Figments and Perceptions Unleashed by LogicX

The following announcement was sent on YouNoodle at 2PM this afternoon:

For the Social Entrepreneurship Competition, the finalists are:
Alera,
Cadenza,
EcoTexts, and
Strivers.

For the Classic Competition, the finalists are
eClinic,
JobVid.com,
Peelable Paints,
RouteChooser, and
Stateless Creations.

My team, Stateless Creations, was fortunate enough to be chosen as a finalist for the competition.  Finalist presentations will be held March 25h.  We have a lot of work ahead of us, but are very excited about the opportunity to continue on in this competition.

I just entered the Tufts $100K Business Plan Competition with my new company

Stateless Creations
"The mission of Stateless Creations is to revolutionize the building block toy industry by taking building blocks, embedding technology and offering a bridge between the physical and virtual worlds."

Due to the plans being submitted through YouNoodle, it is possible to see the name and public description of the company that you submit.

I've been looking through my competition, and decided to post my thoughts about them.

Below is the list as of the submission deadline, 01/16/2009.

CBC Consulting Group Environmental Advocacy
Our mission is to reduce America’s dependency on fossil fuel by educating home and small business owners about the harmful effects of green house gases on our environment and how they can benefit from using renewable energy sources.

Fine idea, but I'd like to know how you're making money, why home and small business owners care.  If they cared, they would've already read things like the PickensPlan. He plans to spend $58 Million to spread the word of his plan.  How do you compete with that, and get funding with the prospect of paying back investors?

Igig. Inc
Igig Inc. is an internet-based social networking and collaboration tool for local communities of musicians.

Update 1/24/2009: I met a member of this team in class today - learned a bit more about what they're trying to do and what their profit model is.  I have no doubt that there's demand for the service, but perhaps they could be stronger with a different profit model from advertising supported.  Perhaps Match.com-style model.  Convince musicians you're providing a value-add, and offer a subscriber service.  Or don't call it advertising supported but call it sponsor-partnered; and partner with a label to have contests for meeting, practicing, then winning a chance to play for a label and advance further.
Get the label to pay
Get the users to pay
Offer public-content (samples of paying users) for free

D&Co: HeadCase
D&Co. is a device prototyping firm specializing in bringing innovative, health-oriented consumer technologies to market

Too small of a market - How many health-oriented consumer technologies are brought to market each year?  Why would someone choose you over any other proto-typer? How will they learn about you?  How will you compete with other prototypers?

Concept Yachts
Concept Yachts will revolutionize the sailing industry by making it what it inherently should be: green.

I don't know enough about sailing to even understand why sailing isn't green.  Pass.

Greener Boston
"Ushering in a world of Green"

Company description fail.

Alera LLC
Alera LLC produces specialized seaweed for regular manufacturing and research and development used in biofuel companies. Additionally it aims to be a carbon-offsetting entity in order to fulfill its environmentally responsible mission.

So you make seaweed? Why is your seaweed better than real seaweed? I guess I don't know enough about biofuel to understand that there's really a demand for this? Why wouldn't anyone who wants to use seaweed in their biofuel just get real seaweed?

RouteChooser
RouteChooser is a one stop travel comparison website through which travelers can assess the costs and benefits of various means of travel such as bus, car, train and plane.

Fine idea - But I think they will quickly discover that this is extremely difficult - the company I work for, ITA Software, did this for the Airline industry -- worked with all major carriers to consolidate their data and make it searchable.  Car is easy: plenty of people have figured out the car travel mile calculation; you throw in gas pricing along the way and you have that one solved.  Bus: There are a ton of bus carriers across the country.  Train: Same here.  This could work in a specific metro area with limited separate transportation systems.  For example, you could do Boston<->NYC<->Philly without much difficulty, as there are only so many trains and buses which serve between these areas.

This equation also starts to get more complicated if you're actually attempting to compare all these on cost:

Car goes direct from location to location -- but How do you factor in transportation costs to the airport the bus terminal or the train station?  Parking your car at the airport? Tolls for car-travel, and transportation at your destination for train,bus,plane vs. your own car?  I think as these equations all start to get factored in the problem either becomes too sprawling (again for more than a limited metro to metro area) -- or end users become overwhelmed with entering all the details to answer a question they already know the answer to.

JobVid.com
JobVid.com is a network of part time and contract workers available for hire.

Its called eLance.com, see also Craigslist, Angie's List and any number of other similar sites.

Yunlin Huang
Global Outsourcing is the online connection between outsource service buyers and providers worldwide.

You'd have to work real hard to convince me there's anything new or unique to this.

TabRides, Inc.
TabRides alleviates the problems with Boston's night-life transportation by providing a less expensive, more convenient, and safer alternative to taxis for college students and young professionals.

I can understand how someone feels there is a need here -- they had a bad experience with a taxi.  What I don't understand is how they expect that there will be a less expensive (You have to pay the driver, the gas, the car), more convenient (convenience costs more money), and safer (costs more money again) alternative?  The answer already exists: a friend.  Until they tell you that they're not a taxi service

DriveGen Corporation
DriveGen Corporation’s goal is to provide an alternative energy solution to the transportation industry, by using collecting wasted energy and converting it into useful energy through the use the DriveGen Panel System.

(i kid you not -- I did NOT retype that and forget key words)  I hope the idea is much stronger.

Peelable Paints and Primer
We make a a peelable, rubber based, biodegradable, non toxic, temporary paint and primer that can be applied on to painted walls for a period of at least one year and then be removed by hand in one giant sheet without leaving any residue behind.

This sounds really different.  I want to know more about who would use this product, how much it costs compared to alternatives, and if that price difference makes this attractive compared to the cleanup costs of a cheaper version.

Strivers Foundation
Strivers Foundation pairs a business workshop with start up loans for poor intelligent young adults in developing nations.

There are already a million of these - sounds like Kiva to me.

The Green Energy Project
You need electricity. We will give it to you.

My Electric company already does this (and by state law has to offer me renewable options also).  Why are you different?

Dr. Cotes
Dr. Cotes designs and manufactures high-end white coats for physicians and dentists paying especial attention to form and function.

Cute name - Where is the demand here?  Clothing? This does not scale - fails the back of the envelope test for being worth getting into; even if there is some need. Works better as a product-line extension for an existing corporation.

eClinic
eClinic delivers on the promise of health 2.0 by providing media-rich answers to users’ questions on health and wellness from a network of expert health providers
Google Health? PatientsLikeMe? Sermo?

Innovasource
Innovasource: An innovative outsourcing company employing college students to minimize costs and maximize efficiency in delivery of services

Every company already implements this.  Interns, Co-Ops, Residencies.  Why go to you instead of hiring directly? Or outsourcing overseas? With the current economic situation even College students can't find work, because everyone else is accepting the cheap jobs which use to only go to college students.

Overall, I'm a little disappointed -- I see only a small handful that I feel are a viable winners.  Then again, Tufts Gordon Institute has been doing business plans as part of the class cirriculum for a few years; with over 50 presented to professors.  Ours is the first that our professor knew of which seemed viable and is moving forward in an attempt to succeed.  Wish us Luck!

Its been a long time since I've made a post here -- but this book I'm reading: The 4 Hour Work Week is just too great to not talk about.  I'm going to post my thoughts as I read through it.

Apples and Oranges: A Comparison - This really opened my eyes to the fact that everyone says pretty much the same goals for themselves in life; and that its truely not what they say.  This holds true for myself -- Maybe I say something like 'oh, I want to make a lot of money' Why? What am I actually looking to do with that money?

Or even more damming -To be the boss instead of the employee, to be in charge -- is really a dream to own the trains and have someone else ensure they run on time.  I have two recent examples of this in my life:

I recently decided to apply for a management position at my company.  This would be in a position of a totally different department, entirely different responsibilities, and would entail being the manager of approximately 12 people.  Did I think I was appropriately qualified? Hell No! Did I think it would be a Challenge? Absolutely! Did I think I could get it? Quite possibly!

From the day I applied for the position I became engrossed in the phenomeon that happens when you buy a new car, and then you start noticing everyone around you having the same car -- something you didn't take notice of before.  I began noticing that everyone in this group was constantly on-call, responding to emergencies at all hours of the day and night.  I then began to realize what a nightmare it would be to take on this position.  I spoke to a few managers at my company, both about the position, and management in general -- and came to the conclusion that I would spend 50-100% more time per week at work.  After much time delay, I let the hiring manager know I was no longer interested in the position.  First time in my life I've been in that situation.  I don't consider it giving up -- I consider that I more properly prioritized my life.  I want to focus on my Masters Program right now.

Finally I'm currently exploring a new business venture (more details to come later) which would involve an ultimate pay-off in my mind through IPO or acquisition.  As mentioned in this section - "To think big but ensure payday comes every day: cash flow first, big payday second." Okay! You've got my attention - I'm listening.

Last night I went to the Holiday party of a neighbor - who works for FableVision. Not knowing many people there, Julie and I spent time wandering around, and eventually came across a table full of the same books - The North Star. Not being one for Children's books, but being one for curiosity -- I read the book description on the jacket and was intrigued.  Julie began reading it.  I immediately thought about Julie's mother as I read "The North Star celebrates the individual.  It invites us to rethink curriculum, career choices and other critical life decisions in a way that respects who we really are and our own unique gifts."  As Julie read more and said it was good, I gave her the money to buy it for Julie's mother, Susan Summer as a gift.  Susan has worked on a number of children's books and dreams of having one of them published.

As we explained to our neighbor Sharon why we were purchasing the book she got excited and insisted we meet the author - Peter Reynolds and have him sign the copy.  We met Peter and explained our story, to which he explained his method of getting started - very small, and recommended Susan get published with a service such as LuLu.  I was exstatic, as I've suggested the very same service to Susan before.  He wrote an amazing page to Susan in the book and encouraged us to share his story - both The North Star, and of its creation with her for inspiration.

Challenging the Status Quo vs. Being Stupid - Retirement being a Worst-Case Scenario - The bit that really hit me was "One week into retirement you'll be so damn bored that you'll want to stick bicycle spokes in your eyes."  I love my Grandpa to death, hes a great guy, he worked for AT&T, and he was able to retire relatively early and had sufficient money to live nicely for almost 30 years now.  Unfortunately I've also watched him not do much, be bored, and have his mind slowly deteriorate.  As they put it in the book, if you're going to be bored and opt for a new job or start a new company -- why wait; do it now!

Seduction tactics show themselves in general life again -- First thing I thought at "Ask for Forgiveness, Not Permission".  This was a big theme and common tagline when I was seducing women, that its much easier to ask for forgiveness if one of your advances was too bold, than to ask for permission before trying. "Get good at being a troublemaker and saying sorry when you really screw up." - Thats me!

Emphasize Strengths, Don't Fix Weaknesses. I don't entirely agree with this one.  I do think that I need to focus on using my strengths instead of weaknesses, but I find great value in improving on my weaknesses, even if as they say 'the best you can often achieve is to become mediocre in these areas'.  I'd rather be well rounded, and maintain my strengths than allow my weaknesses to become my achilles heel.

I will combine the previous section with "Things in Excess Become Their Opposite." Which is similar to a common theme from a professor in my Learning to Lead class at Tufts Gordon Institute (Masters in Engineering Management) - who says "The strengths which got you where you are now may not be the same things which continue to take you forward, and infact may be holding you back."  His common example is that if you were a great engineer, that doesn't do anything for you when you want to become a manager -- you're looking to be a great manager, and if what made you a great engineer is that you were anti-social and focused on your work; then you may have issues trying to become a manager with that skillset.  You need to spend time to improve upon your weaknesses to take you forward.  This further emphasizes my point above.

Money Alone is Not the Solution - Couldn't say it better myself.  I already learned this lesson back in 2001 when I thought I was making an amazing amount of money, but I had no life and no friends - Which segue's into their next point - Relative Income Is More Important Than Absolute Income - I currently make 25% More than in 2001, at 40% of the hours.  I'm the poster-child for this book!

Distress is Bad, Eustress is Good -- Didn't speak to me until I read "People who avoid all criticism fail.  It's destructive criticism we need to avoid, not criticism in all forms."  I feed on constructive criticism. I need to understand how to improve, better myself, do it smoother next time.  I HATE criticism which just says that it wasn't good, but provides no positive feedback.  The feedback I recevied from Justin on my final class presentation was PRICELESS.  The detail, differing perspectives, and presentation advice really helped shape our product into one which it could not have been even after 20 presentations to audiences.

Fear Setting and Escaping Paralysis - Don't get me wrong -- its good, its a necessary section, but I've explored this nearly identically and in more depth in How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. I encourage anyone to read it if this is a particular sticking point. I've already overcome, conquered and answered everything in this chapter.  Anyone who needs proof, please see me quitting my last job before having a new one -- and the pure-energy I received when I had a new job in 6 weeks which paid twice as much, 30% less hours, cheaper commute, and has helped me grow to where I am now.

... More Posts to come as I continue reading.

So -- I haven't really taken the time to write about this -- but seeing as my new job affords me more time, Here's the scoop on my job situation in the last few months.

It all began in April when Julie and I were sitting at home in our apartment near Porter Square, in Somerville, MA. I went to use the sink, and heard a horrible gushing sound. Looking under the sink I saw that there was a gaping hole in our garbage disposal, and drainage from the sink was flowing out. Our apartment on Adelaide Rd had been an inexpensive, conveniently located starter apartment for Julie and I. But the lower cost came at an expense -- shoddy service from the landlord. I'd put in requests for a screen on one of our windows, and an issue with the fridge repeatedly for the last year, and every time was assured that it would be dealt with. As a one bedroom -- its purpose was for Julie and I to experiment living together, and if anything went wrong, one of us could get our own place, and one of us could maintain the single bedroom apartment on their own, and the cost would be reasonable. Seeing as we'd been living together for nearly a year, and our lease was coming up for renewal soon -- the broken garbage disposal was the last straw.

That night we began looking at other apartments, nicer, two bedroom luxury apartments -- to escape from our mismanagement nightmare. While driving to a location, I joked with Julie that at these prices we could buy a condo. She didn't laugh, but instead looked at me seriously and said 'yes, we could', opening up yet another possibility.

Unfortunately after much discussion, research, and reviewing finances, it turned out to not be feasible. Even if we had enough money to get the house -- things would be so tight, as to not allow us to live comfortably until I earned more. This lead me review my situation at work -- to ensure that I was doing everything I could to ensure I got a raise at the next opportunity. I discussed with my boss, and others at the company a number of initiatives that might be able to help the company get more clients -- such as improving our website, getting PCI certified, and hiring additional staff. After many fruitless discussions, all of my ideas were shot down, and I was told to concentrate on my own work, and not worry about these other things. But how could I? They were a very small consulting firm, and the possibility of my advancement was directly tied to their growth and success. When I was hired, I was told stories of them expanding geographically, and I imagined myself in a position to lead a branch office within a few years. Since being hired they'd actually shut down the only branch office, letting go of those employees, and I was told that there were no plans in the works to hire any new employees this year. This was all very disappointing.

Julie and I went to see the Goo Goo Dolls April 20 in Twin River, RI. On the drive I was discussing all of this with Julie, and I explained how I felt like I was not able to properly support her, by not making enough to afford a house -- and that I questioned whether I was being properly compensated for my skills.

Returning home that night, a quick search on Monster revealed the truth -- there were many companies in the Boston area with more exciting job opportunities, room for advancement, additional benefits, and paying 50-100% more than my current job. I began the job hunt. Over the next weeks and months I spoke to a number of companies, posted my resume on to more website than I can count, and spoke to countless recruiters. I quickly realized that the market was hot, and that I had the right skillset in security. My problem was not finding opportunities -- but dedicating the time to submitting resumes, followups, and in-person interviews. Working full-time, I was at the office, and had few opportunities to leave work for in-person interviews. Work had slowed down for the summer, and I was spending more and more time in the office. Now, being a small company, you don't have many options to escape your co-workers, and my co-worker didn't favor me. I remain convinced that I was viewed as a threat, and the work environment continued to be a hostile ground of disagreement with no cooperation on projects.

My good friend Brian Gillis has advised me when I graduated from College that I should maintain savings -- in the event that an unexpected life even occurred, or my job became undesirable, and I didn't want to feel trapped there, due to not having the financial ability to leave. The funds would allow me to support myself, paying my rent, until such time time that I could get a new job and recover. One day in May I realize that this EXACT scenario was occurring to me! I was going to work every day, and coming home drained and depressed that I would have to do it again the next day. Something had to be done -- I had to quit my job. Now, doing such a thing is typically unthinkable to me -- I become very dedicated and loyal to whatever I decide to take on in life. This job was no exception, and the thought of disappointing my boss, the president, my co-workers, along with the added stress and hardships created for them in seeking a replacement -- made it a very difficult decision to make. I even attempted to give notice one day, and ended up chickening out, and giving myself an additional weekend to think it over, and discuss with friends. Those discussions only reinforced what I knew -- I had to act now, and quit -- even without a firm offer for another job. I gave my two week notice.

It didn't go over well. My boss was visibly pissed. Likely because I'd not given any forewarning, or given them time to find a replacement. However I rationalized that due to the small size of the company, any additional forewarning would've made my life there hell, as they attempted to convince me to stay. The next day I was called into a meeting with my boss where I was giving my last paycheck, and told to gather my things and leave. He then escorted me out of the building. Although a bit more dramatic than I expected -- I now had what I wanted -- the time to seek out a new job.

The following weeks were actually occupied with a number of things -- Julie and I had just moved into a new apartment the previous week, and there was a lot of work involved in getting settled, I submitted resumes, I went to recruiting events, and I scoured job sites. Then I got a call one day from a recruiter at ITA Software, who felt I was a good fit for a Security Engineer position they had open. Looking at the description -- I realized I'd come across it in my searches, but didn't believe that I was appropriately qualified. However, with the recruiter in support of me, I spoke to him further, submitted my resume for the position, and continued along the interviewing path.

As I learned more and more about ITA Software, their mission, their culture, their history -- I became excited at the opportunity to work there. After some scheduling issues I finally made it in for a 4 hour in-person interview with a number of employees. Everything went very well, and a few days later, as my parents were up visiting in mid June -- just three weeks after leaving my previous job -- I received an offer letter from ITA Software. I accepted that day, and started two weeks later.

Although it was a rocky road, filled with fright and risk -- taking that risk paid off, and I'm now much happier with my daily job. I'm pleased with my brilliant co-workers, my company's appreciation for their employees, their amazing growth rate, and my future opportunities for advancement. I'm less stressed, I have more free time, and the work hours are more flexible. I've had an amazing summer with Julie, and I look forward to really sinking my teeth in this winter, and accomplishing a number of long-term goals, as I get more up to speed with everything.

So last month I got a new car. It all started with an advertisement I saw on TV for the Nissan Altima 2008 Coupe. The ad featured their Navigation system and bluetooth phone capability. I'd never seen such use of technology in a car, and was very intrigued. I went to a dealer soon after and checked one out, but decided that I wanted to stick with a four door -- and the 2008 Nissan Altimas weren't out yet. I drove a 2007 Nissan Altima Sedan, and was quite impressed, even with the 2.5L engine model. I did a ton of followup research on how to negotiate with a dealer, checked out the invoice price for the car at CarsDirect and decide on what feature set I'd like. I was immediately disappointed when I applied for credit online through Nissan USA and was rejected.

As July was coming to a close, I still really wanted the car, and went to a nearby dealer whose inventory showed two cars configured to my liking. Upon running my credit there, I was accepted without problem, and we eventually chalked up the error to the online credit check not asking for my previous address (I'd just moved a little over a month prior). Unfortunately they'd already sold the two Nissan Altimas with the Technology package -- pretty much THE reason I was getting the car. The dealer was able to track one down for me, and I drove away with a new car the following week, after returning from a business trip to Vegas.

The only pitfall I've experienced thus far is that the navigation system does not allow certain operations while the car is in motion -- It does however allow many operations to be performed using voice command -- I've just not yet taken the time to program voice tags for my most common destinations and callers.

Overall I'm quite pleased with my decision to lease the car for two years. I don't make many long commitments in my life, and I've blown through about 6 cars in my 8 years of driving, so choosing the shortest lease time possible seemed the most responsible thing to do for this -- my first new car ever!

I'm also selling my old 2003 Dodge Intrepid, with after market audio.

I just came across a cool site - ripmobile.com where you can 'sell' your old cell phones to this company, and earn money for them!  Seeing as most cell phone customers get a new phone every 2 years, this can be a great way to recycle that old cell phone, and get some money for it.  I recently got a cell phone through work, and my old Audiovox PPC-6700  is going to fetch me $95 through ripmobile.

If you want to give me credit for sending you their way use Referral Number 11604

I'm beginning to bring back my whole network of websites -- I'll shortly bring back my personal gallery, and begin to cross-link all of these.  (Just a simple post so its not blank)