Posts
Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Fall 2013 US Economic Prediction
I am beginning to convince myself that the US economy is headed for a 3-5 year window of high sustained growth. Here are a few reasons why:
Recall that 2008 was the last year that people with terrible credit could obtain easy housing credit. 2008 + 5 is 2013, which means that this is the last year that banks have to deal with uncertainty about large numbers of borrowers with cheaper 5-year Adjustable Rate mortgages going through foreclosure. The orderly winding down of these toxic assets will enable local and national banks to open up their reserves for legitimate business lending more freely.
Also, competition for high-tech workers is really heating up in the job market. I'm getting the kinds of unsolicited phone calls and emails I got back in 1998 and 2005. Yes, this portends a future bubble-burst, but one that is several years out, with the actual, you know, bubble, in the meantime.
Finally, the stock market has shown uncanny resilience in the face of multiple fiscal crises from Washington over the past 10 months. The right kind of stocks are heading in the right direction: temporary worker companies like Manpower and for-profit education companies like DeVry.
(disclaimer: I don't have any financial interest in either of the stocks mentioned except perhaps accidentally via my employer's 401(k) benefit)
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Meeting Princess And Her Family
I recently had a mind-expanding experience. A boy invited me into his father's gem shop in nearby Bastrop, Texas. There was a cabinet with an aquarium by the door that had a piece of notebook paper on the front with the word "Princess" written on it in magic marker.
The boy explained that princess was their pet tarantula and that she guarded the shop. While the father told me about his business, the boy took the screen off the top of the aquarium and took Princess out, holding her in his hands. I had never before been that near such a large spider. I turned to the boy and acknowledged the creature. She reared back, waving her two front legs in warning. The boy asked if I wanted to hold her. I said, "sure".
I held my hands open together near his and Princess hesitatingly approached. Then she decided to walk over onto my hands. When she did, I could feel the most unusual, marvelous adhesive sensation as the tips of each of her legs moved about on my palms. The father explained that a tarantula has its sense of smell in its feet and that if you raise one from infancy, it will bond to you through that sense like any other pet.
When my visit was over, I thanked the boy for letting me hold Princess. He thanked me for holding her. I had just made friends with a new family in a very old-fashioned way - by socializing with them about their pet.
The boy explained that princess was their pet tarantula and that she guarded the shop. While the father told me about his business, the boy took the screen off the top of the aquarium and took Princess out, holding her in his hands. I had never before been that near such a large spider. I turned to the boy and acknowledged the creature. She reared back, waving her two front legs in warning. The boy asked if I wanted to hold her. I said, "sure".
I held my hands open together near his and Princess hesitatingly approached. Then she decided to walk over onto my hands. When she did, I could feel the most unusual, marvelous adhesive sensation as the tips of each of her legs moved about on my palms. The father explained that a tarantula has its sense of smell in its feet and that if you raise one from infancy, it will bond to you through that sense like any other pet.
When my visit was over, I thanked the boy for letting me hold Princess. He thanked me for holding her. I had just made friends with a new family in a very old-fashioned way - by socializing with them about their pet.
Monday, August 16, 2010
First Day of Oil Spill Cleanup Work
Reminisces of my first day reporting for oil spill cleanup duty on Friday, August 13, 2010:
It is 4:20 AM. I've just gotten up and turned on the coffee maker. The head supervisor at the oil spill cleanup staging area told me yesterday to come in today. There will be many workers like me at the staging site, a local elementary school parking lot. Because of the crowd, I've been instructed that when I get there, I should stay in my car until 5:30 AM, when we're supposed to line up and have our badges scanned to clock in by 6 AM. I put on my work jeans, a special long-sleeved white shirt made up of breathable fibers treated to reflect heat and UV rays, and my steel toed work boots, pour the coffee in a travel cup, and head out the door.
At 5:15 AM, I arrive at the parking lot. It's difficult to see what's happening at the clock-in area because there is a line of large charter busses in the circular drive. We're supposed to park in the "grass" - there isn't much grass left, it's mostly red clay mud, but it's not too wet. As I park I notice that none of the other workers is waiting in his or her car. I gather my hard hat, safety glasses, and fluorescent vest from the passenger seat and head up toward the front of the school. My heart stops - I see that there is already a long line of workers snaking around the edge of the circular drive. My brain starts calculating whether there are already more people here than bus seats, but I keep walking anyway until I reach the end of the line.
At 5:30, the line moves through the two badge scanning administrators surprisingly quickly. We workers are herded toward a number of tables labeled "Strike Team 1" to "Strike Team 5". I recall that the supervisor told me to look for Strike Team 1 or 2, so I head to the Strike Team 1 line. We are signing in (in spite of the fact that we were just scanned in) and printing our names on the Team Roster list for the specific team to which we belong. After 15 minutes of worrying that Strike Team 1 will fill up, I get to the head of the line and look for my name. It isn't on the list. I ask a supervisor behind the table and he asks me what my name is. When I tell him, he says, "Oh, last names L through Z are on Strike Team 2, get in that other line!" So I get in the other line, just certain I'm going to be put on standby. But it turns out that they've had to change the rotation, so some of the people in line aren't supposed to be here today and they are instructed to leave. When I reach the head of the line, I locate my name on the sheet and sign in. I locate the bus for my team, climb inside, and find a seat along with about 30 other workers and a few foremen.
It's 6:15 AM. A couple of men have spoken to us on the bus about why we haven't left yet, though none of them has identified himself as a foreman or a supervisor. One of them has started passing back a notebook and pen, instructing us to print our names and phone numbers so the team foreman can contact us in the days ahead if need be. Then the notebook is passed through again, and we're supposed to put our names, addresses and social security numbers on a different list. The foreman explains that he wants to make extra sure that the administration department has this information for all of his team members so that our paychecks will be processed correctly. After about a dozen people have already filled in this information, a general uproar from the workers convinces the foreman that we should only have to put down the last four digits of our SSNs. He locates the list and scratches out the first five digits for the people who've already begun the list. As a software engineer, this constant duplication of information is driving me nuts. I start designing a web-based oil spill team management application in my mind...
Our bus rolls out of the staging site and we arrive shortly along with a second bus at a location that has an access road to a long stretch of ocean front in Ft. Walton Beach. Some logistics people are already there, they have all terrain vehicles (ATVs) that get loaded up with the equipment stored in our bus. We wait for what seems like a long time after the ATVs leave. In the meantime, various people get on the bus and address us, only one of whom, a safety enforcement person, bothers to tell us who he is. Since we are still waiting, I get the sudden urge to stand up, pretend to be someone in authority, and make a speech about what is going to happen today. But I successfully resist this temptation and we are off the bus at 7:30 AM.
I ride with 13 other people to one of the work sites in an open-sided trailer pulled by a farming tractor. (think of a covered hayride with bench seats) My team's site for today is not too far from the beach access road. We exit the people carrier and set up a the site by erecting a portable canopy near the dunes for a break area and laying a large rectangle of plastic sheeting in front of it for a decontamination area. (where we will put on and remove our protective gear) The team is divided into two squads that will rotate between working and resting due to our exposure to the heat and humidity. Spilled oil from the BP well has been weathered by the sun and the sea over a period of days, so it is no longer off-gassing dangerous fumes like benzene or tolulene. (unlike the oil from the Exxon Valdez which was much closer to the shoreline) There is no smell of anything on the beach but salty ocean air.
It is 8:15 AM. My squad is chosen to work first. We line up at the decontamination area and don the special oil resistant gloves and boot covers. There aren't many visible tarballs on the surface of the sand but I soon find out that there are many of them hidden below the surface. Our squad has four roles to fill while looking for the oil tarballs. Some of us use plastic rake shovels with metal mesh to rake the sand. Almost immediately, oil tarballs ranging in size from a dime to a quarter pop up from beneath the surface. The rake person could scoop these up and sift the extra sand out through the mesh, but it's more efficient for them to keep raking while a second role uses a long handled net to capture and sift the tarballs. A third role follows the rakers and sifters with buckets or thich plastic bags to hold the captured tarballs. A fourth role uses a plastic shovel to dig exploratory holes in the sand at various locations around the work area. Occasionally this person will find much larger veins of oil tarballs (some of which are as large as a human hand) that the rest of the team can concentrate on. Sooner than I realize, 30 minutes has elapsed and it is time for our team to be relieved by the other squad. We lay down our tools at the far end of the decontamination mat and remove and discard our protective gloves and boot covers while the next squad puts on fresh ones.
Our squad shifts continue to rotate like this throughout the day with a general break at noon for lunch and an occasional stand down due to rain or nearby lightning. Lunch happens under the team canopy but safety stand downs require us to be transported back to the busses. In the early afternoon, we strike the work sites and head back to the busses. The logistics people retrieve the work site gear in the ATVs. In the meantime, various foremen and safety personnel get on the busses to tell us how we did and what general work habits they observed that were either exemplary or borderline dangerous. After what seems like a long time, the busses are loaded up. I make a mental note to bring something to read with me on future shifts. By 3 PM, we have arrived back at the staging location and have clocked out, the work day is over.
Overall, a very positive experience. The work is not back-breaking, but it is definitely back-aching - the sand can get heavy, especially after a rain shower. Yet, I am glad to be participating in the cleanup effort. I was lucky to be at a place in my life that made it easy to drop what I was doing and come to help out. There were times when I felt a little discouraged by the obstacles on the path to becoming qualified for this work. It's gratifying to have persevered and achieved the goal that I set for myself. And there are the bonuses: I'm making some new friends and enjoying my time living in the Ft Walton Beach area. I won't be doing this work for too long, but doing it makes me feel like I was able to help out my country in a time of need. And that has been worth more than all the rest of it.
It is 4:20 AM. I've just gotten up and turned on the coffee maker. The head supervisor at the oil spill cleanup staging area told me yesterday to come in today. There will be many workers like me at the staging site, a local elementary school parking lot. Because of the crowd, I've been instructed that when I get there, I should stay in my car until 5:30 AM, when we're supposed to line up and have our badges scanned to clock in by 6 AM. I put on my work jeans, a special long-sleeved white shirt made up of breathable fibers treated to reflect heat and UV rays, and my steel toed work boots, pour the coffee in a travel cup, and head out the door.
At 5:15 AM, I arrive at the parking lot. It's difficult to see what's happening at the clock-in area because there is a line of large charter busses in the circular drive. We're supposed to park in the "grass" - there isn't much grass left, it's mostly red clay mud, but it's not too wet. As I park I notice that none of the other workers is waiting in his or her car. I gather my hard hat, safety glasses, and fluorescent vest from the passenger seat and head up toward the front of the school. My heart stops - I see that there is already a long line of workers snaking around the edge of the circular drive. My brain starts calculating whether there are already more people here than bus seats, but I keep walking anyway until I reach the end of the line.
At 5:30, the line moves through the two badge scanning administrators surprisingly quickly. We workers are herded toward a number of tables labeled "Strike Team 1" to "Strike Team 5". I recall that the supervisor told me to look for Strike Team 1 or 2, so I head to the Strike Team 1 line. We are signing in (in spite of the fact that we were just scanned in) and printing our names on the Team Roster list for the specific team to which we belong. After 15 minutes of worrying that Strike Team 1 will fill up, I get to the head of the line and look for my name. It isn't on the list. I ask a supervisor behind the table and he asks me what my name is. When I tell him, he says, "Oh, last names L through Z are on Strike Team 2, get in that other line!" So I get in the other line, just certain I'm going to be put on standby. But it turns out that they've had to change the rotation, so some of the people in line aren't supposed to be here today and they are instructed to leave. When I reach the head of the line, I locate my name on the sheet and sign in. I locate the bus for my team, climb inside, and find a seat along with about 30 other workers and a few foremen.
It's 6:15 AM. A couple of men have spoken to us on the bus about why we haven't left yet, though none of them has identified himself as a foreman or a supervisor. One of them has started passing back a notebook and pen, instructing us to print our names and phone numbers so the team foreman can contact us in the days ahead if need be. Then the notebook is passed through again, and we're supposed to put our names, addresses and social security numbers on a different list. The foreman explains that he wants to make extra sure that the administration department has this information for all of his team members so that our paychecks will be processed correctly. After about a dozen people have already filled in this information, a general uproar from the workers convinces the foreman that we should only have to put down the last four digits of our SSNs. He locates the list and scratches out the first five digits for the people who've already begun the list. As a software engineer, this constant duplication of information is driving me nuts. I start designing a web-based oil spill team management application in my mind...
Our bus rolls out of the staging site and we arrive shortly along with a second bus at a location that has an access road to a long stretch of ocean front in Ft. Walton Beach. Some logistics people are already there, they have all terrain vehicles (ATVs) that get loaded up with the equipment stored in our bus. We wait for what seems like a long time after the ATVs leave. In the meantime, various people get on the bus and address us, only one of whom, a safety enforcement person, bothers to tell us who he is. Since we are still waiting, I get the sudden urge to stand up, pretend to be someone in authority, and make a speech about what is going to happen today. But I successfully resist this temptation and we are off the bus at 7:30 AM.
I ride with 13 other people to one of the work sites in an open-sided trailer pulled by a farming tractor. (think of a covered hayride with bench seats) My team's site for today is not too far from the beach access road. We exit the people carrier and set up a the site by erecting a portable canopy near the dunes for a break area and laying a large rectangle of plastic sheeting in front of it for a decontamination area. (where we will put on and remove our protective gear) The team is divided into two squads that will rotate between working and resting due to our exposure to the heat and humidity. Spilled oil from the BP well has been weathered by the sun and the sea over a period of days, so it is no longer off-gassing dangerous fumes like benzene or tolulene. (unlike the oil from the Exxon Valdez which was much closer to the shoreline) There is no smell of anything on the beach but salty ocean air.
It is 8:15 AM. My squad is chosen to work first. We line up at the decontamination area and don the special oil resistant gloves and boot covers. There aren't many visible tarballs on the surface of the sand but I soon find out that there are many of them hidden below the surface. Our squad has four roles to fill while looking for the oil tarballs. Some of us use plastic rake shovels with metal mesh to rake the sand. Almost immediately, oil tarballs ranging in size from a dime to a quarter pop up from beneath the surface. The rake person could scoop these up and sift the extra sand out through the mesh, but it's more efficient for them to keep raking while a second role uses a long handled net to capture and sift the tarballs. A third role follows the rakers and sifters with buckets or thich plastic bags to hold the captured tarballs. A fourth role uses a plastic shovel to dig exploratory holes in the sand at various locations around the work area. Occasionally this person will find much larger veins of oil tarballs (some of which are as large as a human hand) that the rest of the team can concentrate on. Sooner than I realize, 30 minutes has elapsed and it is time for our team to be relieved by the other squad. We lay down our tools at the far end of the decontamination mat and remove and discard our protective gloves and boot covers while the next squad puts on fresh ones.
Our squad shifts continue to rotate like this throughout the day with a general break at noon for lunch and an occasional stand down due to rain or nearby lightning. Lunch happens under the team canopy but safety stand downs require us to be transported back to the busses. In the early afternoon, we strike the work sites and head back to the busses. The logistics people retrieve the work site gear in the ATVs. In the meantime, various foremen and safety personnel get on the busses to tell us how we did and what general work habits they observed that were either exemplary or borderline dangerous. After what seems like a long time, the busses are loaded up. I make a mental note to bring something to read with me on future shifts. By 3 PM, we have arrived back at the staging location and have clocked out, the work day is over.
Overall, a very positive experience. The work is not back-breaking, but it is definitely back-aching - the sand can get heavy, especially after a rain shower. Yet, I am glad to be participating in the cleanup effort. I was lucky to be at a place in my life that made it easy to drop what I was doing and come to help out. There were times when I felt a little discouraged by the obstacles on the path to becoming qualified for this work. It's gratifying to have persevered and achieved the goal that I set for myself. And there are the bonuses: I'm making some new friends and enjoying my time living in the Ft Walton Beach area. I won't be doing this work for too long, but doing it makes me feel like I was able to help out my country in a time of need. And that has been worth more than all the rest of it.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Weighing Separate Wisdom Paths: Business Choice 2010
It's springtime in the American economy - time to plant seeds of enterprise that may, with some luck and a good bit of determination and skill, bring forth a bountiful harvest as the recovery kicks into high gear over the next few years. And I've been reading and listening to a lot of great business educational material lately. I find that there are two broad categories of advice with regard to the choice of a business.
The first wisdom path is the "Do What You Love And The Money Will Come" school of thought. This line of reasoning dates back at least as far as Confucius (500 BCE) who was the first person we know of to write, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." It is tempting to take this advice just to prove to myself (and to my slice of the world) whether or not it is really true. If, as Deepak Chopra writes, I choose the path that I would have chosen anyway (were I already rich), the path that most completely matches my gifts to the needs of the world, I would unhesitatingly choose to become an author and speaker in the field of personal development. (AKA "Motivational Speaker") I've got a great life story that already sounds like something you'd read in a movie script and it lights me up to pass on the wisdom that had made such a dramatic difference in my life. Any of my close friends could attest to the truth of these assertions.
I've recently gone far enough along this path to create stubs for chapters of a book that I think would be timely and relevant to America's current economic situation. It's entitled, "How To Thrive During The Recovery". It has specific, practical advice about how to take advantage of our developing economic upturn - whether the reader is interested in employment, business, real estate, or stock investing. I've also created the opening portions of a free, 90-minute seminar that I could give in cities as the book is launched to help introduce it to the public. (as well as enroll people in future advanced seminars offered for pay)
The drawback with pursuing the first path is that I'm currently a completely unknown commodity to the public. Even though I feel confident in the value of what I have to say, I'd be starting from scratch without the benefit of having created a "brand" as a person of well-known or easily researched accomplishments. To say it more plainly, it would be a heck of a lot easier to put butts in seats and sell my books if I'd already developed a certain level of authentic celebrity. There would be hard work involved either way but there's nothing wrong with having as many factors as possible in your favor when you attempt something big.
The second broad wisdom path says, "Find out what the market wants, crunch the numbers, and then choose the opportunity with the best bottom line." Jim Rohn would say something like: Don't worry so much about discovering your passion; find a great opportunity and then pour your own passion into it. When I crunch the numbers, it is obvious that the field of wealth management offers me the greatest upside potential for financial success given my marketable skills. While it is true that I'd be starting as an unknown commodity in this field as well, the rewards of doing well over time dwarf the rewards I could reasonably expect from a speaking career or even starting up a new tech company. My close friends could also attest to my skills in the stock market, so I feel some confidence in my abilities here. I'd have a lot of growing to do to sell and market my services successfully, but I view that as a growth opportunity, not a problem. And I'd need to develop these skills for the motivational speaking career anyway.
It's by no means a done deal, but the second wisdom path looks more and more attractive to me. Assuming I created a wealth management practice and did well with it, I could use that track record later as the marketing springboard for the motivational speaking/writing career. Although this seems to be common sense, I have an innate sense of aversion to anything that looks like putting a dream on hold for a mythical "someday" when one is finally ready to get started on it. So I'm still percolating on these things. Maybe this time around the lesson will be to overcome that aversion and go with the practical path for a change. No matter which one I choose, I intend to devote my sole focus to that choice for at least the next decade or longer. This is why I'm sitting with the question for now... The outcome of this process will mean saying "No" to something I'm very interested in pursuing, whichever choice wins out. And (simply as an acknowledgement of my lack of omniscience) until I decide, I am open to discovering an even better path than the ones I'm currently considering.
I don't intend to take long to decide. Springtime doesn't last forever. One is better served by planting seeds and getting some crop than by staring at the field for too long wondering which crop would be best.
The first wisdom path is the "Do What You Love And The Money Will Come" school of thought. This line of reasoning dates back at least as far as Confucius (500 BCE) who was the first person we know of to write, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." It is tempting to take this advice just to prove to myself (and to my slice of the world) whether or not it is really true. If, as Deepak Chopra writes, I choose the path that I would have chosen anyway (were I already rich), the path that most completely matches my gifts to the needs of the world, I would unhesitatingly choose to become an author and speaker in the field of personal development. (AKA "Motivational Speaker") I've got a great life story that already sounds like something you'd read in a movie script and it lights me up to pass on the wisdom that had made such a dramatic difference in my life. Any of my close friends could attest to the truth of these assertions.
I've recently gone far enough along this path to create stubs for chapters of a book that I think would be timely and relevant to America's current economic situation. It's entitled, "How To Thrive During The Recovery". It has specific, practical advice about how to take advantage of our developing economic upturn - whether the reader is interested in employment, business, real estate, or stock investing. I've also created the opening portions of a free, 90-minute seminar that I could give in cities as the book is launched to help introduce it to the public. (as well as enroll people in future advanced seminars offered for pay)
The drawback with pursuing the first path is that I'm currently a completely unknown commodity to the public. Even though I feel confident in the value of what I have to say, I'd be starting from scratch without the benefit of having created a "brand" as a person of well-known or easily researched accomplishments. To say it more plainly, it would be a heck of a lot easier to put butts in seats and sell my books if I'd already developed a certain level of authentic celebrity. There would be hard work involved either way but there's nothing wrong with having as many factors as possible in your favor when you attempt something big.
The second broad wisdom path says, "Find out what the market wants, crunch the numbers, and then choose the opportunity with the best bottom line." Jim Rohn would say something like: Don't worry so much about discovering your passion; find a great opportunity and then pour your own passion into it. When I crunch the numbers, it is obvious that the field of wealth management offers me the greatest upside potential for financial success given my marketable skills. While it is true that I'd be starting as an unknown commodity in this field as well, the rewards of doing well over time dwarf the rewards I could reasonably expect from a speaking career or even starting up a new tech company. My close friends could also attest to my skills in the stock market, so I feel some confidence in my abilities here. I'd have a lot of growing to do to sell and market my services successfully, but I view that as a growth opportunity, not a problem. And I'd need to develop these skills for the motivational speaking career anyway.
It's by no means a done deal, but the second wisdom path looks more and more attractive to me. Assuming I created a wealth management practice and did well with it, I could use that track record later as the marketing springboard for the motivational speaking/writing career. Although this seems to be common sense, I have an innate sense of aversion to anything that looks like putting a dream on hold for a mythical "someday" when one is finally ready to get started on it. So I'm still percolating on these things. Maybe this time around the lesson will be to overcome that aversion and go with the practical path for a change. No matter which one I choose, I intend to devote my sole focus to that choice for at least the next decade or longer. This is why I'm sitting with the question for now... The outcome of this process will mean saying "No" to something I'm very interested in pursuing, whichever choice wins out. And (simply as an acknowledgement of my lack of omniscience) until I decide, I am open to discovering an even better path than the ones I'm currently considering.
I don't intend to take long to decide. Springtime doesn't last forever. One is better served by planting seeds and getting some crop than by staring at the field for too long wondering which crop would be best.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Starting Anew In Austin
I moved to Austin, Texas the weekend of April 10. I drove a rental truck with my car in tow from Orlando, Florida, and the whole trip took about 30 hours, including a five hour stop at a motel to get some rest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Packing and getting underway was made a good bit easier thanks to the help of some good friends in Orlando who helped me organize and box up my stuff. Much appreciated!
So now I've been in Austin almost two weeks. It's gone by fast, and I'm finally just about settled in where I'm staying, a room share in a beautiful four-bedroom house up in the Arboretum area (northwest from downtown). Although my ultimate plan is business ownership and development, I have allowed myself to be courted by a couple of software companies for full-time employment. One of them had previously extended me an offer in spring '08, but I took a competing offer in the DC area instead.
Why would I participate in job interviews if I want to go into business? This is the question I am living with currently. There are a few ways to look at it: 1) I'm selling out on my dreams by pursuing full-time work, postponing the "real" life I keep telling myself I'll have someday. 2) It's something practical to do while I keep my ear to the ground and get a feel for the best avenues of business opportunity that are available. 3) It's a way to practice some of the best wisdom I've ever learned, being willing to be "open to everything and attached to nothing". (Wayne Dyer)
I am truly blessed. I followed opportunity back in 1995 and built the kind of career and skills that get me noticed in the job market for very good pay. But sometimes I wonder if this situation has also created a kind of gravity that keeps me from moving up into an orbit that is higher still. When I read the business stories of people like Richard Branson, Felix Dennis - even Bill Gates and Michael Dell - I feel like I may be settling for something less than what I have the potential of becoming by taking on a salaried position. You see, it's always a good time to take a job, and it's never a good time to jump into business. A software job offers me good money. The benefits are nice. There's a lot to like about it and I would never dishonor the value of working for a paycheck. It's just that something deep inside of me wants to the one who creates jobs, who puts capital at risk, who makes a difference (of whatever magnitude) in this world by creating and promoting his own products and services.
I was recently re-reading a chapter in Ken Fisher's excellent book The Ten Roads To Wealth where he writes about managing other peoples' money. Wealth managers make up the largest percentage of the annual Forbes 400 list of the world's richest people. Fisher himself is on the list for that reason. He was saying in his book that the most important part of getting started (from a business survival standpoint) is learning how to sell. In fact, he recommends a person interested in this path to learn selling even before learning investing. That got me thinking - maybe what I want to do is take on a sales job and get some more real-world experience there. I say "more" because I have worked as a salesman in the past - my first job was concession sales at the Toledo Zoo, after which I sold computers at KMart. Back in the '90s, I occasionally took up holiday sales work at Circuit City. Most of my friends think I have this skill in spades, but like so many areas of my life, it's mostly raw talent that hasn't been developed in a focused, sustained way.
One thing is for sure, I feel as energized now as I did when I first took computer programming seriously back in 1995, when I had a sense that the world was my oyster and only opportunity was ahead. As my dear friend Mimi Munroe would remind me, "You can't get it wrong." No Mim, I can't. I remain clear about my eventual outcome, yet the path to that destination is an unknown adventure that I embrace with abandon.
So now I've been in Austin almost two weeks. It's gone by fast, and I'm finally just about settled in where I'm staying, a room share in a beautiful four-bedroom house up in the Arboretum area (northwest from downtown). Although my ultimate plan is business ownership and development, I have allowed myself to be courted by a couple of software companies for full-time employment. One of them had previously extended me an offer in spring '08, but I took a competing offer in the DC area instead.
Why would I participate in job interviews if I want to go into business? This is the question I am living with currently. There are a few ways to look at it: 1) I'm selling out on my dreams by pursuing full-time work, postponing the "real" life I keep telling myself I'll have someday. 2) It's something practical to do while I keep my ear to the ground and get a feel for the best avenues of business opportunity that are available. 3) It's a way to practice some of the best wisdom I've ever learned, being willing to be "open to everything and attached to nothing". (Wayne Dyer)
I am truly blessed. I followed opportunity back in 1995 and built the kind of career and skills that get me noticed in the job market for very good pay. But sometimes I wonder if this situation has also created a kind of gravity that keeps me from moving up into an orbit that is higher still. When I read the business stories of people like Richard Branson, Felix Dennis - even Bill Gates and Michael Dell - I feel like I may be settling for something less than what I have the potential of becoming by taking on a salaried position. You see, it's always a good time to take a job, and it's never a good time to jump into business. A software job offers me good money. The benefits are nice. There's a lot to like about it and I would never dishonor the value of working for a paycheck. It's just that something deep inside of me wants to the one who creates jobs, who puts capital at risk, who makes a difference (of whatever magnitude) in this world by creating and promoting his own products and services.
I was recently re-reading a chapter in Ken Fisher's excellent book The Ten Roads To Wealth where he writes about managing other peoples' money. Wealth managers make up the largest percentage of the annual Forbes 400 list of the world's richest people. Fisher himself is on the list for that reason. He was saying in his book that the most important part of getting started (from a business survival standpoint) is learning how to sell. In fact, he recommends a person interested in this path to learn selling even before learning investing. That got me thinking - maybe what I want to do is take on a sales job and get some more real-world experience there. I say "more" because I have worked as a salesman in the past - my first job was concession sales at the Toledo Zoo, after which I sold computers at KMart. Back in the '90s, I occasionally took up holiday sales work at Circuit City. Most of my friends think I have this skill in spades, but like so many areas of my life, it's mostly raw talent that hasn't been developed in a focused, sustained way.
One thing is for sure, I feel as energized now as I did when I first took computer programming seriously back in 1995, when I had a sense that the world was my oyster and only opportunity was ahead. As my dear friend Mimi Munroe would remind me, "You can't get it wrong." No Mim, I can't. I remain clear about my eventual outcome, yet the path to that destination is an unknown adventure that I embrace with abandon.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
View From the Ground: Atlanta
They say the three keys to business success are, "Location, location, location." Atlanta, Georgia has been showing up on a lot of "Top 10" lists lately, for entrepreneurship, lifestyle, growth, etc. Annual data from the US Census bureau shows that it is certainly one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country. I decided to take action and travel to Atlanta myself to get a first-hand glimpse of the city and the surrounding areas. I've just completed four days there and my impressions are very favorable.
There are a number of neighborhoods like Decatur, Virginia Highlands, and, yes, even the downtown district where shops and restaurants are convenient to the walking public. This feature appeals to me as a businessman because it fosters that viral, word-of-mouth buzz that's just harder to attract if you're located in a strip mall. However, strip malls have their place too. In the numerous and prospering suburban communities along what's being called the "I-85 Corridor" to northwest of the city, I observed a great deal of business demand in the form of full shopping center parking lots and decent waiting lines in front of midrange to upscale restaurants.
While in Atlanta, I scored a meeting with the Vice President of Economic Development at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and he supplied me with key information on everything from business licensing to demographic trends to commercial real estate resources.
All in all, a successful trip - I came away with a great picture of what Atlanta can offer in terms of retail business demand and growth trends. Incidentally, the people of the city were friendly and helpful, regardless of which neighborhood I visited. Whether or not Atlanta is my future destination remains to be seen. There are a couple of other promising metro markets I plan on visiting before making my decision.
There are a number of neighborhoods like Decatur, Virginia Highlands, and, yes, even the downtown district where shops and restaurants are convenient to the walking public. This feature appeals to me as a businessman because it fosters that viral, word-of-mouth buzz that's just harder to attract if you're located in a strip mall. However, strip malls have their place too. In the numerous and prospering suburban communities along what's being called the "I-85 Corridor" to northwest of the city, I observed a great deal of business demand in the form of full shopping center parking lots and decent waiting lines in front of midrange to upscale restaurants.
While in Atlanta, I scored a meeting with the Vice President of Economic Development at the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and he supplied me with key information on everything from business licensing to demographic trends to commercial real estate resources.
All in all, a successful trip - I came away with a great picture of what Atlanta can offer in terms of retail business demand and growth trends. Incidentally, the people of the city were friendly and helpful, regardless of which neighborhood I visited. Whether or not Atlanta is my future destination remains to be seen. There are a couple of other promising metro markets I plan on visiting before making my decision.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Cutting the Employment Cord
Yesterday was my last official day at EA Orlando, two weeks after I gave them notice. There was nothing wrong with the company or the position. It's just that I felt like I was going to burst unless I put myself "out there" and took a chance at creating a business of my own. I am fortunate to have money saved up so I could live on it for a few years (with a fairly tight budget) if I needed to.
I'm doing research on a handful of opportunities, all of them original business ideas. One of them is to emulate Fred DeLuca's (the founder of Subway Sandwiches) success by starting a fast food concept that can be refined into a system at one store, expanded locally, and later developed into a franchise opportunity. Another idea is to take my considerable expertise and create a new technology product or service - this would take more time but would have the potential for a much bigger payoff. You know me, I want it all - perhaps I can start the fast food shop, get it rolling with a good management team and then focus on developing the technology product.
Every job I've ever worked has been trouble simply because when I see ways for a company's processes to be improved I don't keep my mouth shut. On the contrary, I've been the epitome of the boy who called out, "The Emperor is naked!" It is only fair to the fine men and women who have had the challenge of trying to manage me that I remove myself from the employee pool and take a shot at being the Emperor. Interestingly - my way has worked out well when I've worked at startup companies where it's fine to chit-chat with the President and the Chief Technology Officer. I guess I just don't "get" turf wars and office politics - it all seems like a bunch of unnecessary friction that slows down the process of innovation and continuous improvement. I understand that there are many people who do "get" these things and who are willing to work around them in exchange for stable employment. I am very glad for such people - after all, my future companies are going to need managers and employees too.
In a way, it all boils down to this: Although I have finally come to accept that I cannot escape structure, I don't have to spend my life struggling against somebody else's structure. I have the option of creating my own structure - one that pleases me, one that I can live with and thrive in.
I'm doing research on a handful of opportunities, all of them original business ideas. One of them is to emulate Fred DeLuca's (the founder of Subway Sandwiches) success by starting a fast food concept that can be refined into a system at one store, expanded locally, and later developed into a franchise opportunity. Another idea is to take my considerable expertise and create a new technology product or service - this would take more time but would have the potential for a much bigger payoff. You know me, I want it all - perhaps I can start the fast food shop, get it rolling with a good management team and then focus on developing the technology product.
Every job I've ever worked has been trouble simply because when I see ways for a company's processes to be improved I don't keep my mouth shut. On the contrary, I've been the epitome of the boy who called out, "The Emperor is naked!" It is only fair to the fine men and women who have had the challenge of trying to manage me that I remove myself from the employee pool and take a shot at being the Emperor. Interestingly - my way has worked out well when I've worked at startup companies where it's fine to chit-chat with the President and the Chief Technology Officer. I guess I just don't "get" turf wars and office politics - it all seems like a bunch of unnecessary friction that slows down the process of innovation and continuous improvement. I understand that there are many people who do "get" these things and who are willing to work around them in exchange for stable employment. I am very glad for such people - after all, my future companies are going to need managers and employees too.
In a way, it all boils down to this: Although I have finally come to accept that I cannot escape structure, I don't have to spend my life struggling against somebody else's structure. I have the option of creating my own structure - one that pleases me, one that I can live with and thrive in.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Well That Was A Short Nap
The stock market has come roaring back in the last couple of trading sessions from a mild downturn that only lasted about a month. Now, one or two up days does not a trend make. However, the volume of trade and the percent increase in the general indexes makes it pretty clear (to me, at least) that this is the beginning of something interesting.
I've re-entered the market with positions in travel, retail, rental car, and (I can't get over them) Chinese online gaming stocks. If you have been sitting on the sidelines with your retirement funds, I'd definitely encourage you to speak with a personal finance professional about re-entering the market at this time.
No-load index mutual funds for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ might be relatively stress-free candidates if you agree with me and wish to participate in the market's apparent upturn.
Disclaimer: I am not a personal finance professional and this information does not constitute an offer to sell investment products. These opinions are my own. You are responsible for your own decisions - Hell, I have trouble keeping my own shoelaces tied!
I've re-entered the market with positions in travel, retail, rental car, and (I can't get over them) Chinese online gaming stocks. If you have been sitting on the sidelines with your retirement funds, I'd definitely encourage you to speak with a personal finance professional about re-entering the market at this time.
No-load index mutual funds for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ might be relatively stress-free candidates if you agree with me and wish to participate in the market's apparent upturn.
Disclaimer: I am not a personal finance professional and this information does not constitute an offer to sell investment products. These opinions are my own. You are responsible for your own decisions - Hell, I have trouble keeping my own shoelaces tied!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Everybody - Back Into The Pool!
"People fear when they should hope and hope when they should fear." -Jesse Livermore
If you have investment money that you've pulled into cash or a money market account, consider putting it back at risk in the stock market. If you don't want to follow individual stocks, you could consider a no-load S&P 500 index mutual fund available through low-cost online brokers such as TD Ameritrade or Scottrade.
Stocks are now in a bull market and have been for about 3 weeks. This is not hyperbole, the fact is that the major market indexes have been climbing higher for the past 3 weeks. They have all crossed above their critical support lines (50 day moving average) and stayed above them with conviction. The past 10 trading days have been marked by the indexes rising on higher volume and falling on lower volume.
As I wrote in this article, it is very easy to miss what is happening today - now - due to fact that our news sources always lag truly current events. Pundits and analysts are still busy trying to decide which industry sector or government bureaucracy holds greater blame for last year's problems. (or greater credit for its triumphs)
I'm asking you not to get caught up in all that. Consider this an inviting you to take a closer look at the data for yourself, along with me, and make the decisions you may have delegated to others in the past. If you lost money in the recent bear market, do whatever you need to do to get the upset from that loss out of your system so that you can do today what is possible to make a better tomorrow.
Disclaimer: I do not currently work as a stock broker or professional money advisor. The views I have expressed are my own opinions. Investing in the stock market entails risk, including the possibility of losing all of your invested capital.
If you have investment money that you've pulled into cash or a money market account, consider putting it back at risk in the stock market. If you don't want to follow individual stocks, you could consider a no-load S&P 500 index mutual fund available through low-cost online brokers such as TD Ameritrade or Scottrade.
Stocks are now in a bull market and have been for about 3 weeks. This is not hyperbole, the fact is that the major market indexes have been climbing higher for the past 3 weeks. They have all crossed above their critical support lines (50 day moving average) and stayed above them with conviction. The past 10 trading days have been marked by the indexes rising on higher volume and falling on lower volume.
As I wrote in this article, it is very easy to miss what is happening today - now - due to fact that our news sources always lag truly current events. Pundits and analysts are still busy trying to decide which industry sector or government bureaucracy holds greater blame for last year's problems. (or greater credit for its triumphs)
I'm asking you not to get caught up in all that. Consider this an inviting you to take a closer look at the data for yourself, along with me, and make the decisions you may have delegated to others in the past. If you lost money in the recent bear market, do whatever you need to do to get the upset from that loss out of your system so that you can do today what is possible to make a better tomorrow.
Disclaimer: I do not currently work as a stock broker or professional money advisor. The views I have expressed are my own opinions. Investing in the stock market entails risk, including the possibility of losing all of your invested capital.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Late to the Rocket Launch
I'm a guy who likes to give advice. I'd like to believe that, over the years, I've mellowed from coming across as a know-it-all to becoming a person who gives advice back to pay off the good advice I've recieved.
Be that as it may, Friday marked an event that illustrates how easy it is for one to neglect one's own advice. I've been sharing a "hot tip" with the stock investing community for over four years regarding stem cell research companies. One of George W. Bush's earliest actions as president was to ban most stem cell research. It was as clear as clear could be to me that one day that policy would be reversed and a whole raft of companies specializing in this research would rise with the swelling tide of progress. On Friday, a West Coast company won FDA approval for the first-ever study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem cells. I have watched this company closely and have traded in and out of it several times in the last year.
When the announcement came out, the stock shot up over 50% between Friday and Monday. Was I already in this stock on Friday? No. Was I in any of the other stem cell stocks I've been watching for the last three years? No. I had recently moved my holdings to cash in the aftermath of the financial crisis, (a good move) but had unwisely allowed the other cares of this world to distract me from keeping tabs on the market.
This is a good lesson to learn: It's not enough to see an event coming, you have to be sure to set yourself up to benefit from it should your prediction come true. As Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching, "People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care to the end as to the beginning; then there will be no failure". How hard would it have been to bought on some shares in the days before President Obama's inauguration? Answer: not hard at all. So why didn't I take care of this in time? As my mentor, Jim Rohn, would put it, "It was also easy not to."
Luckily, I'm in on the secret that there is no lack of wonderful, exciting opportunities in life. I guess I feel the "missing" of this opportunity more strongly because I've been mentally invested in its eventuality for what seems like a long period of time. Practically speaking, the long term upswing for stem cell stocks in general will almost certainly dwarf the gains my favorite stock made on Friday and Monday. As the market would have it, the stock's price has pulled back on lower volume from it's lofty Monday highs and I have picked up a number of shares. All of this is well and good.
Nevertheless, I intend to be aboard the rocket beforehand the next time I forsee an inevitable blast off.
Be that as it may, Friday marked an event that illustrates how easy it is for one to neglect one's own advice. I've been sharing a "hot tip" with the stock investing community for over four years regarding stem cell research companies. One of George W. Bush's earliest actions as president was to ban most stem cell research. It was as clear as clear could be to me that one day that policy would be reversed and a whole raft of companies specializing in this research would rise with the swelling tide of progress. On Friday, a West Coast company won FDA approval for the first-ever study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem cells. I have watched this company closely and have traded in and out of it several times in the last year.
When the announcement came out, the stock shot up over 50% between Friday and Monday. Was I already in this stock on Friday? No. Was I in any of the other stem cell stocks I've been watching for the last three years? No. I had recently moved my holdings to cash in the aftermath of the financial crisis, (a good move) but had unwisely allowed the other cares of this world to distract me from keeping tabs on the market.
This is a good lesson to learn: It's not enough to see an event coming, you have to be sure to set yourself up to benefit from it should your prediction come true. As Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching, "People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care to the end as to the beginning; then there will be no failure". How hard would it have been to bought on some shares in the days before President Obama's inauguration? Answer: not hard at all. So why didn't I take care of this in time? As my mentor, Jim Rohn, would put it, "It was also easy not to."
Luckily, I'm in on the secret that there is no lack of wonderful, exciting opportunities in life. I guess I feel the "missing" of this opportunity more strongly because I've been mentally invested in its eventuality for what seems like a long period of time. Practically speaking, the long term upswing for stem cell stocks in general will almost certainly dwarf the gains my favorite stock made on Friday and Monday. As the market would have it, the stock's price has pulled back on lower volume from it's lofty Monday highs and I have picked up a number of shares. All of this is well and good.
Nevertheless, I intend to be aboard the rocket beforehand the next time I forsee an inevitable blast off.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Florida Bound
I have decided to accept the employment offer of a large computer game corporation. I will be starting at their office in Orlando, Florida on Monday.
I had a couple of other offers available in Silicon Valley, both of them start-up gaming companies without a released product or current revenue. Although I definitely see myself returning to Silicon Valley, now is not the time. I am certain the recession that has just begun in the US will last a good two to three years. My judgement is that this is neither the time to work for startups nor the time to move to a high cost-of-living region. One of my friends responded to this reasoning by exclaiming, "Who would have ever thought you would choose stability over opportunity?" This is a pretty good question. Let me say in response that I feel there is a time for every type of strategy. You won't find me choosing stability over opportunity in the future, when the NASDAQ and S&P500 indexes cross back above their 200-day moving average lines. But for now, it feels like the right thing to do.
A recruiter friend of mine who set up some of the interviews in California asked me, "If plans don't work in Silicon Valley, there are always other software companies to work for. But if your plans don't work in Orlando, who else can you work for down there?" Another good point. Cost-of-living trumps again. I'd rather sweat out a period between jobs in a city where you can share an apartment for $500 per month than in an area where that would run $750 per month. (again, given the current economic climate)
But the bottom line is, I'm not planning for contingencies if this job doesn't work out. I'm focusing on the idea that it will work out spectacularly. It will be the best job I've ever had and I'll be the best me in it I've ever been. There's a subtle difference in how to think about these things - it's OK to weigh the good against the bad while in the cloud of uncertainty, considering competing possibilities. Once you have crystalized your intelligence upon a course of action and made a commitment, however, I've learned it's best to focus your attention on the best outcome you intend to experience.
What you focus on expands. It grows to form the foreground of your experience.
So wish me luck!
I had a couple of other offers available in Silicon Valley, both of them start-up gaming companies without a released product or current revenue. Although I definitely see myself returning to Silicon Valley, now is not the time. I am certain the recession that has just begun in the US will last a good two to three years. My judgement is that this is neither the time to work for startups nor the time to move to a high cost-of-living region. One of my friends responded to this reasoning by exclaiming, "Who would have ever thought you would choose stability over opportunity?" This is a pretty good question. Let me say in response that I feel there is a time for every type of strategy. You won't find me choosing stability over opportunity in the future, when the NASDAQ and S&P500 indexes cross back above their 200-day moving average lines. But for now, it feels like the right thing to do.
A recruiter friend of mine who set up some of the interviews in California asked me, "If plans don't work in Silicon Valley, there are always other software companies to work for. But if your plans don't work in Orlando, who else can you work for down there?" Another good point. Cost-of-living trumps again. I'd rather sweat out a period between jobs in a city where you can share an apartment for $500 per month than in an area where that would run $750 per month. (again, given the current economic climate)
But the bottom line is, I'm not planning for contingencies if this job doesn't work out. I'm focusing on the idea that it will work out spectacularly. It will be the best job I've ever had and I'll be the best me in it I've ever been. There's a subtle difference in how to think about these things - it's OK to weigh the good against the bad while in the cloud of uncertainty, considering competing possibilities. Once you have crystalized your intelligence upon a course of action and made a commitment, however, I've learned it's best to focus your attention on the best outcome you intend to experience.
What you focus on expands. It grows to form the foreground of your experience.
So wish me luck!
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