THE DREAM IN ACTION

This is a guest post by a very early to the game, iGoogle widget developer who turn a small project into a huge profit. Cameron Hall, a co-worker of mine, and a graduate of Cornell University held onto his widget just long enough so he could use the credibility as a resume builder. He ended up (unintentionally) maximizing the widgets monetary value and getting big cash and was able to land a job with a GE management training program with the story.

Enter Cameron Hall…

In February of 2008, I sold less than 100 lines of public code requiring less than 20 hours of work for $28,000.  What started as a personal project to make my Google homepage more personal, turned into a 300,000 user worldwide phenomenon

in less than a year and a half.  My post below takes you through the life of my National Geographic Photo of the Day gadget from its creation in mid 2006 to its sale in early 2008.

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In my post, how to get a job in a crap economy, we talked about building your network before you need them. I want to stress this point again and provide an example that you can use today in order to do this effectively. Building my network and learning from the people around me is really my most enjoyable part of being in business. I live the dream most days solely because the people I get to interact with on a daily basis.

So, the next, obvious questions is this, how do I grow my network early? Well, there are many ways, some better than others. You could work for free (effective but not glamorous), email stalk or spam the person (sure to annoy people and lose you friends), or you could send that arbitrary, “I have a question” email (which gets ignored more often than brussels sprouts on a child’s dinner plate).

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Today, I’m announcing my plans to close SocialDreamium, LLC.

This decision, which came about over the last month or so, was a challenging and complex one. Either way, I’ll tell you that this decision revolved primarily around money, competition, vision, and team: maybe the most critical factors of a successful startup.

SocialDreamium was attempting to compete is one of the most crowded spaces on the web at the time. We were building a social media application that would aggregate Twitter, Facebook, and other popular networks. Sound familiar? There are many companies with significant funding and resources who are developing similar applications so it became very difficult for us to see a successful path through that market. Our team was strong but faced many challenges of communication and execution. In short, for us to really drive a lot of users to our product over some of the other startups in the space was like trying to put out a fire with a squirt gun.

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When you are a leader people listen. Things get done because of your ability to see the big picture and communicate the intended outcome. You are effective because you don’t have to do everything yourself, you have the ability to piece the big picture  together and delegate tasks appropriately. Unfortunately, becoming a “listened to” leader is tough, and takes a ton of time to develop a leadership attitude. Getting people to listen to you is the most important part to developing your leadership persona. Here are some things that I think you can do to increase your leadership persona and get people to listen. lanjut →

via flickr

While reading ‘Predictably Irrational‘, a phenomenal book by Dan Ariely, well known TED speaker, I began thinking about his discussion of Social Norms and Market Norms. I’ve re-termed them for the sake of this post to be a bit more descriptive as Social and Market Behavior Codes. I’ll first start with my own definitions of both (these are my interpretations, not from the book) the Social and Market Norms as they relate to human behavior.

Definitions

Social Behavior Code - exchanges made between two individuals/entities on a social level. These exchanges are not always equal and do not need to be balanced by more than ones interest to make the other person happy/satisfied (ie. Emotion).

Market Behavior Code – exchanges made between two individuals/entities on a market level. These exchanges must always be equal and need to be balanced by a tangible good or intangible good of tangible value (ie. Currency).

A classic example of this (used in ‘Predictably Irrational‘) is when you go to your mother-in-law’s house for Thanksgiving. If you were to stand up at the end of the meal and instead of making a toast, you say, “that was a great meal, how much do I owe you?” and then plop down $100 dollars, you’re behavior would be ridiculous. Everyone knows (on a socially normal level) that you’re not expected to pay the host of a Thanksgiving dinner. Your say thank you, maybe exchange a gift, like a bottle of wine, or bring a portion of the meal to contribute (candied yams in my fathers case). But, an exchange of money is completely inappropriate.

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We all know this is one of the worst economies in US history, and with this terrible economy comes heavy unemployment rates. Those unemployment rates have brought some really tough times for people in every market. This economy is challenging people in their goals to put their dreams into action. A few people very close to me have lost their jobs in the last 6 months and I wanted to share the advice I gave them with any one of you who may find it useful. My friend Steffan highlighted this man who has taken to the streets to find a job. You could do that, but there’s a better way.

The How To Get A Job Case Study

Recently, 37 Signals, the business software/design company hired Jason, a web designer and wrote about his hire on their blog Signal vs. Noise. They wrote about his work and the process by which he landed the job. This case study is of significant value for anyone hoping to learn the right way to land a job, even if there aren’t many available. Jason employed the following 5 tips very well in his pursuit of employment at 37S. I want to highlight some of his work and the process here. Disclaimer: I do not know Jason Zimdars but have a great deal of respect for how he landed a job at 37signals.

5 Tips For Finding A Job In This Economy… that worked!

1 – Treat Finding A Job Like A Job

When you have a job you have only one choice, to go or not to go, this is your question. However, when you don’t have a job you have so many choices. You have free time and it’s your choice how to use that time. Its all priorities and how badly you want to get back to work. If getting a full time job again is your #1 priority than you need to act as though you have a job. Then your decision simplifies again, to go or not to go.
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Paul Graham, the founder of Y-Combinator, regularly writes great articles for the startup community. His latest, ‘Startups in 13 Sentances‘, was his 13 most important tips for startup founder. As the advisor to many successful startups, I take his advice very seriously. I thought it was valuable enough to reflect on so I want to share my digestion of his thoughts here. Most thoughts I completely agree with and I share why, but some I’d like to challenge.

The top is his main point, then an excerpt, then my response.

1. Pick good cofounders.

Cofounders are for a startup what location is for real estate. You can change anything about a house except where it is. In a startup you can change your idea easily, but changing your cofounders is hard.

Response: Remember, you are one of the cofounders. Make sure you’re a good cofounder before you try and recruit someone else. At least make sure that you bring half of the founding equation to the table. Don’t try to find a technical co-founder unless you believe that you have the skills necessary to run the business side. Don’t ask your cofounder to make a commitment to the project if you can’t commit yourself. Always continue to work on your personal development so that you don’t look at yourself one day and realize that the knowledge you had is irrelevant or outdated. Don’t become stale!

2. Launch fast.

You haven’t really started working on it till you’ve launched.

Response: People always talk about this great idea they have. Oh, what it could be if only, X, Y, or Z were to happen. Nobody has great ideas, people have good ideas that haven’t been proven or tested. I believe that you can’t have a truly great idea if it’s stuck in your head. Ideas only become great when they are proven and put into action. You don’t know how people will react until your product or service is out there competing and you have customers.

3. Let your idea evolve.

Most of the ideas appear in the implementing.

Response: I wasn’t sure how this blog post was going to turn out until I started writing, and you sure as hell won’t know how your company is going to progress until you get going on it. Start fast (point 2) and see where the beast takes you. Twitter started as Odeo, a podcasting company, but Ev and Biz stayed open to other ideas and Twitter took off.

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via mario.nolla

I’m now working on startup numero 3. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process but I’ve not really enjoyed the process, yet. As in, I’ve not made it. I’ve yet to create anything that was sell-able, sustainable, or strong enough to go full time on. So, I decided to make a list for myself of the first 25 things that I should do before really diving into the next one. Each step or tip has a link to resources on making that step happen. Follow these steps (not necessarily in order) so that you don’t have to use tip #26.

Here’s what you’ll first need to do in order to really start on the right foot.

1. Get Your Head Right
2. Build The Right Foundation
3. Put Your Lipstick On and Pucker Up
4. Getting Attention
5. Oh Yea, You May Need Money

Get Your Head Right

There are so many great blogs out there with experienced advice on starting businesses that it’s foolish not to read them. Spend some time learning from the experience and mistakes of others.

“Smart men learn from their own mistakes, Genius’s learn from the mistakes of others.”  -Unknown

1. Start a Business with Passion – Loic Lemeur is one of the most passionate entrepreneurs I’ve watched. He talks about how to start with passion.
   
2. Read Getting Started - This book by 37 Signals is one of the best books for starting a technology business. How to develop with style, speed, adn efficiency using Agile. Learn from the great companies especially when the provide such a valuable & insightful resource.

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via world economic forum

Why THE DREAM IN ACTION Has A Forum

I’ve decided to add a forum to THE DREAM IN ACTION because I want the site to be more than one to many communication. Simply put, I think putting your dreams into action on a daily basis is as much a group thing as an individual thing. I truly believe that the inspiration you can get from other peoples change is powerful and can serve as a catalyst for change and action in your life.

Also, I think that the readers of this blog are powerfully intelligent and it would be foolish of me to not provide an outlet for other readers to benefit from that collective insight. With a forum anyone can ask a question and anyone can provide an answer.

Why Forums Are Beneficial

Forums are very beneficial for collecting and filtering he wisdom of crowds. Blogs like Zenhabits and 4-Hour Work Week that center around ideas that can change your life are perfect examples of how a solid forum can provide great benefit to readers looking for a little more than on author/blogger can provide. Here are a few more reasons why Forums work.

• Forums encourage a wide variety of contributors. Many popular forums with large audiences have members who are experienced and enjoy helping other people solve problems or get inspired.
• Forums drive discussion. Blog comments are great but it’s still difficult for one commenter to speak directly to another. Disqus commenting system helps but I still see value for group discussion in a forum environment. Discussions get people thinking and challenged, and more discussion is never a bad thing.
• Forums allow YOU to participate. The forum will be moderately moderated. Most discussion will be open and free within reason so the least experienced entrepreneur can dialog with VC’s or corporate CEO’s, anyone can join, no go out and recruit!
• Forums allow branding/promotion. Our forum will allow you have a signature — which is like a form of advertisement. Intelligent comments will drive traffic to your blog or website, this is a reward for valuable participation.

10 Steps To Dominating Your Forum

Now that the forums are setup, how are you supposed to use theme. This 10 Step Guide To Forums will help you use the forum effectively and participate in a more direct conversation with other readers.

1. Use The Forum With Purpose - While forums are an excellent resource for deeper discussions, they can also be a huge time-consuming activity if you aren’t careful. Be intentional with why you are joining the forum at any specific time. Are you getting a question answered? Or, are you helping out other readers? Either is a legitimate use but make sure your careful because time flies when you’re having fun.

2. Be A Resource. This is the best way to get your questions answered quickly and thoroughly, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Make sure to ask your own questions from time to time though (be human), by focusing on helping out other readers you will quickly increase your value to them and drive traffic to your site.

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I was checking out the new site 100twt.com that follows the top 100 most followed Twitterers when I came across this tweet from Diddy. This is a call out from Diddy asking his followers for inspirational quotes. Below are his next week of Tweets. See any RT’s?

No retweets (RT’s) at all. At first I was pretty disappointed and I started writing this post pointing out how important it is to follow through with your promises. In personal life as in business, when you make a promise to people, they have an expectation of what they will receive from you, and it is imperative that you deliver upon that promise, their loyalty to you depends on it. This is why McDonald’s is so successful. When you go into Mac D’s anywhere in the world, you expect the same experience, and because of McDonald’s impeccable ability to replicate the process of making your hamburger in sub 3 minutes, you receive that burger, and it tastes exactly the same.

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This week I’ve been listening to Richard Branson’s: Business Stripped Bare (on audio book), for the second time. It’s a book that, at first, does not seem immediately applicable for someone who is not already running a successful business or conglomerate like Branson’s Virgin, but after paying closer attention to the themes and advice in the book I’ve realized it’s incredibly appropriate and actionable.

There are 7 main themes in the book that Branson goes into depth on. He settled upon these themes after digging through years of his personal “lessons learned” journal and collecting the highlights. The themes are (my thoughts in italics):

1. People – the absolute core of any business or organization
2. Brands & Marketing – Virgin isn’t focused on any industry but succeeds because of the brand
3. Delivery (Execution) – Without delivery on a ‘promise’ you won’t have customers

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Everyone dreams about what they would ‘ideally’ do with their lives. Everyone has ideas of how they could improve their life in order to live their dreams. Don’t you want more meaningful relationships, more social influence, and a thicker wallet? You and I will both will always be interested in how we can improve our professional situation, seek more adventure, and help those in need. Those interests and the processes leading to the fulfillment of them, are THE DREAM IN ACTION.

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Fantastic week of fundraising!  Thank you for donating and helping us spread the word about the LibraryForLaos.org campaign!

Unfortunately we did not hit our lofty goal of $5,000, but we were still able to raise a substantial $1,500 that will fund reading programs and book purchases in the rural villages of Laos!  With a village reading program costing $250, our campaign will bring the joy of reading to approximately 500 rural impoverished children!

Although the OFFICIAL fundraiser is over, we will keep the donations button on the website up and running over the next week to accommodate any stragglers.  If you have any family or friends who did not have a change to contribute,  ITS NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE! - http://libraryforlaos.org

Stay tuned to our Updates page for coverage of the FIRST reading program (”book party”) funded by LFL.org campaign donations – COMING SOON!!

Again, Allen Burt and I sincerely want to thank all of you for contributing to this fantastic cause.  Together we are helping to shape the future of literacy in Laos!

Let me first just say…

ONLY ONE DAY LEFT.

Make your donation now and JOIN HUNDREDS OF OTHER PEOPLE in fighting illiteracy in Laos.

So, we’ve gone 4 strong days of fund raising and you guys are awesome. The total is at $1212 and we have about 24 hours to go. My expectation is that there will be a bit of a surge at the end of people who were waiting to donate until the end.

We should probably acknowledge at this point that our bold goal of $5,000 will be tough to hit unless some significant donation come in at the end. However, with that said if we can get to $1,800 by tomorrow night we will be able to provide 1000 books for children, and that’s nothing to belittle. That picture above is about 300 books and the idea that we’ll be able to provide 3-4x that amount is AMAZING!

We’re very excited to see what people com up with in this last day! Again, any help that you can provide by donating and/or emailing http://libraryforlaos.org out to your friends and colleagues is very much appreciated! See you tomorrow night at the final bell.