Lessons From A Dot-Bomb CEO
February 4, 2008
The best “mistake” of my life taught me a lot about how not to run a business. You see, I have a confession to make: I’m a Dot-Bomb CEO. Here’s the story of Midwestern Cybertising, and the lessons I’ve learned:
Prior to 1994, the Internet existed as pages and pages of text, with hyperlink shortcuts that brought you to other pages of text or to new sections on the same page of text. Text, text, text. Not bad if you like to read, but people today would hardly recognize it as “the Internet”. Then, a little program called “Netscape” changed everything by making the Internet a visual, multimedia experience. That moved it from the world of computer nerds and placed it firmly into the hands of businesses and consumers alike.
Enter Midwestern Cybertising. Some friends and I realized that this could be the new media for customer service and advertising, and jumped right into creating our own web development company. It was the classic garage biz — all of our HTML and graphic design was completed in my bedroom at my parent’s house! Our monthly server fee of about $15 comprised our entire operating budget.
One thing that I am proud of to this day is that my friends and I were YEARS ahead of the curve. If you can believe it, our biggest obstacle was trying to convince businesses that it would be valuable to have a web page! Our entire company consisted of three people — two of us planned to return to college at the end of summer break — unless, of course, our company made us phenomenally rich.
Unfortunately, our company did not make us phenomenally rich. By the end of summer, we had sold only one account (for $500, which we were never able to collect), and had one additional prospect that we were unable to close on. Eventually, we lost interest in our company and moved on to pursue other interests.
Here is what I learned from our adventure:
You are not in business to make money. You are in business to help other people or businesses — just don’t do it for free. Being clear about what your business does and how it benefits your clients makes it a lot easier for you to sell your services and products. My friends and I constantly had trouble explaining why it was necessary for businesses to have web pages as a matter of customer service. We saw only a money river and jumped in. It never occurred to us that we’d have to explain to people how badly they needed our services. We figured they knew.
According to Jung, Which Type of Person are You?
January 10, 2008
I came across this great site that goes over the Myers Briggs Personality test. This is a very powerful test that will give you valuable insight into your personality and what makes you tick. This will also tell you some of the people throughout history that also have the same characteristics as you.
So, please feel free to spend 10 minutes on the test, and leave a comment describing your personality type, and how this information might affect you moving forward.
For me, I am an ENTP (Extroverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving) is one of the sixteen personality types from the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and the Keirsey Temperament Sorter.
The ENTP has been described variously as the innovator,[1] the originator,[2] the lawyer,[3] the inventor,[4] the explorer,[5] and the visionary.[3] They also fall into the general categories of thinkers, rationals, and engineers.[6] Through their primary function-attitude of extraverted intuition (Ne), ENTPs are quick to see complex interrelationships between people, things, and ideas. These interrelationships are analyzed in profound detail through the ENTPs auxiliary function, introverted thinking (Ti). The result is an in-depth understanding of the way things and relationships work, and how they can be improved.
The following blockquote describes me pretty accurately. It is interesting to me to find out that the following people share the characteristics with me. Walt Disney, Benjamin Franklin, Ray Kurtzweil, Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Alexander the Great, Lewis Carrol, George Carlin, Weird Al Yankovic, Alfred Hitchcock, Tom Hanks, and Steve Jobs.
I can deal with that. Read more
Why Entrepreneurs Fail
October 10, 2007
Scenario: “Dude, we have to be frickin’ profitable all the frickin’ time! Yay!”
You take Jimmy.
Jimmy wants to build a successful business.
He wants to ensure a 100% success rate in everything he does.
“If I lose money, then I will fail,” he tells himself.
So, he studies business books, does crazy business planning, networks with the the business ‘gurus’ — then grooms himself to be the biggest-baddest-coolest mutha-!@#$%^ in the business world.
“Everything I touch will turn to gold,” he tells himself.
So he starts his web marketing B2B business, envisioning making millions within years.
First month in, he’s getting negative cash-flow.
1. Customers are late.
2. Product cycles are long.
3. Marketing not doing its thang.
He’s losing money.
“Oh, crap. This can’t happen. Since I’m losing money here, that must mean money can’t be made here. I’ll have to choose another route.”
Quitting the web marketing business, he starts a web design business.
The web design business follows the same cycle:
1. No money the first month.
2. “That must mean you can’t make money here!”
3. “Next!”
A year later, he looks back — then, notices he’s started 12 separate businesses.
No success in any of ‘em. No money, no profits, nothing to show the world.
“I guess I wasn’t meant to be an entrepreneur.” he tells himself. “I give up.”
Why Did Jimmy Suck?
5 Leaders Who Inspire Everyone
August 15, 2007
Great leaders inspire. They inspire everyone in their personal and professional lives, including customers, colleagues and employees. Here are five men who stand apart, and what we can learn from each of them.
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group
Richard Branson turned a small student magazine into one of the largest and most diverse conglomerates in the world. His Virgin empire now extends to airplanes, soft drinks, music, mobile phones, and more (some 350 companies in all!). After launching his magazine, Branson started a small record mail-order business and opened a music shop in London. His record label, Virgin Records, signed an artist who would become a bestselling hit maker at the time, Mike Oldfield. Virgin also introduced the Sex Pistols and Culture Club to the world.
Branson went on to launch Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin Mobile, as well as many other businesses. But he’s best known for the outlandish lengths he’ll go to for self-promotion (for instance, dressing up in a wedding dress for the launch of Virgin Brides) and as an adventurer. He has made several attempts at flying a hot air balloon around the world and now has plans to take citizens into space.
Whether you’re flying, drinking or being entertained, Virgin’s got you covered. Branson is one of the world’s most inspiring entrepreneurs because, as Inc. Magazine once wrote, “He’s game for anything… in fact, everything.” Branson’s motto is to have fun. If a particular business enterprise doesn’t bring him enjoyment, he’s out of it. But it’s more than his fun, gregarious personality that inspires those around him.
Branson is well known for encouraging fresh ideas. He even keeps a notebook in his pocket to write them down in case he’s away from his office — which he usually is. Branson is always interested in learning new things and he encourages others to do the same.
Quote: “A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Before Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger won the hearts of voters in the 2004 gubernatorial election in California, few could have predicted that the former six-time Mr. Olympia and action movie star would end up running the fifth largest economy in the world. Except for Arnold.
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