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.