Why don’t we just get a job and shut up? October 20, 2009
Posted by Mike in : About, Entrepreneurship, Mike, Money, Opportunities , add a commentSince the economy tanked in Michigan, all the talent have taken their pink slips, packed up thier goods, and headed for the coasts. I’m guessing they figure if your going to be broke you might as well have an ocean and a viable city to be it in. Especially in the post Auto-Bust era the suburbs of Detroit have suffered through. Even I, in a panic, took a job at the University of Michigan as a temp. $18/hour. No bennies. No health. Cinder block walls, buzzing computers and four guys in a 12×12 cube they called the Bull Pen.
Definition of “Bull Pen”:
“A temporary holding area for prisoners, as in a courthouse.”
And oh yes…it was. The only sounds were the breathing of the other guys, and occasionally the breath of your “boss” over your shoulder as he is looking at what you’re doing and you jump out of your boots going “Jesus! Announce yourself. You almost gave me a stroke!”. That doesn’t go over well by the way.
The only advantage of a job is if you work for 2 quarters and accumulate enough paid time in total to make 1.5 times your highest month’s pay…which I did by 200 dollars…you can collect unemployment when they fire you. Which they did. Thank you. The lesson there was a “full time” job means you won’t have any time to do anything else. As my dad always said: “When you’re working for someone else, you’re just working for someone else”. All the promises in the world, or the hopes based on someone else’s whims or the strength of the market mean nothing. My sister worked for GM for 25 years, they let her go in 15 minutes with a pocket sized kleenex (which they asked for back if she didn’t need them) and that was it. No pension. No retirement. So tell me there is security in anything, even life. You take life and make life.
Getting a job? No. We have reduced all expenses to bare minimum. Survival living. Time is the gold, not money. Living lean means eating healthier, working out, sleeping when needed versus in your cube having to explain its your lunch hour and wanting to say go fuck off instead. I picked Fuck off.
Two misfits blog about their attempt to make 1 million dollars in 1 year as entrepreneurs. October 1, 2009
Posted by Rio in : About, Mike, Rio , 1 comment so farThe story so far: Two unlikely allies, starting with only a few dozen half-baked ideas, have set a goal to earn a million dollars in one year. In this economy, the world needs more people like us. People who make their own way. Implementors of ideas, capitalistic adventurers. But we have limited experience and maybe $275 between us in our bank accounts. Call us naive. But we hustle. Question is, do we have what it takes to combine our abilities, create a viable business, and make something of ourselves?
Here are the characters:
Mike, 48, recently divorced and very broke. Part mad computer-scientist, part Vinnie Barbarino. People call him hard-edged but also hilarious in a quirky way. Likes riding motor scooters, using obscene language and occasionally, just occasionally, wearing a studded collar.
Rio, 22, born in Arizona and raised in Stuttgart, Germany, has a shiny new degree in Economics. Part scientist, part artist, she’s beautiful, fearless, and has a wit as sharp as her tongue. Give her an idea and a computer and she’s as dangerous as Lara Croft on a jet ski.
So here we are. We’re the first to admit that we make the most unlikely pair, but we do generate some great ideas. What we have learned so far is nothing like it’s been described in business schools, books, or self help manuals. We’re starting afresh, throwing all we have into taking our ideas and going somewhere as entrepreneurs. Join us as we document our follies, failures, and successes in the hope that our experiences can make you laugh, learn, dream and create something wonderful of your own.