Creativity January 10, 2010
Posted by Rio in : Productivity, Rio, creativity , add a commentThe creative process is not rational. It’s hard to pinpoint where inspiration comes from. But whatever it is, you can’t just wait for genius to come to you. You have to show up for your part of the job. The sheer stubbornness to keep showing up will allow the creative process to flow and eventually produce something. So put in the hours.
Age Doesn’t Matter Anymore December 31, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Age, Entrepreneurship, People, Rio , add a commentAge doesn’t mean very much anymore. Women can have babies in their 40s these days and people my age will probably still have careers in our mid-90s. Being able to connect with people of all ages will get you far. Everyone has a story to tell. To put people in boxes based on age means you’ll miss out on a great deal. This even includes dating.
But I’ve noticed people also wonder how I can start a viable business when I’m only 22. Sometimes I feel like countering: “What the hell were you doing when you were 22??” This kind of attitude does piss me off even though most people mean well. First of all, if you go to the coasts, a shitload of startups are led by people around my age. That’s what this whole thing is supposed to be about. Why not start a business now? The earlier the better. Why wait for financial freedom? Why wait on anything you want to do, for that matter?
I read something in Business Week that said most entrepreneurs rated previous experience as one of the most important factors in their success. Of course experience is important, but without intelligence and passion, you aren’t going anywhere. Plus, I don’t have to unlearn all of these bad habits people seem to pick up in the corporate world, like expecting a paycheck or security. I’m only kind of kidding on that one. I think the willingness to learn and the drive to see it through is what you need in any endeavor. And that will ensure you pick up the right experiences.
Happy New Year Everyone. I’m here in Germany and wishing you all a wonderful time as you age into the next year. :)
Business Vs. Politics December 28, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Adventure, Business, Rio , add a commentWhy is it that every time I look at the news, my eyes skip over the politics and go straight to the science and technology sections? The parts that talk about the latest innovation and the newest ideas? All the wonderful stuff that makes me excited about the future and makes me feel like I’m some sort of grand adventure in this life? It’s like I have to force myself to read about the things I know I should be informed about. Politics. Problem is, the world of politics seems so stale, stagnant, so glacially slow moving and negative that I rarely if ever am inspired by anything I read in that arena.
To me business is a much better way of affecting change in this world.
Somehow politics always seemed far too restricting. Maybe I’m ignorant. But in my chosen profession, whatever that is, I’d like to know I have the freedom to call someone a dickhead if they are, in fact, a dickhead. So I guess politics is out.
So wait, am I a “business woman?” Fuck no. I always wanted to be an adventurer. Or a crazy inventor. Like some sort of crazy mix between Lara Croft and Willy Wonka. Business is just a means to that sort of end. I blabbed on about how I think it’s the goal that allows all my other goals to follow.
The motives for art and passion can come from the crudest places. Who cares about landscapes? People care about the fact that Van Gogh cut off his ear for some woman. But he’s only rich now that he’s dead. Bummer. Business gets a bad rap, though. I saw a book on “Business” ethics in the library the other day and was floored to see that the image these geniuses chose for the book cover was of a guy walking a tightrope over a dangerous city.
Um…..wow, was my only thought. Being ethical in the business world is not really that hard, is it? Isn’t that the entire point of being your own boss? You can follow your own rules. Besides the fact that there is no such thing as “business ethics”. Ethics are ethics. If you have a different set of ethics for the work portion of your life, then your code of ethics is not valid. Sorry.
But back to making change. Change is affected by people, in the end. And whether that’s a politician or a scientist or the next Larry Page depends on the type of person, I guess. I always thought starting your own company was much less restricting and more effective than something like politics. The motives for change and passion don’t have to be entirely selfless in order to be legitimate. Many, many great things come out of forms of selfishness.
When to Quit December 13, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Motivation, Rio , add a commentWhen do you declare success?
That’s the hard part about projects that you created, they have self-imposed deadlines; and that makes it hard to know when to quit, when to declare success, and when to move on.
You can always convince yourself that you just need a little more time, a little better luck, to get things going.
You don’t want to be the next aspiring writer, business mogul, or whatever, only to find yourself in the same place 20 years down the line: Still just an aspiring writer, business mogul, or whatever, but not having anything to show for it.
People might tell you to “be realistic”, but this means comprising your ideals. So figure out a way to not have awkward conversation at christmas dinner parties when your family asks you why your chosen profession is still not making any money, and carry on. If you have an ability to learn and self correct, you’ll get there eventually. But if you find yourself not enjoying the journey, then it’s time to quit.
If you want to sell yourself, shut up. December 9, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Rio, selling , add a commentThere’s this misconception that great salespeople are extroverts. I thought this too, and thought I’d never really be able to sell myself because I usually shut my mouth when I don’t have anything to say. I thought great salesmen had to be able to talk nonstop and deliver great one liners at every opportunity. No. Most great salespeople are not the loud mouthed ones. Those are the ones everyone hates. The ones that talk too much and don’t listen. Which will get you nowhere when you’re selling something. And life is pretty much a selling job, so maybe we should all start doing some more questioning and less talking.
Dale Carnegie said to become genuinely interested in people and that means asking questions, finding out what they’re about. That’s especially important for selling something, because you can’t just assume you know what people want.
You can’t take yourself too seriously. Most of the time I’ve seen people fail to ask questions out of sense of self importance or fear, mostly. Being the slick nonstop talking salesman is a turn off. You’re not going to sell yourself by overwhelming people. Most businesses fail because of lack of sales, pure and simple. You have to persuade people to take action and use your product. So start asking questions.
Smile! You’re in Business. November 27, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Business, Entrepreneurship, Rio , add a commentPeople’s default attitude when I tell them I’m “in business” is that they assume I’m a boring, heartless corporate drone. Or something like that. I was taking pictures for one of my websites and I asked my subject to smile, or at least pretend to look happy. His goes: “Smile? I thought this was a serious company.” I think I died a little inside.
Business gets a bad rap for being boring and corporate. But that’s not what business is about. Business is about fun.
Watch this video on fun. It’s lovely:
Get focused, it says. Stop hiding who you really are. Break the rules. It’s about what you can do, not what you can’t do. Be creative, start scaring yourself. Take action. Start something. Sounds like business to me.
The most successful business owners out there today are the icons, the characters, the Steve Jobs and Richard Bransons of the world. In order to get publicity for Virgin, Richard Branson started doing all sorts of stunts and taking risks and doing balloon rides around the world. This got him some cheap publicity. It’s the characters that get all the attention. Good thing, because marketing can be expensive.
Have passion, make your own choices, and have fun doing it.
In the words of Hugh MacLoed: Don’t try to stand out from the crowd: avoid crowds altogether.
I’d have to add: Don’t take yourself so fucking seriously. Smile sometimes. People like that.
Do not Multitask while Operating Heavy Machinery. November 22, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Entrepreneurship, People, Productivity, Rio , add a commentThe number of things I have on my To Do list is probably unhealthy. I’ve never been good at that thing called focus. My mind more or less resembles a file cabinet being tossed through a hurricane. I’ve gotten a lot better, though. I’ve moved “learn how to swordfight” to next year’s list and removed “hunt antelope with a bow and arrow” and “look like Salma Hayek” entirely. Prioritization, here I come.
So when I asked myself exactly what it is I wanted to do, I decided to rid myself of all distractions, hunker down, and focus on the one thing that would allow all my other goals to follow. For me, it was starting a business. And eventually not being dependent on a paycheck, which is a catalyst for most of the other things I’d love to do.
Starting a business is the one thing that I’ve chosen to focus on right now. There are tons of other things I would love to be learning and doing right now, but I’ve found that most of them are simply distractions and slow me down. Because multitasking is the art of screwing up several things at once. Multitasking isn’t just about putting the email away, it’s about learning how not to be overwhelmed and knowing where to start.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my social life and its current non-existence lately. Right now going out feels like a kind of multitasking to me, and that absolutely destroys productivity. It takes your focus away. When I get going on something, it’s better when I don’t stop till it’s done. I’ve never been good at “balance”. But focus is what’s more effective than balance when it comes to getting things going. Focus is what moves you forward. Balance keeps you in the same place.
Don’t get me wrong, (going out and) meeting people is very important to me. Talking to people who are important to you keeps you grounded, and meeting new people often inspires you and takes you in new directions. But if you’re not in a position to take advantage of these new opportunities, if you’re just going out boozing because you had a bad week at work as usual, then you’re not in a position to capitalize on any of this. You’re not in the right place. There’s a time for everything.
And hey, I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk to people. Teamwork is essential. It allows you to blame someone else when something goes wrong…
I’m out of bed and dressed, what more do you want? …Or, 90% of success is just showing up. November 21, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Motivation, Rio , add a commentYesterday one of my companies officially submitted its first iPhone app! A small step, maybe, but our first product is now (almost) official, out there for the world to judge and, of course, buy. It’s been a long road. Took far longer than I wanted it to. It’s been over a year since my partner and I first started our company, and we still have so much that we want to do. Being on the phone for an hour at 9 pm on a Friday night with our coder in order to get the app submitted meant that I missed a show I really wanted to go to, and that my friend was starring in. My partner was supposed to be driving to his cousin’s wedding. We were both kind of irritated. Yet it feels really nice to finally have something almost official on the map. There’s a lot to be said for just sticking with it.
The cartoonist and blogger Hugh MacLeod writes that what people say they want and what they are willing to work their ass off to get are two different things. And there is a lot of working your ass off involved when it comes to starting your own business (or becoming an artist, or whatever your passion is). You have to put in the hours, plain and simple. Half of the pain involved is in figuring out what direction those hours should take. I graduated from Michigan in May, and our progress has seemed very slow. To me and my parents and our friends. Yet if I look at where I was 6 months ago, we’ve made substantial progress, on many fronts.
Maybe its seemed slow because I can’t think of any flashy, glamorous, big leaps of progress. It’s been more like a series of small boring steps, with some going entirely in the wrong direction. It’s an obvious and unfortunately painful fact: The way you get things done is simply by doing the work that’s required, step by step. And learning how to work smart instead of simply working hard. This often means that entrepreneurship is lonely and frustrating. It means that you need a ton of focus. It means you need to hunker down and rid yourself of all distractions, and most of the time it means your social life will take a hit. You will have 16 hour days, 7 days a week, because you are the only force behind getting your project going. And if you don’t have the necessary experience, you’re going to educate yourself. But all of this won’t feel like work if you’re on the right path. It’ll pay off, if you’ve planned it right, by allowing you live to the life you want.
Hugh MacLeod also claims that if someone in your field is more successful than you, it’s probably because they work harder at it than you do. He writes: “The bars of West Hollywood, London, and New York are awash with people throwing their lives away in the desperate hope of finding a shortcut, any shortcut. Meanwhile the competition is at home, working their asses off.” Everyone’s looking for the quick fix.
But it’s not always about the big idea. If you have an idea that’s yours alone, and have the passion for it, things will come to fruition. Maybe it’s simply about not quitting. You have the freedom to do something really amazing when you sing in your own voice.
Why accountants aren’t any fun and why I hate all this talk about “corporate image” November 9, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Entrepreneurship, People, Rio , add a commentI read a lot. Right now the topics are mostly related to business. Sometimes it’s hard to separate the worthless information from the helpful, especially for something that changes as quickly as the world of business does. A lot of the stuff out there is full of rambling platitudes, pointless personal experience, and no specifics about how the author accomplished what they did. I want specific techniques, details, not general ideas about working hard and the web being a game changer.
Something completely useless I read recently was from a “handbook” on starting your own business. Apparently this book was a bestseller. I kept having to check the date it was published (2007), because it sounded like it was written 15 years ago. The author talks about websites as an afterthought, seeming to think that the only function they have is to list information about your company. No mention of social networking or all of the great marketing techniques cash-strapped startups can use. The problem this book had (and many others like it) was that it was trying to cater to everyone and no one, and it ends up just recommending the “safe” or standard path of starting a business.
On image, the author writes:
“Fortunately, just because you are a startup company does not mean you have to look like one. Your logo, business card, signage, and style are all part of a cohesive image program known as corporate identity. And with the right corporate identity, your company can appear highly professional and give the impression of having been in business for years.”
Something is really wrong with this statement. I’m not talking about the phrase “cohesive image program”, which sounds like something out of a Cold War Spy novel. I’m talking about the idea that you’re required to look like you’ve “been in business for years”. It seems to be saying that if you give the impression that you know what you’re doing, you can sucker people into sales, or that you can get your foot in the door without paying your dues. I don’t dispute the fact that image is vital, perhaps one of the most important things. Life is a selling job. I also firmly believe in good manners and the like. What I don’t believe in is pretending to be something you’re not. Your business will be successful because you’ve sought out new solutions, not because you pretend like you’ve been in the business for 15 years.
Of course image is important, but it comes as a byproduct of doing what you’re supposed to be doing, developing a viable business. Focusing on “corporate image” and pretty brochures is a filler, distracts you and makes you feel like you’re accomplishing something when you really should be focusing on coming up with a kick-ass new idea that will change the world. Pretty brochures and firm handshakes have their place, but if that’s the sole basis of your business strategy, you’re in trouble. By focusing on “corporate image”, you’re also becoming a lemming, which is exactly what starting a business is NOT about. You’re so focused on following formulas that you can miss opportunities right in front of you. These days, starting a business is about so much more than just “corporations”, doing an mba, or the sole goal of making money.
The author continues:
“Any events or causes you participate in should be in keeping with your business image. If your company is in a fun, creative industry…you can get zany and silly with events like balloon popping or pot-bellied pig races. On the other hand, if you’re in a serious industry like medical transcription or accounting, it makes more sense to take part in more serious events like a 10k walk.”
I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. Again, there’s something seriously wrong with this statement. It’s funny (what, accountants aren’t allowed to attend balloon popping parties?), but more to the point, the businesses of doctors and accountants certainly wouldn’t be harmed by trying to be more fun. I’m guessing that the doctor who manages to make root canals fun will be a very rich man. Point is, business is about being creative and original. By asking “does my industry allow for creative flair?”, you’re missing the point. Business is supposed to be about creative flair. You’re creating something new and setting yourself apart. THAT’S how you get sales, not because of your polished image. Of course a polished image helps and is necessary, but that’s like saying you should bathe if you want to have friends. If you didn’t know that, you really need more help than a book on “business” can give you.
Money Management 101 November 5, 2009
Posted by Rio in : Money, Resources, Rio , add a commentOk, kids. It’s time to learn how to manage your money! Besides not buying stuff, what can you do to save money?
Some of the more interesting things I’ve done to make myself spend less include cutting up my credit cards only to realize I had no way to pay for groceries, and then paying for my $10 pizza entirely in pennies (the ones I had in my change jar). Other things include never carrying cash or credit cards, and then going to the bank and asking the teller to withdraw $3 from my account so that I could pay for this event I really needed to go to.
Other great psychological tricks include asking a friend to hide my credit cards. He then leaves for a week and is out of touch, during which time I really needed to pay for something or other. My $2.75 stash of laundry quarters wasn’t going to cut it, so I resorted to one of my other favorite tricks: becoming a guinea pig for science! Thinking that donating my eggs was probably too drastic, I decided to volunteer for a research study that would involve, among other things, not brushing my teeth for three weeks. What happened to my social life, you might wonder? To hell with that, they were giving me $500! Besides, think of all the time I could save by not spending those 3.5 minutes brushing my teeth twice a day! I’m a busy entrepreneur, after all. I have things to do!
Instead of cutting up my credit cards, I had the better idea of simply never carrying cash or credit cards when I go places. I know, I know, what a crude method. But hey, it kind of works. I end up not making all those dicky little purchases like tea and books (I love tea, and I’ve probably single-handedly kept Borders Bookstore here in Ann Arbor from closing).
Sometimes the whole “not carrying any money” things has its problems. Like when I do actually have to pay for stuff. At the post office for example, where I went last to send off 15 packages containing things I had sold on ebay (more on that later). Only after I made the lady ring through and attach stickers to my 15 boxes did I reveal to her that I wanted to pay by check. She informed me that they couldn’t accept my check because I didn’t have my address on them (hey, identity theft, you know). I tell her I would write my address on the check for her. She goes: “um, No.” I point out the 15 boxes she had already stickered and put through the system, and would have to painfully remove if she didn’t accept my check. She caved. Sometimes you have to be cruel. The moral? I have no idea.
Not bringing your credit card does help, sort of. All those little purchases really do add up. Especially when you don’t always have time to cook. Now I love cooking good, healthy, homemade food, but….well, I’m slow. It takes me like an hour to make oatmeal (granted, my oatmeal is really fucking good.) Anyway, housewives get my respect. Cooking three meals a day from scratch is hard work. But anyway, there are times when I’ve managed to eat only home cooked meals for months on end, but that involved significant luggage. Meaning, if you don’t have a car and don’t live 5 minutes away from town, you have to haul all three meals with you for the day. Now that’s fun. Not only do you get your requisite workout in from hauling 50 lbs of stuff everywhere you go (really, I weighed it), but you end up being skinnier by eating less overall! (Damn you, rocky mountain chocolate factory, for being on my way to town).
Back to being a guinea pig. After prodding my teeth and cruelly stabbing me with various sharp metal instruments, my graduate student dentist friend tells me that I qualify for the $500 study. I would have thanked her, but my mouth was spewing blood. I wasn’t complaining though. You have to be tough in this world. Another favorite research study of mine was a series of “decision-making” studies that I participated in through the University of Michigan. Basically, they put you through a series of prisoner’s dilemmas to see how everyone interacts. I love this kind of stuff, being an economics major and all, but the real upshot was that we got to keep whatever money we made during the game! I once walked away with $57 after 5 minutes. (By defecting, of course). But the truly greatest study I took part in was one where I watched an episode of Sex and the City and then answered a questionnaire grilling me on my body image. I told them all about how skinny I felt, of course. Especially since I’ve been eating all these home-cooked meals!
Eventually I quit doing $15 an hour research studies because…well, let’s face it, we’re never gonna make a million dollars that way. Hopefully we’ll have bigger fish to fry, and better ways to spend our time (like being self-employed and all that fun stuff). I am going to add the $500 to our “money made so far” icon up there on the right, though. So that leaves us with our last idea: selling shit on ebay. Being a neat freak and all, I like to cleanse my room occasionally and get rid of the stuff I don’t need/use. The thing is, it turns out you can actually make money doing this. Old textbooks I’ve never used or wanted to, weird electrical appliances from the 80s, and those shoes I never should have bought because they are really fucking uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a lot of work selling stuff on ebay, and like getting a job, the opportunity cost is too high (I’ve talked about that already). Time is my most valuable asset right now.
So, besides being made fun of by your friends and having no social life whatsoever, my methods should put you on the right path towards dominating your finances! I’m Here To Serve You, America’s next generation, and to help this great country get out of debt. Remember that the next time you wait in line for 30 minutes at the bank only to have the person in front of you withdraw a total of $3 from their account. That person is probably one of my disciples. World domination, here I come.