Every once in a while I’ll see a CNN video clip and the commercial is usually (hopefully) a JetBlue commercial. I absolutely LOVE these commercials. Here’s one of my favorites:
Oh my gosh – BRILLIANT!
Brilliant Advertising & JetBlue
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Category Archives: Business
Entrepreneur Reads from Ben Yoskovitz & Fred Wilson
My mind is in entrepreneurial stuff as I think about wrapping up Eight Lunches (what is the definition of “good enough??).
Here are three excellent reads for entrepreneurs:
A Postmortem Analysis of Standout Jobs: Ben founded Standout Jobs and then sold it… for a net financial loss. Too many times we put on our smiley faces when asked about our companies… and Ben could have bragged about a “successful exit,” but he is a true blogger… very transparent. This is a MUST read.
Paying Yourself is Not a Reason to Raise Early Stage Funding: Very important read for anyone looking to raise money. You raise money to be able to make more money, not to reduce the stress from on founders bank accounts…
What A CEO Does: I LOVE LOVE LOVE this post. It has the THREE things a CEO is responsible for (and a message about delegating the rest).
Cool stuff – worth the time to read them.
My 5 Favorite Words
I was chatting with my buddy Thom Allen and wrote “sustainable.” I really do like that word… and it made me think about what my other favorite words are. Here are mine:
Sustainable: Got this from my MBA classes. In business sustainability is so critical. Profit, revenue, cash flow, etc. can all be irrelevant if none of it is sustainable. I love this word and strive for it in many areas of my life – health/fitness, relationships, projects I take on, etc. (close second from the MBA program: “significant.” This is a word that statisticians use to relay if something matters or not. I know you knew that but in stats is really gave me a new way to use it (with more force, maybe)).
Flexible: Got this from developing software. You want to create something that can be used elsewhere, in different modules, applications, etc. Create something that isn’t flexible and you’ll have to do it again, from the ground up. Create something that IS flexible and you can use it in other places. Think “widgets” or other things that use APIs.
Scalable: Got this from software development but I think about it with business all the time. In software you want to create something that a gazillion people could use, not just 4 people. Make software scalable, like Facebook, and if the sun/moon/stars align you could have gobs of people on your system. In business, make something that can scale and you can have “unlimited” income. Anything that is hourly billing IS NOT scalable. Product sales, generally, are scalable.
Creative: I never, ever, ever thought I was creative. I had zero creativity. When I hired interns I looked for signs of creativity. I loved to be around creative. Once I started my own business I learned I was, indeed, creative. Creative = clever?
Curious: Another C word that I looked for in my hiring. I wanted you to think about other ways to do things. If you aren’t curious you won’t work well in my environment because I don’t provide much training/info for you (sorry). I want you to figure it out on your own, which means you have to poke around and learn and ask the right questions. I’m happy to HELP but I don’t want to hold your hand (if you are one of my employees).
What are your favorite words (and why)?
Eight Lunches, Business, Entrepreneur thoughts
As I let the feedback from Eight Lunches incubate, and I noodle on the direction of the next draft, I’ve thought a lot about business.
I think about it as if I really were someone’s business coach.
I think it as it pertains to my own business.
I think about it as if I were speaking to a group of 100 wannabe entrepreneurs.
Lately I was thinking about starting and sustaining a successful business. I’m sure people have thought about this a gazillion times, so perhaps there’s nothing new to this, but I’ve been trying to whittle down a model/system, so I could communicate it efficiently.
I came up with 5 steps or stages or components of this system… a system to create and maintain a sustainable business:
- Idea. It all starts with an idea, whether it is NEW (the better mouse trap) or old (a pasta restaurant).
- Execution. Not to use an ambiguous word that could be used in each of these five steps… but the idea here is to take the IDEA from step one and make it happen. This is, create the widget, open the restaurant, etc. This is take the idea off of paper and make it happen. And then wait for the build it and they will come/buy, thing, right?
- WRONG. Sales. This is key. This is the make-it-or-break-it thing. Whether you sell licensing to your brilliant thing or sell widgets at 4 cents profit or sell one thing every year for a million bucks profit, you gotta sell. Even non-salespeople have to sell – the brand, and the company.
- Delivery. Once you sell your job isn’t done… you have to deliver on what you sold. If it is a widget you put it in the mail (assuming it’s already been manufactured). If it is a custom quilt you have to sew it, if it is a consulting package or writing gig you have to schedule time to deliver on what you sold.
- EVOLVE. I thought steps 1-4 was good but in the last four years I’ve found that there is this tricky little thing I call business evolution… my business has evolved dramatically from what I thought it would be (and what you would read in my business plan from 4 years ago) to what it is today. Having said that I feel like I’m in the most torrential part of business evolution… based on technology changes, competition, opportunities, economy and market, etc. If you don’t evolve you might not live long.
Five simple steps… books can be (have been) written on each of these things… but what do you think… am I missing something (that can’t be put in one of the 5 above)? Is there a list like this somewhere else that you like?
What can almost $5M get you (as a business)?
I’ve been advised to go after my next round of funding, based on business goals/objectives (which are always lofty :)).
There are lots of thoughts about getting investment money, and my biggest concerns are with the investors themselves. This post from Tim Ferris was AWESOME… but his objective as an angel investor is different than many angels’ objectives.
One thing I’ve worried about is the ability of an investor (or group of investors) to have control over my strategic direction to the point where we are driven to do something that I don’t think we should do… or to shut down completely.
On TechCrunch there is a post about Wesabe, a company like Mint, that is shutting down. Their reasons are legit… as a company that provides FINANCIAL services (interface with your bank account, etc.), they HAVE TO have certain security in place, and they say they aren’t comfortable with the level of service they can provide right now… I totally get that.
But my concerns was this:
In Feburary 2007 [Wesabe] raised $700,000 from O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, and later that year raised $4 million in a round led by Union Square Ventures.
How is it that a company gets 4.7M in funding and three years later it dives into the deadpool?
If I got 4.7M, what would my path to the deadpool look like? Alternatively, what would my path to fantastic success look like?
Makes me sad to think that wesabe is pulling the plug, but it really makes me think about going and getting money – money alone will not solve the issue (how to become successful/sustainable, etc.).
Or could it?
Buying a headset for your PC
A few weeks ago I gave a fun presentation on hardware and software (and other stuff) for a home office. It was fun because the career coaches in the room were taking notes they could take back to their clients who were interested in starting a home-based business, OR settling in for a serious job search.
One of the things I recommend you get is a headset that plugs into the computer that becomes, essentially, your phone. I use Skype as my phone service but my headset allows me to have hands free discussions… this is critical so I can give webinars, take notes, etc. Also, I spend a lot of time on the phone and I don’t want my arm or neck to get tired.
While I was gone I had some work done in my office and was ultimately out of my office for about a month (yes, it sucked). While out, one of my kids found my headset and played with it (translation: broke it).
This isn’t the first headset that I’ve had broken. The first one was a nice, light, comfortable headset that plugged into the PC – you know, in those little round holes made for the mic and speakers?
When I replaced it I got a USB headset that plugs into a USB port… I liked this because I have a USB port on the front of my PC and the audio jacks are on the back, so I get some extra cord length.
I went to buy a replacement headset and my ONLY criteria was USB. I knew I’d find what I wanted for around $30… I got it at Target just in time to jump on a webinar, and learned there was another very critical thing I didn’t think about:
A MUTE BUTTON!
The headset I bought didn’t have a mute button… and that absolutely won’t work for what I do (lots of live webinars/teleseminars/radio interviews) and my environment (home office with lots of noise/activity).
So now my criteria for a headset includes:
- Price – around $30,
- USB – for more cord length,
- mute button
I got all that and I’m good to go! Hopefully this one lasts longer than a year (not because of the device but because of all the ways I can accidentally crush it :p).
Eight Lunches Excerpt & Request for Feedback
UPDATE: I am not sending out any more versions of THIS draft, but will send out versions of THE NEXT draft… just leave a comment on this other post and I’ll shoot it to you when I’m ready. THANK YOU so much for helping me get this far!
I just finished editing (second draft) my third book, which is titled Eight Lunches. You’ll see why it has that title in the excerpt below, which is essentially the intro (or, chapter zero).
Writing a book is easy and hard. Okay, maybe it’s just hard… writing isn’t hard for me, but when SHARE my books/ideas with people, very smart people, I become vulnerable (an easy target). But that’s the way it is… and it’s time to become vulnerable… so here goes… if you want to review my draft just leave a comment on this post and I’ll send you the book (I had people contact me directly but it’s going to be easier if you leave a comment). What I’d like is this:
- an HONEST review – what did you like or not like?
- SUGGESTIONS? What needs to be beefed up? What am I missing?
- any grammar fixes needed.
- confidentiality – please don’t share the book with anyone YET.
I’ll share more of my vision for this book in a future post… here’s the excerpt:
EIGHT LUNCHES
“I’m about ready to wrap it up and get a job,” said Paul, clearly dejected.
“Why? I thought things were going pretty good… what’s really going on with your business?” asked Jason. They were at Kneaders, a local sandwich shop, for their almost-monthly lunch. They started these lunches about a year earlier, after they met at a network meeting and realized they lived in the same neighborhood.
Jason’s business was a couple of years older than Paul’s and Paul asked if they could meet regularly to compare notes and share ideas and leads. They both worked out of home offices so they didn’t get the face-to-face socialization they had at their corporate jobs. There’s nothing wrong with a workday without a commute, or unnecessary interruptions by colleagues, or sharing a community fridge, but both agreed that meeting for lunch with someone who has similar business challenges is more than refreshing.
“Considering how well your business is doing, I’m embarrassed to admit where I’m at. I mean seriously, I read your blog and see all the comments and announcements and can’t even imagine having a business as successful as yours.” Paul was desperate to know how to fix his business but it was hard to open up, or ask for help, from Jason.
“Ha, that’s funny,” Jason said with a big grin, “looks can be deceiving!” Everything can be deceiving, he thought – from website traffic to blog posts to buzz about your business.
“I’ve really been thinking about my business and where I’ve come from over the last few years. I actually started writing down some ideas… principles of my success, that have helped make my business what it is today. What if we meet more regularly and talk about these principles and how they apply to your business?”
“Sounds intriguing Jason, but I’m not sure doing what you have done will help my business-our businesses aren’t even in the same industry. You market online, I sell locally. Yours is a web-based product, mine is not technical at all.”
“I realize that, but remember, I’m talking about principles. It shouldn’t matter what industry we’re talking about, or how big your business is, or even who your customers are. I’ve actually been thinking about developing a system for entrepreneurs to help them with their business. I’m not a business coach, and I don’t plan on becoming one, but I love to understand business strategies and systems. Talking about these success principles will allow me to test the ideas in a totally different industry – what do you think?”
“Sounds too good to be true,” said Paul, chuckling as he’s thinking it probably won’t help.
“Maybe it is too good to be true, but I’m game to try it! I’m sure it will help my business too, as I’ll have to critically evaluate my own business and how well I’m doing with these ideas.”
“Okay, I’m sold… what next?” Said Paul, thinking it couldn’t make his business any worse.
“How about we start next Friday? We can have lunch here every Friday from one to three, for the next eight weeks.”
“Perfect. What do I need to prepare for next week?” asked Paul.
“I don’t know – let me figure out what we’ll talk about next week. One thing, though. To make this work I want you to be comfortable sharing stuff you might not have shared with anyone else. I might ask you some tough questions and to make this work you need to be honest with me and yourself. I’ve had to ask the same questions of myself as I’ve grown my own business… agreed?”
Paul didn’t even hesitate. “Not a problem Jason, at this point I’m willing to do what I need to get my business back on track.”
“Cool – see you next Friday,” replied Jason, wondering if he knew what he had just committed to!
And then we jump into the first lunch (aka, chapter 1)!
Money: King, Queen and Jester
Leave a comment and tell me which of the following is the King, which is the Queen and which is the Jester?
- Revenue
- Profits
- Cash Flow
I don’t seem to remember this discussion in my MBA classes.
Ideas vs. Network #Godin
One of my favorite blog posts here is called Fake Metrics.
Seth Godin recently wrote a post titled Viral growth trumps lots of faux followers. In it he talks about how to grow… let me assume he’s talking about growing a list of evangelists.
In his post he points out a few variables that contribute to REAL, solid, sustainable, valuable growth.
Factor 1: the rate of growth
Factor 2: how good your IDEA is
Read his short post to see how it works – the basic conclusion is that if you want to have a strong group of evangelists, and the growth you get from that, you must have a good idea.
Even a *slightly* better idea can lead to terrific growth results (represented by the purple line).
How good is your idea? Or are you just working on getting fake metrics?
Effective Video Communication
After my video guy did the first edition of the What is JibberJobber intro I asked my Twitter people for feedback. Karin Hermans responded with links to two resources… THANK YOU KARIN!
Here’s a link to Octane’s video, which she really liked.
Here’s a link to a blog post titled The Key to Effective Communications – Scope vs. Detail. Great stuff there.
And here’s the second edition of the video we created: