Growing The Biz

Looking back, this year has been a great one. 2011 was the year of learning new things and upgrades. Here is the overview:

In January, I finished up the Girls Disney Showcase (1/1 to 1/3) from 2010 which was great. After I returned from Orlando, I was thrilled to get to go snowboarding with some of my friends. I started to learn to snowboard a few years back and do not get to go that often. But this year, I was able to go out and really nailed what I had been working on. I was thrilled. Later in the month while working for my brother, I was able to set up my first partnership for Irwin Photo Booths. We partnered with a golf club which will come back into play 12 months from this point. At the end of January, I went to Boston with some friends and went to the aquarium there. The penguins were my favorite part.

Toward the end of April, one of my cousins got married out in California and I was able to make it out there to attend. The wedding was ranch themed and it was absolutely fantastic. Congrats Cuz! Then in May, I turned 26. It’s a funny age that doesn’t really mean anything, but I feel like I’ve nailed it given everything yet to come in this review.

In June, I moved into my new apartment in downtown Rochester with two new roommates. I am enjoying living so close to all of the action down town. There is a lot of art, culture, food and friends all living well within walking distance of my apartment. It feels a little more like Madison, but it is still very different. Additionally in June, my other cousin out in California got married as well in a Polynesian themed wedding. It was again unbelievable and my family had a great time out there. My brother and I performed a reading at this wedding as well and added our own twist to it which was fun.

In July, I completed my final requirement for my upgrade to a State Referee. I have been working on this for a while and have been working hard on my refereeing to gain the skills necessary to be a State Referee and succeed at this level. I’m looking forward to the challenges and advantages this new level will provide me.

August was the end of the soccer season here in Rochester and overall, I had a great first season back with the Rochester Referee Unit.

I decided to take on a new project in October and learn something new. My uncle is a fantastic woodworker and was kind enough to teach me while helping me build a bar for my apartment. It is an amazing bar that I helped build in OH, then brought it back to Rochester and stained it before putting it in my apartment. It looks great. My Uncle put a ton of work in with me and I really appreciate all he did and taught me.

November and December brought some of the biggest changes in my life for 2011. Mid-November I quit my job working with my brother at Blue Apple Productions and ventured out into the technology startup world. I have been having fun with it and working hard. I will keep you all updated on the progress, but for now, there is not much to report. Shortly thereafter, I was making a final run to the golf club where I established my first relationship for Irwin Photo Booths back in January and had a very unusual meeting with one of the staff members. However, this meeting ended up being the start to my first relationship in over 4 years and I am thrilled. Shelby and I have been having a great time together. We’ve been ice skating, to look at the ginger bread houses at the George Eastman House, we painted pottery at at Color Me Mine and have had many fun times together already. I really enjoy hanging out with her and am looking forward to where it goes.

My December was filled with travel and all for great reasons. The first weekend in December I went to Boston with a friend of mine to visit some of his family. I always enjoy Boston so it was a fun trip. The second weekend in December, I went to Birmingham, AL for a college showcase soccer tournament. It was great to get back out on the soccer field after a few months and retain all of the things I’ve learned throughout the year. It was a great tournament and I look forward to going back next year if accepted. Then came Christmas which my family always does a fantastic job with. Unfortunately this is the year that my grandparents came in the day after Christmas for their yearly Christmas visit. This is unfortunate because I left at 6:15a on the 26th to fly down to Orlando for the Disney College Showcase soccer tournament (which is where I am currently writing this from). The boys tournament finished up on the 30th and the girls portion runs the 31st through the 3rd of Jan 2012. It once again is a great tournament and I have been having a great time with my referee friends from WI down here in the warm weather.

A great 2011 can only lead to an amazing 2012. Look ahead, I have a cruise planned with my family in February, I’m hoping to go snowboarding a few times (if it ever snows) and I am really excited to continue working on my startup in 2012.

I have recently made some major changes in my life. The most significant of which is my change in motivation and my job. A few months ago, I started to dive deeper into the Startup World to test the waters and see if it was something I could take on and would actually enjoy. This month, I made the full leap and am putting my full effort into my new business. As I do so, I continue to surround myself with the Startup World as much as possible.

When I first had the idea for my new product, I did what anyone would do; I Googled the idea to see if any other companies have developed this product. This research also included some initial searches on competition and the industry. This was my preliminary step into my exciting venture into the Startup World. Since that initial search I have done three things that have helped me realize that I would love to be a serial entrepreneur.

To immerse myself in the startup world, I started:

1. Increasing the number of blogs I read

Blogs are an incredible wealth of knowledge. There is so much information out there that it is impossible to catch everything that is pertinent to you. That’s why blogs and even more specifically, RSS feeds are so helpful to me. I follow a handful of entrepreneurs that I have either heard good things about, I am friends with, or work in the same industry as me.  These minds have already done at least once what I want to do. Why not learn from the best? I am already entering a world that fails WAY more often that it succeeds, so any help I can get I’ll take. A few years ago, to be able to see into the minds of these top tier people, you would have had to know them personally, or had a chance meeting through a friend somehow. Now, they all offer their thoughts…for free and to anyone who wants to read them! It’s great and there are blogs out there about any industry: technology, fashion, pastry/food, you name it. So no matter what industry you are in or what your job is, you can more than likely learn something from reading a blog or two.

2. Following successful entrepreneurs/friends who are entrepreneurs on Twitter

Twitter is a great way to get quick updates on your industry. I have very few tweets update to my phone – it’s annoying and interrupts my life. However, what I do enjoy is signing onto Twitter and being to quickly update myself on new startups people are talking about, big news I should know about, or even a chance meeting by someone I follow. Because each tweet is only 140 characters, it takes so little time to scan through them. I also use Twitter at conferences I go to. Every conference now has a hashtag that people use to help identify their tweets. I not only lock in on that hashtag at the conference, but if I hear a speaker that I enjoy and think can provide me with useful info in the future, I follow their Twitter account. This exact thing happened in October when I saw David Kidder at the RIT entrepreneur conference. He started Clickable.com, a successful advertising web platform helping to make advertising simple. When I was at the conference, he had some interesting things to say and so I started following him.

3. Just Doing Things

I realized that if I was ever going to create a successful startup (or fail trying), I just needed to start. That has been my new attitude towards things with this venture. I’m going to make mistakes along the way, it’s inevitable. All I can do is research a bit, then just do it and not get bogged down by research paralysis. If I am too worried about not having all of the information or not making the correct decision, then this world isn’t going to be for me. Mistakes will be made – BIG mistakes, money will be lost or misused only to find out afterward, and I will fail. But you know what? Better now than never! So I will just do what I think I need to. When the path takes me to failure, I will retrace my steps, learn from it and make sure I change what I need to for next time. But if I’m constantly testing the water with my toe, I won’t ever get to enjoy the pleasure of being completely surrounded by the water below.

I have ramped up and added these three things to my life and I have already noticed a difference. I think it is smart for anyone looking to get into a business, or is already in a business to surround them with the industry. How do you make sure you are completely immersed in what you want/need to be?

First, I would like to say that I feel that I can write about what occurred last night because I lived in Madison, WI for three years and saw A LOT of different bouncers out there. Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin, a 40,000 student school with bars lining the streets of downtown. I saw bouncers have to step in at least once a weekend when I went out and never did I experience anything close to what happened last night here in Rochester. Yet I felt so much safer in Madison than I do here in Rochester. I also commend the Madison Police Department for how they handled the bar scene out there. Here’s what happened:

Last night, I was hanging out with my friends just looking to have a good night playing some card games then out at the bars at East and Alexander in Rochester. The night started off great. We played some cards, listened to music, and had some fun conversations with friends and roommates. After a while, we decided to go out to East and Alexander to hop a few bars and continue the good night.

I was with my roommates and next door neighbors at this point and we went to Anchor bar. We had a good time there talking to some random people we met. After we were done there, we started to walk down Alexander street and I ran in to some of my friends coming out of another bar. I said goodbye to my roommates and joined my other friends who were on their way back to the corner. We ducked into Monty’s to grab a beer with a few of my friend’s. One of My Friends bought me a drink and it was delicious. I never got a chance to thank him by buying him a drink in return because of what happened at the next bar. But I’ll say it now, Thank you sir.

A slight aside that will come back into play later in this post – Any business is judged on their whole package. Whether you are a retail store, caterer, event planning business such as the one I work with, or a bar, you are ranked on everything from phone conversations, to sales associates, to bartenders, to décor, to what you offer on tap or the menu. If something doesn’t measure up, you lose customers and credibility. If you seriously mess up, hopefully you make it right. But when you screw up, you know it and you just keep alienating your customers, there should be recourse for consumers.

Back to my night last night. After my friends and I finished our beer at Monty’s, we crossed the street to meet up with the rest of our group at Murphy’s Law. I should have known there were going to be problems from the beginning. We walk up to Murphy’s Law and there is no line. One of the two bouncers tells us to line up along the outside wall as “that is where the line is”. My Friend and I, along with the rest of our friends lined up along the wall as we were told. No more than 30 seconds later, a group of 7 people walked up to the door, yelled out a name (I’m assuming it was the bouncers name) and were promptly let in ahead of us. No mention from the bouncer about the line or anything. Ok fine, I understand that sometimes who you know is a good thing. So My Friend starts talking to the bouncer and asked why they got to go ahead of us when we were told to stand in line. My Friend also told the bouncer he knew the owner of Murphy’s Law to which the now agitated (for no reason) bouncer said, “I don’t care who you know, don’t try to drop names with me. You aren’t getting in here now, BYE!”  …Alright…so when someone knows the bouncer and uses his name, they can get right in, but when someone knows the owner, they won’t let you in. That makes sense. My Friend tried one more time, but the bouncer was clearly just getting more and more agitated for no reason so My Friend unfortunately left and went home. I went inside and found the rest of my friends. Strike one Murphy’s Law.

At the end of the night, my friends and I were finishing up. The lights were turned on right at 2am as they usually are. As soon as the lights go on, the bouncers start going through the bar, flashing their flashlights in the customers eyes blinding us. OK, strike two, but fine. So I move toward the door with some of my group. I step outside and am waiting for the rest of my group. No more than 60 seconds go by and all of a sudden I see one of my good friends Josh hurled out of the bar by the two bouncers directly into oncoming traffic!  (No exaggeration here) ARE YOU KIDDING!?!? Really Murphy’s Law? Oncoming traffic? My friend’s head was no joke, less than a foot away from an oncoming van’s bumper when it stopped short. That is just way too far. I understand peopled get unruly and bouncers need to flex their muscles (which from my understanding was NOT the case in this particular instance), but to throw someone into oncoming traffic is absolutely absurd and completely uncalled for in any circumstance. Bouncers are there to help keep people safe, not to purposefully put people in harm’s way. My friends were obviously very heated about this occurrence and they started confronting the bouncers – yelling. The bouncers clearly knew they screwed up. Rightfully so, my friends started yelling at the bouncers about how ridiculous their actions were. All the bouncers could say was, “No, get out of here, you’re done.” So now you know you screwed up, and you are just trying to flex harder to get out of the situation. What a business model – trying to cover up your mistakes. I don’t feel like that has ever worked.

An update from my friend Josh about what happened inside of the bar after I had stepped outside: “The chain of events was prompted when I asked the bouncer, who badgered us to finish our drinks 6 times over the course of a minute, why he was not harassing the group of girls next to us with full beers. He then proceeded to radio in the mob of meatheads to pick me up and literally toss me out the door… into traffic!! I guess it is too much to ask to finish my drink and walk out of the establishment on my own two feet. I am, by no means, a confrontational individual but this really gets my blood boiling.”

The other part that really got to me was that there was a Rochester City Police officer right in front of Murphy’s Law. But instead of calming everybody down and trying to figure out what happened and why this guy was hurled into the street into oncoming traffic, all the police officer did was pull my friends away from the bar and also told them to get out of the area. So apparently bouncers have no responsibility for their actions – awesome. Makes me feel real safe. Thank you Rochester City Police, and you wonder why people are trying to get out of Rochester. Maybe I’ll go back to Madison, WI where more craziness happens in one night than it does in a month here in Rochester.

Josh, my friend who got hurled into oncoming traffic is now obviously upset. Myself and another friend who are both sober, tried to calm him down and make sure he was ok. After he was calm, Josh wanted to file a complaint. At East and Alexander, there are tons of police officers around. Josh found an officer sitting in his car and started talking to the officer about what happened. I was standing far enough away that I could not hear what transpired, but it was definitely a civil conversation. From what he told me after, he was essentially dismissed and told there was nothing the police could do. At this point, all of us felt so defeated that we walked home.

So here are the lessons learned:

1. Bouncers have no responsibility for their actions even if they throw someone into direct harms way

2. Police at East and Alexander don’t care about the public’s safety

3. Never go to Murphy’s Law

Help make East and Alexander safer and help teach bouncers that they cannot act without consequence. Please help me take a stand against Murphy’s Law and do not go there. There are plenty of other bars to go to and enjoy that have not thrown people into oncoming traffic.

Over the past few months, I have been working on a developing my new idea for a startup. I have started floating my idea to friends and family to see if it’s viable, talking to other technology entrepreneurs I know as well as doing market research, competitor research and thinking about how to go about building an MVP (minimum viable product).

I’m at a point in the progression of this business that I need some help. As the lone non-technical founder of a startup, I am looking to add a technical cofounder to the team to start creating an MVP along with planning and even getting the right investors involved at the right point. I have also been looking into Y Cobinator and TechStars as a potential way to kick start the business and get some great hands on help at the beginning.

I am looking for a connection or to be introduced to someone who is smart and knows how to program or can learn a particular language quickly. My initial thoughts are along the lines of an iPhone and/or Android application, but that is not set in stone and might change as the idea evolves. Mostly though, I’m looking for someone who is driven, smart, and that I get along with because that is ultimately what makes up a good co-founder. When starting a business, the co-founders spend a lot of time together and they have to be able to get along, share, and respectfully criticize each other’s work.

If you yourself are, or know of someone who is technical and would be interested in working on a startup with me, I would appreciate an introduction to start discussing possibilities with him/her. If you have any questions or thoughts on this, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to the possibilities of this startup and meeting someone just as excited about the idea.

One of my friends who has started a few companies sent me this article that I think is good at explaining cofounders and what to look for: What A Nerd Looks for in a Non-Technical Cofounder. Take a peak and let me know what you think.

There was an epic thunder and lightning storm here last night. I love thunder storms just like a lot of people do. However, not only do I enjoy watching and listening to them, but I take the opportunity to learn things from the storm. Last night was the first really good storm we’ve had in a while and here is what I picked up on.

1. Patience – A lot of people when watching a lightning storm will try to look for each bolt of lightning that occurs. You might get lucky every once and a while, but typically once you look to where the lightning occurred, it’s gone and you’ve missed it. Then another happens and you have to whip your head around and then you’ve missed that one.  The trick is to leave your eyes focused in one place and ignore the other bolts around you. By doing this, you are more likely to catch multiple bolts of lightning. Think about a camera taking pictures of a storm. It sits in one place and is able to capture the bolts. If the photographer was trying to whip around to wherever the next bolt was, s/he would never catch one. You’re eyes are the camera: stay focused in one place in the sky if you want to see the bolts.

Be patient and stay focused on one goal/objective to help you achieve success.

2. Power – Every time I see lightning, I cannot help but think about the amazing power it has. From hearing trees splitting in two after a bolt, or just the CRACK of the bolt itself, it constantly reminds me that it is not something to mess around with. There is no way to beat lightning unless you are grounded or in  a safe place. Sometimes it’s OK to retreat to safety if you know that you are weaker than you’re opponent. In this case, lightning is about 54,000 °F hotter and about 140,000 mph faster than I am, not to mention it carries 30,000 amps of current and 500 megajoules of energy. I know when I’m outnumbered and this is definitely one of those times.

Know your power and know the power of others around you to make informed, smart decisions.

3. Calmness: Even though storms have awesome power and are often loud, somehow they always bring a calmness over me. Just sitting and watching the storm from underneath a shelter is an amazing experience for me. To be calm in the middle of a storm is not the easiest thing though. Loud crashes and bright, quick light can often raise anxiety. I have learned through many storms how to maintain my calmness through them as I used to get scared when I was younger. Once you are able to stay calm through the storm, you can truly appreciate what it has to offer.

Stay calm during the scary, tough parts and you will be able to appreciate the ride and the end more.

I love thunderstorms and subsequently learned some great qualities from them that I can use throughout my life and in my work. I love learning little things from seemingly nothing like a thunder and lightning storm.