When Hiring Programmers, Watch for Scams!

In my opinion, one of the riskiest tasks to creating an internet startup is the hiring of programmers to build and develop your website. Especially, for those of you who are web entrepreneurs, but not programmers. The bottom line is you have got to check these people out! I am so tired of seeing people get ripped off. Why, because it almost happened to me during my first venture and it actually did happen to one of my colleagues. Nobody ever thinks it could happen to them, yet some of the smartest people get taken every day. I like to to use the analogy that programmers are like home contractors, they can build you something great or they can take you to the cleaners. You have got to do your homework on these people! I cannot stress this point enough. Don't just check their portfolio, find the contacts under each website in their portfolio and give them a call. If there aren't any contacts, be weary. If there are, call these people and get some feedback. Get references, but don't just ask for two or three. Ask them to supply you with ten and then you decide which ones to call. Anybody can find people to give bogus references. So don't be surprised if you think your calling the CEO of some company, but it turns out to be his best friend. The bottom line is these guys are good. Very good! They know exactly what it takes to earn your trust and appear legitimate. My dad always told me that the greatest scammers are the best at appearing honest and sincere. Thats how they suck you in! A colleague of mine who spent about a year of his life creating an internet business related to the music industry, fell victim to one of these scum bags. Its really ashame because he had a great idea too. This company appeared so legit that he even flew out to visit their office and did not suspect anything. I would have fallen victim to this company as well, but my gut told me that two things were suspicious. First off, the guy just appeared to be trying to earn my trust a little too much. He sent me a video of the company, he even sent pictures of him and his family. It just didn't seem right. Always trust your gut, I've found that its usually right. Secondly, for a company that was supposed to have over eighty employees, this alleged CEO had just a little bit to much time on his hands to try and convince me to use his services. Even their site looks kosher and I must admit, its actually kind of cool http://www.ispg.co.in/. You be the judge. Happy hunting and tread carefully...

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The Art of Keeping Yourself Uncomfortable and Hungry

Working from a coffee shop... or watching the dogs play while it's still light out and blogging from an iPhone... These are some of the things I wanted to try while I found myself some some free time. As some of my close friends know, last week I was discharged from my day job on the claim that I had violated the company's confidential information agreement. While I can confidently say that I didn't break the rules while I was employed, I can see why my day job would assume I did, and why it was necessary to pre-release me given the limited facts and the eventual outcome. In the business world, employees are replaceable, large clients; not so much.

While I'm an advocate of full disclosure, evident by the existence of this blog; I'm not sure how much I can talk about this particular incident just yet. If in time, this turns out to be what I hope it is, then things should smooth itself out. However, if it turns out to be something more serious; then I'm sure there will be a lot of learnings to be dished out here once it's all over. Either way, I'm sure you guys will benefit from from my choices so at least the information is helping someone.

So moving on... what's the art of keeping yourself uncomfortable and hungry and why would anyone want to do that?

Keeping yourself uncomfortable is basically the serial entrepreneurs' motto for life because it drives us to achieve greater things. This is the reason why seasoned CEO's leave cushy jobs to join startups and why new and innovative companies succeed where stagnant companies fail. The same can be observed in people. Back in college, it seemed like the individuals who never wanted to learn or do anything hard were the ones who had everything they need including money, security, trust funds, etc. These people simply were too comfortable in their lives to have cause and it's a shame... cause some of them were smart.

I would imagine this "uncomfortable" startup advice would be on the same level as the "raise money from the 3F's" in that it's easy to comprehend, but it takes guts to execute; and quite honestly it doesn't guarantee fortune or success. In fact, the only sure things are that you will be uncomfortable and hungry.

So here it is: Whether you're already successful or not, you should always force yourself to take the less traveled route so you don't lose that hunger of wanting more. Without that desire, you'll eventually lose your edge and you'll stop wanting - which is bad if you're trying to be cutting edge.

For example, if you're goal isn't to be a startup and you actually like your job; performance based bonuses are going to be your main driver. Most sales aggressive companies have already figured this out and they use that technique to challenge and reward their star performers. (Give them what they need to live survive on, but make them earn the rest.)

So how does this work for an individual?

It's always hard to convince someone to leave a position that they've grown accustomed to take on something new. I'm sure this is why so many recruiters in the Atlanta area are having a terrible time trying to get people to jump ships even for the exact same position. After all, after months or years of training, you should be great at what you do and you are likely to be able to run your routine w/o too much effort even if the position is a hard one. However, on the flip side, the fear of something new can also be paralyzing and in turn, push away greater, better opportunities. This is where making yourself uncomfortable can help.

The best analogy I can come up with is a tooth ache (or any kind of body ache). If the pain is mild, you do what you can to patch it. What lies out there is a solution to completely stop the pain, but honestly, you're just not that uncomfortable enough to take action because it won't kill ya. On the other hand, if the pain is severe and you're faced with the possibly losing a tooth or a limb, suddenly you take charge, find solutions and in your spare time look for backup plans. While this probably isn't the way to approach life on a day-to-day basis, it's important to note that putting yourself in that position often gets you results, whether you like the process or not.

How does being uncomfortable work for startups?

By definition, startups and established brands are two completely different beings. One tries to bring new order while the other tries to maintain their established order. The reason they can even compete is because most startups have what established brands lack, and that's desire. Now, I know you're going to say that giant brands have desire too. Yes, they certainly do... but where startups succeed and where established brands fail are usually in the level of desire in which they have to compete.

It's like saying rich people and poor people both love great deals; and they do! However, the intensity that poor people (or companies) will go to get these deals are way, Way, WAY more extreme than what most rich people (or companies) are willing to do. Let's say both Paris Hilton and Joe Hobo are offered a chance to win a brand new Range Rover, (or for your sake, a brand new rack of web hosting servers.) To win it, the contestant would have to keep their hands on the vehicle for the longest time. Ummm - who do you think will win? Who do you envision got more uncomfortable (and was willing to) in the process?

Yes, this is why disadvantaged companies CAN compete and this is also why being uncomfortable and hungry can help you stay sharp and competitive even if you lack most of the other ingredients.

Intuit Business Competition Update

Awhile ago, I posted about an Intuit Social Network/Business Competition that wants entrepreneurs to fork over their idea in exchange for a chance to win some cash. Well today, I got an email from their team stating that the judges will soon be checking out the entries and that we should start promoting our entry so it will make an impression with them.

I was originally going to write a simple post saying: "Hey! Check out our entry..." but after checking out the site myself, I'm really not sure how effective this site is for promoting and awarding good ideas.

First of all, the site is flash based and the overall usability stinks. You land on the site and it's not exactly clear what your next step is and what is/isn't clickable. Secondly, whatever server(s) this site is on, is not keeping up with demand. Images are broken, things take awhile to load... and so on and so on. Basically, they've broken 2 of the very basic rules of web business 101 and whether it's Intuit that's backing this up or someone's basement server, the experience is not friendly for their intended audience.

With regards to the link they sent me for referrals, not only do you not go directly to our entry when you click on the link above... you actually have to either do something or wait a tad bit before our entry shows up. I can only imagine who the big shot corporate guy behind this is that thought that'd be a good idea to force people to sign up to vote. As a side note, even if you sign up, I'm not sure if it's all that obvious how you'd vote.

So yeah... we have an entry, potentially our idea may be seen but at this point, I think we're better off alone. However, if you'd LIKE to submit your own idea, you should check it out and do so within the next few days.

Edgeio... Not Good Enough to Edge Out the Competition

So according to TechCrunch, Edgeio will be shutting down by the end of 2007. Considering the growing number of classified aggregators on the web (e.g. Oodle.com, Vast.com, etc.) I am honestly surprised this one would fall before the others.

I don't remember if I've done business with Edgeio but I do remember working with Oodle.com in my day job. If I had to base this on nothing else besides execution, I would say that Oodle did a better job squeezing money out of advertisers than Edgeio did. Why? Because I don't think I've ever seen a rep from Edgeio nor do I understand their business model; assuming they had one.

I guess the bottom line is - when all else is equal, everything comes down to execution. I've seen great ideas executed poorly as well as the difference it could make if a more experienced team were in charge. I'm not sure who all handled Edgeio's day to day but with $5 million in funding as well as a full staff, I would love to learn where it went down hill.

Is there a blog of venue that interviews dead pool CEOs? If not, there really should be one. It seems like everyone only focus on the winners.

Blog Widgets - Which Ones Should You Install?

Here are some info on the blog widgets we use on this blog. Some of the info may be useful, others (like the widgets them-self), not so much.

Skribit finally launched into private beta (part 2). The website has been updated and a few bloggers outside of the founding team have been invited to test the widget out. I can see on some of the blogs testing the widget that the suggestions have been pretty useful. We definitely need some more suggestions on here -- feel free to ask us to write about anything on the right. No logins required! If you currently have a blog and gets about 6000 or less RSS subscribers, let me know and maybe we can sign you up with a test account.

Another widget we've installed on here is the MyBlogLog widget. There seems to be a few variations of this widget out there with different presentations on the blog side but I've found the system to be a bit buggy such that images and profile info I've submitted have mysteriously disappeared time after time. I'm not sure if this is a common bug in the system but you'd figured with Yahoo! backing this thing, that the widget would be less buggy than Skribit, but I guess not.

With MyBlogLog, I have found that if you have a blog and like to surf others, this platform is great for cross linking your blog and getting other users to view yours. You would think that people who visit your blog would have similar interest therefore clicking on those users may show similar blogs. For the most part, you'd be right! Though I have found that some people can game the system based on what profile picture they provide. (Things that make you go hrmm....)

Finally, in another attempt to get more users for this blog, we've signed up with BlogRush as a recommendation from Bryan. So far, I can't say I've been impressed. I've noticed no noticeable increase to our traffic nor have I seen any extremely related recommendations shown in there. The widget presentation is also a bit commercial-like which may make itself an automatic blind spot for users. I'll leave it on for a full month to see if it changes its behavior but so far, even with manual approvals to get in the network, the service seems to be lacking.

I would equate this to be the same as the old MSN bCentral banner network. You get a credit for each impression you show and in turn your RSS title gets shown elsewhere. Except with this system, you're really just helping the rich get richer and not really helping the blog newbies at all.

Excellent Point...

Wei brings up a great point that I've been doing a lot of research on the last few days, having been sick and able to spend some extra YouTube time.

I've been watching a lot of Newt Gingrich speeches lately and he gives some of the greatest methods by which our country can achieve goals like high mileage cars: prizes. Giving money away to people for the sake of it only makes people want more money and stifles progress. People are greedy and will exploit such subsidies. However, look at the Ansari X-Prize, a prize to be the first private venture to get a craft in low earth orbit and back to Earth in a reusable shell. It took almost 10 years and $100 million of private money. The prize was only $10 million, however, the technologies developed along the way by Scaled Composites and the other teams will surely outstrip the cost of construction. (Side Note: How much does it take NASA to get a shuttle into space? :) There are now a number of X Prizes (including the Automotive X PRIZE) which shows that people want progress and they understand the government will not be the ones to help them. Govrenment representatives are being bought off by special intrest groups and the American machine suffers. As in the early 1900s, the political bosses controlled Washington and local governments with bribes and kickbacks, donations and slush funds create political machines that dictate the direction of Washington these days. Let me be clear though, Big Business is good for America. They contribute hugely to society and our country as a whole. The current political laws and people's willingness to let their representatives be corrupted by these groups are the problem. But I digress....

I hope they eventually wake up and offer incentives like the X Prize to advance our technologies and inspire budding entrepreneurs in years to come. How many different advances could we offer in the way of energy alone with ideas like nuclear fusion reactors (Polywells, for example) or microwave solar collectors in Earth orbit for unlimited supplies of energy.

Bootstrap Entrepreneurs Should Run the Country...

Our Congressional leaders have spent some time, probably a few million (in the process) and have come to the agreement that cars and trucks are required to have a MINIMUM miles per gallon rating of 35 MPG; but by the year 2020!

If this was the conclusion from a meeting that happened in 1978, I may not have been so repulsed when I heard about it. But this happened today, when most foreign automakers have already met and exceeded this requirement. I mean, do they not remember the Toyota commercials where kids were screaming 35! 48! 60! Those are MPG ratings people! They certainly were not additional sides added to the AD&D dice. (Do people still play that?)

With such pathetic requirements handed down by the government, it's no wonder we're falling behind. Innovation comes from need, annoyance and unexpected surprises. Apparently our annoyances have not hit a peak where change is mandated. At this point, I'm not really sure if this is the fault of us needing to rely on foreign oil or if the Big 3 have been using money to bribe the government instead of spending it on some serious R&D.

Had bootstrap entrepreneurs been running the country, we would have been far FAR ahead in solving these problems now.

What we really need is to throw down some serious, meaningful and immediate deadlines; right now. When we decided to go to the moon in a few years, we did it. When we realized we needed to fix ALL the computers in the world for Y2K, we did it in two or three years. Why should this be any different?

If no one is pushing the top three automakers that actually have the funds for research and innovation, then what hope do we have for change and mass adoption? If nothing else, Big 3 should at least look towards buying up small companies that have developed the technologies that are available today instead of spending more money trying to reinvent the wheel. Take a lesson from Google or Microsoft. It's still (very) possible to buy up smaller companies, take their great qualities, merge it with your own, and be profitable and green. Show us you care and are not sitting on your butts and sales may just pick up...

Business is Cold Hearted... You Should Be Too.

A recurring theme has been popping into my conversations lately... Whether it's starting a business, trying to shut down a business, dealing with how to raise babies or approaching someone new who you'd like to meet; emotions cloud judgment.

Have you ever wondered why your friends or that random person on the plane can provide the voice of reason when you just can't figure something (simple) out? It's because they lack the emotional or financial investment you have into your problem; therefore they have the clarity that you lack.

I've found in the past I can chat it up with random, pretty girls with zero problems unless I happen to have feelings for them. Once I realize I like them, everything pretty much clamps up and I start to act-a-fool. Funny how these things work against you when you want to care.

The same can be said with business matters. Many entrepreneurs have tunnel vision when starting their new venture. Though most are envisioning success, their execution veers off based on the founders' ulterior motives. A simple question I ask most entrepreneurs in midst of a startup is: Are you really doing it for the reward (the payoff) or are you doing it for other things? (e.g. learning programming, coding for fun, coding to solve a problem, killing time, etc.) From an outsider's perspective, I see a lot of startup decisions being made to satisfy the ulterior motives while very few are kept on track for the quickest, biggest pay off. (...and I honestly can't explain why the founders aren't seeing it too.)

Whether it's business or personal, the same general rule seems to apply. If you want to make the most logical decision with regards to a problem, you should throw your emotions out the window and focus on the facts/numbers. If you ignore the facts, everything you do will either slow you down or steer you off track.

I must admit, I've been struggling with this myself on a business I've been trying to shut down. With a demanding day job and working on two new start-ups, I really don't have the time, energy or the financial support to continue working on my old website.

However, I hate to lose and as much as I should just shut it all down like Chef Gordon Ramsey does when his kitchen staff begin to fall out of sync, something inside me just refuses to kill off the dying, unprofitable website that's been slowly bleeding my energy and cash flow. Maybe now that this is written down on paper, I will do what's right correct instead of hoping some miracle will revive it.

After all, this is business... it's nothing personal, right?

Office Space - Not Quite There Yet...

In my day job, we've been working on redecorating our office space for the last few months. It started with new *matching* desks replacing the old ones. I swear, I don't know the original reasoning behind it but everyone literally had a different modeled desk. It was so bad that I thought our office manager had a secret blog that reviewed different models of office desks.

However, now that all desk problems are solved, we're running into issues on how to divide up the space. Again, we now have various models of dividers and partitions none of which are standard cubicle stuff.

Anyway, I found this Office Snapshots link today which I thought was cool. Maybe one day when our startup upgrades to an office, we'll have something to look forward to. In the meantime, maybe we can get some ideas to save my day job space.

The Freedom of Self Employment...

I miss the freedom of self employment. Where else can you hold two separate iChat work meetings (development and marketing), blast iTunes, watch TV, surf Facebook and be logged into 3 computers all at the same time?

Did I mention I wasn't wearing pants? Alright, I was wearing pants... but still

I certainly don't have that kind of freedom during the day.

On a separate and completely unrelated note, can someone help me figure this out?

iPod earphones work on the Macbook
iPhone earphones work on the Macbook
iPod earphones does not work on the iPhone...

what gives?

Web Design 101 - Wireframe in Practice

A couple of months ago, I talked about the importance of designing a website in wire frames. Now that we finally secured the design and the xhtml code, I can finally go into some details into the thought process behind the whole thing. By-the-Wei, if you haven't checked out our old post, you should check it out and the link that's associated with it. It will give you a much better idea of the information below.

Because our site isn't officially launched yet, I will only cover part one of the design process for now. We feel comfortable disclosing this part because it actually looks like nothing like the final product, but maybe this will give you some ideas for your site while we wrap up our stuff.

Before we officially began the project, I did a quick research to see what web 2.0 design was about. Whether you think "web 2.0" is a fad term or not, there is definitely something about the look of the new breed of websites that gave you a cleaner, more Zen like feel. Web 2.0 design is about balancing text with white space; it's not about cramming as much text and information as you can above the fold to get the most out of your real estate. If you get a chance to check out many of today's new start-ups, you'd get that feeling.

Some of the examples I've found... Oodle.com vs. Craigslist.org, Apple.com vs. MSN.com. When you go there, you see a distinct clear vs. busy.

Some other things I've noticed while doing research... web 2.0 sites are mostly about 960 pixels wide and most of them have a bold statement, text explaining the site. While our site will still be catering to people with 800x600 resolutions, future web logs will tell me if width expansion will be necessary.

The first mock-up our designer came back with was the above image. Like most of you are probably thinking, I too was wondering why certain elements are positioned the way they are. There just appeared to be so much wasted space around the logo; even if the goal was branding. Also, the bold line of text was new for me... new being uneasy.

I went back to the designer and insisted that we needed to do something about the prime real estate that was wasted up top. Even though I'm all for embracing web 2.0, some things as a biz dev guy, I just can't let go of. Unfortunately, real estate is one of them.

The second comp the designer came back with was the above. This one was heavily influenced by me jamming my ideas and requirements into the mix. Since I didn't understand the research section, we condensed the top to focus on just buyers and sellers. After all, we're thinking that someone who comes to our site has a need... and we're here to fill that need for speed (to buy and sell).

However, the second comp above presented a problem. Even though it crams more data together, we have two ad units placed right next to each other. Although this may be okay for some of our competitors... we felt that it would be unfair to our potential advertisers to be grouped that close to a potential competitor. So with that, we made a minor tweak to separate the two a tad bit.

This iteration of the design came out pretty well and it was something we stuck with for some time as we moved towards designing the internal pages. The next time we cover this topic, I will finish up with what we did for the home page and internal pages.