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.
Who are these f*in people and why isn’t everyone an entrepreneur? October 10, 2009
Posted by Mike in : Entrepreneurship, Mike, People , add a commentEntrepreneurship is pain. Hard pain.
People snap. They dump it all, they go to Hollywood to discover themselves, they get a job, they become a bum or go to grad school.
It’s why no one does it, its why morons can become rich just cause they tried longer.
It’s why people are drawn to positions or titles of empowerment. CEO, Doctor, PHD. We feel they found the secret. We want to be close to it. Absorb it. Learn by it. More often than not its nothing but a well constructed veil of attitude, arrogance and false self entitlement.
I went to a Entrepreneur meeting, the purpose to bring investors and inventors together. 40 inventors. 1 investor.
The inventors all danced in front of the camera, the investor sat in the rear with arms crossed, look of old time wisdom across his face. The look of blue bloods judging a prize horse. All was needed was a pipe and a “pip pip bravo” coming out his mouth.
Turns out the investor was a retired businessman with a need for power but no means to attain it. He’d been around for years, so the organizers snapped him up to be their one investor. Even 40 inventors, dorky as they were, might not buy “This show will be seen by thousands of investors on the Internet!”.
And the drudgery of going to all this stuff. Meetings and consultants cramming business cards in your hand going “I got what you need! I can fix all your problems!”. Why not ask me if I need anything at all!.
The out of work consultants are the worse. I went to a chamber of commerce lunch meeting…my last. Sat at whats called “The round table”…just round tables that people sit at. Some speech by the president of the chamber on why were so much better than New York..blah blah blah.
When we did the “round table” speech and introduced ourselves, I said what I did and 9 cards flew at me.
I thought I was in some trick magic show where the goal was “who can slide the card the fastest and make it appear on top of the others before the others do”.
I’m like…uh…no…I can’t afford 2 lawyers, 3 business consultants, 1 accountant, and a weekend clown for children’s birthdays…pony included.
The reasons this happens is I supply a product. They support the product. Like vultures on carrion…Kaww…Kaww…moneeeyyyyyyy!!
My suggestion, lie. Say your a window washer…a bad one. Broke your arm once falling 2 feet up off a basement window. They will stare at you…blink…then look at the next guy and lick their lips.
This is one reason why people give up. It’s why they quit. No ones clean. Can’t tell who from what.
It’s easier to sit in a cube, sip a latte, tap on a key or two, look at the clock. Once or twice a day have your boss come over and shove a list at you saying. Do this, do that. You got what I need yet. You lie, perhaps have it ready, perhaps shit yourself. But then the bell rings and you go home. No meetings to attend. No pocket full of white hard little cards screaming “Do you remember me!! I was that guy with the suit, I was that girl in the hat with the pin”.
The world is filled with morons my friends. Two bit Presidents. Two bit PHD’s. Two bit Doctors. All passing themselves off as the truth, the real deal. They wear it well. They push it hard, yet might not appear pushy.
Seeing past them is no easy trick. So be wary. If your gonna work with these people, you have to gain a thick skin till you meet one of them who’s worth their weight.
Dark I know. But sometimes this game just feels dark.
What day is it?? October 3, 2009
Posted by Mike in : Entrepreneurship, Mike , 1 comment so farI have no clue anymore. One thing about being an “entrepreneur”…or “unemployed”…same thing, is that you have no idea what day it is. Its Saturday night at 10:30. Might as well be Tuesday at noon.
A few weeks ago I was talking to Alessandra about getting to some store/bank/somewhere, and she goes “You can’t”. I ask why. She says “because its Saturday”. I laughed … cause it was Thursday.
You know you’re in the mix and moving forward when time is irrelevant, especially when it’s Saturday night and you’re not spending the time on a drinking binge.
So when you do this and find yourself looking around going “Why are there so many people? Is something going on?”…it might just be Sunday.