I love Craigslist

I fell in love with Craigslist while I was operating Judy's Book. This site (and Google) are the reasons that the newspaper industry is failing today. I remember talking to someone at the NYT and they were asking themselves how do you compete with "free". If you're wondering about local online -- you should wonder about craigslist. The site defined local online.

Speaking of anniversaries -- my wife and I will be going away for our 15th

It's funny to have just written a post about Cooler Planet being 2 years old and to think about my wife and I being 15 years old. Alexa and I got married in 1994. I had just graduated from MIT business school and was starting my first internet company.  The most amazing thing about our relationship -- which has had its share of ups and downs -- and frankly the thing that keeps me happy in our marriage is the fact that I still enjoy Alexa's company more than anyone elses.  

2 year anniversary dinner of Cooler Planet

I went out last night with Tom Staples and Danny Vo of Cooler Planet to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of the company. We had a lot of fun ....and a few tequila shots at Joey's In Seattle. It was fun to look back at the history of the company and think about the things we did we and the things that we didn't do well. We actually made a list of the the top 3 important milestones of the company and they are:

  • Agreeing to partner with ASES
  • Deciding in Nov. 2008 to become profitable (and cutting costs appropriately)
  • Focusing in on our top 5 keywords

We also made a list of mistakes that we could have made but didn't and they are:

  • Expanding beyond the solar market into other verticals
  • Eliminating our focus on qualification -- we believe that qualifying leads on behalf of merchants is a critical differentiator for us
  • Become an outside sales force for solar installers

I'm super proud of what these guys have accomplished in the last 2 years and can't wait to see them continue to succeed. They're doing a great job -- I have a ton of fun working with them.

The ping pong case was the give away

I attended the Tech Flash ping pong tourney and BBQ on Thursday. It was a great event. I was a bit unlucky in my ping pong draw -- my bracket had the odds on pre-tourney phenom "nam le" (sp?) in it and in my first and only game I played Isaac of mechanical turk fame (formerly from Amazon).  I knew I was in trouble when he pulled out his ping pong case and it had a selection of 3 racquets. I know lots of people with ping pong racquets. Heck -- I own one. But I don't know many who have the ping pong case!  it was a dead give away for a ringer. I couldnt' do anything with his spin serve -- and lost 2-0. I had fun anyway. Nice job John Cook and Todd Bishop -- the organizers of the event and the founders of TechFlash.

Big tuna toasted well

This is my new favorite daily order at the high end convenience store across the street from Founder's Co-op. I just ordered it for lunch again and the order gave me a smile. It made me think "am I a big tuna?!" and it also made me think about the daily rituals of my life like:

  • a 7 minute steam shower and shave followed by a few tabs of Chanel aftershave
  • a single shot non fat latte from louisa's
  • a tour of twitter and Facebook
  • a quick check of CNBC and stock prices of the S&P, Apple, Google and Amazon
  • a walk to lake union to check out the water and the boats
  • a review of Google news for headlines and hopefully some of my favorite blogs
  • 15 minutes of some kind of exercise (stairmaster most often)
  • Lastly -- write a blog post (doesn't happen everyday but I want it to)

win-win vs win-lose?

There's a lot of business books and traditional business mythology around creating win-win situations. Frankly, I believe in that approach myself and generally take the long view on my work relationships. However, the world is filled with assholes -- and business in particular, seems to give people the license to be even an asshole. One observation that I'd make is that when you take a person who is playing win-win and put them in negotiation with someone committed to a win-lose philosophy --the win-lose operandi wins in the short run much more often than the win-win.
ok -- sorry --that's a mouthful and confusing.
There are times -- when win-win meets win-lose -- and the management team needs to man up (or woman up) and tell the other side that you won't be pushed any further. It's important to draw clear lines of battle in language that the person playing win-lose understands around whatever issue you're facing. The argument doesn't have to result in fisticuffs or a loud argument -- in fact much better if you remain calm and CLEAR -- it's just a matter of drawing a line and not budging any further.

Leadership and experience win more in this market

Given the downturn in the economy, experience and leadership win more.  Given that every company I know is tightening their belt and trying to do the same with less -- experience in prioritization and in belt tightening is more important than in growing markets. The danger of entrepreneurial missteps is higher in this market because there is less financial cushion available (i.e. next rounds are harder to come by).

The dinner after the meeting is the meeting

Last night, we had a founder's co-op LP meeting. The meeting itself was good. There's been good progress in the portfolio. After the meeting, about half of the LPs went out to dinner and that's where the real meeting occurred.  It's amazing what a little food and wine does for conversation both personal and business. I encourage everyone to let informal conversation take place over dinner -- they're highly productive meetings.

Comments from the "get fucking aggressive" post

I got a number of comments from entrepreneurs about the last post. Here are 2 of them:

  1. In my previous job (management consulting) I thought I knew aggressive. I was wrong! Now I’m starting to get it. And I’m starting to get how critical it is. That advice has really stuck with me – very simple but powerful.  Thanks again. Hope to see you soon.
  2. good story andy - i relate to what you wrote, which i could not agree with more, to what you told me on the phone when we first met - about how you felt judy's book could have been less ivory tower and more aggressive in it's approach to end-user adoptio. 

What you need to get funded in the depression of 2009?

  • Referrals – You need to know people with money;
  • Traction – Must show momentum and revenue progress (smell like money)
  • Cash flow break even – Must show the business will cash flow
  • Exit potential – You’ve got to matter in the strategic evolution of the market
  • Tenacity and perseverance – don’t accept no
  • Time – It takes longer than you think to raise money (plan on 6 months)

Weird economic story about crashing my car

I bought my 2007 Prius for approx $28,500 in July of 2007.  About 3 weeks ago, I skid on some black ice and ended up taking the Prius 4 wheel driving -- unintentionally -- of course.  In case you were wondering, Prius don't do well when driving off road.  I walked away unhurt -- thank goodness!! Very lucky.
I filed with my insurance company. They have determined that the car is a total loss (damage throughout the underside of the car and the axels) and are compensating me with $27,000.  I believe they determined the value of the car by looking at the blue book value of the car.  Two observations:

  1. The blue book was written in advance of the current market "recession" and massive decrease in car and home prices. I really wonder if I could have sold my car for the blue book value !  ;-)
  2. Makes me wonder about what other weird asset valuations are going on as a result of the timing of the publication of "blue books". Are home appraisers giving accurate reflections of housing values during all these re-fi's?  What do you think?

Goldman Sachs Internet Conference

I'm at the conference this week. If you're here and want to get together please emai me.

The conference was supposed to be in Las Vegas. Last week, Pres. Obama stated that firms who took TARP money shouldn't use tax payer money for boondoggles in Las Vegas so Goldman changed the locale for the conference to the Marriott hotel in San Francisco. Not nearly as fun -- but at least we won't read about the conference on the front page of the WSJ or NYT!

The benefits of skiing at a resort in bankruptcy

I spent last week on vacation with the family at Tamarack Resort, Idaho. We had a fabulous week. Because the resort is new, a bit hard to get to, and in financial trouble, the mountain was empty. In fact, about half of the runs over the week, I didn't see another person while skiing down the mountain. It was both awesome and a bit eery. I've likened the experience to swimming in an olympic pool alone.