Random Thoughts

The Soul of Leadership

2011-03-23T20:26:00Z

My most recent book is "The Soul of Leadership", by Deepak Chopra.

Optimism

2011-03-16T16:52:00Z

Our head of sales came to me today with a great story on optimism. It goes something like this.

A Pennsylvania family owned shoe company wanted to expand their operations overseas. The owner told one son to go to Africa to start an office and he told the other son to go to India. The son in Africa called his dad and said, "I am coming home right away, no one here wears shoes. There is no market." The son in India called his dad and said, "Dad, send me as many shoes as you can, no one here wears any shoes."

Is your glass half empty, or half full?

7 Business Tips I Learned from Playing Poker

2009-07-21T17:32:00Z

I just finished a Texas Hold-em tournament and received 2nd place. This was the 2nd tournament I ever entered and during my first tournament I was the first one out.

I feel there are strong similarities between poker and business.

1) Learn from your mistakes - I was too aggressive too fast during my first tournament - (In a startup don’t be too aggressive. Be more conservative in the beginning. For example, keep your overhead down. Don’t hire a lot of people right out of the gate. Don’t go after the largest client when your product is in alpha. Work out the bugs first before you begin to market aggressively.)

2) There are a lot of Bull Shitters - (Learn to read people and weed them out. Hire slowly and fire quickly)

3) Don’t back down from the bully - (Your competition is bigger and more experienced than you. Don’t be intimated. They are usually slower and less focused. You can and will beat them)

4) The one with the least amount of chips is usually the one who offers the most advice- (Find mentors that are winners. Learn from those who have succeeded. Be careful of those who talk and don’t walk.)

5) The one with the most chips at the final table doesn’t mean they will win - (Things can change quickly. Stay focused and do one thing very well. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Be calculated. Remember what got you to the final table)

6) Don’t let them know you are scared - (Learn to control your nervous characteristics. In business, learn to overcome your anxieties. When speaking in front of a large client, prepare and practice. Control your fears with knowledge, breathing techniques, and practice.)

7) Take the blinds when the time is right - (When your chips are down, know when to take the blinds by taking a calculated risk of a large bet even when you have no cards. Take risks. Be calculated. Enjoy the ride.)

10 Ways You Play Golf Can Kill or Improve your Business

2009-06-20T20:43:00Z

The question is:

When you play golf or if you were to play golf, how do or would you play?

Do you set a goal before starting the game?
1. Many just go through life without setting goals. Even if you are playing for fun, which you should always do or why play at all, you should have a goal in mind. Do you want to hit below 100 this round? Set a round goal. Set a hole goal and then set a swing goal. You will be surprised how much better you will do if you have a goal that you want to achieve. Business Tip: Set goals and quantify everything of importance. You will see it improve dramatically.
Do you run the swing and putt in your mind before you actually do it?
1. This is called visualization. Every successful athlete and business person in the world are great visualizers. They plan everything in their head before they actually do it. Business Tip: Vision map where you want your business to be in 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and beyond. Define it clearly and run it through your mind daily.
Do you write down your scores?
1. Do you write down your goal and score on every hole. Goals and progress must be written down or you will never improve. Business Tip: Write down goals and goal progress and share with your teams.
Do you move the ball when no one else is looking?
1. Taking short cuts will never help you improve. Business Tip: Do not cut corners. Immediate revenue due to unethical actions will always kill your business and reputation.
Do you take advantage of situations, use your experience and a little luck to win?
1. Business Tip: When you do things right, sometimes you still need a little luck.
Do you give up?
1. Are you one to play 9 holes and then give up? Can you get past the dip?
  
  Business Tip: Chinese proverb: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”
Do you complain over things you can’t control?
1. We can’t control the wind. We can’t control the hole placement. We can’t control how fast the party in front of us is playing. There are many things in life and business we cannot control. Business Tip: Focus on things you can control. Don’t worry about outside forces you cannot change.
Do you have fun?
1. You can’t be serious all the time. Here is Tiger Woods Farting.
2. Business Tip: Have fun. Life is too short.
Do you play it safe or do you take calculated risks?
1. Some like to play safe and others like to take calculated risks. Which one are you?Business Tip: To grow your business you will have to feel uncomfortable. Take risks. Learn from your mistakes.
Are you mentally tough?
Business Tip: Stay focused. Do extraordinary things and do it one product and customer at a time.

Lessons Learned from the Olympics

2009-06-20T20:42:00Z

- You are never to old to conquer your dreams

-Records are meant to be broken

- Never. Ever. Give Up

How to Get Your Start-Up Mentioned in TechCrunch

2009-06-20T20:40:00Z

TechCrunch is the most popular start-up blog on earth. A simple mention of your product or service can increase your traffic dramatically over night. Recently, rentBits was mentioned in TechCrunch and since the post, our traffic is up over 25%.

A question I have been asked is, “how did you get written up in TechCrunch.” Below are 5 tips to help your start-up get mentioned.

Develop a great product or service
1. Why is your product different?
2. What problem does it solve?
3. Tell a Story
Provide a frame of reference
1. i.e The Zillow For Rentals
Get their attention
1. The editors of TechCrunch receive many emails a day. They should know exacly what your service or product does by reading the first two sentences of your email.
Help them get to know you
1. Add your company to CrunchBase
2. Got technology news? Send them tips with a link to your blog post. We got two links to our blog from this and this post.
Don’t use PR superlative “fluff”
1. Stay away from terms like, “best”, “fastest”, “most”, etc. Also stay away from words like “revolutionary”, “web 2.0″, “leading”, “disruptive”

10 Rules to Succeed in Business and Life

2009-06-20T20:37:00Z

Anything you do and want to be extraordinary at, shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars……

Whether you are running a fortune 500 company, a real estate business, property management firm, ice cream shop, a charity or are a stay at home mom, these 10 simple rules will make you achieve extraordinary results.

1. Set Goals and Quantify Everything of Significance

You will be amazed how much something will improve if you set goals and measure the results. Break up your dream and vision into sizable parts. A dream can be broken down into goals, each goal can be broken down into steps, and each step can be broken down into tasks. Each task should have a completion date.

“Without goals and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” - F. Dodson

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” - Helen Keller

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” - J.C. Penney

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs” - Henry Ford

2. Find Great Partners and Mentors

Learn from those who have succeeded and failed. Don’t waist your time with those who have done neither.

“My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” - Henry Ford

“A friend is one who walks in when others walk out.” - Walter Winchel

“Tell me what company thou keepst, and I’ll tell thee what thou art.” - Miguel De Cervantes

3. Feel Uncomfortable every Day

Feeling nervous, unnatural and scared, helps you grow. Think for a minute about your biggest challenges and fears in life. Is it public speaking? Is it losing that extra 10 lbs? Is it having a more loving relationship? Is it making cold calls? We can all improve on everything. Do an extra 2 reps when your body says it can’t. Join a public speaking class when your mind says no. Make another 4 cold calls when you think you have already called enough. Make it a point to feel uncomfortable each day and you will grow exponentially.

“Success is always to be found on the other side of fear.” Unknown

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” - Robert F. Kennedy

“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.” - Theodore Roosevelt

“I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do” - Eleanor Roosevelt

4. Get past the Dip

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.” Gym memberships and gym traffic go through the roof in December and die down to normalcy in Feb. Why do you think that is?

“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.” - Ross Perot

“Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” - Thomas Edison

5. Follow your Passion

Passion is contagious. People can feel and touch it. It lives within us all and allows for extraordinary things to be accomplished. Find your passion and you will be extraordinary.

“I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.” - George Burns

“A shot glass of desire is greater than a pitcher of talent.” - Andy Munthe

6. Solve Problems

A bi-product of solving difficult problems is innovation.

“Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.” - Henry Ford

“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” - Albert Einstein

“We are too busy mopping the floor to turn off the faucet.” - Unknown

“Don’t find fault. Find a remedy.” - Henry Ford

7. Focus on one thing

Resources are limited. Peanut butter is easy to spread thin, but it sticks to the roof of your mouth.

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” - Bill Cosby

“Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets.” - Nido Qubein

“One thing at a time, is my motto - and just play that thing for all it is worth, even if it’s only two pair and a jack.” - Mark Twain

8. Just do it

An idea is just the beginning. Get up and make the idea a reality.

“My mother said to me, “If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general; if you become a monk, you’ll end up as the Pope.” Instead, I became a painter and wound up as Picasso” - Pablo Picasso

“Action is the foundational key to all success.” - Pablo Picasso

“You’re not a failure if you don’t make it. You’re a success because you tried.” - Susan Jeffers

“Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster.” - Theodore Roosevelt

9. Fail often, Learn from each Failure

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill

“I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” - Thomas Edison

” You become strong by defying defeat and by turning loss into gain and failure to success.” - Napolean

10. Laugh and Smile

One thing is for sure, we are all here for a limited time. Make the most of it and have fun.

“I never worked a day in my life. It was all fun!” - Thomas Edison

“Smile at each other, smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other - it doesn’t matter who it is - and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.” - Mother Teresa

VC Non Admissions

2009-06-09T15:41:00Z

VC Non Admissions

View more Microsoft Word documents from vcobserver.

Is the IT Bubble Near?

2007-12-04T16:35:00Z

Fake Steve Jobs 10 Commandments

2007-11-21T17:35:00Z

This is hilarious:

10 Commandments of Fake Steve Jobs:

1. Never let people know where they stand. Keep them guessing. Keep them afraid. Otherwise they get complacent. Creativity springs from fear. Think of a painter… he’s going to starve to death if he doesn’t get his work done … Same goes for the people at Apple and Pixar. They come in every day knowing it could be their last … they work like hell; trust me.

2. You don’t have to hire the best people. You can hire anyone as long as you scare the shit out of them … Look at the crappy cars that get made in Detroit, where nobody ever gets fired. Compare that to the stuff that gets made in Vietnamese sweat shops … We can’t literally put our employees lives at risk [but] we never could have made OS X so reliable if our engineers didn’t believe [every] time a bug surfaced one man was going to be killed.

3. Only promote stupid people. But not just any stupid people. You have to find the certain type of stupid people who actually believe they’re super brilliant. They make insanely great managers and are incredibly easy to manipulate. It’s easy to spot them. Former McKinsey consultants are top candidates.

4. Never tell people what is expected of them. Hold people to an impossibly high standard, but here’s the twist — don’t tell them what that standard is. And fire them if they fall short. You know what that does to people? It makes them crazy…Crazy people are more creative. And more productive. Every shrink in the world knows this.

5. A manager should be inconsistent and unpredictable. Be random. One day say something is great and the guy who made it is a genius. The next day say it’s crap, and he’s a moron. Watch how hard that guy will work now, trying to impress you.

6. No praise. Ever. Management gurus also tell you to reward performance … I disagree … Start praising people and pretty soon they starting thinking they’re as smart as you are. You cannot have this. All employees must know at all times that you are better in every way than they are. Repeated criticism in the most humiliating fashion is one way to accomplish this.

7. Keep people’s spirits broken. Fire people on a regular basis for no reason. Fly off the handle, shout at people, call them names, then fire them. Or better yet, don’t fire them. let them believe they’ve survived for a few days. Then, when they’re relaxed, call then in and fire them.

8. Throw Tantrums. One [tactic] that should only be used in extreme circumstances … literally cry and scream and roll around on the floor like a three-year-old … It works because it freaks people out to see a grown man crying and screaming. They’ll do anything to make it stop. Brilliant.

9. Don’t speak to employees in elevators. I’ll get on the elevator… and smile or say hi … sometimes [employees] carry on a conversation with each other, one that does not include me. I’ll wait until we get to my floor, and then, as the door opens, I’ll turn and say: ‘What you just said is completely wrong. You know not whereof you speak. Please go clean out your desk.’

10. Start with the ad campaign. Part of what makes [Apple] different—and, yes, better—is the way we create products. We don’t start with the product itself. We start with the ads. We’ll spend months on advertisements alone … Everybody else starts with the product. [This] is why most advertising sucks. At Apple … If we can’t come up with a good ad, we probably won’t do the product.

Off to NetLeaders Networking Event on Thursday

2007-10-07T21:07:00Z

I am getting ready for the NetLeaders networking event on Thursday which will be held at Liberty Media's Headquarters in Englewood Colorado. Some of the Speakers and Panelists will be John Malone, Jon Nordmark of eBags.com, Rich Barton of Zillow.com and others.

I am excited to meet everyone again.

Dancing With The Stars

2007-09-26T03:42:00Z

I have to admit, I have never been a big fan of these celebrity T.V. shows. However, today I stumbled upon Dancing with the Stars and was transfixed on the potential car wreck suspense that could happen at any minute. Of course, while staring at the beautiful woman, that never happened.

Tonight it is estimated that 18-20 million viewers watched this show. How many more seasons can this keep up?

Echostar Buys SlingBox for $380 Million

2007-09-25T13:48:00Z

Slingbox is an amzing service that allows users to watch t.v on the internet and other devices including the phone. I have always said that within 5 years, a majority of people will be watching t.v via the internet. I feel the next 5 years we will see a dramatic increase in HDNET televisions as well as more targeted T.V advertising based on your preferences and past surfing habits.

Making Money with Adsense

2007-09-16T14:21:00Z

There are lots of ways to make money with Google AdSense but the most impressive are those that can do it with a computer, a server and some SEO. One great example of this is Plenty of Fish. Started by Markus Frind he is making around $8 million a year. No employees, very little overhead and works out of his Apartment.

Another up and coming 1 man adsense show is Dave Dugdale with RentVine, a homes for rent site that is competing and beating the big guys in search.

The barriers to entry in starting an online website is virtually 0, but to generate revenue and prime placement on search terms is extremely difficult. Keep up the great work guys. You motivate us all.

Tim Moynihan and Apartment Marketer

2007-09-16T03:57:00Z

I am very excited to say that last week we announced Tim Moynihan as our VP of Sales and Marketing. Tim and I were the first to start the Google Denver office and Rent Marketer feels as if we are back at Google 5 years ago.

Also last week, we announced out beta launch of Apartment Marketer where property managers of apartment communities can now do their online apartment marketing in one central location and get distribution on the largest online rental advertising network in the world. More features to come shortly.

Dreamers don't pay the overhead, believers do

2007-09-08T16:37:00Z

People ask me all the time what it takes to start a company and be successful at it. Ususally, their first response is "I could never risk my current financial security to start my own company." These individuals are usually the dreamers who want a better life but are too scared to go out and get it.

When we hire, we want believers, not dreamers. We want those that can hit the road running and not look back. If you don't believe, it doesn't matter how much you dream, you will not be able to accomplish your end goals.

Dorothy Thompson:

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.

Superstar CEOs who Underperform

2007-07-26T22:01:00Z

From the pmarca blog:

From a paper by Ulrike Malmendier of UC Berkeley and Geoffrey Tate of UCLA:

...We find that the firms of CEOs who achieve "superstar" status via prestigious nationwide awards from the business press subsequently underperform beyond mere mean reversion....Superstar CEOs extract higher compensation from the firm, largely in the form of stock and stock options. They obtain significant and economically meaningful increases in total compensation in the years following their award despite subpar firm performance. ...

Starting Kick Boxing

2007-07-25T20:06:00Z

I am starting kick boxing on Monday to get back into shape. I am also shooting for the stars and having a goal of winning first place at the next amateur tournament. Should be fun. Who knows perhaps you will see me on the next IFC Championships. Ouch...

SCREAMING IN YOUR MARKETING MESSAGE****

2007-07-21T18:07:00Z

I just got done reading the Saturday paper and I noticed an ad that was screaming at me.

****BECOME RICH IN REAL ESTATE WITH LITTLE EFFORT *********

This screaming message is very typical in real estate investing marketing and I believe cheapens the message and company marketing this message. I notice some property managers use this yelling type of marketing in property ads and this too I believe cheapens the property being advertised as well as cheapens the property management services. What are you trying to say "Hey my services and this property is not very good so I have to scream to you to try to get your attention"

When developing a marketing message it is best not to use excessive capitalization, superlatives, stars, explaination marks, etc. Keep your message quick and simple and have a strong call to action on what you want the user or reader to do.

Just watched Startup.com

2007-06-29T17:03:00Z

I just finished watching startup.com and was rather impressed. It is about the rise and fall of the American dream. The rise and quick fall of govWorks.com. From getting VC funding (over 50 million) and burning through most of it before the site even launched.

The next documentary I am going to watch is e-Dreams.

"The recent "new" economy with its unprecedented highs and frantic reversals of fortune is rife with fascinating true stories. e-Dreams turns it's focus to the recently defunct Kozmo.com. Once upon a time, a story like this would have been unbelievable, even among those intimate with the workings of Wall Street. But Kozmo.com is now a case study of how an entire economic sector went awry. Just three years ago, Kozmo.com was just an idea in the minds of two 20-something Korean American investment bankers: an online convenience store that made deliveries of snacks, videotapes and other products within a half hour. Beginning in an unfurnished warehouse, co-founders Joseph Park and Yong Kang and their small group of employees did everything from build the website to making deliveries on bicycle. Over the following year their business grew from 10 employees to 3,000 and extended to 11 cities. Like so many other dot-coms, Kozmo.com's growth was something hitherto unseen: It raised more than $250 million and attracted the attention of Starbucks and Amazon.com. But in the tough times following the April 2000 stock market crash, Kozmo found itself in a perilous position-unprofitable and struggling to keep its operations going; and the formerly ubiquitous bicycle-delivery people in orange became and endangered species. e-Dreams stands as an invaluable documentary about the feeding frenzy of success and failure that nearly consumed the nation's economy. Written by Seattle International Film Festival Guide"

Random Thoughts

The Soul of Leadership

Optimism

7 Business Tips I Learned from Playing Poker

10 Ways You Play Golf Can Kill or Improve your Business

Lessons Learned from the Olympics

How to Get Your Start-Up Mentioned in TechCrunch

10 Rules to Succeed in Business and Life

VC Non Admissions

Is the IT Bubble Near?

Fake Steve Jobs 10 Commandments

Off to NetLeaders Networking Event on Thursday

Dancing With The Stars

Echostar Buys SlingBox for $380 Million

Making Money with Adsense

Tim Moynihan and Apartment Marketer

Dreamers don't pay the overhead, believers do

Superstar CEOs who Underperform

Starting Kick Boxing

********SCREAMING IN YOUR MARKETING MESSAGE************

Just watched Startup.com

SCREAMING IN YOUR MARKETING MESSAGE****