Andrew W. Pickholtz

Though I am very sad, I feel fortunate for having Andrew as my friend for decades. When Eda and Ray, his parents, visited Andrew shortly after he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989, they arranged to have lunch at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco with Andrew, my parents, Nelson and Anne Blachman, and me. After that lunch, from time to time over the years, Andrew and I got together, called, or corresponded until our final email on July 18, 2021. Among my numerous memories, I wish to share two of them. Since Andrew lived relatively close to the hotel where the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition was hosting their annual benefit dinner on October 12, 2019, I offered a ticket to him, though I wasn't aware that he was a bicycle enthusiast. Nancy: I bought a ticket to the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Annual Benefit Auction and Dinner but I have another event that evening. I invite you to take my place. Let me know if you are interested in attending or if you know someone else who might be interested. Andrew: I think this is quite a worthy organization. I've used their Bike valet service a few times for 49ers games and other events at Levi's Stadium. I've been quite disappointed that neither the 49ers nor Levi's Stadium promotes the use of biking to the events -- last I checked they don't even mention the SVBC valet service or the nearby bike path on their web sites. It took a lot of effort for me to find out about it in the first place. I guess they're more interested in the $50 parking fees.:( I've made my comments known, but to no avail.:( So, yes, I would be interested in attending the event. It would have been better if you were going too, but either way works. Thanks for thinking of me. Nancy: I had no idea that you were so much of a bicycle enthusiast. I will forgo the other event I was planning to attend (a MIT dinner) and go to the SVBC with you instead. Andrew: Sadly, I think I overdid the mountain biking. After we moved to Cupertino, I would go three or four times a week into the Santa Cruz mountains nearby. It was a great escape and great exercise. But after 7-8 years of that being my principal form of exercise, not stretching enough, and sitting at a computer for hours a day, I think it caught up to me.:( I don't imagine this is formal -- biking shorts anyone?:) Just joking. It had been a while since we had gotten together so we shared what was going on in our lives, our thoughts, political views, and what we had done recently, and after we took our seats at a table with six others, we continued talking, even after the main program started. I don't recall paying much attention to the presenters, videos, dinner speaker, awards, etc. The only time I took note was when someone at our table told us to talk more quietly so she could hear the presentations. I found it always easy to talk to Andrew. In fact, it was often difficult to end a conversation with Andrew because one topic would readily lead into another. Since Andrew had experience in evaluating and investing in start-ups, in February 2021, I introduced Andrew to Dr. Swarna Balasubramaniam, the relative of a friend of mine and the inventor of a medical device to accelerate recovery after surgery. I was considering investing in Noleus Technologies and I wished to learn how Andrew evaluates investment opportunities. He was curious about the invention, the investment opportunity, and thanked me for sharing it with him. I attended a lengthy meeting at which Andrew questioned Swarna about her background, how she came up with the invention, and how hospitals evaluate and acquire new equipment. And then afterwards, he followed up with a gastroenterologist surgeon to get his opinion about the invention. I was impressed with how thoroughly Andrew checked out this investment opportunity. I am sorry that I will no longer have a chance to talk to, correspond, and get together with Andrew again, but I have enjoyed reading and hearing about his friends' and relatives' experiences and memories and I will enjoy reflecting on the times I spent with him and lengthy conversations, discussions, and arguments that we had. Andrew enriched my life. Andrew lives on in my memories.