Those that work with me likely tire of my reference to MO’. He (or she as the case may be) can be a good friend or a difficult enemy to a business. MO’ is short for MO-MENTUM and I believe it is a significant factor in winning and losing at business. It’s a simple concept really and I’m sure others have referred to it elsewhere. Regardless, I have always looked at it as an important indicator as to how my companies are operating. How? By definition really.
The scientific definition of Momentum is:
A vector quantity (i.e. it has both magnitude and direction) that expresses the relation of the velocity of a body, wave, field, or other physical system, to its energy. The direction of the momentum of a single object indicates the direction of its motion. Momentum is a conserved quantity, it remains constant unless acted upon by an outside force.
That is a somewhat complicated way to say that if something big is moving in a direction, it is easier to keep it moving in that direction. Conversely, if it stops, and gets pushed back in another direction, the same theory applies. It’s tough to stop either way. Hopefully you can see where this applies to business. If your company is pushing a heavy object (it’s product, service, revenues, expenses, etc.) downhill, the speed will increase and it will be tougher to stop. That’s a good thing if you are headed down the right hill, with the right object. Suppose you are headed down the wrong hill, with the wrong object. With each passing moment, the speed increases and the direction becomes more difficult to change.
With that in mind – what is MO’ doing for you? Taking you in the right direction? Or do you need to put some weight behind an energy shift? I can tell you from experience that Momentum is a lot easier to manage when you are keeping it on a defined track as opposed to starting it down a new one. That means that if your business is experiencing positive sales, decreasing expenses, improved attitudes or other positive things, make sure you keep your foot on the gas and push MO’ faster. It can be tempting to sit back and let the ride carry you down the hill. That’s dangerous though. MO’ can shift on you like a bump in the road, and without the proper speed, you’ll be sent off track and now you are barrelling down the wrong direction. BRAKES!!!!!
Where is your business at? Are you pushing back and redirecting? Are you hitting the gas and increasing your speed? It’s probably one or the other, because MO’ doesn’t like to sit still for long.
I found this post in some old archives tonight. I thought perhaps it was timely to bring it back with RSL winning the MSL cup tonight. As I recall, there were several readers who disagreed with me. While winning the MSL cup doesn’t mean I am totally right, it does certainly help my argument. What are your updated thoughts? I believe this was from an old post several years ago…
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If Real leaves Salt Lake and is sold to another city outside of Utah, it will be a drag on the State. Perhaps there will be an 11th hour deal to take the team to downtown Salt Lake or into Utah County. Either one of those is a better option then losing the team. Here is why:
- Utah has the Jazz, but that is pretty much it. Although I don’t watch or like professional soccer that much, I realize a lot of other people do. Besides, the more entertainment options the better and a professional soccer stadium is another venue for concerts and such.
- I don’t know if I think Dave Checketts is the greatest guy in the world, but I can guarantee you he and his financial backers have more financial knowledge then the Mayor of Salt Lake County. I can also guarantee you that they will have a lot more money to lose in the deal then the County would. With that in mind, I will always trust private enterprise and entrepreneurs before I will trust the government or politicians.
- The whole thing wreaks of bad politics to me. It sure sounded like they had a deal a few months ago. Ground breaking ceremonies, public pat on the backs and atta-boys made it seem like the deal was done. Now that a private company evaluated the deal and said it didn’t pencil, the Mayor says it would be “irresponsible” to invest the money. Really? The decision to invest seems like it should be viewed thru a bigger lense then the results of one third party report. Besides, according to the newspaper this morning, the third party reported a $7M shortfall which Checketts offered to cover himself – so if it is going to break even now, or better, why wouldn’t the county keep the deal?
- Salt Lake looks like a strange place to a lot of people outside of the State. Sure, we have Sundance, we did the Olympics right and everyone loves our snow and Moab. But for the most part, people think Utah is a weird state. I couldn’t disagree with them more, but unfortunately it is what it is. The fact that we can’t keep a major league soccer franchise does not help our reputation. A lot of smart, talented people are really into soccer and having a franchise here gave them a team to cheer for and an opportunity to find more culture here in SLC.
- It will be good for the city. It will make money. I think it will be a financial success and a good investment. Of all the CRAP that tax dollars are wasted on, a nice stadium that will house a professional sports team and great entertainment events (backed by a team of successful entertainment and sports executives) sounds like a good idea to me
What do you think??? I am curious what others feel about the direction the stadium might go…
Come check out a cool event tomorrow. It’s about social entrepreneurship, which is a unique subject. Free to attend, free food, and some interesting companies presenting. I’m going. Hope to see you there!! Click on this link to RSVP:
CrowdPitch – Utah – RSVP Here!
I would imagine that most entrepreneurs face similar challenges (I’d love to hear from you in the comments if so), so I don’t think I have an unusual problem based on the career path I have chosen. Having said that, I do feel like there is way too much emphasis placed on being a successful business owner and not enough placed on being a successful person. With that in mind, I decided to re-read a speech I gave at the Commencement for my MBA graduation at the business school I attended. I hate it when people don’t practice what they preach and I am particularly upset when I myself am guilty of it. Anyhow, below is my speech:
It is great to be here with you today. I consider it an extraordinary honor to have been given the chance to address you as well as graduate with you this morning. In my remarks, you will be pleased to know, particularly at this early hour, that I plan to adhere to the three “B’s” of a good commencement address. They are:
Be Honest
Be Brief
And Be Seated
So what is our plan after today? I would imagine that as graduating business students – most of us have ambitions, goals and ideas of what we hope to achieve.
Each of us wants to be successful to some degree. Wanting it is the easy part. The hard part is knowing what it really means to be successful. I think that being truly successful most likely equates to two parts of our life:
At home,
And at the office.
How do we, as the future business leaders of our respective communities, keep these two from becoming mutually exclusive after we leave today? That is what I hope to get across to each of us today.
One of the most successful businessmen in Utah’s long history is Larry H. Miller. Without question, Mr. Miller is an entrepreneur of the highest order. However, when asked in an interview a few years ago what he would change if he had it to do over again, Mr. Miller had nothing to say of his many business ventures.
In fact, it was his mistakes as a father that he most regretted.
He stated, “…if there is one thing I’d do different – only one – it’s to have been there at the Little League games and for the scraped knees and the dance recitals and the back-to-school nights…instead of working 90-hour weeks and missing all that stuff, I’d work a more balanced schedule, 55 or 60 hours, and the important things would still have gotten done.”
As we pursue our careers, each of us will have many opportunities in our lives to choose between either going home to our loved ones or staying late at the office. In every case, with every boss, and in every position, each of us must have a level of job demand and, perhaps, exploitation – beyond which we will not go!
I say this because – as Larry Miller clearly stated when looking at his life in a rear-view mirror . . .
· Memories matter more than money;
· Spouses and significant others matter more than titles;
· Making your children feel more important than your work means more than nice cars and fancy houses;
Even in my short experience, I have seen – first hand – too many who love things and use people, when they should love people and use things. Without question . . . much of the blame for the erosion of the American family can be traced directly to . . .
· Too many hours spent at the office;
· Too many days away from home on business trips
· And, too much time and attention serving business demands at the expense of family responsibilities.
If Mr. Miller is right – and I think he is – the more we are away from our loved ones – the less of a success we will ultimately be in life. In short, each of us must find a way to achieve professionally without failing personally. I am not saying we shouldn’t try to attain professional success. Of course we should. Certainly there will be many work weeks that will last longer than 40 hours. That is understandable and a part of what we all will be expected to do. However, if your end goal is to maintain the healthy balance that a happy household requires, the ultimate result of this awareness will give greater satisfaction than any paycheck can provide.
There is nothing wrong with being a name in your own household . . . instead of a household name.
The other part of our life that will ultimately define some of our success is our time spent working. Unfortunately, in today’s busy world, it seems as though we typically have only enough time for ourselves while we try to get ahead. With our eye focused sharply on achievement, most of us find that our efforts are best spent advancing . . .
Our own careers,
Our own education,
And our own agendas.
The problem with focusing simply on ourselves is that we don’t give much thought to those that toil along side of us or whom we may pass along the way. My father introduced me to a great quote a few years ago, and I have been drawn to it ever since. The unknown author of the quote states:
“On your way to the top, the more people you take with you, the quicker you will get there and the longer you will stay”.
So, let me ask each of you: “how many truly successful people do you know who have made it to the top, and more importantly, stayed at the top, without the help of others? This my fellow graduates, in my opinion, is a critical factor in finding success in your work
Remember:
For every lead singer, there is a guitarist,
For every star, there is a supporting cast,
And, for every score there is likely an assist.
Not only will we ultimately find long-term prosperity, but if we help others rise up, we will have more people to enjoy what awaits us at the top. Despite the popular saying, it doesn’t have to be lonely up there. Not if you take others with you. Not if you share your success! Not if you encourage others to succeed and grow as you do.
My final thoughts to you are these. Enjoy today my fellow graduates, for Monday we must return to the trenches. However, I hope that after today, and certainly after Monday, we will all find the courage and the foresight to search for the full definition of success and when given the chance:
Choose our families over our 401k’s,
And choose our friendships over our fortunes.
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So after re-reading this before posting, I realized I am somewhat hypocritical. I need to do more of what I described years ago. I’ll bookmark my own blog post! Let me know how you are doing. It’s hard, isn’t it?
I have been learning a lot lately in building and modifying some businesses I am fully engaged in. I have also had some good meetings with other entrepreneurs wanting to discuss their growth strategy. I am not sure if I have blogged about this before, so I apologize for any redundancy in advance if so. Anyhow, in working daily on my own businesses, and meeting with others on occasion to discuss theirs, I am constantly reminded (and continually contemplating) the title of this post: Build, sell, sell, sell – build, sell, sell, sell – Repeat. Sounds kind of simple, right? Well, I think it actually is. The funny part is human nature and conventional thinking are usually a different. They encourage:
Build, build, build, build, build, build, sell. Build, build, build, sell. Build, build, build – run out of money because all ‘build’ no ’sell’.
Why is that? I run into a lot of businesses that are near the end of the aforementioned cycle. They have a product, but not enough sales to garner investment/debt needed to continue. Coincidentally, what do you think they need the money for? Sales. Ironically, sales are what creates less of a need for money – so it’s a vicious cycle and one that you should avoid from the get-go. My CPA, and now personal friend, often reminds me of the fact that “sales cure a multitude of ills.” So true. If you are building a product or service business, you have to have SOMETHING to show your customer. But it doesn’t need to be the fully featured version of your product and/or service. It needs to be enough to get them interested, perhaps enough to get some of them to buy. Once you get enough to buy and/or trial your product/service you can get the potential paying customers to TELL YOU what they want. It’s okay to ask them directly – “tell me what you would be willing to pay for – what is it that we could to that you would pony up cash to get?”. Some won’t give you a straight answer for fear this loaded question locks them into a purchase. But if you couch it right, you can get great R & D feedback on the backs of the same people that will be the most likely to actually write you a check.
How important is that? Vitally important. If you cannot get your target customers to pay you at some stage of your process, you are dead. D-E-A-D. You do not have a business without paying customers, right? So instead of spending 1 year and $200K going thru the old model, how about spending 6 months and $30K trying the the other model? You will know sooner rather then later if you have something that can bring in more then it costs. Again, simple – but vital. That’s me in a nutshell – K.I.S.S. (I’m the last ‘S’ in K.I.S.S.).
Does this apply to your business? What good and/or bad experiences have you had with the different approaches I describe?
So this is the part on my blog where I get to blog about random stuff. My wife and her partner Laci have launched a really cool new website for Mom’s and Kids and the fashion related to both. It’s called The Swanky Isis. I think it is pretty impressive. But I’m lame, so you be the judge. Go check it out. Do me a favor, send this to anyone you think might be interested as well.
1 – Be thoughtful. If you are in a hurry to find a business to buy or start then you might not be ready to find the right opportunity. I am not saying go slow. Remember one of my favorite quotes noted in another post “Good things come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!”
2 – Look for something that accentuates your strengths and interests you. If you can partner with a fantastic real estate developer and potentially make a lot of money – but you are a programmer and internet geek to the bone – don’t do it. Keep in mind that I am assuming you haven’t really ventured to far out on the entrepreneurial limb before. If you have had success and want to broaden your portfolio and/or interests, perhaps the real estate developer partnership is worthy of consideration. If not, try to do something more in your wheelhouse first.
3 – Does the business have “legs”. This is an over used term. Either way, what I am getting at is does the business have long term viability? Don’t have your first company or deal be based around a “get in, get out” strategy. Later on you can build businesses quicker, and sell them quicker (if you want to) because you will know more and things will go faster. However, I think you are in for a bit of a rude awakening if you think your first real entrepreneurial venture will be as simple as in-n-out. There are a select few that strike gold in their first venture but they are the exception, not the rule. Don’t let articles and books that romanticize about millionaires who are created quickly make you think it is common. There is no such thing as a “quick” millionaire in the real world (and let me clue you in – you and I, we live in the real world).
4 – Are the numbers truly conservative? Seriously, how low can you go? I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to that show $10M in sales their second year of performa financials and tell me it is conservative. Be so conservative it hurts! Be so low on your numbers that there is no possible way that you can go beneath them. If you can build the business from these horribly low depths, then you stand a better chance at making it (assuming 1 – 3 above have been accomplished).
I hope I am not a “do as I say, not as I do” blogger, but for now I am going to make a note to re-read this once a year (recurring calendar event) and see how I am doing. How are you doing???
Tags: Businesses and Blogs, Entrepreneur
I love the show “Run’s House” on MTV. If it weren’t for TiVO and my wife, I am sure I would never have watched the show or even heard of it. MTV is not exactly home to a lot of quality programming. In fact, they don’t seem to even show music videos anymore, but that is a whole different topic. Anyhow………Rev Run is a reverend and former leader of the groundbreaking rap group Run DMC.
I loved Run DMC back in the day – they were a big part of my generation of middle-class white boys that liked rap and thought we were cool. Believe me, there were a lot of us and we weren’t 1/3 as cool as we thought we were. Run DMC sure was though – they were FRESH and DOPE! The funny thing is, now that Run is Rev Run – and a father of 6 – he is far from the rapping mogul with the adidas and fat shoe laces – and all that cutting edge coolness that Run DMC represented. He is a father, a husband and a great one at both from what I have seen. Their rap was always clean and positive so it is no surprise to me that Rev Run has continued to be successful and happy in life.
You have to watch this series though. Seriously, it is a hilarious show – but it also has some great examples (I think) on how to have a happy marriage and good kids. These guys are multi-millionaires (know any reverends that drive a yellow Lamborghini?), yet they have high values and morals, they teach their kids well, they are good to people and each other and they love each other (and express their love regularly!). It is refreshing – a nice opposite to things like The Osbournes or other crap that shows profanity-spewing idiots with low IQ’s (can you hear me Flavor Flav? Take the damn watch off your neck and grow up).
As part of watching the show, you see that at the end of each episode Rev Run sends an inspirational email out to his followers. It is always good stuff. So, I did a search for it and signed up. You can do the same here if you want to. The emails are great – I laugh at some, but find inspiration in others. Here is a recent example:
“Good morning. Never let past hurts turn into resentment. When you resent someone, it actually gets RE-sent back to you. Check and see if you have any unresolved hurts in your life. You must release past hurts and hidden resentments before you can go forward in life. Remember that staying angry with someone and expecting it to hurt them, is like YOU taking poison and expecting it to kill THEM…..free yourself! Forgive everyone today! 
GOD IS LOVE – REV RUN”
What wonderful advice. Although Rev Run and I do not share the same religious affiliation, I have no problem listening to his great advice. He is very successful, happy and has a great family. That is the kind of person I look up to and want to emulate, regardless of their history, race, religious preference or otherwise. The proof is in actions, not words (as mentioned in my previous post) and this guy has the life and the family to prove he knows the righteous path. There are a lot of entrepreneurs I know that have a bunch of money and status, but they aren’t truly happy. They certainly don’t send out emails like this one from Rev Run – because they can’t.
Learn from those that are worthy of teaching. Proper qualifications should be more then just a bank account balance. Rev Run – word up my man!
Tags: Entrepreneur
Then come to the CrowdPitch event on Wednesday, September 30 from 12-2pm. I will be the MC and I can tell you from past experience that they are fun, informative and come with a free lunch. Click on these links to learn more and for a FREE RSVP option. I hope to see you there, be sure to introduce yourselves when you come so we can chat.
and
Feel free to put an open invite to anyone else you think might enjoy this entrepreneurial forum. Hope to see you there. Free food, great entrepreneurial discussion and a chance to network with a large group of talented business owners. I am excited to be there and I look forward to meeting you and talking with you next week.
Tags: Businesses and Blogs, Entrepreneur
At FundingUniverse (a company I work closely with and plan to continue to help grow their incredible mission in a variety of ways), they pride themselves on doing everything they can to help entrepreneurs. This is a rather broad statement, but it’s true. They work with over 7,000 thousand of businesses a month, all around the USA and sometimes beyond, to help them with the variety of needs their ideas and businesses face on the way to financing.
Equity and debt are the two ways to get outside financing, and I dare say Funding Universe offer more options, and a higher success rate, then any other option available to entrepreneurs today. So far this year, they have helped entrepreneurs receive over $30MM in financing, and that number will grow strongly between now and year-end. That is particularly impressive in this economy. And it gets me excited personally because my passion is to help entrepreneurs.
In 2010, Funding Universe will be opening physical offices in Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boise, Phoenix, Austin, Boulder/Denver, Chicago, Boston, Miami and probably a few more yet to come. The model they have for helping entrepreneurs find the right path to the financing they need is one they have spent countless years/hours on. I have seen it first hand, and it is an impressive and successful process for entrepreneurs to go thru. Their team is there everyday thinking of ways to help entrepreneurs be more successful. I love that!
One of the coolest things that Funding Universe does in regards to their relationships with entrepreneurs is the hosting of events designed to help them get the funding they seek. CrowdPitch, just such an event, is a ‘Shark Tank / American Idol’ style pitch featuring 5 great companies in front of a live audience and a live panel giving real time feedback. The winner of the event (announced at the event) can go home with as much as $5K – $10K in prizes. Audience members ask questions, write down feedback, and vote along side the panelists by placing FundingUniverse money in the hands of the presenting companies at the end of all presentations. The winner of the grand prize is the one with the most investment dollars. A funny sidenote, a second place company last year was sold to Disney this year for a strong exit – so the caliber of companies presenting at these events is very high.
The panel of experts provides real time feedback as well – and in combination with their additional written feedback and the summarized written feedback gathered from the audience, Funding Universe provides a detailed summary of all these thoughts to each of the 5 companies within 48 hours of the event. The presenting companies get tremendous value from the panel, the audience and the practice. Some would say the experience has been “invaluable”. In fact, it sounds like Funding Universe, following the lead of Brad Feld and David Cohen, agree.
Along those lines, and in partnership with our friends at TechStars, the fee for the 5 companies selected to be at CrowdPitch will now be $0. That’s right, zero. Nothing. Nada.
Funding Universe wants to help lead the charge that Brad and David have started and really live up to our mission of helping entrepreneurs. I think this is clearly one way that they can! Funding Universe will still charge a fair fee for other services that many find valuable (business plan writing, coaching, financing help, etc.), but they will not charge their entrepreneurs to present at CrowdPitch. I am sure this will cause even more talented entrepreneurs to apply for CrowdPitch.
Spread the word, CrowdPitch is coming to a city near you! Funding Universe can help you and your business get the funding you need – equity or debt. If you aren’t selected to pitch, come watch. It’s free as well! And did I mention free food and drinks too? It’s become a free-for-all it appears. I look forward to seeing all of you at the upcoming events. I will be at many of them and often times hosting (no hecklers, please).
In the meantime, way to go Brad and Dave for leading the charge here and lets hope others will follow.
Tags: Businesses and Blogs, Entrepreneur, startup
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