Parekh

The New York equity and venture capital firm Insight Venture Partners, which was founded in 1995 by Jerry Murdoch and Jeff Horing, is wholly involved with software and Internet businesses and currently has a three billion dollar capital base. Managing director at the firm Deven Parekh was involved with The Blackstone Group and Berenson Minella & Company prior to joining Insight Venture Partners. He began his academic career at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School.

In addition to his professional career, Deven Parekh is also a Henry Crown Fellow of the philanthropic Aspen Institute, which works to foster leadership qualities and critical discussion around the world. The Institute holds seminars and other events designed to promote honor and integrity in individuals. Deven Parekh is also a board member of Publicolor, an organization that uses art and color to motivate disaffected teenagers.

A Bouquet of Flowers, This Time

When I was young, giving gifts of flowers was my forte. Wildflowers, weeds, daffodils from the garden--I used to pick them all and repackage them to give to the adult women in my life. A bunch of picked flowers could become an elaborate bouquet, or a rose could become a bottle of rosewater "perfume." Much of the fun was running my own flower delivery service, complete with silly costume and begging for tips!

In the adult world, you can't really get away with gifting buggy flowers stolen from someone's hedge. On a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary, I prefer to give a grown-up version of my dandelion gift baskets, such as the professional arrangements from 1-800-Flowers. I don't need to worry about pulling out that old delivery costume now--with this service, everything is taken care of!