I went to this event partially out of interest and the hope of network, but I also attended due to the fact that I would receive extra credit for writing a blog post about it. However, I was not informed that you had to pay for the event! I hope that I will receive a decent amount of extra credit, due to the fact that it essentially cost me 20$. The fact that as a student of the school I had to pay to attend was made worse by the fact, that other students informed that I could have got in for free. Fellow students said that Professor Fry put them on the list of attendees at no cost. Unfortunately, Professor Fry made no mention of this the day before the event.
The first part of the event was a presentation by Sharon Wong from Cisco. Her presentation was interesting, but it did not seem to be a very cohesive presentation. Her theme was roughly that in the future everything will be connected to the internet. Other than that, I don't really know what she was trying to get at. Her presentation bounced around from ideas about innovation to how everything will have internet. Ultimately it was interesting, but I don't really know what it was about. Her presentation contained nuggets of value but as a whole was forgettable.
Next was a presentation on Big Data that can be summed up in this context: "We have a lot of data, but we need to figure out how to use it." That was pretty much it. I think the speakers were trying to convince the audience of the uses of big data by talking about uses that are not yet in place. I think the presentation would have had more validity if there was some empirical data.
Next I went to the Cybersecurity and Big Data panel. This panel quickly degenerated in to a pissing match between individuals in the audience vs. the panel over who knows more about cybersecurity. I feel as thought the panel represented individuals that provide physical security of data while most of the audience members dealt with cyber security of data.
The lunch keynote was Mike Hamilton, which was probably the most entertaining presentation. However I didn't really care for Mike's bravado. He seemed to be trying to show the audience how much of a badass he is when he probably could have just told us some stories of the experiences he has had in the field. This would have allowed me to decide if Mike was really as cool as he said he was rather then him just telling me how much of a big deal he is. Ultimately, Mike's presentation was about how the South Sound could be a great hub for cybersecurity if a few things happen.
Finally, having been burned by the first breakout, I decided to skip "Building a Cybersecurity Workforce" and go to the entrepreneur meet up. This event was kinda fun to be a part of and listen in on. It seemed as though there were some individuals there looking for guidance from other ents. and then one dude that wanted people to lease his office space. I wanted to talk to the president of Internet Identity but did not get a chance too.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Jim Kastama
Today we had our final quest speaker for the class. Jim Kastama is a retired Washington state senator who in 2006 got deeply evolved in economic development. In his talks, Jim discussed the idea of innovation vs. invention and how geographical regions can foster entrepreneurship.
Jim began by stating that 2/3 of GDP growth is from innovation and then when on to discuss some examples of innovation. Jim presented his ideas in a format that showed some of the misnomers of innovation.
First, innovation is not just tech. Jim talked about innovated ideas in Washington that did not necessarily come from the tech industry. One was that growers in Washington looked at the climate and geography in France and found that it mirrored some of the natural climate here in the Washington. These individuals decided to create wineries in the Walla Walla region, and it is now the second largest produce of wine in the United States.
Next, Jim refuted the idea that innovation comes from a top-down approach. He gave the example of Boeing and their desire to speed up their production. Using a Japanese strategy, Boeing approached its front end workers. These workers were responsible for installing the seats in a Boeing 737. When approached about a way to do their job better, one employee brought up an idea from his youth. This employee grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington and suggested that they use a hay bale elevator to put the seats into place. This along with other procedures help Boeing cut it's 737 production time down from 21 days to 11.
Finally Jim stressed the idea that public policy can foster innovation. During his talk, Jim was the most passionate about the work that he has done to create IPZ's here in Washington. IPZ's are innovation policy zones that get businesses, the workforce, and local government working together to create an area where innovation can take root. One of these areas is the Walla Walla region with it's wine production. Jim also mentioned that Seattle has worked hard to provide that necessary resources to make it an IPZ for global health. Jim brought up an interesting idea in that if you are an entrepreneur you may want to find an area relative to what your business is so that you can be a part of one of these IPZ regions. However, Jim also countered this notion that businesses should move by saying that often these business don't know enough about whats around them. Jim's idea was that often you don't need to move to be closer to the action, you can create a new center of innovation where you are already at.
Jim began by stating that 2/3 of GDP growth is from innovation and then when on to discuss some examples of innovation. Jim presented his ideas in a format that showed some of the misnomers of innovation.
First, innovation is not just tech. Jim talked about innovated ideas in Washington that did not necessarily come from the tech industry. One was that growers in Washington looked at the climate and geography in France and found that it mirrored some of the natural climate here in the Washington. These individuals decided to create wineries in the Walla Walla region, and it is now the second largest produce of wine in the United States.
Next, Jim refuted the idea that innovation comes from a top-down approach. He gave the example of Boeing and their desire to speed up their production. Using a Japanese strategy, Boeing approached its front end workers. These workers were responsible for installing the seats in a Boeing 737. When approached about a way to do their job better, one employee brought up an idea from his youth. This employee grew up on a farm in Eastern Washington and suggested that they use a hay bale elevator to put the seats into place. This along with other procedures help Boeing cut it's 737 production time down from 21 days to 11.
Finally Jim stressed the idea that public policy can foster innovation. During his talk, Jim was the most passionate about the work that he has done to create IPZ's here in Washington. IPZ's are innovation policy zones that get businesses, the workforce, and local government working together to create an area where innovation can take root. One of these areas is the Walla Walla region with it's wine production. Jim also mentioned that Seattle has worked hard to provide that necessary resources to make it an IPZ for global health. Jim brought up an interesting idea in that if you are an entrepreneur you may want to find an area relative to what your business is so that you can be a part of one of these IPZ regions. However, Jim also countered this notion that businesses should move by saying that often these business don't know enough about whats around them. Jim's idea was that often you don't need to move to be closer to the action, you can create a new center of innovation where you are already at.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Bryan Craft
I am not exactly sure what Bryan Craft came to class to lecture on, but I enjoyed his presentation none the less. If I could give a over-arching theme it would be how about how to treat your customers.
Bryan gave us a little back story about his past employments. The two jobs that really shaped his ideals was Disney and the software development company Knowledge Universe. Disney is notorious for giving its quest and customers the best treatment possible. While working at Disney Bryan said that he took a lot of these ideals to heart. Treating the customer with respect and making them feel as though they are your number on priority.
Bryan then went on to talk about his next employments. At Disney, Bryan said he learned everything that you need to do right when dealing with customers and employees; however at Knowledge Universe, Bryan learned everything that you should not do. Bryan talked about how he was hired on to do a job, only to later be fired once the job was finished. It sounds as though Knowledge Universe was a very generous company while he was there, but they lacked loyalty towards their employees. Bryan talked about how he received a letter from upper management telling him that he was fired, but they had ended up sending it too soon! It was suppose to be received after Bryan launched the project. This ended up being a large wake up call for Bryan.
I particularly enjoyed Bryan's presentation because he is working in an industry that I have a growing interest in. Web development seems like it might be where I want to continue my education. I asked Bryan for his business card so that I can set up an information interview and I plan on asking for an appointment soon. It was cool for me to hear more about Bryan's industry being that I am interested in it.
Finally, I enjoyed the topic that Bryan kinda subtle mentioned on. Bryan kinda talked about employment in a small company vs a large corporation. It is definitely something worth thinking about and Bryan's talk put the idea back in my head. I worked at a small company before, and while it wasn't perfect, I think that I might ultimately prefer it to a larger corporation. One of the things that I didn't like at the smaller company that I worked for was that they lacked an HR division. It made certain things hard to deal with, however I think that working for a large corporation can cause you to lose some of your identity. You're just another cog in the wheel. I think that there might be more room for growth at a smaller company, and I think it would be certainly easier to get noticed!
Bryan gave us a little back story about his past employments. The two jobs that really shaped his ideals was Disney and the software development company Knowledge Universe. Disney is notorious for giving its quest and customers the best treatment possible. While working at Disney Bryan said that he took a lot of these ideals to heart. Treating the customer with respect and making them feel as though they are your number on priority.
Bryan then went on to talk about his next employments. At Disney, Bryan said he learned everything that you need to do right when dealing with customers and employees; however at Knowledge Universe, Bryan learned everything that you should not do. Bryan talked about how he was hired on to do a job, only to later be fired once the job was finished. It sounds as though Knowledge Universe was a very generous company while he was there, but they lacked loyalty towards their employees. Bryan talked about how he received a letter from upper management telling him that he was fired, but they had ended up sending it too soon! It was suppose to be received after Bryan launched the project. This ended up being a large wake up call for Bryan.
I particularly enjoyed Bryan's presentation because he is working in an industry that I have a growing interest in. Web development seems like it might be where I want to continue my education. I asked Bryan for his business card so that I can set up an information interview and I plan on asking for an appointment soon. It was cool for me to hear more about Bryan's industry being that I am interested in it.
Finally, I enjoyed the topic that Bryan kinda subtle mentioned on. Bryan kinda talked about employment in a small company vs a large corporation. It is definitely something worth thinking about and Bryan's talk put the idea back in my head. I worked at a small company before, and while it wasn't perfect, I think that I might ultimately prefer it to a larger corporation. One of the things that I didn't like at the smaller company that I worked for was that they lacked an HR division. It made certain things hard to deal with, however I think that working for a large corporation can cause you to lose some of your identity. You're just another cog in the wheel. I think that there might be more room for growth at a smaller company, and I think it would be certainly easier to get noticed!
Friday, February 22, 2013
Mission and Vision Statements
Mission Statement:
ComicLibrary's mission is to provide comic book lovers with an on-line subscription service that allows users to read today's and yesterday's comics on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. ComicLibrary wants users to never be out of something to read. Keep your pull-box full with ComicLibrary!
Vision Statement:
In the next few ComicLibrary will be the number one provider of digital comics. With the recent popularity of comic book characters in other media, we want to increase the amount of comic book consumers by 20% by 2016. We want to bring comic books to a audience that would normally not try this type of media. ComicLibrary will be on the top ten list of all app sales on the itunes marketplace by 2016 as well.
ComicLibrary's mission is to provide comic book lovers with an on-line subscription service that allows users to read today's and yesterday's comics on a computer, tablet, or mobile device. ComicLibrary wants users to never be out of something to read. Keep your pull-box full with ComicLibrary!
Vision Statement:
In the next few ComicLibrary will be the number one provider of digital comics. With the recent popularity of comic book characters in other media, we want to increase the amount of comic book consumers by 20% by 2016. We want to bring comic books to a audience that would normally not try this type of media. ComicLibrary will be on the top ten list of all app sales on the itunes marketplace by 2016 as well.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Graham Evans
Graham Evans was a pretty interesting quest speaker. I can't recall what he was suppose to talk about, but his presentation boiled down to two main themes, knowing your market and re-thinking your thinking.
In regards to marketing, Graham talked about how having a great product and lousy marketing will result in no money for your product. Ideally, you want a great product and great marketing! Graham gave the example of the Microsoft's new Surface tablet. In the commercial, there are people dancing around with the tablet attaching the optional keyboard. Graham's question was what are they trying to sell me? Is dancing and a keyboard why I should be buying this tablet. This played into Graham's idea of knowing your market.
Graham elaborated on this idea being using a few examples with British companies. Graham talked about how these companies tried to break into the U.S. market, only to fail or stumble because they didn't know the market that they were trying to reach. Or in some cases, these companies acquired other companies that they thought were like them only to discover that this was not the case. Knowing your market is key!
The second theme of Graham's presentation was on re-thinking your thinking. While I thought that Graham's marketing stories were interesting, I was most intrigued by his second theme. Graham talked about how companies (or even scientist) can get so focused on one mode of thinking that they reject or don't evaluate other options. One example Graham gave was of an individual that figured out how the space shutter Challenger exploded on launch. This individual was able to figure out the solution when others could not by using a method that was not typical. Our professor touched on this subject as well but then the idea of being spring steel, not titanium. As an entrepreneur and I think in life in general, focus is a key but you should not be so focused that you put up blinders.
I thought that key was one of the better speakers we have had so far due to the fact that he challenged conventional ways of thinking.
In regards to marketing, Graham talked about how having a great product and lousy marketing will result in no money for your product. Ideally, you want a great product and great marketing! Graham gave the example of the Microsoft's new Surface tablet. In the commercial, there are people dancing around with the tablet attaching the optional keyboard. Graham's question was what are they trying to sell me? Is dancing and a keyboard why I should be buying this tablet. This played into Graham's idea of knowing your market.
Graham elaborated on this idea being using a few examples with British companies. Graham talked about how these companies tried to break into the U.S. market, only to fail or stumble because they didn't know the market that they were trying to reach. Or in some cases, these companies acquired other companies that they thought were like them only to discover that this was not the case. Knowing your market is key!
The second theme of Graham's presentation was on re-thinking your thinking. While I thought that Graham's marketing stories were interesting, I was most intrigued by his second theme. Graham talked about how companies (or even scientist) can get so focused on one mode of thinking that they reject or don't evaluate other options. One example Graham gave was of an individual that figured out how the space shutter Challenger exploded on launch. This individual was able to figure out the solution when others could not by using a method that was not typical. Our professor touched on this subject as well but then the idea of being spring steel, not titanium. As an entrepreneur and I think in life in general, focus is a key but you should not be so focused that you put up blinders.
I thought that key was one of the better speakers we have had so far due to the fact that he challenged conventional ways of thinking.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Kickstarter Post
Before I begin laying at how I would do crowd sourcing for my business, I feel as though I should elaborate on my business idea. My idea is for a subscription based media service. I have decided to use comic books as my media. I would like to have a website that for a fee, anyone could log on and read as much as they want as long as they are a subscriber. I was also considering maybe giving users a certain amount of points each month. With these points, the user could then purchase .pdf files of their favorite book so that they always have a digital copy even if they cancel their subscription. Or maybe they want their favorite book in print, they could use there points to purchase a hard copy that we will ship to them. I really enjoy Microsoft's Zune Marketplace, which uses a similar business model. I was hoping that I could do the same thing but with comic books Currently there is one digital comic book retailer, but they use the same business model as print books. I think that my model will be better for people with access to the internet and own tablets. I also think that my model will be more beneficial to first time users and therefore increase the market.
Most of the coding and app building for my website I feel can be done on my own or by others. What I am having trouble with is how I am going to get comic book companies to allow me to sell their product on-line. I need to have a large data base of comics for subscribers to read if I hope to be successful. This is where I think my Kickstarter money will come into play. It will help to maintain and facilitate the purchasing of servers and may help to show DC and Marvel that there is a group of people that would be interested in reading comics under a subscription.
First Level, pledge of 5$
One month subscription to my service and the app to access my site.
Second Level, pledge of 15$
Two month subscription app, and enough points allotted to their account. (3.99$ worth of points, enough money to buy a single issue from a comic book store. They could use to purchase a digital copy or hard copy).
Third Level, pledge of 35$
Three month subscription, app, and points allotted to their account. (Enough to buy a trade paperback book, roughly 4 - 5 single issues.)
Fourth Level, pledge of 50$
6 month subscription, app, and points allotted to their account. (Enough to buy a trade paperback book, roughly 4 - 5 single issues.)
Fifth Level, pledge of 100$
Year subscription, app, and points allotted to their account. (Enough to buy 3 trade paperback books, roughly 4 - 5 single issues.)
Most of the coding and app building for my website I feel can be done on my own or by others. What I am having trouble with is how I am going to get comic book companies to allow me to sell their product on-line. I need to have a large data base of comics for subscribers to read if I hope to be successful. This is where I think my Kickstarter money will come into play. It will help to maintain and facilitate the purchasing of servers and may help to show DC and Marvel that there is a group of people that would be interested in reading comics under a subscription.
First Level, pledge of 5$
One month subscription to my service and the app to access my site.
Second Level, pledge of 15$
Two month subscription app, and enough points allotted to their account. (3.99$ worth of points, enough money to buy a single issue from a comic book store. They could use to purchase a digital copy or hard copy).
Third Level, pledge of 35$
Three month subscription, app, and points allotted to their account. (Enough to buy a trade paperback book, roughly 4 - 5 single issues.)
Fourth Level, pledge of 50$
6 month subscription, app, and points allotted to their account. (Enough to buy a trade paperback book, roughly 4 - 5 single issues.)
Fifth Level, pledge of 100$
Year subscription, app, and points allotted to their account. (Enough to buy 3 trade paperback books, roughly 4 - 5 single issues.)
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
John Dimmer
Today we had a guest speaker come into the class by the name of John Dimmer. John was suppose to come into the class and talk about funding a business idea and his work with the Tacoma Angel Network. While he elaborated on these topics, most of his presentation was on his rise to the top. It was pretty cool to hear what kind of businesses he is participating and his opinions on his experiences. This guy has got to be making some serious bank now that he has achieved the level of success that he has. I think you know that you made it as an Ent. when you can take the money that you earned from your first business and starting using that money to invest in other business.
One of the things that I thought was interesting that John mentioned was that all his business opportunities came from working with people that he has know for a long time. It goes to show how smart it is to surround yourself with like-minded people. I am assuming that John is a excellent business man in his own right, but when you reach his stage of the game, it seems as though it is easy to find a good idea and then hop aboard. Granted you need to put some money up to invest in said idea, but all your really doing is picking the right horse to bet on. John talked about his involvement with business idea competitions at the University of Oregon so I am sure he has had large opportunity to hear some great business ideas, in addition to his involvement with the Tacoma Angel Network. By now, he probably has a keen judge for what is a good idea and what is a bad idea. If there was a machine that allowed you to download someone's knowledge and implant it in your own head, I think John Dimmer's head would definitely be on my list.
Another part of John's presentation that I noticed was that it sounded like his Father and cousin were Ents. as well. Which makes me wonder if he comes from a family of entrepreneurs. I wanted to ask him this question in class but time did not allow it. A lot of younger people whose families own businesses tend to work in the family business, and with John's family seeming to be a entrepreneurship family, I was curious if this was the reason that he wanted to become an Ent. I was also thinking that maybe his father generated a nice income for his family through business investment and John wanted this lifestyle for himself as well, and chose entrepreneurship to get him there.
One of the things that I thought was interesting that John mentioned was that all his business opportunities came from working with people that he has know for a long time. It goes to show how smart it is to surround yourself with like-minded people. I am assuming that John is a excellent business man in his own right, but when you reach his stage of the game, it seems as though it is easy to find a good idea and then hop aboard. Granted you need to put some money up to invest in said idea, but all your really doing is picking the right horse to bet on. John talked about his involvement with business idea competitions at the University of Oregon so I am sure he has had large opportunity to hear some great business ideas, in addition to his involvement with the Tacoma Angel Network. By now, he probably has a keen judge for what is a good idea and what is a bad idea. If there was a machine that allowed you to download someone's knowledge and implant it in your own head, I think John Dimmer's head would definitely be on my list.
Another part of John's presentation that I noticed was that it sounded like his Father and cousin were Ents. as well. Which makes me wonder if he comes from a family of entrepreneurs. I wanted to ask him this question in class but time did not allow it. A lot of younger people whose families own businesses tend to work in the family business, and with John's family seeming to be a entrepreneurship family, I was curious if this was the reason that he wanted to become an Ent. I was also thinking that maybe his father generated a nice income for his family through business investment and John wanted this lifestyle for himself as well, and chose entrepreneurship to get him there.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Business Ideas
I would like to note that my ideas make me sound like I am 12 years old but that this is not the case.
First Idea (and probably the best idea):
First Idea (and probably the best idea):
I would like to institute some sort of subscription based media service. The model I have in mind could probably be used for a number of things but I had comic books specifically in mind. With tablets becoming much more prevalent, the idea of digital comic books has become more viable. There is a great digital comic book provider already, however they have a payment plan very similar to that of printed comics. I would like to provide an on-line subscription based model to digital comics.
Second idea:
I was thinking of a kids bubble gum line where the flavors choice would change every few months. Consumers would have to log on-line and vote what new flavors they would like to see put in as replacements. All of the flavors would be developed by flavor specialists but voted into production by voters or consumers. Consumers may even be able to vote or contribute in some way to packaging design as well.
Third idea:
I was thinking of a dog sitting/walking website. This would be similar to that care.com website were you can find certified babysitters but it would be for dogs. These would be trusted individuals willing to walk or care for your dog. I may require them to validate that they have been a dog owner at one time. However I also think that it would be cool if individuals interested in owning certain dog breeds, could use this site to "try out" certain breeds by walking or sitting for owners of a particular breed.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
How to be a Ent. in 5 pages!
Our first reading assignment was the first 5 pages of "The Technology Entrepreneur Guidebook" which I was putting off for a while, but if you blink then you have read it. In the reading it talks about what qualities an entrepreneur needs to have. Most of the qualities are similar to what a lot of other reading materials have been eluding too. Passion, commitment and focus are all must haves! The odd thing about this reading material is their scare tactics on the first page. They toss out statistics that basically say that you have the odds stacked against you and as a entrepreneur you need to be prepared to fail. I am not really sure what the motive of this is, are they trying to scare the people that don't have what it takes to be an Ent. away? Or are the trying to challenge those that do have what it takes? Like saying to them, "look at how much of a champion you will be if you succeed!" In my opinion I think a good Ent. needs to be competitive, and by telling them you're going to fail will just make them want to prove you wrong. Our professor went on to say that the scary statistics may even be a little generous for today's market.
All and all I feel like reading about how to be an Ent. is interesting but at the same time annoying. It gives some really cool advice, most of which I think can be adopted for a lot of things besides business, but at the same time they make it sound like your going to have to go through the Herculean trials to be successful. Why does the Predator visit Earth every 1,000 years? So that "one in 6,000,000 high-technology business ideas can end up a IPO." Despite all the reading, my opinion is starting to be that if you want to be an Ent., all you really need is a dang good idea and the passion not to give up on it.
All and all I feel like reading about how to be an Ent. is interesting but at the same time annoying. It gives some really cool advice, most of which I think can be adopted for a lot of things besides business, but at the same time they make it sound like your going to have to go through the Herculean trials to be successful. Why does the Predator visit Earth every 1,000 years? So that "one in 6,000,000 high-technology business ideas can end up a IPO." Despite all the reading, my opinion is starting to be that if you want to be an Ent., all you really need is a dang good idea and the passion not to give up on it.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Eric Hanberg
We had a quest speaker come into the class today to talk about entrepreneurship. Eric Hanberg is an entrepreneur himself. He has engaged in a number of business opportunities over the years some being in the realm of non-profit, but mainly he is a writer and self publisher. Eric brought a lot of great advice to presentation on what it takes to be an entrepreneur. However, I took most of his advice as life advice rather than business advice. Its seems as though a lot of the qualities that it takes to be an entrepreneur would benefit anyone throughout all of life's stages.
One of the things that Eric mentioned was not being afraid to take risks. This is probably the number one property that entrepreneurs need. Eric elaborated on this idea by stating that the new laziness is a fear of failure. He talked about a friend of his that was a photographer, to whom he suggested putting an ad a Craig's list for photo services. His friend however was to afraid to even post. I really latched on to this idea because it is all about putting yourself out there. What's the worst that could happen? No one will want your photos? Oh well, but what if they do? Its seems as though entrepreneurs are great at finding something the love doing and coming up with a way to get paid for it. I plan on trying to adopt this ideal and put myself out there more.
Another thing that I thought was really cool about Eric was how he took his love for writing and is making money off it. Eric stressed that you might not make money off of it right away, but that it is a possibility. It took him a few years to see any real profit from his book sales but with his current job paying the bills, his books sales are all gravy. I think it is pretty cool that he was able to take his hobby and turn a profit and now with the increase of sales he has a luxury of living a different life. With the added money from his books, maybe he doesn't need that 40 hour a week job. I think another property that entrepreneurs have is that they are able to step back and look at how they want to live there life and then figure out the avenues they need to take in order to get to that palce. Eric mentioned about how he wants the ability to vacation in Europe for weeks at a time, and it seems to me as though he is close to fulfilling that goal.
I am not quite sure that I am cut out to be an entrepreneur or that I even what too, however I am starting to find the idea more intriguing. Even if I don't use Eric's business advice for business, I plan on incorporating it into my life. Being an entrepreneur means being a little less fearful, something that I think all of us can benefit from.
One of the things that Eric mentioned was not being afraid to take risks. This is probably the number one property that entrepreneurs need. Eric elaborated on this idea by stating that the new laziness is a fear of failure. He talked about a friend of his that was a photographer, to whom he suggested putting an ad a Craig's list for photo services. His friend however was to afraid to even post. I really latched on to this idea because it is all about putting yourself out there. What's the worst that could happen? No one will want your photos? Oh well, but what if they do? Its seems as though entrepreneurs are great at finding something the love doing and coming up with a way to get paid for it. I plan on trying to adopt this ideal and put myself out there more.
Another thing that I thought was really cool about Eric was how he took his love for writing and is making money off it. Eric stressed that you might not make money off of it right away, but that it is a possibility. It took him a few years to see any real profit from his book sales but with his current job paying the bills, his books sales are all gravy. I think it is pretty cool that he was able to take his hobby and turn a profit and now with the increase of sales he has a luxury of living a different life. With the added money from his books, maybe he doesn't need that 40 hour a week job. I think another property that entrepreneurs have is that they are able to step back and look at how they want to live there life and then figure out the avenues they need to take in order to get to that palce. Eric mentioned about how he wants the ability to vacation in Europe for weeks at a time, and it seems to me as though he is close to fulfilling that goal.
I am not quite sure that I am cut out to be an entrepreneur or that I even what too, however I am starting to find the idea more intriguing. Even if I don't use Eric's business advice for business, I plan on incorporating it into my life. Being an entrepreneur means being a little less fearful, something that I think all of us can benefit from.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Startup.com
I want to first mention that this is only my second business class, so some business aspects maybe a little lost to me. My previous business class was on management styles which while being in the business program probably isn't all the relevant to entrepreneurship.
I thought Startup.com was a pretty interesting documentary. Like I mentioned above, I think some of the more business aspects where probably lost on me, however I did enjoy how it showed the tech industry during the late 90's and early 2000's. My first thought while watching the film was I thought that their idea for a dot com was incredible stupid. I kept thinking to myself how their entire site should be dealt with by the government already. Why does a third party need to offer this service? It should already be a part of the government's infrastructure. If I wanted to pay my parking ticket on-line I would rather go to the DMV's web page instead of their's. However as I thought more about it during the movie, I realized that the government probably would not have had a webpage and probably had no plans to implement one. The web would have been to new for the government to feel like they needed to jump on board, so in reality govWORKS.com was probably pretty revolutionary idea for the time.
Throughout the movie, I assumed that while Kaliel and Tom were gathering funds and getting all this hype about their dot com that they had something to show for it. However, once they filmed govWORKS.com's launch it made me second guess if they even had anything prior. I feel almost as though they raised all this money on just an idea. Did Tom even have a prototype site set up? I wonder if the govWORKS.com domain was even reserved? These days, I feel as though some sort of prototype website would need to be set up in order for a company to even get funding. However, maybe Kaliel and Tom did have something to show or maybe because of the dot com boom a lot of investors only needed to hear a good idea in order to decided to invest.
I thought that Tom and Kaliel's bromance was kinda of funny. The company retreat to Tom's childhood home where he took all the workers to meditate under the trees like he did in highschool seemed a little pretentious to me. I was kinda looking at these guys as not being that older than me but they seemed to kind of take themselves too seriuously. This could all be a result of them getting so much exposure so quickly. All the responsibility thrust upon good have caused them to grow up rather quickly.
I also thought it was weird when their competitor came to visit the office. He didn't really seem that friendly and I don't even think he knew what he was doing there. A couple of workers even called him out on why he was there and he gave them a bullshit answer. I would have probably kicked him out or never let him in. I believe that his being there was probably related to the future break in of Kaliel and Tom's offices in some way.
Finally, one thing that I had trouble understanding was why Tom needed to leave the company. Someone in class mentioned that he should have been terminated sooner, and I am not really sure why. Maybe it had something to due with the fact that Tom and Kaliel were acting like co-CEOs? I can see this as being an issue because subordinates need to clearly know who their leader is. However, I don't think that this is an issue that Tom needed to get terminated over. Why couldn't he just take a step back and no longer talk publicly about the company with Kaliel? The only thing I think Tom was guilty of was not staying on top of technological advancements. As far as I know Tom was the head of technology but it seemed as though he let their website get obsolete pretty quickly. I don't think that he should have been terminated for this reason either, but I do think that he should have had the foresight to see that he missed up in this area and that maybe he was no longer the right man for the job.
I thought Startup.com was a pretty interesting documentary. Like I mentioned above, I think some of the more business aspects where probably lost on me, however I did enjoy how it showed the tech industry during the late 90's and early 2000's. My first thought while watching the film was I thought that their idea for a dot com was incredible stupid. I kept thinking to myself how their entire site should be dealt with by the government already. Why does a third party need to offer this service? It should already be a part of the government's infrastructure. If I wanted to pay my parking ticket on-line I would rather go to the DMV's web page instead of their's. However as I thought more about it during the movie, I realized that the government probably would not have had a webpage and probably had no plans to implement one. The web would have been to new for the government to feel like they needed to jump on board, so in reality govWORKS.com was probably pretty revolutionary idea for the time.
Throughout the movie, I assumed that while Kaliel and Tom were gathering funds and getting all this hype about their dot com that they had something to show for it. However, once they filmed govWORKS.com's launch it made me second guess if they even had anything prior. I feel almost as though they raised all this money on just an idea. Did Tom even have a prototype site set up? I wonder if the govWORKS.com domain was even reserved? These days, I feel as though some sort of prototype website would need to be set up in order for a company to even get funding. However, maybe Kaliel and Tom did have something to show or maybe because of the dot com boom a lot of investors only needed to hear a good idea in order to decided to invest.
I thought that Tom and Kaliel's bromance was kinda of funny. The company retreat to Tom's childhood home where he took all the workers to meditate under the trees like he did in highschool seemed a little pretentious to me. I was kinda looking at these guys as not being that older than me but they seemed to kind of take themselves too seriuously. This could all be a result of them getting so much exposure so quickly. All the responsibility thrust upon good have caused them to grow up rather quickly.
I also thought it was weird when their competitor came to visit the office. He didn't really seem that friendly and I don't even think he knew what he was doing there. A couple of workers even called him out on why he was there and he gave them a bullshit answer. I would have probably kicked him out or never let him in. I believe that his being there was probably related to the future break in of Kaliel and Tom's offices in some way.
Finally, one thing that I had trouble understanding was why Tom needed to leave the company. Someone in class mentioned that he should have been terminated sooner, and I am not really sure why. Maybe it had something to due with the fact that Tom and Kaliel were acting like co-CEOs? I can see this as being an issue because subordinates need to clearly know who their leader is. However, I don't think that this is an issue that Tom needed to get terminated over. Why couldn't he just take a step back and no longer talk publicly about the company with Kaliel? The only thing I think Tom was guilty of was not staying on top of technological advancements. As far as I know Tom was the head of technology but it seemed as though he let their website get obsolete pretty quickly. I don't think that he should have been terminated for this reason either, but I do think that he should have had the foresight to see that he missed up in this area and that maybe he was no longer the right man for the job.
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