The internet is a series of tubes..

An extremely tech saavy old congressman once told me that the Internet is a series of tubes. Well in the late nineties the information going through said tubes was apparently VERY valuable.

In class on Monday we talked about the net bubble. It was interesting to listen to how it really went down. When all of this happened I was like 13 and just getting into computers. My dad bought a 3500$ Gateway as our first computer. It had a staggering 100 mhz and 16 megs of ram. I remember when websites were absurdly basic, and you had to deal with the slow internet that came as a result of a loud box making weird beeps.

I had no clue how crazy investors got. I remember hearing a bit about it, but I was young and didn't care. I drew a lot of parallels between it and the housing/banking problem we just saw. It really looks like greed is a terrifying force. Some of the actions described in the lecture were so absurd that I can't believe anyone could do that with a straight face. I mean I guess if you see an opportunity to become a millionaire in a month it will look great, but to justify it enough to say "meh who cares how many thousands of investors are investing in a fake company" is pretty heartless.

It really sounds like an exciting time to have been alive. I wish I had been a computer science major back then. I'm hoping to get a similarly crazy experience out of my late 20's.

-Caleb

A Visit from Michele Armstrong

Last class we had another guest speaker. This time it was Michele Armstrong.

Michele works for Vulcan Inc, a company owned by Paul Allen. Her job is to find and hire people to work there. It was very interesting to here her discuss the process Vulcan goes through because it is a very exclusive company, so getting a job there is harder than the average job interview.

One thing she talked about that was particularly interesting was her suggestion to market yourself on social networks. I thought Facebook was more just a means to check and make sure your potential employee isn't a nutjob. Michele however suggested a few strategies to finding and getting a job.

-She said to market yourself on Facebook. By that I mean that we should treat Facebook like a resume, and make sure it reflects us in a professional way.
-She said to follow the companies you want to work for on Twitter. Apparently companies are increasingly posting job listings on Twitter. You can also find out more about the culture at the company by seeing it's "tweets."
-She said it is essential to have a LinkedIn account. I didn't really know what LinkedIn is, but I definitely made an account after she suggested it. It is quite the interesting professinal tool.
-She had a similar point to her Facebook point about myspace as well.

Another suggestion she gave was to make sure we check craigslist.org for job listings. Even at Vulcan, a decently prestigious company, they use craigslist.org. It is a cheap, effective way for a company to market itself, and if a company like Vulcan is doing it I guarantee plenty of software companies are doing it. Apparently a corporate membership to sites like Monster.com costs Vulcan 20k a year. That is crazy expensive.

Anyway it was a very insightful look into how high level hiring is done. I got some good tips and some good insight that should help me when I start looking for a job after graduation.

-Caleb Benningfield

A Visit from Derek Young

Monday in our class, Entrepreneur Derek Young came to talk to us.

Derek Young is what people might call a "serial entrepreneur". He specializes in web-based companies and has a series of businesses designed to foster business growth and general interest in Tacoma. His site exit133.com is a web-zine of sorts that features events and news based around Tacoma. He also founded Suite 133, which is business space that people can rent to work out of when they want to start a company, or have a company that is small enough to not need it's own full time business space.

One of his newest ventures is Seasonal View, a company made of him and other experienced individuals that basically contract to large companies to help them organize or develop call centers.

His presentation was cool because he shares certain ideals with me. For example, he wants to engineer his career so that he can go anywhere and do anything and still be able to work. That has always been one of my goals, and it's interesting to see someone actually beginning to make that happen.

Derek was a wealth of information and it was great to have him.


EDIT: I think I've asked 5 questions total.

A Visit from Bruce Kendall

The lights went dim and a cloud of steam rolled across the floor. The door burst open from behind us and a flood of light filled the room. The anticipation of the crowd rose. A silhouette disrupts the glow from the door, Bruce Kendal struts in with his six-shooter and a lit cigar. The lives of the people were never the same again...

..or at least that's how I remember it.

Bruce Kendall came into our class last time we met to talk about his work for the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. It was interesting to listen to him talk about his work because I didn't know organizations like this exist. Basically the EDB looks at Tacoma as an economic garden and they are the gardener. Their job is to decide what part of the garden needs the most help, then fertilize it (with money) and help it grow. Their ultimate goal is to make Tacoma a gigantic garden that wins awards and stuff... ...yeah the analogy is falling apart pretty bad so I'll move on.

His presentation really made me want to open a business downtown, or at least buy a condo. He showed how Tacoma has evolved and how all of these major elements are bringing in growth and commerce from around the world. If I were to open a business now, then as the city becomes bigger and better it would bring more and more people to my store front. Potentially 20 years from now I would have one of the better pieces of business real estate in Washington.

He also invited us to a conference towards the end of March that I am going to try to go to. His presentation really sparked my interest and I would love to hear more about the efforts being made to improve pierce county economically.

My Strengths and Weaknesses

For class we were asked to blog about our strengths and weaknesses are in regards to our business ideas. Here are a few of each.

My strengths:

-Creativity. I am a very creative guy and would be good to have on a design team.

-Logic. I am good at breaking problems down logically to find solutions.

-Dedication. When I become a part of something I have no problems dedicating myself to it.

-Sociable. I work well with others, and can typically strike up a conversation with anyone. I get along with everyone.

-Technical. I am great with computers.

-Handling pressure and stress

My weaknesses:

-Focus. I am easily distracted.

-Perspective. I am not good at viewing things from the perspective of others, meaning it might be a problem for me to imagine the needs of customers.

-Monotony. I can't repeat the same cycle for too long or I get bored.

-Having rational expectations. All of my expectations are based on what I would do and thus i develop unrealistic expectations for others.

So I would want to surround myself with people that could keep me focused and grounded. When I make my decisions, I want people who will tell me realistically whether the customers would want that or if it merely makes sense to me. For example the iPad, Apple's new toy, is an absolutely useless hunk of trash to me. It's literally a large iPod touch. All of it's competitor's products are better and cheaper. However, that thing will sell like water in a desert. Were I told about this product, I would scoff at it. I need someone who can say "wait, I know you wouldn't use it, but most people would love it."

Breakfast with John Goodman

John Goodman came to speak to our class today and it was quite the experience. From the moment she started talking I could tell she had a wealth of knowledge to share. As she spoke, her eyes reflected her personality as clearly as if it were written in front of us. Ms. Goodman could go from a caring, nurturing look, to a look of cold hard strength seamlessly multiple times per minute. It was clear that she is very passionate about what she was talking about, and that she was well versed in the virtues and difficulties that lie in front of the budding entrepreneur.

She said so much that it's difficult to really focus on a specific part. She did mention many strong points that she called "Goodmanisms" that I want to reflect on. This is, of course, only a taste of what she had to say.

Goodmanisms:

1. "Brilliant ideas are a dime a dozen. People who can implement them are as scarce as hens teeth."

- This was about how easy it is to come up with a great idea, yet finding someone who can make it happen in a way that achieves the goal is hard to do.

2. "Money is just a way to keep score."

- This is very poignant to me. She said it in regards to people who start businesses to make money with no regard for passion. I agree with it entirely. Yes, money is important. However, more important is finding something you are passionate about to make the money. If money is just the way to keep score, you can focus your efforts on far more important things.

3. "There's a new bus every five minutes"

- This is a good one too. She brought it up when discussing how to pick people for your board of directors. What it means is that if someone doesn't feel right, feel free to move on. There are plenty of people out there are you're bound to find one that fits your strategy better.

4. "If you don't learn to tolerate stress and ambiguity, don't be an entrepreneur."

- I like this quote because it kind of exemplifies one of her major points. Being an entrepreneur is an enormous amount of work and if you aren't ready for stress you should pick a different profession.

Overall I took away multiple large points. The first is that you should not get into this business if you are only here for money. The second is that it is extremely important to surround yourself with a variety of intelligent people to help you keep your head on straight. The last is that making a business plan should be a very big process. You need to make sure you have every angle figured out when you start pitching it. This includes market research.

All in all it was an amazing experience.

-noodles

Ted Mosby is a Terrible Father!

So recently I have become a huge fan of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. It is clever, and fresh, and interesting. It makes me want to move to New York and wear suits.

However, over the course of the TV show the writing has strayed pretty far from the premise of Ted telling his children the story of how he met their mother. The element is still there, but it has lost any sense of reality.

Ted has occasionally mentioned how much he looks forward to one day telling his kids the story of how he met their mother over the course of the story, but I don't think any real father would tell this story to his kids.

Let's recap the stories Ted has theoretically told his kids...

-the story of how he got in a three way
-various stories about him and his buddies trolling for bar skanks
-various stories about him and his friends smoking weed in college
-personal stories about his friends and the poor decisions they have made
-stories of adultery
-stories in which they are constantly drinking, or at bars
-stories about all the women he was with before their mother

I mean who would tell their kids that? What kind of values is he teaching them? "Hey kids, it's awesome to sleep with everyone you can, get high during school, get drunk a lot as an adult, and gloat about it." I mean, the story is theoretically supposed to be romantic, but what is romantic about all of the things he has experienced prior to his marriage? So many of these stories have NOTHING to do with that.

Now I'm not saying it's a bad show. I love the show. I think it's hilarious. I even find that the voice of Bob Saget's narrative to be an awesome element to the show. I'm just saying that the idea the show is based on is pretty disturbing if you consider that each show is supposed to be a story he is telling his kids...

-noodles