When you screw up make sure you really screw up

There is nothing worse than a small mistake. It is just annoying, nags at you and causes much more indigestion than necessary. If you are going to screw up, make it worthwhile.

I like to think I rarely make small mistakes, that I am careful and look over things closely. Though reality may be different, I do make an effort to avoid the careless miss, the typo in a contract, the presentation in different fonts.

I have been waiting for content to make a demo for SipSopSup for a while. I finally got the content finished or so I thought. Of course, I did not clearly explain with the creative side what I wanted. Hence, I need to wait some more. Just time and money, two things of which I am in short supply. As I said, if you screw up, make it hurt.

Keeping Cool

For those who have worked with me over the years, I am known to use colorful language, sarcasm to make a point and to throw a well placed diatribe. Needless to say I can and will lose my temper.

That is not to say I scream at people for making mistakes. Mistakes, however stupid, are learning experiences and part of life. Just don’t keep on making the same mistake.

There is, however, one thing I cannot tolerate. When I qualify for ‘what the f—’ award. Unfortunately, today I won the prize. Glad my wife and child are away.

The fishtank is dirty again

I can always tell when things are not going well. I put off cleaning the fish tank, so I guess things are not moving along swimmingly.

For almost 6 months I have tried to piece together a content site with original content. The idea is solid, the execution, well, sucks is probably the best word I can come up with. How is it that I have not gotten traction and how does this relate to my dirty fish tank.

My guess is that I have not been angry enough to just say fuck it. Hopefully I have reached that point. I wonder if the fish have.

The Phone Call

I just answered a call that I was waiting for, but asked the caller to get back to me, faux pas? Stupid move? Nothing to worry about? Not worth blogging about?

In this age of instant gratification, is it OK to say get back to me later. Here I am trying to get a startup off the ground, hemorrhaging money and not giving potential clients instant gratification. Am I crazy or just willing to set limits, i.e., I was with my little one and felt it unwise to take a call at that point.

Most people would have taken the caller’s number down and said I will get back to you, but of course I was crazed and not thinking. Can someone who is willing to put the phone (Blackberry, iPhone or whatever gadget comes next) down actually run a startup. Time will tell.

Russian Spam

As I try to write an interesting (or at least somewhat readable) blog, I am amazed by the amount of spam I get in Cyrillic. Though I have traveled to Russia and loved Moscow, my language skills are lacking, especially as it relates to what I assume are porn, away from the counter drugs, various enhancements and other questionable sites or items for sale.

Which leads me to wonder if spammers actually targeted their spam would they have an even higher success rate? Do they care? However, I still cannot figure out how a blog discussing the tribulations of a slow moving startup relates to the garbage that appear as comments. Of course, it must be worse for Hormel, which now has its famous luncheon meat associated with unwanted electronic trash.

How does this relate to sipsopsup, it would seem that one cost I have not included in my projections is spam. Wonder if this deserves its own line in my spreadsheet.

Common Courtesy

What has happened to courtesy. Has it gone the way of snail mail? Are people just too busy to respond or is it they think themselves too important? I not talking about cold calls or out of the blue emails, I mean continuing dialogues that suddenly go cold.

It is funny when I actually had a title and ‘commanded respect’ I used to get quick responses or apologies if the answer came slowly. Now I am just a nobody and people are more than willing to blow me off.

Is it an ego thing or is it an old-school expectation? In the age of instant updates, have we lost sight of what has meaning? I certainly hope not… and I certainly hope that once sipsopsup succeeds, I will be deemed worthy once again. Of course, anything more than a courteous “thank you for your email, I am sorry that I am not interested at this point” type response may be all I can muster.

no whining, no website, just booze

Went last night with a friend to a ‘old-school’ bar. Had one those classic signs that sums up oh so much — “no whining, no website, just booze.”

In this day and age of listen to me (tell you how great I am or just whine), it is refreshing when someone comes out and calls bullshit. Do all businesses need websites, be on facebook and tweet. Obviously, the answer is no.

Will there be a point where people unplug, turn off their mobile and go old-school? I hope not. However, every once in a while a game of pool, sports on the TV, a real conversation and a cold one really entertain, enlighten and engage.

Virtual Companies

So here I am trying to start a company with no employees and getting help from various friends and business contacts. I have not even officially created the company yet. Does this make me a practitioner of the virtual organization?

I doubt it. Why? Because the use of the world organization implies or should imply that there is something functioning. Also, doesn’t it imply that there is a structure or am I still caught up in 20th century think.

However, I like to think I am at the cutting edge, so for now I will continue to smile when people say that I am in a virtual organization.

What the…

It has been a while since I last blogged. It is not because I have nothing to say. It is because I wanted to say something relevant, smart, edgy or just funny. Of course, nothing came to me.

What is the purpose of a blog? Is it to share information? Is it to educate others? Is it show how smart you are by pontificating?

The purpose of this blog is to document my experiences starting a company. However, my startup is not moving forward too quickly which leads to long silences. This will change starting today.

Compatibility

I just had a meeting for the ages. The meeting ended quite abruptly when I was told by the guy across the table that I was not compatible with him. Granted it was his startup and he wants to find compatibility. He seemed like a nice guy (a little sensitive?), but young, not necessarily in age, but in the rough tumble world of business.

My gruffness (and off-putting tone?) was related to his inexperience. He set up a meeting without speaking to me on the phone first (as our President has learned vetting can be important). He hands me a NDA in the middle of the ‘get to know you’ meeting and asks me to sign (it really should be sent beforehand). The NDA was not mutual, and did not have any protection for information that became public. In short, something I would not normally sign (though I was going to make some quick changes. and sign it). However, my unsympathetic attempt to educate him backfired, as it was taken as a lecture (and we know that no one likes to be lectured).

Why am I rambling about this? Because I remember some of the (many) lectures I have received over the years, and I hated it. I just hope the youngster across the table learns that, compatibility aside, incompatibility may hold a good learning experience.