My seemingly ’suite’ deal that turned sour. . .
February 6, 2010
Over the years I have tried to share my experiences as an entrepreneur in this blog - some experiences that make me seem smarter than I actually am and others that make me seem downright stupid. Unfortunately this week I find myself in the latter position. Eventually most entrepreneurs will find themselves involved in a lawsuit either as either the plaintiff or defendant. I have been on both sides over the years, but this week I learned that the Cowboys were suing a partnership I set up to buy a suite at the new stadium.
Back in 2008 everyone I knew was feeling wealthy. The housing market was frothy, the venture capital market was exploding and everyone seemed to have money in their pockets ready to burn. I was not immune at the time, but now with all the problems going on today (Haiti, Economy, Unemployment, Deficit) my story sounds pretty stupid. In the summer of 2008 I was invited to a sales pitch for the yet-to-be-built Cowboy’s stadium. After a tour and a free steak the salesperson convinced me that it would be smart to buy a suite. It was only $240,000 per year for 21 seats. I explained that while I would love to get the suite, I couldn’t really justify spending $240,000 per year for 20 years. But then she suggested that if I could find nine friends who were similarly interested I could set up a partnership to buy the suite. Each of us would only have to spend $24,000 per year - still expensive, but great for entertaining clients. After recruiting a few business acquaintances I went ahead and created the partnership and paid the $24,000 deposit on the suite.
Before the stadium was completed I got the bill for the full $240,000 and while I was ready to fork over my $24,000, my friends weren’t so excited anymore. Several were unable to pay due to the unexpected turn the economy had taken, others were scared that the economy might get significantly worse. Unfortunately, all of my previously ‘wealthy’ friends were suddenly acting very rational (too bad we all weren’t as rational back in 2008). I was pretty frustrated because I was about to a) lose the $24,000 deposit and b) miss the opening season at the new stadium.
I called our salesperson and explained the situation. She was understanding and agreed to give me more time to put together a new group so I wouldn’t lose my deposit. I spent weeks calling, sending emails, tweeting, blogging and posting facebook pleas to find a new group of Cowboys fans to join me. Surprisingly, I did find replacements and even got some of them to send checks. However, before I had collected all of the checks the Cowboy’s salesperson convinced the ringleader of my new group that there was a better suite available and she convinced them to sign a second agreement. It took a few weeks, but I finally found out what had happened and when I did I was livid. I demanded the Cowboy’s return my deposit and while the salesperson’s manager did apologize, his best offer was to allow me to trade my suite in for a couple of founders seats. I didn’t agree, I wanted my money back. The salesperson had put my group into another suite leaving me without enough time to put a third group together - the Cowboys got their suite sale, but still wanted to keep my deposit. Eventually I emailed their lawyers, explained the situation and requested a full refund.
Of course the other day I heard on the news that Jerry was suing a bunch of companies who defaulted on their suite agreements - including the partnership I set up. I guess they decided not to return my deposit. Unfortunately (or stupidly), when I set up the partnership I used a name that was very similar to the name of one of my other companies. People might assume that the other company that I co-own was somehow involved in my debacle with the Cowboys. I got a call from the newspaper asking me to explain how the two entities were related. Of course the Cowboys didn’t bother to realize the difference and named one of my business partners in the suit (instead of me) - despite the fact that he wasn’t part of partnership. Let me just say he wasn’t too thrilled when he found out.
As I clarified in the newspaper, Scott Ryan and Architel Holdings LLC (i.e. IT company we co-own) are 100% unrelated to the partnership I set up to license the suite at the Cowboy’s stadium. I had intended to use my two seats to entertain Architel clients and the name similarities are now clearly unfortunate - I should have called the partnership “Da Boys Inc.” or something similarly unrelated to avoid any sort of confusion. Regardless of the outcome of the suit my lawyers insist Scott and Architel will be unaffected. I believe that the Cowboy’s suit is merit-less and my lawyers will respond with a counter suit very shortly. Finally, the Cowboy’s lawyer was quoted as saying a few things that weren’t accurate including a) that we had stopped paying for the suite - we never paid for the suite nor did we ever take delivery of the suite or use it at anytime, b) that we had not responded to their correspondence - I was in direct conversations with both the Cowboys and their lawyers up until they filed this suit and c) that the suite was dark during the season - there is LOTS of video proving that the suite was occupied for each game, it was not dark. While this entire affair has left a bad taste in my mouth, I am still a fan of the Cowboys and actually have a lot of admiration for Jerry Jones - I suspect he had no idea what his salespeople were doing to sell his new stadium.
Incentives are complicated. . .
June 3, 2009
Last month I wrote a post titled, “Do Incentives Work?” where I laid out a plan to give up-to 50% of Architel to the employees in the form of stock options. After several thousand dollars in legal work (thanks Ryan) we presented the option plan to each employee in a one-on-one meeting with the company and our lawyer (to answer any questions or concerns). The result? Concern and confusion.
More than 20 employees were presented the plan, but surprisingly only one actually signed the option agreement. The NSO plan was designed specifically not to create a taxable event for the employee - so the plan is risk free. If the company is worth more than it is on the day of grant and we sell or go public the employee would share in the upside. If not it wouldn’t cost him a dime. The employees have until Friday return the option agreement and we are hopeful that more will participate.
Why didn’t the incentive have the expected result? I am not entirely sure, but I think they were surprised by the size of the grants. Why are we willing to share such a significant percentage of the company was the most common question. Many of them would have been more comfortable with a more modest sized grant - perhaps .5-1% for management and .05-.1% for everyone else.
The story isn’t over, but I thought it was worth providing this update.
SparkStart in Dallas - June 12th
May 7, 2009
Christian Thilmany is the UX Architect who works with Microsoft’s BizSpark program. This past Friday he stopped by Big in Japan and presented for our monthly Jelly. He answered questions about the BizSpark program and invite us to the SparkStart event on June 12th.
SparkStart is a full day of business and technology discussion (open format) and learning event for startups (“startup bootcamp”). This event will also be a networking opportunity for those startups who are new to the BizSpark program and not yet enrolled in the program and would like to mingle and learn from key business and technology influencers. It will also be an event for those startups who are recently enrolled and need to keep the momentum going by learning key strategies for success, both in business, and in technology.
If you’re part of the Startup Community you may want to look into attending SpartStart in Dallas on June 12th. Click here for more info and to register.
Freelance Camp in Houston
April 7, 2009
Our friends in Houston asked us to give everyone a heads up about a cool event happening this weekend.
Texas’ second annual Freelance Camp is to be held April 11th, 2009 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Houston Technology Center in Houston, Texas! The event is designed to explore and promote the synergy that independent contractors can bring to business today. The day will center around bringing together freelancers, remote contractors, entrepreneurs, and anyone else interested to network, share ideas, and explore opportunities.
Freelance Camp is a place to discuss and explore the different approaches to running a successful freelance business / small service company. The Houston camp is FREE to attend thanks to some very cool sponsors. So come ready to learn, and if you’re up for it, sign up to give a talk the day of the camp! Register at: http://freelancecamp.eventbrite.com/
More info here
Also there will be an afterparty/Werkadoo Launch party at Caroline Collective immediately following the camp! The party will include free beer, food, and music - starting at 5pm and ending when all the kegs are tapped. See you there!
Caroline Collective
4820 Caroline St.
Houston, TX 77004
Big in Japan Openings
April 2, 2009
Just a quick note about positions we have open at Big in Japan (the ShopSavvy guys). We are in full hiring mode at this point, primarily focused on international sales and business development positions, but we do have a couple of technical openings for local Dallas folks too. If you know anyone looking either internationally or locally please send them our way.
- Country Manager for Italy - Business development role focused on securing agreements with price comparison websites as well as online and local retailers. Position can be full-time or part-time. Applicant must be located in Italy. Apply here.
- Country Manager for Canada - Business development role focused on securing agreements with price comparison websites as well as online and local retailers. Position can be full-time or part-time. Applicant must be located in Canada. Apply here.
- Country Manager for Singapore - Business development role focused on securing agreements with price comparison websites as well as online and local retailers. Position can be full-time or part-time. Applicant must be located in Singapore. Apply here.
- Country Manager for Australia - Business development role focused on securing agreements with price comparison websites as well as online and local retailers. Position can be full-time or part-time. Applicant must be located in Australia. Apply here.
- Ruby on Rails Developer (Dallas only) - You must have built actual applications using rails and be able to share the source code. Apply here.
- .NET Developer (Dallas only) - This position is really best suited for someone interested in part-time development work on a cool project. We need between 10 and 20 hours a month - you can work in the evenings or weekends. Apply here.
- Android Developers (Dallas only) - You must have built at least one Android application and have more than one year of experience with Java. Apply here.
URL Shortening Business For Sale!
March 30, 2009
Evidently shorter is better. TinyURL the original URL shortner is worth $46 million according to Erick Schonfeld of TechCrunch. Bit.ly just raised $2 million on a $6 million dollar pre-money valuation (making it worth $8 million). Then I remembered, we have a URL shortner ourselves called elfURL.com. It is shorter than TinyURL, but a little bigger than Bit.ly - I figure it could be worth around $1 million. The long ignored project/service is desperately in need of a caretaker. We are putting elfURL up for bid:
Option One: Buy Half for as little as $1 (bidding starts at $1). You would be fully responsible for the operation of the business and would share 50% of all proceeds fromt he business. Better include a pitch and a plan if you want me to accept your offer.
Option Two: Buy it All for a starting bid of $25,000, highest bid by Friday wins.
Bidding starts tomorrow and end on Friday. The best deal wins. All offers should be emailed to amuse@m-ven.com by 5PM CST on Friday. This is a serious offer. Lots of folks covered elfURL after we built it back in 2005:
Fear is the mind killer. . .
March 15, 2009
Each year I make it a point to attend SXSW; arguably the event is one of the most important geek meets each year. I will admit that over the past several months I have been fairly worried about the macro-economy. The credit crunch, decline in the housing market and constant layoffs have had me in the dumps - afraid to move forward with new initiatives, afraid to plan for the future and afraid to execute on new ideas. This fear paralyzes me. I am reminded of the Bene Gesserit litany against fear:
I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.
I doesn’t work, but I will tell you what does work: hanging out with entrepreneurs at a startup-culture event like SXSW. The mood is very positive here. There are exciting things being developed and launched. I didn’t realize it until this morning, but I completely forgot about the DOW, the stimulus and the layoffs as I meet passionate entrepreneurs from all over the world.
Too bad there isn’t a way we can export the sort of confidence and passion found at SXSW to the larger world - maybe then we could begin to get out of the mess we have created for ourselves. Any ideas?
First Friday Jelly Tomorrow!
March 5, 2009
Come on down for our First Friday Jelly tomorrow at our INFOMART location - 1950 Stemmons Freeway, Suite 2022, Dallas, TX 75207 214.550.2002 for directions. We open the doors around 9AM and go until 5PM. Love to see some new and old faces.
Our Friday Jelly is a chance for local entrepreneurs to spend the day working together. Bring your laptop and get ready for 70% work and 30% socializing. The idea is to meet new people interested in the startup culture. Hope to see you here tomorrow!
Are you an ‘entitlement entrepreneur’?
February 26, 2009
An ‘entitlement entrepreneur’ or ‘EE’ is someone who acts as though being an entrepreneur is an entitlement. In clinical psychology, an unrealistic, exaggerated or rigidly held sense of entitlement is considered a symptom of a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I meet lots of committed entrepreneurs, but every once in a while I meet what I call an ‘EE’. Nothing turns me off more than an ‘EE’.
- EE’s believe that investors should be willing to replace their salary.
- EE’s won’t quit their job until an investor replaces their salary.
- EE’s feel any investor who won’t invest in his business is an idiot.
- EE’s aren’t usually willing to take risks or responsibility.
- EE’s won’t listen to reasoned opinion, instead they get angry.
- EE’s feel as though investors are the problem. . .
The truth of the matter, being an entrepreneur is a priviledge that is relatively unique to the United States. Our system of government has always favored the rugged individual - the maverick willing to take risks is allowed to fail and more importantly allowed to succeed. Other systems of government are safer - they minimize the risk any citizen can take and as a result they minimize the potential opportunties. As I have met more and more ‘potential entrepreneurs’ from Holland, Germany and France I have been surprised by how little risk they are willing to take. Many are terribly excited about the prospect of starting their own business, but never take the leap to quit their day job to focus on their passion. These ‘potential entrepreneurs’ would be excellent and likely very wealthy entrepreneurs if they lived in the U.S. Unlike the ‘EE’ they have an excuse - a systemic excuse that is a direct result of the sort of governance they live under.
Being an entrepreneur is a really simple decision. It is a club anyone can join, but if you decide to join you need to realize that there MUST be tradeoffs. There MUST be risks. You might need to work for a year without a salary. You might need to personally guarantee a loan. You might need to bootstrap your startup if you can’t find investors. You might ruin your marraige. You might lose everything. You might get sued. You might fail. The truth is, you WILL fail. Hopefully you will fail enough so that you have the chance to succeed. The good news is that very few ‘Entitlement Entrepreneurs’ ever get started - i.e. they never really become entrepreneurs so we don’t really have to deal with them. Anyway, not sure why I started this rant today - sorry about that… :)
Entrepreneurs Lack Creativity Where it Matters Most
February 10, 2009
This is a guest post from Dave Lavinsky, the founder of Growthink based in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
Over the past decade, I have spoken with thousands of entrepreneurs. And from them, I have heard some of the most creative product and service ideas, and have seen lots successes and failures.
If one thing is clear, it is that entrepreneurs, by their very nature, are extremely creative. They are constantly creating better mousetraps, starting new companies, devising cool marketing plans, etc.
However, I find it extremely frustrating that entrepreneurs lack creativity in the most important aspect of their businesses: raising capital.
That’s right. The most important skill set for an entrepreneur is his ability to raise capital. Without capital, even the best ideas and companies will fail. With capital, even poor ideas and businesses can be morphed and molded into successful enterprises.
My hunch for why this occurs is that capital is primarily viewed by entrepreneurs as a necessary evil. Unlike devising new products, companies and marketing plans, which ARE exciting and interesting, raising capital is boring. There’s no great excitement in coming up with a cool, creative financing plan.
So, every entrepreneur sends their business plans to this VC firm and that VC firm, because it’s so easy to find them in directories throughout the web. And then they wonder why they fell into the 99% of plans that the VC’s didn’t fund.
So, what does creativity in capital-raising look like? One example is Australia’s Blowfly Beer. To fund early operations, the company sold equity to its customers. Not only did this provide the capital that that company needed, but it provided the company with market research, a customer base, and great word of mouth advertising (people are much more likely to support and promote products in which they invested). Blowfly Beer is now sold over the Internet to more than 44,000 share-holding customers.
Another example is shoe manufacturer Kenneth Cole. Cole started out with no money, but great ideas. So, he convinced a struggling Italian shoe manufacturer, knowing that they needed clients, to manufacturer hundreds of thousands of dollars of shoes for future payment.
Entrepreneurs must extend their creativity to the capital-raising process if they want the opportunity to use their creativity in the other business disciplines, such as product development and marketing.
Why I don’t sign NDAs. . .
January 30, 2009
For those of you who have great ideas and want to share them with me I am happy to provide my advice, but please quit asking me to sign an NDA. Its one thing if I contact you and ask that you share confidential information with me, it is another thing if you call me asking for free advice. Literally, some people want me to enter into a contract with them without consideration, creating a potential liability for myself and my company. So, no I won’t sign an NDA, period.
Let me give you an example of the sort of crap I have to deal with. Back in October a woman named Ellen Badinelli contacted me via email:
“We have licensed 3G Vision’s Symbian client, and about to license a Windows mobile client from them but wanted to see if there was any comparable reader out there before purchasing. Is the barcode reader IP your own, or do you license from 3G Vision or another entity? If another, could you state which? Separately, our service fully complements yours and we are scheduled to debut on Nokia’s web page/handsets by first quarter ’09, A T & T wants us on “15-20” handsets, various platforms, by the same time, and we plan to begin development on the Andriod platform, and did I mention we are a solely-owned two and a half man [one part-timer] shop? Any interest in exploring our compatibility? A prompt reply to these questions is greatly appreciated; we are in the midst of Angel investor negotiations.”
The next day Ellen Badinelli gave me a call asking if we would license our barcode reading technology so that she could launch her application. She never revealed the nature of her application indicating that I would need to sign an NDA before she could explain what she was doing. She expressed an interest in partnering/hiring us to develop her application. I explained that we were too busy, but that the barcode technology had been released using an open source license - she could use it for free! I suggested she work with another company I had talked to a few weeks earlier called CamClic, but she told me she had already been working with them. The call ended cordially and I received an email from her shortly after the call:
“Thanks for your time this a.m. I have been operating in this space way before the other entities you mentioned, and while I would like to explore what I think is a symbiotic relationship between our companies, I risk being an unpaid consultant to retailers and to developers, like Cam Click and a few others, who I have provided my materials and held discussions with. As you are currently engaged with them, this would not be appropriate without an NDA. I hope you can appreciate my position. Should that be of interest to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. Again, many thanks for the barcode reader referral and the advice on NeoMedia/Qode or whatever they call themselves these days, EB.”
It was strange how Ellen Badinelli sent the email detailing her version of our call minutes after we hung up. If I were a suspicious person I would have began to realize she was building a case (even if it is a lousy one). I didn’t hear from Ellen again until January 27th (a couple of days ago). She reiterated her desire to work with us to develop her application. She again asked me to sign an NDA and I repeated the fact that we were too busy to start something new. She revealed that her idea revolved around health and safety information. I explained we had another partner who already provides allergy, ingredient and heath information for our users. She asked how we were able to afford the data and I explained that we received it for free. I offered to refer her to our partner so that she could negotiate the same sort of agreement. My appointment arrived and I cut our call short, but offered to speak with her later if she wished.
This evening I received a threatening letter from David Joyal an associate at Greenberg Taurig indicating that ShopSavvy is ‘markedly similar’ to Ellen Badinelli’s technologies. He suggests that Ellen Badinelli disclosed her technology to CamClic and that they must have revealed that information to our company. He concludes that Ellen Badinelli is:
“willing to consider licensing the invention disclosed and currently claimed in Scanavert’s above-referenced patent application; and remains interested in any of a variety of other partnership opportunties as between Scanavert and Big in Japan”
You get it? She emailed me, called me and despite the fact that I refused on two occasions to enter into an NDA she had her lawyer threaten me with litigation over a technology she never disclosed. Her goal was to have me sign the NDA, provide confidential information and then threaten me. Imagine if I had taken the bait? Instead of the court requiring that Ellen Badinelli prove that I have done something wrong, I would have had to prove that I didn’t do something wrong. The NDA would have shifted the burden to me. Anyway, this will end up costing me at least $5,000 in legal fees and all I did was try to help someone excute on their idea. People like Ellen Badinelli make it hard for all entrepreneurs.
The biggest challenge for entrepreneurs. . .
Wikipedia defines an entrepreneur as ‘a person who has possession of an enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. The term is a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon herself or himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome.’
The kind of person who is willing accept all of the personal, professional and financial risk to pursue their business idea is often the kind of person who likes to be in control. ‘Rugged Individualism’ is a cultural imprint; the essence of Americanism (opposed to the European notion of public-spiritedness) and lies at the heart of most entrepreneurs I have met. Most of us wear blinders as we ignore those who try to tell us what we are trying to do is impossible. Hopefully, at some point, entrepreneurs reach a point where others quit maligning their ideas and offer to help maximize the opportunities we have created.
Entrepreneurs are elated when investors are interested enough in their business to invest capital - it is the ultimate compliment. Ultimately entrepreneurs accept investments and assume they can continue running their company in the same way they have in the past. This makes sense, the investors liked him enough to invest in his business - why would they want him to change? This inflection point is often the beginning of the end for most entrepreneurs (see my post explaining that 50% of founders are fired within the first year).
How can you ensure you are part of the 50% who don’t get fired? First, if you are an unashamed ‘rugged individual’ admit that to yourself and the investors and structure your deal in such a way that you get paid enough so that even if you get fired you are happy. Second, if you are determined to be the next exception (Gates, Jobs or Dell) you need to stop acting like ‘the owner’ and more like ‘a steward’.
Wikipedia defines a steward as someone who takes ‘personal responsibility for taking care of another person’s property or financial affairs.’ Your business is no longer about you, instead it is all about the shareholders (hopefully you are one too). If you can make the transition from ‘owner’ or ‘entrepreneur’ to steward there is a good chance you will make it.
This begs the question, “Who wants to be a steward anyway?” Hell, I don’t. There are thousands of people who have years and years of experience taking care of other people’s property or financial affairs - why not let them take over? Entrepreneurs are supposed to be about risk and creation - as soon as you stop taking risk and stop creating you aren’t really an entrepreneur anymore, are you?
Endangered Species: Startup Founders!
January 29, 2009
You might be surprised to learn that 50% of venture backed startups fire their ceo/founder within the first year. Of course, if you happen to be a ceo/founder of a venture backed startup you won’t be surprised.
When I received my first term sheet (from Austin Ventures) the signature block included the title, “Interim CEO”. The good news? They were upfront, I was out the door as soon as they could find a worthy replacement. I kept looking until I found a venture capital firm that would back ME and not my 50 page business plan.
Peter Ireland has an interesting post title, “The Dreaded Lunch Invite from Your Venture Capitalist” about this topic. Peter quotes Barnaby Federer of the Wall Street Journal:
“If you ask a VC what value they add, and you get them after a few drinks, they’ll say, ‘We replace the CEO’ “, he said. And that, he indicated, does not vary with the economic climate.
He goes on to explain how the process (of firing the CEO) starts:
t usually occurs in this manner. The venture capitalist invites the founder out for a friendly lunch. During the meal the venture capitalist brings up a new person who would benefit the company greatly through his connections or industry experience. The venture capitalist explains that although this person is not available to serve on the management team, he could probably find the time to serve as a director. Yes, it would mean making the board larger than originally agreed to by everyone but this guy is a “star”. The founder wishing to please his venture capitalist reluctantly agrees to the change in board size. The new face turns out to be the extra vote the venture capitalist needed to make wholesale management changes. Within a week the board has fired the founding team and replaced them with friends of the venture capitalist. Oftentimes the new board member assumes the CEO role.
His advice is to stick to your guns. Hopefully your lawyers helped you negotiate a deal whereby you had a balanced board ~ fight tooth and nail to keep that balance. NEVER GIVE IN! Peter offers this advice:
The best tactic to employ when faced with this offer is tell the venture capitalist that you 1) can’t recommend someone for a board seat until you are satisfied that they can make an actual contribution, and 2) that since the board is working well it would be preferable to compensate this person–once they have made a tangible contribution–with consulting fees instead of a board position. Finally, if you sense a strong negative reaction from the venture capitalist you can be assured that there’s trouble brewing in River City and it’s spelled with a capital “T”. He will always have a Plan B for pink-slipping you and it won’t be pleasant. Call your lawyer immediately, and I mean your lawyer not the company’s.
Finally, it might make some sense to think about your title. Does your business card say Chairman, CEO, President and Founder? Why not add ‘master of your domain’ while you are at it. Really? Ask your self, do I need all of those titles? I really doubt it, especially if you are involved in a startup. Here at Big in Japan we decided to allow employees to pick their own title (i.e. as long as it wasn’t traditional). For example, my title is Social Ninja and our lead developer is Bento Boxer. The point was, in a startup (especially early on) titles can get in the way of the fact that everyone needs to be able and willing to do anything. Just because you have a C or V in your title doesn’t mean you don’t have to take the trash out or haul boxes.
Titles can be an even trickier subject when you are trying to raise money. Rick Segal reminded me of the secret language/code venture capital folks use in his post titled, “VC Hot Questions“. Rick is running the Blackberry Partners Fund and as a result he and his partner VCs are hearing more than their share of pitches from entrepreneurs. Rick shared a few of the ‘third rail’ questions his partners have been asking entrepreneurs and I thought it might be helpful to post them here:
“Help me understand how the current management team gets the company to 50MM a year in revenue?”
“Do you think you and your team are strong enough to get it over the finish line?”
“What’s the track record of your management team with respect to successful exits?”
Do you know what the REAL question that was asked? Venture capital folks ask it in a hundred different ways, but there is only one answer they are looking for. The question is, less subtly, “are you willing to step down as CEO at some point?” Ricks suggest avoiding the problem by simply using the title “founder” and if you are asked “who is the CEO” to simply say, “Look, I’m the founder and we’re running a million miles an hour towards being successful as you can see here… The objective is to find a financial partner and a solid board to help me, as the founder, grow the management team and knock this baby out of the park.” I advise, as does Rick, only to say this if you believe the statement. The truth is even Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Michael Dell were replaced as CEO… (of course you never know, Jobs and Dell got their jobs back - maybe you will too).
Double Jelly Next Week!
If you are looking for a place to work next week think about joining us for our regular ‘First Friday Jelly’. We are also putting on an impromp-tu Jelly on Monday (I will be in Europe AGAIN on Friday so I decided to see if I could convince some of you to come on the only day I will be in town next week). So if you are a die-hard please think about joining us:
- Monday - Jelly 9AM-5PM (at the INFOMART suite 2019)
- Monday - Startup Happy Hour 5PM-8PM (at the INFOMART High Tech Bar)
- Friday - First Friday Jelly 9AM-5PM (at the INFOMART suite 2019)
If you have questions or need directions just ping me at amuse@biggu.com. For those of you who don’t know what a Jelly is: http://www.workatjelly.com/
SMU Business Plan Competition
Last year I was fortunate enough to be asked to judge the SMU Business Plan Competition and it was lots of fun. If you have the time I would suggest you take a couple of hours out of your day to check watch the competition. The Business Plan Competition will take place in the E&Y Gallery located in the Fincher Building on the SMU campus (the same place where it was held last year). It will begin February 13th (Friday) at 1pm and end at approximately 4pm. A reception will follow the end of the competition.
Here is a SMU campus map for your reference:
http://smu.edu/maps/campus.asp
Fincher Building is #42 on the map
Visitor parking ($5) is available in the nearby Binkley (#53) and Moody (#94) garages
If you are interested in attending just RSVP to Darren Grahsl - dgrahsl@smu.edu
