First day back

I'm back from my month off!  I had a great time. The best part of the month off was the different relationship with time. For the past 20 years, I've been running my life with appointments and responsibilities -- both personal and professional. For the last month, I completely stepped away from that and had little to no appointments and little to no responsibilities. The resulting sense of freedom was refreshing and revitalizing. I'm excited to be back in Seattle and at work. I'm also happy to see my family again!

A month off? What a novel idea in America...

I'm leaving tomorrow on a month off. I originally asked for a month off for my 40th birthday -- and my wife granted my wish 18 months ago. Over the last 18 months, I've had the good fortune to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, dive in the great barrier reef, and motorcycle Europe.  I've had the gift of dreaming -- and that was a great gift in and of itself!
Now, the reality of a month off is upon me -- I'm heading to Las Vegas to check out the world series of poker and then I may make my way to Cuba.  I'm not sure what I do after that....I'll let whimsy and spontaneity take me where they will.
I'm not planning on being in touch -- either by email or phone. And I'm not planning on blogging -- though I reserve the right to do all of the above :-)

So if my blog seems silent or empty -- forgive me, I'm on extended holiday. 

My question for you -- is if you had 1 month off and were traveling alone -- where would you go and what would you do?

Electric convertible with 100 mpg


Think Global, originally uploaded by a sack of seattle.

Think Global, a Norwegian startup that bought what was once Ford's electric-vehicle program, has sold about 1,800 of its Think City, a tiny electric commuter car, in Norway. So far the company has raised $95 million from investors, including General Electric. The two-seater, which comes in convertible and hardtop, will sell for about $25,000 and go 100 miles on a few hours' charge. The firm aims to sell some 30,000 in the U.S. in 2010.
Maybe great for gas mileage....just not so great for Seattle rain.

Hands free photo law in Seattle


hands free photo, originally uploaded by a sack of seattle.

A new law is going into affect in Washington July 1, 2008.

Under the new laws, drivers who read and compose text messages or talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device could face a $101 ticket. The text-messaging ban takes effect Jan. 1; the cell-phone law will be enforced starting in July 2008.

This is an interesting law - and kind of a weird photo - so I thought I'd blog about it. In case you're wondering, I'm in favor of the law. I am afraid to drive a motorcycle (and my car) because I think the roads are less safe than they used to be due to cell phone and texting usage. That said, I am the occasional offender -- I'll need to cut the texting down.

Closing an angel round on friday

I'm in the process of closing an angel round for one of my companies today.  I was asked by one of the investors how the closing was going and I wrote:

Like any closing with angels ....

  • 60 percent close with no problem,
  • 30 percent close a day or two late, with little problem and a little massaging
  • 10 percent close in a week or more, with plenty of problems and lots of massaging.

Overall, I'm reminded of :

  • The benefits of working with institutional funders.
  • Never to try to close a financing on Friday.
  • The similarities amongst Angel financings and herding kittens (or greased pigs -- kind of funner image :-). 

Entrepreneurs organization is an excellent organization

If you are the owner of a business that generates more than 1MM in sales, I'd highly recommend you consider joining EO (Entrepreneurs Organization).  I joined EO when I was 28 -- at the time the organization was called YEO. I've been a member for 12 years now and have made some of my best friends and business acquaintances in the group. In addition, I've learned a lot from the people I've met. The organization is now international and has thousands of members. Check it out in your city -- it's definitely worth the cost (and the cost is not insignificant).

My jawbone is missing

Jawbones. You know the cool blue tooth headsets that actually work and may prevent you from getting brain tumors from your cell phone (they don't promise this value prop -- I've just assigned it to them). I love these devices and so do many other people. My problem is I can't seem to keep track of them. I'm on my third one and I can't find it. If you find it, please return it to my desk. Thanks.

Don't start a company in the local online space

I continue to get emailed and calls from entrepreneurs who see gold in the online local space. My advice to them is similar to the advice my dad gave me about going to medical school and becoming a doctor. Don't do it! He told me there are easier ways to make money and there are easier ways to care for people. He gave me that advice because he wanted to force me to think carefully about what my decision process.
Unfortunately he wasn't there to give me the same advice about starting a company in the local online space.  So I thought I'd pick up where he left off and take his place for all those internet entrepreneurs who think they can tap into the 90% of purchases that happen locally.  I believe in the market -- and think established companies will one day have huge local online businesses. Existing companies should absolutely be incrementing their way to satisfy the consumer need for local online resources. But start-ups should view this market place with caution and trepidation. It's quick sand.  It's a slog! There are easier ways to make money!   If you contact me and ask advice about your local online start up, that's what I'll tell you. 

Hillary Clinton's speech breaks records

I thought Hillary's speech on Saturday was awesome, historic, and moving. The speech was incredibly well written, had the right message and was delivered in the right tone. If the person who delivered that speech on Saturday had been the same one to campaign over the past 6 months, I believe she would have beaten Barack Obama.  I've been frustrated over the last 90 plus days as the math proved that Hillary couldn't win and yet she insisted on continuing to run for President. On Saturday, I forgave her. She didn't apologize explicitly. Rather, she gave such a moving uplifting speech filled with the passion and commitment that she embodies -- and I forgave her for her missteps, dirty politics, and egotistical actions. It's an awesome moment in America that a woman got as close the oval office as Hillary did!  It is remarkable and you should listen to the speech on Youtube here.

Loving my job at Founder's Co-op

I'm loving my job at Founder's Co-op.  I'm busier than I've been in a while and am enjoying all that is entailed in the creation of this new investment vehicle. Meeting entrepreneurs, mentoring entrepreneurs, fostering the entrepreneurial community in Seattle, meeting with potential investors -- it's all play to me and it's my work.  All this makes for a happy person....despite the rain in Seattle.

My lunch card is filled for now

Thank you to all those who offered to accept my lunch offer. I got about 20 to 25 responses. What I'm going to do is put all the names in a hat and pick 5 -- and then schedule those lunches out over the course of the next 90 days. I say 90 days because I expect to be able to do 2 in June, I'm gone in July, and then I'll do 3 in Aug.

The people that I don't get to have lunch with -- I invite you to Open Coffee's on Tuesday at Louisa's Cafe on Eastlake Ave. E. I'm there most Tuesday (but I won't be there in July either!)

Survive medical school and earn a tequila shot

My wife, Alexa, started medical training in 1992 as a post-bac at Harvard extension school. After finishing an undergraduate degree in Psychology, she needed to go back and take the pre-requisites for medical school.
Hear ye, hear ye - she finishes her residency this month. Last night, we through her a surprise party and I took a tequila shot or two. It's been a hard, grueling and long ride. I'm proud of my wife ....and I.  My wife seems to have found her passion and niche in life : as a psychoanalyst.  I'm super grateful for that.  I'm even more grateful that this whole 16 year medical training thing has (is) coming to an end!  Tequila shots for all those finishing medical school and medical training; they help wash down the memory of the process :-)

Lunch with a younger generation: I'm buying

I had lunch yesterday with a junior in college. The student, named Jeff Widmer, is an impressive, thoughtful young guy trying to figure out his path in life. He's taken it upon himself to contact people older than him and ask them to lunch and listen to see what he can learn. It's a simple gesture -- and not many people do, which makes it incredibly effective.
I've decided to follow Jeff's lead. I'd like to talk to more recent graduates: so if you are reading this post, live in or travel to Seattle, are in your twenties, and want a free lunch, I'd like to treat you the first 5 people to respond to this post to a free lunch. I promise not to bore you. I'm interested in learning your perspective on life, politics, technology, relationships, etc.  After I do the 20 something generation, I'll probably turn to some people in a later stage of life.  I'm looking forward to it!

Go big or go home: Recognizing patterns in the evolution of early stage company's

I had a meeting with a small company in Seattle yesterday. The company is going to remain nameless (to protect the innocent). I've known the entrepreneurs for a couple years and the company is now approximately 2 to 3 years old. Here are the facts:

  1. They have just raised $1,000,000 and are a consumer ad supported web 2.0 company.
  2. The team consists of 1 technical and 1 business entrepreneurs in their mid 30's with plenty of relevant experience but no start up experience. They are great committed guys.
  3. They spend about 75K per month and thus have about 12 months of life before they run out of cash.
  4. They invited me over to talk about what metrics they'd need to hit to raise their series B. The entrepreneurs don't think they want to boot strap the company. They're committed to raising venture capital and to use their words, "go big or go home"

My thoughts at the meeting were as follows:

  • Today they have a good product and a good team. They do not yet have a good business.
  • I told them that if they only focus on raising an institutional round that may (will) lead them astray. It'll put their destiny into the hands of institutional funders who may or may not have a penchant for funding a niche ad supported web 2.0 company in Q4 2008. To be successful in raising this venture round, they'll need to hit the cover off the ball in terms of customer acquisition and retention. Today, I give them a 50-50 chance of scoring that venture round in Q4. If they don't "go big", then I think one of the founders will quit, the founding team will deflate, and they'll end up selling a very nice online niche opportunity to someone with fresh legs or settling for a shut down.  I told them that "going home' doesn't feel good.
  • An alternative might be to try to bootstrap the business. I asked them to question their assumptions about revenue generation and to see if there was someway to make money sooner. I also asked them to try to reveal the underlying personal motivations that were leading them to a get big or go home strategy. As entrepreneurs we all start out thinking we're going to strike it rich like the people we read about in the newspapers : Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, etc. There's nothing wrong with taking a bit more time to get to a personal outcome that is just as good.

The good thing about these enterpreneurs was that they were having this conversation while they had money in the bank and 12 months of runway. And they seemed committed to staying aligned on an answer. This alignment is more critical than the strategy they choose. 
I could write more on this situation. I see this pattern a lot -- and it's fun for me to be able to see a company and to attempt to identify what life stage it's in and what's likely to happen to it and the people.

A tribute to Geoffrey Moore: knocking over that first pin

The two companies that Founder's Co-op is invested in, Cooler Planet and Orange Line Media, are making big strides to knocking over their first markets.  Cooler Planet has been in business just under 1 year and is recognized as the best consumer resource site for Solar.  Orange Line Media is only 5 months old so it's still too early to tell but I believe they'll be a big player in the microstock photography market.  With both companies, we find ourselves able to think 6 to 12 months out and to wonder about what we should be doing next. These thoughts are strategic in nature and are important. However, every time we have these discussions and thoughts, I'm confronted by tthe fact that we have a long way to go to capturing the first market we're in and exhibiting our mastery of the tactics it takes to "own" that market.  I think it's fair to say that for the first year of operations in an early stage company, the tactical is the strategic and theres nothing more important than following Geoffrey Moore's advice.

It only takes one to do a deal

I met a guy today who told me he met wtih 72 institutional investors over a 5 week period until he got 1 to agree to invest $2 million in his company. While I think this is the exception rather than the rule: i.e. the likelihood that after 71 "no"s the 72nd person will say yes is very low. The anecdote is instructive for two core lessons for the entrepreneur:

  1. Don't give up
  2. You can only sell your company once (i.e. it only takes one person to do a deal )