I always used to wonder how a colleague of mine would work an nine hour day and still be as productive as I was working fifteen. He wasn’t especially smarter by his own admissions, and I had cut my Facebooking time down to 10 minutes in the morning. So how did he do it?

Rocks. Big Rocks.

Okay, so my colleague happened to be the Co-CEO of the company. He had a lot of qualities that could dwarf my own most any day of the week, but time management wasn’t one he considered to be a science (although he did refer to it as a discipline).

He put me on to a theory about “Big Rocks” coined by Stephen Covey (author of ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’). The theory suggested that everything I was doing, I could have done anyway - along with much more critical tasks - had I just reversed the order in which I approached my day.

You see, my approach had been to deal with the noise first thing in the morning - the email, the follow-ups, the project plans, the checklists etc. I wanted it all out of the way so that I could tackle the big ideas free from the weight of lingering “to-do’s”. I was the same way at home. I cleaned my living spaces, did my laundry, some banking and so on… and then I would sit down to my wonderfully clean and clear desk. What was so wrong with that picture?

As it turns out - quite a bit.

Think of your checklist. How often do we load it up with lots of little nuisance tasks and eagerly cross them off the top of the list? Then, as we make our way to the middle of the page, we start to slow - right around the time the tasks require more thinking, more steps, more time. On one hand, we’ve crossed a lot off the list. On the other, we’ve crossed off those things that haven’t pushed our roadmaps and we find ourselves waking up to the same set of circumstances the next day.

The “Big Rocks” theory suggests that you prioritize - at the top of the list - 3 “Big Rocks” for the week ahead. Put them at the top of your list and commit, come heck or high water, to move them forward this week. They may not get completed, but consider it a fail if they haven’t moved from one step to the next. From there, you can sprinkle in the pebbles (semi-critical tasks) and the sand (the obstacle that we previously assumed was keeping us on our toes).

My CEO colleague also commented on how he managed to apply the “Big Rocks” theory as the leader of an entity. He said - and I’m paraphrasing, “If you want my job, make sure you bet on the right rocks.”

When you’re starting out, one of the necessary exercises out of the gate is crafting your elevator pitch. You edit tirelessly, desperately trying to keep it to less than 50 words and less than 30 seconds.

You frame it in a way that angles you against the sea of competition, which seemingly grows every time you turn around. You discover your niche. You articulate. Then you bail.

We bail because when pressed into an actual elevator, it doesn’t seem natural. Think about it. Every time you’re gearing up to deliver your pitch (at least for me), there is this feeling in the pit of your (my?) stomach that prays I can get it all out of my mouth and receive a perked eyebrow in return. I’ve always wondered why there is this need to hope.

Let’s make a safe assumption and say you’re pretty good at what you do (unanimous nodding). When you’re in that elevator, it seems that no matter how tight your script, you’re leaving out the best part. YOU. It’s that old adage that a resume doesn’t do one justice - the same applies to the pitch. It’s what you do, but it’s probably not you - provided you have more personality than a script.

So let’s put the pitch to bed.

The timing is perfect. The web has brought us a number of new and better ways to GTD, but it has also taught its citizens to participate in a relationship economy (this transition came easier to some). It is in the relationship that we find success. How can I have a relationship with your message? Is a pitch any different than a billboard ad in that respect? I want a relationship with a person.

We’re all blessed with quirks, flaws and strengths. It’s probably time we let those show through a bit more in our business (one person or many). It’s what people remember.

I have the good fortune of speaking with several small businesses, freelancers and consultants (they are FreshBooks customers) on a daily basis. Last week, one newly ordained freelancer read me her elevator pitch over the phone (she had been working on it for weeks). I took some notes and asked her if I could say it back to her. I paraphrased and let my quirks become the differentiator. She was so engaged that the conversation went for another twenty minutes. Isn’t that the point?

Someone had to say it. It’s a mess out there - that’s all the more reason to shout it from the rooftops, “THE ECONOMY IS DOING FINE!”

You are an entrepreneur for the next 60 seconds. Not a citizen or a spouse or an employee or a consumer. Right now, you are an entrepreneur. Believe me, there has never been a truer statement in your working life.

Necessity is the mother of all invention.

Okay. As at this date, my parents have lost 70% of their portfolio. Our neighbours to the South are bailing stage left every other week. Meanwhile, this great nation is playing politics instead of talking government. Spending is down. Property is down. Confidence is down. Lending is down. You are up.

Because necessity is the mother of all invention.

Whether you own a corner store or sell homemade jewelry on Saturdays, you understood something long ago. At some point in the history of “you”, the light went on and you acknowledged that your future rests exclusively in your hands. That was the day you became an entrepreneur. I remember that day to the moment.

Your revelation bound you to a whole new set of rules. Many of them made for great dinner conversation. Things like working when and where you wanted, or choosing what and how you got things done. Or how about reaping the fruits of your labour?

Then there were the rules that didn’t start as many conversations. Things like owning the outcome, self-preservation and an inverse relationship to the status quo. These are the rules that have consistently given you security in tough times. They have been your flag in the ground - the starting point for solving the problem.

Necessity is the mother of all invention.

As at this date, you don’t attribute your loss of sales to reduced spending - you’re too busy trying to adjust the way that you deliver a better product and experience.

As at this date, you don’t curtail investments in your business - you’re too focused on preserving your reasons for moving forward.

As at this date, you haven’t noticed a downturn - you’ve been too busy working harder each time you hear someone complain about the status quo.

As at this very moment, you haven’t given a second thought to this post - you’re too busy building your future.

In case you were wondering, the economy is doing fine.

Coming up at the end of this month I will have the privilege of speaking at the University of Toronto. This is the 4th such occasion for me, but truthfully, it is among the most fulfilling parts of my mash-up career.

The lecture will be to a 3rd year management class on “New Ways of Work”. This particular occasion has some added pressure in that Prof. Chris Bovaird has returned from his one year sabbatical to launch this new course in parallel with his new book on the topic.

‘New Ways of Work’ seems to me, broad enough to describe at least one-third of today’s careers. Freelancers, consultants, full-timers with hobby projects, small businesses - the means with which we can define a career have grown exponentially in the last decade. This is being mirrored inside enterprise organizations as well, as seen by the volume of new job titles being created every year.

The definitive line between entrepreneur and employee has been blurred. I can make a case that I belong to either group (as can many others). What it comes down to, is the level of risk you can tolerate at this moment in time. There are character traits that will play into your decision to assume a risk, but at the heart of every person is an equation that says,

The expected value of the things I want, is equal to my probability of success versus my desire to realize that outcome (“the payoff”) .

I’m still early in my career. In many ways this is the ideal time to start my own business. There is less to lose, less responsibility and accountability, and the energy is there. In many ways it is also the worst time to start my business. I haven’t exhausted the learning I can do with other people’s money, I haven’t seen markets shift over 5 year timeframes, and I do not have the capital or investments to hold me over.

And so I keep on working for the man. Okay... I’m not slaving away as employee #2810482. I’m working for small companies in important roles. All the while learning lessons (very openly), through them. I’m seeing what works, what fails and why. I’m maintaining two or three incomes by having a full-time job and some side projects that allow me to apply what I’m learning to different business models (whilst consulting to others on how to do the same).

This is the level of risk I choose for myself, today. One day I will venture off in the truest sense, but not now. Right now I desire to purchase a home, travel and grow my investments. You can’t do all that while risking life and limb. By some accounts I’m sitting right smack on the top of a fence. But hey, I can do that in today’s career climate. And better yet - I can jump down on either side depending on what I want most at that future moment in time.

Quick story…

I was at The Fireplace Shop on a recent Saturday night. My good friend Daniel, is the GM there. They were celebrating with beer and high fives. They had just completed the 3rd version of a set of forms (yes, paper-based forms) that they had worked on for well over 2000 hours.

These forms detail what goes into any and every installation of a mantle or fireplace. These forms train installers on 10 years worth of scenarios in 1 year’s time. These forms give outside sales teams the ability to build quotes on site and subsequently, sell better services to the customer. These forms have even become a new revenue stream for the business – consulting.

They’ve become speakers at trade events.

They’ve reduced screw-ups and increased margins.

They’ve cut training costs by 80%.

They’re selling the filing of the forms as peace of mind to the customer ($95). And if you like their approach, it rolls right into your purchase price too.

Dan says they wouldn’t sell these forms for less than a very big number. They are his company’s processes – his competitive advantage. They are 8 pieces of paper. Anyone could have made them, but anyone didn’t – he and his team did. Now the rewards are theirs.

One of the biggest hurdles I face when helping businesses stand out using social media, is capturing what story they want to tell about themselves. What do they do that is exceptional? Where can they educate and share? And how can all of this drive business?

8 pieces of paper may not make for ground-breaking marketing collateral, but most times we forget that the best marketing return depends on how you deliver on a promise. In other words, the process can be marketed in many different ways. Which is more than can be said for an agency crafted story that 'strokes the ego' or ‘tugs on the heart strings.’

I suppose it’s time I wrote on this topic. I was trying to avoid it... honestly! I tell you though – you can only turn a blind eye to so many “how-to make things viral” blog posts.

The first thing I do with every client is get to know them. You might consider getting to know yourself. I bet you have a lot of redeeming qualities, and probably some idiosyncrasies that drive people nuts. Sure, you might not, but then you’re just perfect and boring, and you would already have failed the first step to starting a conversation.

Case in point; Apple makes awesome products. They also charge you after the first support call. I know the reason – that’s not my point. My point is that they drive me nuts, but in the end I tell their story.

The second thing I do with a client is find a comfort zone. How quaint. Usually this is my way of gauging things like risk tolerance, the adaptability of their persona (especially important in small-biz land) and finally, the breadth of what they can speak to without sounding like a fence-sitter.

Case in point; Pepsi recently sponsored a Matt Nathanson concert held strictly for the web. Then it got cooler. As audience members (users), your typed comments show up on TV screens that Matt can see! He’s having a field day reading the comments between songs - most are pretty foul. In 10 minutes, I convinced 8 people to log on.

But it’s the third thing that really dictates whether a product, a business, a brand... even gets a chance to go viral. You must, at every possible instance, do something differently than you normally would. And there’s a very simple reason for it. Because if you don’t, then I already know how your story ends. That’s it! Who picks up a video game after their friend has beaten every level!? Who watches Titanic after they’ve been told Leo dies!? Who buys a Leaf jersey knowing that... okay, I’ll leave that one alone. PREDICTABILITY IS KILLING YOUR COMPANY!

Sure, some of what you’ve been doing successfully has been, well... successful. You’ll have to decide where to sacrifice. Just bear in mind that I’ve never written home about a great customer experience. If someone asks I’ll say it was pleasantly error-free, but I won’t start a conversation without a punchline.

Change is hard. And the harder it is, the more you’re going to love it.

We’re in a fortunate position at a fortunate time. There are lots of “tried, tested and true” models that are flying right out the window. The basic reasoning for why, follow this premise...

The consumer can reach further than ever to find exactly what they need. There are just more options. Because of this, the consumer’s perceived needs are both more, and more refined.

In an information age, some successful businesses will become successful businesses because they bring new information to the consumer. However, the more likely scenario is that a successful business will come to be that way by re-packaging the unending sea of information to become exactly what some group of people thought they needed. The web calls this a mash-up. We have barely tapped the keg.

The good news is that your business has all the right pieces. You have great people. You have cool products. You have competitive advantages here and there. You might even have a brand, a corner lot, or a cute dog that your customers come to visit (nice one Pete!). The anxiety around changing might actually be the only thing holding you back from being somebody’s (or a lot of body’s) eureka.

Re-purposing, re-packaging, changing... any way you slice it, it will probably hurt just as much as changing your domain name after a decade of e-mail marketing. But once you’re there – amidst the change – it will feel just as good as those first days you spent naming your company.

Look at your business. Study its pieces. Any good consultant will ask you, “Why are you winning?” Don’t kid yourself and say that every piece is pulling the same weight. Then, when you’ve separated the finest grains from your field, ask yourself – “What is the single greatest combination of these pieces? What’s my mash-up?”

We all need a reason to change. If your newly verbalized script is what you would do if today was Day 1, isn’t that reason enough?

I was going to begin by saying that we’ve all heard of the value of polarizing markets, but then it occurred to me that I might have taken for granted the amount of times I’ve seen this in my line of work – the web.

We probably all heard the story of Arla, the Danish dairy giant that published caricatures of the prophet Muhammad. I’m not here to debate the right or wrong of it. I’m more interested in what happened in the aftershock.

Arla went from $480M in sales in the Middle East to zero. That was big. The Middle East accounted for 6-7% of their worldwide revenues. In a reactionary mindset, Arla decided to issue apologies as fast as cartoonists use George Bush for comedic relief.

Then something worse happened. The Danes, among the world’s biggest free speech proponents, saw the backpedalling and got mad(der). The only difference was that the Danes made up over 20% of Arla’s worldwide sales and when that number dropped, they had a bigger problem on their hands.

I think there is a lesson here for and about entrepreneurs.

There will always be those who seek an opportunity to be more efficient, raise quality and, in doing so, not cause too much of a stir. Then there will be those who polarize markets. You either love them or you hate them, but either way you remember them.

Donald Trump. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Mark Cuban. Howard Roark. Richard Branson. Barack Obama. Their products, purposes and practices typically follow their personalities. They polarize people.

What’s that old saying about “you can’t please all the people all the time?” It would seem to me that sitting on the fence or teetering back and forth on your principles (as Arla did) will get you nowhere with anyone. Sure you’ll do fine while your competition scrambles to duplicate your economies of scale or technological advancements, but in time, you will need a brand. And I don’t mean a lofty statement – I mean a brand that you live out daily.

As I build a business, one of my most important indicators is who I’m winning over and who’s tuning me out. These are my poles – one represents my (business’) brand, the other, mediocrity.

Every year I listen. Every year I listen intently with a half smile and a hopeful look. I really do love when people make resolutions – more often than not they make them about things that truly will change their lives in a positive way. I just wish they wouldn’t wait to flip the switch.

Maybe it’s the ‘now’ in my personality. Maybe it’s the expectation that making a big decision just because it’s “the thing to do” means it won’t last past the point where it’s no longer “the thing to do”. Now don’t get me wrong – I love the folks that give it their best shot. I just wish they wouldn’t sync it up with the dropping of a ball.

I recently blogged about "counting" and how the web has made it more popular than ever. We count upwards to denote progress. We count downwards to denote a change on the horizon. Either way it’s a bit useless. We count down to New Years – to a new beginning. I’d like to recommend we stop treating it that way. I’d like to propose we look at what we’re counting. For example...

After a campaign has run its course, the post mortem commences. You’ll look at the numbers you were trying to achieve and the numbers you did achieve. Then you’ll report these numbers to the folks who footed the bill and hopefully everyone goes for some cider at conversation’s end. It’s an all-or-nothing game and “the target” defines your success.

The really good marketers (salespeople, entrepreneurs, brands) look carefully at WHAT they chose to measure and re-visit its relevance. Virgin Mobile spent a lot of money in Canada this year. They made some headway in getting people signed up, but nothing special. The thing is though, people really took to the brand and when asked, preferred it over the other choices. The hurdle for next year is now that much clearer – make it easy to switch.

The Virgin analogy works like this; they COULD have tried to tackle everything this year. They could have said “this year we’re going to be the best”. Even if being the best was the goal, they will probably look at this year as a success. They took one step closer to being the company they want to be.

If you’re going to set a goal this New Years, make it a relative one – not an absolute. Absolutes, like quitting smoking, eating less junk food, or quitting one idea for another, tend to naturally follow a relative change. If you don’t like smoking anymore (for whatever reason), then ease up. If you still don’t like it, then I think you’ll find you won’t smoke anymore. If your company isn’t where it should be, would you wait until New Years before turning on a light switch and announcing the makeover?

Oh... and please, I beg of you... start right now or, at the very least, at 4:38pm on December 31st or 12:17am on January 9th. Do it for no other reason than to make this a “you” thing and not an “everybody” thing. It will last longer (like forever).

To many of us, being an entrepreneur is a gateway to changing the world. It could be our own personal world, the industry we care to develop, the people we affect on a daily basis, or the health of the economy in which we and our fellow entrepreneurs operate. For some folks, changing the world literally means changing the world.

I’ve had the recent pleasure of meeting Mr. John Wood. The Microsoft folks will remember Mr. Wood from his book ‘Leaving Microsoft to Change the World’. If you’re wondering what would cause a man to leave behind his ‘rising executive’ status for the world of philanthropy, one need look no further than the captions found on the Room to Read web site. John founded Room to Read after his trek through Nepal revealed a shocking lack of resources when it came to basic education. Among the alarming numbers that most of us will never put a picture to;

“Of the 770 million adults in the world who cannot read or write, 2/3rds are women”

“There are over 115 million children of primary-school age who are not enrolled in school”

Since the organization’s inception in 2000, Room to Read has built 287 schools, 3,870 libraries, published 1.3 million books, donated another 1.4 million English-language books, provided 3,448 girls with scholarships, and built 136 computer labs. These numbers are nothing short of incredible.

John’s results may have reached the mainstream (Bill Clinton is a leading supporter and Oprah has opened up her show to John), but it is the way in which he brings these results into perspective that allows all of us to help this noble idea along.

It takes but a single book to inspire a mind.

John does not run his donations through criss-cross patterns. You know that your donation (no matter how small) is helping to pay for THIS book, in THIS school, in THIS city, for THESE children. This is how the allocation happens.

Room to Read does not deliver materials to remote locations by Land Rover. They do not pave the roadways into the village so that it feels more like the familiarity of home. They pour all the money into their (and our) greatest resource - children.

As I stood amongst the who’s who of Canadian business, nothing mattered except the reason we were there. John stood at the front and challenged the room with donation targets that would have made any corporation wish their shareholders out of hearing range. We had expected ambition from a former top executive - we weren’t prepared for a pipe dream. And then we saw his eyes.

Room to Read is one of the fastest growing not-for-profit organizations in the world. John has hit his astronomical targets every year and every year he raises the bar beyond what people think to be possible. It makes you reconsider how you define possible.

The problem Room to Read is trying to put right isn’t complex. It does not require a complex org structure, complex financing or a complex business model. The problem is just big - big but simple. Room to Read won’t stand for distractions - if that is a strategic advantage, then it is one we should all be looking into.

Pardon me for reinforcing the Generation Y stereotypes, but I’d like to share with you my most recent adventures in small business.

While I remain an emotionally-invested strategic advisor for the boutique interactive agency I helped grow over the better part of the last year, the ongoing balancing act that is my time, has just absorbed a very recent shock.

I’m 3 weeks into a new position as employee #1 (as in “the first”, not necessarily “the best”) for an eLearning company that has recently been broken into two parts; Custom Solutions and Products (I am heading up the Product division). An old professor of mine once told me that ‘success gives you a false sense of security, because with every degree of success comes a ceiling that requires planning in order to reach the next level’. Using the number 21 (as in ‘employees’) as my threshold, I’d like to point out some observations I’ve made during my time in my new environment.

1. Office Protocol
   Under 21 employees: “What’s this protocol you’re making and are you using your cell phone to dial?”
   Over 21 employees: “Please read the Employee Handbook and if you see the CEO tomorrow, tell him to do the same”
   
   
2. Knowledge Sharing
   Under 21 employees: “Why don’t you all roll your chairs over here and I’ll show you what I mean”
   Over 21 employees: “I’ve got an idea I want to show you - let’s go to the boardroom and by boardroom, I mean the room with the board in it”
   
   
3. Primary Objective
   Under 21 employees: “Sell, because we have to eat”
   Over 21 employees: “Sell, because now we have a quota”
   

In general though, there are still some things that will frustrate you on a daily basis. Files don’t follow naming conventions, business development is not, nor will it ever be, centralized, and some elements of the brand are consistently inconsistent. But as I reflect on what it takes to scale an organization by building capacity, I take a moment to remember that the common ground between any small business, is an unwritten code that says ‘THE GOOD IDEA WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL’. To me, that is the single biggest indicator of when you’ve hit a ceiling. Once the good idea is thwarted, that’s when the Generation Y genes will kick in and it will be onto the next challenge.

So as you continue to grow your business, remember that all the tools, all the processes, and all the controls should be integrated in the spirit of scaling ideas, and not just scaling for profit. Ideas are a means to an end - the end will inevitably be profitable.

Working in a startup has several unique features that, although they may be found in large corporations, don’t have nearly the same impact or resonance. I suppose I should explain what I’m talking about.

Every decision is big when you’re starting out. The things that most folks take for granted (like a business card or a client payment plan) are not yet built. Sure, you can pinch best practices from your neighbour and you can accept the first design iteration, but then what are you really building?

When every partner has to be in high gear in order to keep a business afloat, the line between what constitutes a good decision sometimes gets a little blurred. We all have respect for each other’s private lives and of course, what you choose to do outside the workplace is your own business - but at what point do we, as partners, overstep the groupthink and start demanding more accountability of each other, whether that means more weekends, more analysis, more listening, or more progress.

It’s inevitable, when you work so close together, that everyone will eventually share a camaraderie that often borders on friendship. This is a natural phenomenon that stems from sharing long nights, little victories and moments of weakness. It also makes for a very touch-and-go work environment. When you have to make a decision, whether a new office policy or a strategic direction, the temptation to avoid stepping on toes can sometimes interfere with finding the right answer.

Suddenly everything you say seems to have the potential to rock the boat. This is where you need one of two skills in your back pocket; people skills and integrity.

People skills are what I’m most thankful for having internalized while attending university. They are skills that are honed through hours of experience in different scenarios. Conversely, integrity is not something you learn. You either have it or you don’t, and if you are in a situation where you find yourself working with people with questionable integrity - I feel sorry for you. When people have integrity they get the benefit of the doubt. When they don’t, their actions come into question far too often, even without just cause.

All this ranting is very “after-the-fact” - but what do you do to avoid finding yourself in this situation at all?

In general, when I’m making a big decision (I’m talking about a legitimate business decision this time), I always hold one variable higher than the rest - my gut. Of course it’s an old adage! Did you expect different? I trust my strength of character enough to know that if my instincts are screaming at me to re-consider my approach towards a person (or even working with that person altogether), I need to listen.

The only way to be sure you are making the right decision is to maintain your own integrity. Think of it like maintaining a brand’s consistency. Ask yourself if the decision before you does justice to the parameters you’ve set for yourself, your team, and your work. If the answer is yes, great! If not, take action and chart your course.

There are many reasons to start your own business. It may be that you have a hobby that you’d like to take to the next level for your own enjoyment. It may be that you want to supplement your income with something small and manageable. Or, it could be that you are seeing an opportunity, getting on board and then planning to get out once the future looks bright enough to sell.

For those people out there who are observing and capitalizing on market opportunities or industry trends, this post is intended to slow you down - just a touch.

First things first - trends are sexy and markets change all the time. What I mean is, don’t force the issue. I recently made the mistake of spending a couple hundred hours developing a business plan for the sexiest part of the web today - social networks. While I may have learned a great deal about the arena, I was trying to tackle 5 or 6 gaps at once (that was how many critical elements I felt were missing from today’s social networks). Since that time, I’ve narrowed my focus to solve one gap for the social network I know most about. Facebook began at a single university and didn’t “go public” until recently. Likewise, applying your ideas to the domain you know most about is a great foundation on which you can build.

Next - take the time to cover your bases. If you really care about your idea and you want to build a business that actually focuses on business as oppose to squabbling, then spend the money on legal. Find out if an LLC is right for you. Get your Partnership Agreement signed early on in the process. Make sure to get advice on trademarks, intellectual property, shareholders and of course, how to make your company attractive to a potential buyer down the road. Running up $5-10K in this area shouldn’t scare you - it should help you rest comfortably at night from the piece of mind it brings.

Cash flow planning is a skill you have to practice. You’re going to need money to get started but you’ll want to ask for just enough to keep you creative in how you spend it. Some areas (like legal costs) are worth accepting as “must-spends” and other areas (like marketing) should be thought of as a lump-sum amount that you can play with. Often times I’ll stick a random number in the marketing section of the business plan. This forces me to work within constraints and focus on the highest returns I can earn on my oh-so-valuable penny. Many things in business can eat through your cash flow - make sure you set hard caps.

People will want in, so know where you need them. Picture your business at its moment of launch. It’s you, a partner or two, and a couple advisors on day one. Now imagine how growth would look and decide on what a reasonable way to achieve that growth could be. In any growth strategy you’ll quickly realize that different areas of the business will grow at different times. If you’re a software or web business, you’ll be looking at programmers first. You may follow that up with a small crew of marketers who can help generate the buzz. Following closely behind would be the sales staff you need to support your new levels of awareness. Plan your growth in stages in advance.

Starting a business once is difficult enough. You definitely don’t want to get caught doing things twice. If you build your business with the future in mind at all times, you’re well on your way to creating something that has value to more people than just yourself.

I left off promising updates and they have arrived in boatloads. After a full year out of school I have finally settled down with a company, Boxx3G. In addition, I’ve been laying the groundwork for a Social Marketing practice, Open Slope Media, and have secured my first clients. I’m headed to the cottage next weekend to review the handful of quotes I received from companies regarding the development of my fantasy sports web application. Tack on that I’ve got a new blog and I’ll be doing some volunteer brand work for the Parkdale Village Arts Collective and you might wonder why I’d entertain any more ideas (one of which is ready to emerge from the pipeline courtesy the good people at Vdot Media). So much for self-promotion I guess. Rest assured, I am about to make a point.

The world she is a changing. You couldn’t have this type of career 10 years ago. Even if you did, you certainly wouldn’t talk about it openly. It is still a bit risky to share even today, but alas, I’m aging with Facebook by my side and sharing is more common than resume tweaking these days.

Now please understand, I’m exploring these unchartered and diversified waters for the first time and I’m not prepared to recommend you take in any of what I’m saying without a grain of salt. The benefits thus far are that I don’t feel defined by my job. I work 7 days a week and only on rare occasions does it actually feel like work. My ADHD is completely satisfied and I’m always learning many things at once. In the month of May for example, my project management skills, sales techniques, and media planning abilities all jumped to new heights in parallel. The downside is that I’m constantly balancing diversification with spreading myself too thin. I’m missing out on some of the personal things I’d like to do, like working out for example. Oh, and companies have stopped calling to suggest I apply for positions.

And with that, here are the 3 most important things that have helped me balance my career and maintain my sanity while at the same time, ensuring that everyone involved is pleased.

• 1. Open, Honest, Firm - you cannot achieve a balance if you have to worry about masquerading about. I made it very clear to Boxx3G that I was an entrepreneur who was sincerely interested in growing their business while at the same time opening doors for myself and others - they approved.

• 2. Manage Expectations - In addition to being open and honest, you have to make sure you are always exceeding expectations in everything you do. My new policy is to only take on things that I feel I can help make great. This is a Seth Godin inspired revelation.

• 3. Synergy - Entrepreneurs are alike in the sense that they are opportunistic. They start businesses where voids exist. They change directions when the world gives them a sign and they get bigger when the timing is right. If you play in the world of entrepreneurs, my advice is to always think about how what you are doing in one area can help make another area better. Look for the common threads between the things you are doing. For me it’s about bringing business and creativity together on the web - this applies to everything I’m involved with at the moment and it sure makes it easier to think about everything in a big picture.

5. Be extraordinary!
Seth Godin is a genius in this regard. He preaches about things that are exceptional in business. It’s no longer good enough to be good enough. If you aren’t great, you’ll never find your way out of mediocrity. I see examples of this everywhere. Partially because I’m launching a web-based business and on a daily basis there is news of a start-up that has cloned an existing (and successful) company but added a new technology that enhances the user experience. Let me just say this, a new soft drink that looks like Coke, smells like Coke but tastes a bit better than Coke, will never attract a market.

4. Brand yourself and watch how many people stop talking to you
Recently I updated my LinkedIn profile. Personally, I’m thrilled with it. It’s a much better reflection of me and when I say ‘me’, I mean the everyday me. I’m someone who is off the cuff, will poke fun at himself, will gladly cause a stir and will admit when he’s wrong. This is who I am everyday. I don’t put on a tie and assume some alter-ego that suits my business persona. My business persona is my regular everyday self. Ever since I updated my profile on LinkedIn, I’ve heard two types of responses, a) “This is awesome and it’s just how I know you to be” and b) “Andrew, you’re shooting yourself in the foot by saying these things”. Both opinions are right. Branding means that some people will really love what you’re about and others won’t want to be within 100 yards. The good news is that you’re no longer stuck in obscurity where no one really knows you or what you’re all about.

3. Stamina
This was the biggest lesson I took from Hugh MacLeod’s manifesto ‘How to be Creative’. Stamina can really mean a number of things, but Hugh’s advice is simple - don’t try to do it all in one grand dramatic scene. People who decide that “Today is the day I quit my job, sell my house, move to Palo Alto and follow my dream” are still very much asleep and dreaming. Being an entrepreneur is something that doesn’t start on Day 1 and end on Day 1000. If you want to write a book for example, write that first page tomorrow. You don’t need to quit your job and buy a new desk that overlooks some lake in cottage country. Granted that would be some inspiring scenery, but it shouldn’t stop you from living your dream today. Just be prepared to do a little bit everyday. Man would never have reached the moon without first flying a kite.

2. Focus on the idea
This is one of the most critical pieces of advice I can give. I’m drawing back to my recent venture into web 2.0 simply because of the amount of change that happens on a daily basis in this field. It didn’t take long before I found myself “enhancing” the idea, making it bigger, better, and more feature intensive. After a while I had forgotten the real reason why I was pursuing the idea. I took a couple days off from planning and cleared my head. When I came back to my desk, I wrote out very simple hypotheses that had led me to believe I was onto something special in the first place. If you feel like your idea has been bastardized by a bunch of self-imposed constraints, it probably has. Return to your roots and go back to the very first problem you knew how to solve.

1. Embrace the struggle - this is who you are, not what you do!
This has been my biggest hurdle to date. I know deep inside that creating value is what I love to do. I know that coming up with great ideas is what keeps me young at heart. I know that being there to listen to someone else’s idea is what inspires me to keep going. I understand that money is nice to have. I appreciate that there are 9 down’s for every up. I know that what I do can be stressful, risky and might even prevent me from ever being attractive to a big corporation somewhere down the road. But I really just like being me. Even a bad week comes with a 5 minute window of enlightenment brought on by a great idea. To me, those 5 minutes are worth their weight in gold. Entrepreneurship isn’t something I do because of what it might yield me in the future. Entrepreneurship is a way of life for me. It allows me to stay creative, always be learning, and no matter whether I succeed or not, I am always trying to change the world. People often say they’d be happy selling coconut juice out of some grass hut on a beach in the Caribbean - to that I say, ideas are my coconuts and my beach is always right beneath my feet.

First off, let me apologize for taking such a long time between entries. You’ll see why this apology is ironic as you read through my list of lessons learned. The last month has yielded a whirlwind of high’s and low’s (which I will be sharing in the coming posts) that I felt should really be shared with others who will take solace in knowing that someone else is living a life of polar extremes too. I can’t take credit for articulating many of these lessons. Although I may have experienced them first hand, the clarity behind some of the concepts is inspired by folks like Hugh MacLeod, Seth Godin and Steve Poland. If you aren’t already reading these folks, I suggest you commit 20 minutes a day to their blogs. So without further adieu…

10. Don’t feel inadequate because you don’t know everything - this is often to your advantage
I recently submitted a business plan to two U.S. competitions (YCombinator and TechStars). My plan was to build a social network. I knew when I started playing in this arena that I wouldn’t be able to analyze the web technologies as well as say, a computer engineer. At the same time, I knew I had a great idea that responded well to a need in the market. As we (my engineer partner and I) got closer to the submission date, I began feeling inadequate about my ability to keep up with trends (there’s two new web 2.0 start-ups launching everyday). As this started to weigh on my confidence, a colleague gave me the best advice I could ask for - she said, “sometimes it’s better not to be so immersed that you no longer see where to innovate”. This is so true. Often times we learn all the ins and outs of what we are doing and we forget what’s preventing people on the outside from joining the rest of us on the inside.

9. Always speak in English
This isn’t quite as literal as it sounds. By speaking in English, I’m really just saying you should avoid the use of jargon. There was once a point where trendy business jargon could really win you credibility. This is no longer the case. Jargon like “We plan to facilitate the integration of leveraged web technologies into a multi-platform communications tool” isn’t nearly as effective as saying “We think we can build a window that let’s people see all their online communities together”. Stick to a conversation format and I promise you that you’ll end up having better conversations.

8. Everything takes longer and everything costs more
Planning has a limit to its effectiveness. You should plan to be delayed and over-budget even if you think your estimates are conservative. I’m telling you this from one planner to another, if you think you can lay out a plan and follow it to a ‘t’… you can’t. I’ve worked with some of the best and most detailed planners I’ve ever known - and even they can’t avoid this reality. The key is to aim for the best case scenario and have a bunch of options in mind that you can pursue when it doesn’t work out.

7. Having no money is the best thing that will ever happen to you
It pained me to get those words out of my mouth but I know they are dead on. I’ve been getting by over the past year on scraps. I’ve held down restaurant jobs, taken consulting contracts as they come and have applied for more credit cards than I care to remember. Every penny spent has been an investment. I take care in putting my money towards the things that matter most. Right now, as I’m starting my new business, I am treating every purchase the same way as would someone buying a new car. Necessity is the mother of invention and when you are living on the poverty line you tend to be very inventive in everything you do. Besides, success is relative and you won’t feel satisfied until you’ve seen both extremes.

6. Don’t apologize
Yep… this is the ironic part. I opened this post with an apology. This tells me I’ve let people down and this is the direct result of that vicious circle that we all fall into at one point or another. While I may have been busier over the last month than at any other time in my life, there’s no reason why I couldn’t find one extra hour to stay in touch with you. If you make a rule for yourself to never apologize, you’ll quickly notice that you keep more of your promises and you focus more on the right things. Sure you can’t do everything, but you’ll be able to tell which things are important (like these posts) and which things are not (like writing cover letters over and over again). Then it’s just a matter of leveling with those people who ask things of you that are outside your important area. Don’t be sorry about it, just be honest.

Michael Urlocker is CEO of The Disruption Group and he writes in the National Post with insights from Don Tapscott, author of Growing Up Digital. I’m plugging these gentlemen because I think they are bang on in their insights about the Net Generation. As a Net-Gener myself (as many of you reading my column are), we tend to be very skeptical when older folks say they “get” us. I say give these guys a shot… Michael’s blog can be read at www.ondisruption.com if you’d like to decide for yourself.

Now that I’m done giving shout-outs to strangers…

It’s true that we communicate with the world differently. We were forced into this. We were overloaded with advertisements, products, and promises. 3500 messages a day will turn anyone into a poster child for ADHD. We had no choice but to tune most companies out. If you’re going to pretend that we can process information like desktops then we’re going to use the ‘Sort by’ function relentlessly.

Mr. Urlocker and Mr. Tapscott have identified that our generation needs choice in response to the proliferation of offerings out there. See, we look at it in the following way: if you’re going to send us a gazillion messages, then we expect to have at least ONE that fits us perfectly. Tapscott says companies “should consider employees as alumni to whom lasting ties can be built whether they stay in a job or not.” I’ve spent my entire summer doing ad hoc jobs in a consulting capacity. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been on roughly 50 interviews and even fielded some offers, but I often wonder if anyone is concerned with my professional development the way I am concerned about developing the company. As Net-Geners, we can build careers around the skills we have and the tools out there that help us develop new ones. As a company, if you can create a career plan that is flexible and pragmatic, we will surely be enticed.

Mr. Tapscott also speaks to collaboration and how we Net-Gener’s “expect to teach the boss something from day one.” Let me paraphrase. We EXPECT that there is SOMETHING we know that you don’t and we EXPECT that there are MANY things you know that we don’t. The bottom line is that if there are no channels for the boss and I to communicate (i.e. mediums that span across multiple levels) then you’ll never know my insights and I’ll never know how to live out the company’s vision. We all want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves and filing a report, without insight as to how it contributes to achieving the vision, is a waste of time.

Mr. Tapscott wisely notes that for Net-Geners, entertainment is not divorced from work or school - the two are integrated. Nobody wants to suck it up and go to work, we want to jump out of bed and know that today we are conferencing with other sharp minds in Hong Kong, Dubai, and Budapest. So how else can we be entertained? Well despite the isolation of video games, we actually love an interactive atmosphere. This is why we read each other’s blogs and listen to podcasts? We like to hear what each person thinks rather than be told what to believe from traditional media. Build your training programs around interactive tools. Build support networks. Build feedback into everything you do. You don’t have to be perfect for us, just be honest.

My guess is that it will be a few more years of expensive training followed by poor retention rates before companies clue in to how Net-Geners see the world. Already their brands are being affected more in social media circles than by their communications. When it does click, those of us who are entrepreneurial will breathe a collective sigh knowing we can keep our entrepreneurial spirit and strike a balance between our own intellectual property and the infrastructure a company can provide.

I’ve just returned from Chicago, Illinois where I spent the last few days attending a concert and of course, doing some Christmas shopping.

As someone who gets inspired by finding a good insight, I am required to tell you that there are plenty to be found in every city that are specific only to the inhabitants (and tourists) of that particular city. Chicago was certainly no exception and could even be described as a good example of my point.

Being Toronto born and raised I embrace individuality at every step. Toronto is one of the world’s most multicultural cities, features the tastes and styles of a collage of ethnic groups, and doesn’t necessarily frown on anyone’s perceived style whether skater, gothic, preppy, jock, urban or punk… just to name a few. Toronto welcomes any and all who want to express themselves outside a business suit (the suits are welcome too but for the purpose of this discussion a suit makes us all look the same).

As this was my third trip to Chicago I had some idea of what to expect. My previous two trips I had stayed in the suburb of Oakbrook and only perused Michigan Avenue once per trip. This time I was staying at the Wyndham in the heart of downtown Chicago… and I was expecting to see all the little quirks this city had to offer.

There are only two styles of people in Chicago (other than the suits) - urban hip hop types, and clean cut Abercrombie & Fitch types. I didn’t see a single skateboarder, goth, punk or any other style other than the two I mentioned. Even I was cast a few judgmental eyes as my style (which is very much my own) didn’t jive with the two looks. They perceived me as an imitation whereas in Toronto it might be considered rather original.

And so I reflected on Toronto. I thought about the many styles I see everyday represented through fashion, music, taste, and activities. I thought about EQ, my favourite skateboarding shop, Play Da Record where some of my old school favourite records can be found. I thought about the Danforth where I love to eat. I thought about the obscure shops that are fun just to walk around in, the mom and pop convenience stores, the live music on Queen’s St. Suddenly, it occurred to me… Toronto is a great place for small business. Chicago may love their Top 40 and granted if you can crack that Top 40 then a ‘rags-to-riches’ story is sure to follow - but Toronto is about the one’s and two’s. If Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail, could be embodied in a city, Toronto would be it (Canada also happens to lead the race in embracing new technology).

I guess my point is that we all tend to lean towards businesses that we ourselves would like. It’s kind of the old “wouldn’t it be cool if we could…” routine that you talk about amongst your friends. There is nothing wrong with that. For every little product or service that you would cherish, there is likely a niche in Toronto that would thank you for making it happen. Just remember what got you that niche when you are thinking about how to grow and expand. Like I said, the Top 40 is reserved for new business models or ways to gather many niches together. Toronto however, is about servicing that one niche, getting some loyal customers, and waiting patiently while your style makes its way into the spotlight.

Last week I attended two conferences in my bid to become better networked and gain understanding into the phenomenon that is Open Source Marketing. Despite my recent graduation from U of T’s Management program, I managed to qualify for the student rate which jived with my budget. At the end of the week I began to reflect on my first experience as a semi-professional in these types of environments.

The first event was held by AIMS (Association of Internet Marketing and Sales). I followed that up with an event held by AMA (American Marketing Association) - both events were touching on the same topics which offered a good basis for comparison.

Let me first say this… make your presence felt. I came to realize how much more pressure there is in being at an event where networking is expected. It’s almost a different species in that everyone seems to be operating in a speed-dating manner. You really can’t afford to relax in these situations. Grab a coffee, do whatever you have to do, but make sure you are working the room. You have to balance your sincerity with the natural time constraints that exist. But this isn’t why I’m writing to you.

As someone who has recently felt the need to jump on The Boom 2, I’ve been toying with a lot of ideas regarding how to make an entry in an area I had little knowledge of even one month ago. For this reason I found the AIMS event particularly interesting. Their event was content-rich by comparison. I was looking for the subtle nuances that would reveal future opportunities and I was able to find a few with such in-depth analysis of the evolving industry. The audience also seemed to be suited to a ‘content-rich’ event. Attendees were mostly from New Media or were entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on the same things as I was. The speaker was well-versed in where the concepts were headed and the event was generally well-received (and well-catered).

Two days later, I attended the AMA event on the advances of blogging (for all intents and purposes the conversation expanded to include many of the same topics as the AIMS event). The format of the event was very different however. It was a roundtable (literally) and the attendees were seated in 3 rows of circles that surrounded the speakers. The event was smaller in size (and catering) but also had it’s advantages. It really gave a bird’s eye view of the blogging revolution. I wondered if anyone else in the room felt that this information was generally available through a Google search. As I pondered this question, it became obvious why they had structured it this way. Many of the attendees were marketing professionals - from agencies, marcomms, or marketing personnel from non-marketing-oriented organizations. For them this was the perfect “news brief” on everything they needed to know to stay abreast of what was happening in their industry. For me it was a little redundant because of my experience at AIMS earlier in the week.

So what do I recommend? Well, as always, it depends. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking to come up with or test a new idea, then my suggestion is to take as much information in as you can. In this case, the AIMS event would have proven more effective. I wanted to know if my initial instincts were on par and if they were I wanted to know about the hurdles I’d be likely to face. However, since I’m also an aspiring marketing professional these days, the AMA event could also be seen as value-add (for the future). Quite obviously these professionals have to bide their time. The AMA event was held at 7:30am so there was definitely a commitment on the part of the attendees. For them it was about getting a dose of what’s new in short form. I could see a seasoned entrepreneur enjoying this format too - someone who only wants to know the arena a little bit before they re-think all the constraints that the pioneers have declared to be present. The seasoned entrepreneur has the experience to compare this revolution to something that has already happened and likely prefers to keep the door open for new waves of thinking.

When you are deciding where to spend your marketing budget as a new business, I would have to strongly recommend that you go to events in your field and go there with a purpose. Think about the opportunities you are looking to generate. Send your best networker. And for every piece of information you take at face value, make sure there is an idea about how exploit that information in ways not yet thought of.

I encourage anyone who reads this column to send their insights, small business questions, or ‘ideas up for discussion’ to me at apeek@fieldlvl.com . The best part about an entrepreneurial spirit is sharing it with like-minded people and I most certainly welcome any discussions or ideas for new articles.

This is arguably the most straightforward question for any entrepreneur and yet often times we lose sight of the reason why we are doing things.

Recently I’ve done a lot of fiction and personal development reading (I recommend putting down Drucker and Porter every now and again). My reasons for choosing these reads have to do with understanding myself and re-visiting why I chose business in the first place and where my inclination towards entrepreneurship stems from. I’m a proponent of tearing down your self-image as often as you can in order to reflect on how you constructed it to begin with.

There are some very obvious motivations for people to start their own business - money, self-sustainability, a sense of risk, a sense of accountability, and of course the need to prove to yourself that you can succeed in creating a new and lasting contribution to the world. It’s important to identify how these priorities fall in your agenda. At the very least it will give you a framework by which to make your decisions. At the very most it can attract like-minded individuals to share in your goals thereby creating the unique team dynamic that gives many small companies a competitive advantage based on the synergies of their people.

Do not feel compelled to “stick your guns” if your self-reflection reveals that your priorities have changed. That was my case as I was originally struck by the lack of a ceiling inherent in entrepreneurial activities - for me it used to be all about the money. As I progress into my twilight years (a slight exaggeration as I’m still only 23) I have new reasons, new motivations, and new goals. Now it’s about the right mix of elements.

The TEAM. I want to build my company from the ground up but I want to do it with others who share my passion and commitment. I understand that I will have to stick my neck out and be accountable at the end of the day but I want everyone else on board to contribute to something bigger than themselves. How often do you see a company where the go-to-market ideas are the result of a collective effort? In the end I want ownership to extend beyond shares and salaries and become ownership of the brand, the vision, and the ideas. Your working life is at least twice as long as your schooling so I plan to enjoy the company along the way.

Shared VALUES. This is a quasi-extension of team dynamics but it goes a little beyond a collaborative work environment. There are many things that we try to embody as individuals. We all have a sense of what we want to represent and where we put our beliefs. To be able to create a company that puts strong values on display and lives up to the expectations that go with them… that is something truly inspiring. Consider work-life balance as an example. Every company launches their respective HR initiative to convince employees that they sympathize with, and want to overcome, a poor work-life balance. However, a company built on the idea that their employees are people whose shelf-life doesn’t exist in order to be exploited, they won’t ever need their HR department to voice their sympathies.

PROOF. This is a big one for me. I need to know that I can build something sustainable. I’ve started 3 different ventures in my young career and I’ve consulted (independently) to a handful of varying organizations. Above all this though, I need to know that I can build a sustainable business that contributes something of value to the world I live in. It’s my understanding that entrepreneurs will fail a handful of times before they succeed. I think that a lot of that occurs not because of a lack of good ideas but rather because it takes us awhile to truly believe we are capable of something. It’s human nature to test our limits in increments - entrepreneurship is no different.

So there is my take on what motivates me. I’d be lying if I said I never thought about the money but I’d also be lying if I said that it was something I would use in a pitch when recruiting talent. This is no slight to everyone who has gone into business to make some good coin. My only advice then is to be honest with yourself and those who you’ve convinced to take the plunge with you. If you do happen to find a reason that serves a different kind of purpose, don’t be shy about rallying people around it. I mentioned this once before but I’ll say it again - everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Now it’s called networking and in some circles it elicits the same sort of reaction that the word ‘sales’ used to conjure up back in the days of the door-to-door salesman. So why did we have to fancy it up? Is networking really any different than making friends? Should it be?

Okay... lots of questions just now. Let’s think through this one together.

When we were young our parents encouraged us to go out and make friends. Making friends was the key to arranging play dates, sports team, and being socialized into circles that your parents had no access too (thank goodness). To be honest, I can’t recall making a friend by chance. There was always a context - something we could share - that served as the platform for a friendship. It was the local Lego king but my neighbour could draw the coolest mazes. I taught him and he taught me. Even though the friendship grew far beyond these tangible things, that’s where it’s origin was.

I fail to see how networking is any different. Recently, many of my colleagues have been asking to tap into my personal network (and I theirs). Some are graduating in the coming months and others just want to begin integrating themselves into a world much larger than their current one. I have yet to hear a disconcerting reason about why I should help them network. And so I wonder why everyone always feels so guilty about it.

I credit my business partner, Dan, for hammering home the ground rules of networking. There aren’t many but they are important. Ironically enough, they all relate back to making friends. Here goes my rendition...

1. The basis for everything we choose to do in life, whether email, pleasure reading, or peeing in the snow - shares a single characteristic… it adds value to our lives. Think value-add when you are communicating with people. Chances are you are interrupting something in their life that is already value-add so you need to be cognizant of that and make sure that YOU are also adding value.
2. Think before you speak. Your personality alone is not a value-add feature. Take the time to learn about the world around the person you wish to speak with. What do they do? Where are they going? What’s standing in their way? Find out anything you can. Once I used a brief 30 second chat at a conference to discover who someone’s preferred author was. It seemed inconsequential at the time but in my follow up email I recommended them an author of similar style and genre. That to them was value-add. It used to be as easy as asking “Do you like Lego?”
3. You can be honest… people prefer it. Small talk isn’t value-add so get right to the point. Be sincere in your request and be receptive to the idea that you might hear ‘NO’. When someone tells you ‘NO’ that’s their right… they are just being honest (hopefully that didn’t sound too much like your sixth grade sex-ed lecture).
4. The ‘I love you mom’ rule is simple. Don’t only come calling when YOU need something. Your new friends have needs too just like your mother needs to hear ‘I love you’ on occasions that don’t end in a transfer of money.
5. Be aware of the type of relationship you are building. Recently mine have been with people much older than myself. You need to treat these meetings with integrity. Let the other person dictate what the comfort level will be. As the relationship gets stronger you may lose some formalities but you should never lose your integrity i.e. don’t get caught smoking in front of your best friends parents even if you call them by first name.
6. BE YOURSELF! I know plenty of folks that try to be what they think the other person wants them to be. Sounds like we’re back at the playground again. I recommend you just be yourself and let the chips fall where they may. You can’t please all the people all the time but you can please some of the people… all the time.

These rules apply across the board. Don’t for a moment think that networking to get a job is any different from negotiating with Venture Capitalists. Both sides have a need for value. That is the only need you should be pre-occupied with honouring. These suggestions you can take straight to the bank. If you can handle the basics you’ve just upgraded yourself from selling vacuum cleaners to selling Microsoft software (shameless I know).

Whether in sports, corporations, or start-ups - you can’t fake hustle. Call it work ethic, effort, energy, or whatever else you want… the bottom line is people notice when you kick yourself into high gear. It’s very contagious. The boss who stays at the office sweating it out with the folks from marketing, because he knows that if THEY have to finish by midnight then HE has to motivate ‘til midnight. The entrepreneur who, when told of a production process problem, puts on a pair of gloves and jumps right into the faulty machine, refusing to leave until people notice that it doesn’t take an engineer to tighten a few screws. And my personal favourite, the athlete who has less skill than everyone else on the team, was drafted in the 39th round, plays sparingly but gives you everything he has in the tank. These are the people who win championships, build empires, and succeed in new ventures. These are the hustlers.

Now don’t get me wrong - I love a lazy day as much as the next person, but generally speaking, if I want something I’m going to give everything I have to get it. And with that, I took out a $1000 loan, hopped on a plane, and took off for Dunedin, Florida - home of Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training.

Here’s the deal. I want to work for a Major League Baseball franchise. It’s a calling more than anything. I believe everyone should want to wake up in the morning and love going to work. At the same time, I am still very much an entrepreneur. I have a plan for whatever franchise will listen. I believe I can turn baseball into better business and do more to ensure profitability while not putting all the pressue on players to perform on the field. Obviously, being from Toronto, I thought I would see what the Blue Jays had to say about my ideas. And so I begin…

The first important piece to any crazy adventure is the first mate. Let me introduce you to my better half, Wendy. See ladies… paying attention to your man’s hobbies could land you a trip to Florida!

I think I’ll give you a play-by-play of the rest of the ramp-up to my trip…

2 weeks prior - I was looking at baseball stats (again) when the 1st mate notes that the crappy weather has decreased airfares across the board. Good eye 1st mate!

10 days prior - Book Air Canada down and West Jet back… 6 day trip… Air Canada tries to switch our flight rate so I decide to pretend that I’ll pull my mother’s business account off the table if they don’t rectify the price change (good thing they don’t call my bluff).

1 week prior - All final projects are being completed a week early. They’re overlapping with some of my midterms now… sleeping 90 minutes twice per day for a solid week.

3 days prior - Booked the shadiest looking hotels I could find. Trip is planned out… landing in Tampa… staying in 3 hotels in 3 cities (1 courtesy Aeroplan points, the other 2 courtesy my quickly-depleting pocket book)

2 days prior - Still looking to cut the cost of renting a car in half… For anyone looking - it doesn’t take much to get a discount in the States so don’t be fooled by the listed price!

On the day of my departure, I put on a collared shirt and vest on the off-chance that I might meet someone worth impressing. The 1st mate and I assume our economy seats and I am quickly beaming at the thought of what I’m about to do. Beside me is a nice fellow named John and we start to chat… about baseball of course. No sooner do I give my analysis of the Blue Jays roster when the gentleman in front of me turns around and asks if I’m headed down to Spring Training. I reply with “Absolutely, I’m headin’ down there to convince the guys at the top to give me a job!” No sooner do I get the words out of my mouth then this gentleman tells me his name is Victor Deschenes, Director of the Jays Care Foundation, the organization’s largest P.R. initiative. We hit it off pretty well and our 1st mates shared a laugh about our hopelessness in doing anything that wasn’t baseball related. As we landed, Victor recommended I speak with the Blue Jays Sr. VP of Communications, Rob Godfrey. He passed me Rob’s cell number and I did my best to contain myself. I was literally trying to remind myself to take things in stride. Good things come to those who wait.

I pick-up the rental car from the airport and we pile in. It’s 45 minutes until game time. We’re watching 5 games in 6 days in 5 separate cities. We get there in time for the opening pitch against the hometown Tampa Bay Devil Rays. I was the picture of juxtaposition - baseball glove on one hand and business cards in the other.

By the third inning the 1st mate had given me another reason to be thankful she was there. About 30 yards away was the one person who embodied everything I wanted in life… J.P. Ricciardi. I find that one commonality between entrepreneurs is that they know what they want. They have a clear image of all the pieces in the picture. Mr. Ricciardi, from what I can tell, is an unassuming family man who believes he’s been blessed and sees ‘rising to the challenge’ as something you live for, not something you do because it is required. But I digress. I hadn’t prepared an elevator pitch and I was literally just wiping the mustard off my cheek (a ballpark tradition). The overriding factor that pushed me to walk those 30 yards was the fact that I hate living with regrets and this had the potential for regret written all over it.

I opened with a lame ice-breaker, congratulating him on the off-season moves and for restoring hope in Toronto - cliché at best is what I deemed it in hindsight. No matter, what was to come would be far more spontaneous than even I could have hoped for. J.P. asked me if I was down from Toronto on vacation to which I replied, “Actually I’m here to convince you to give me a job.” BRILLIANT! Good show ole boy! I couldn’t believe what I had said - the words just flew out of my mouth. But then again… I was telling the truth.

J.P. would go on to recommend I go through human resources but I knew that I wasn’t looking for a typical post. The entrepreneur in me wanted to show him I could take his vision and execute it on several levels. In my head I thought, ‘a hustler doesn’t fly 2000 miles to click their way through an online app.’

The next few days were spent primarily on the road, going from city to city, taking in games and generally staking out a few places (like the Blue Jays practice facility on an off-day). This is another reason to take a 1st mate - when you’re so caught up in going after something, occasionally you need a reality check to remind you that you can’t sneak into a players only parking lot in hopes that you might get praised instead of arrested. Thanks 1st mate!

Since this article is supposed to contain some words of advice, I’ll leave you with the following vignettes from which you can draw what you want…

Day 4 of our trip I managed to contact Rob Godfrey via his cell. We scheduled a meeting for the next day at lunch. He was traveling across Florida but was willing to stop for a quite drink. My mistake… I didn’t state my purpose for calling, thinking he’d turn me down once he knew I was a student. The outcome… I got stood up after buying some dress clothes one hour before the meeting. Let it be known that this should not reflect on the character of Mr. Godfrey but should rather be a lesson to have pride in your purpose to begin with.

Day 6 of our trip I see J.P. Ricciardi for the second time in person. He remembers me from earlier in the week. I give him my brown envelope with a personal letter, CV, and Abstract. The outcome… he holds on to my package for a good 30 minutes of interviews without handing it off. Here’s hoping it didn’t land in HR before he had a chance to read it. I have faith that he did. Also on Day 6 the 1st mate tells me she didn’t get enough beach time. She wants to sneak back to our 2nd hotel (the Aeroplan paid-for hotel with the nice pool) and get some sun. I tell her that we’re not even in that city anymore. The lesson… don’t question the 1st mate. The outcome… while she sun bathes I overhear someone answer their phone with “Mark Lemmon here.” Mark is the Director of Corporate Partnerships for the Jays so I quickly use my entrepreneurial instincts. I call Toronto and my buddy Reid. I tell Reid I have to use his Dad’s name in order to facilitate an introduction. He laughs and says he won’t mind since his Dad is very close with Mark. Some chit chat later and I have another gentlemen who wants me to send him my CV.

All in all, this trip was a great experience. I haven’t heard anything yet but I did take in some great games and I learned that one of the most difficult challenges for an entrepreneur is to let things happen while at the same time giving them a push in the right direction. It’s a fine balance but one that you can’t overlook. Since my trip I’ve been building a report on how I can translate a franchise’s vision into execution. The plan is to send this report out to all 30 teams… I’ll keep you posted. I’ve included some pics below to show you just how much fun failing to land a job can be!

There are a lot of things that you can borrow as a new entrepreneur trying to make your way through the struggle. Your passion will convince some to lend you some coin (if it doesn’t you certainly aren’t off on the right foot). Your vision may lead you to perfect a great product in the image you had given it in your mind. The constant chatter that proliferates from your mouth with each new idea will no doubt be infectious and a source of spreading the word. Heck, even your first few (dozen) sales will likely be from parents, aunts, cousins, and your kid sister… and don’t think sympathy won’t play a part in these transactions. There is however, one thing you cannot borrow no matter how hard you try (and believe me, I have)… experience.

There isn’t a substitute in the world for having gone through the trenches. If there was, you wouldn’t be able to convince the best people in an organization to share their knowledge. But since you can’t replicate what they know because you haven’t been there yourself, they see no harm in leading you and your eager mind.

I’m a big believer in having a mentor as you may have already guessed. It’s the only way to avoid the rookie mistakes that can often cost you your business’ success. In addition, it’s also the only way to give yourself a hope in hell of getting a large sum of investment cash. Trust me… you need this mentor. They are your advisor and legitimizer.

Without divulging too much (for the purposes of keeping your attention), I really lucked out. Right around the time I was coming in to my own as a student, a person, and a businessman, I happened to walk into a class with a Professor who seemed to put a new spin on the questions I was asking myself. Let me be clear - he didn’t shoot out answers, he simply helped me see what important considerations were at play. In reflecting, that whole process was and will be invaluable to my successes in life and business. He taught me that if you can pick out the keys to every situation, then you will at least know you are solving it accurately. It occurred to me that this may just be the biggest hurdle businesses face when conflict arises. An entrepreneur’s world is constructed to generate ambiguity. Anytime you can reduce that ambiguity, even for a moment, you will find the clarity and insight required to take the next step with confidence.

So then what does it mean to have a mentor? Do you just call him or her up every time you want your solution double checked (I don’t recommend this by the way)? If you have cleverly disguised yourself as a budding entrepreneur and your newly recruited mentor thinks there’s an outside shot that you might just be sincere in your intentions (and you are), then the next step is to build a relationship. That’s right! Another reason to add to the many phone calls, emails, and face-to-face meetings you are already conducting with (hold your breath), your customers, suppliers, investors, employees, partners, and now your mentor. Business really is about relationships.

You can start by scheduling an interval time for how often you’d like to meet (every two weeks perhaps). You have to ensure that you’re not wasting your mentors time, so come prepared to these rendezvous’. Even if the only new development in your life is a series of teenage angst-ridden questions that may be more about growing up than they are about business - be honest with what’s on your mind and be objective about what you want to ask and clarify.

Once you’ve established a good rapport with your new friend (because not everything is about profiteering) you may be ready to take your relationship to the next step. Ask them for money and contacts you say? NO! Don’t spoil what’s genuine. Their knowledge is worth far more to you than their money and contacts so don’t get greedy. This is the time when you should be reciprocating. Offer to assist in some project that your mentor may be working on (since you should also be discussing their interests in your engagements). Tell them you insist on adding value to this relationship the same way they’ve done for you… and do it for FREE (obviously). This is a great chance to showcase your “A” game. Pro bono work can often be the launching pad to many great things because if done properly, you can establish yourself as not only capable but able to incorporate what you’ve learned from the wisdom that’s been passed down to you.

Yes, I suppose that eventually a camaraderie will exist and that there may be a business opportunity you’d like to pursue together or perhaps an idea you have that you’d like to solicit investment for. Don’t be ashamed to ask but at the same time I’d recommend that you allow this to happen naturally and in stride. As with any relationship, you know when you’re pushing the envelope. It’s at that point, that what was once an intrinsically satisfying experience becomes more calculated and dollar-driven. So be sure that what you’ve built is strong enough that your intentions will always be thought of as virtuous.

Off the bat, I’d like to encourage anyone who is reading these columns to drop me a line. I have an addiction to brainstorming and even a good question or a clever insight can set me off. It also amazes me what gets spun out of the simple beginnings of an email chain.

On that note I’m going to share with all you my premonition. That’s right… I have a prediction about the future. I’d be lying if I told you I was the only one sitting on this theory but never the less, it’s something that the youthful generation of entrepreneurs should begin to embrace immediately.

Virtual. This is the model by which corporations will be built. This is how a firm’s assets will be defined. Every business, if not entirely devoted to, will soon partake in the world of virtual. Now let me explain.

It used to be that you had a great idea and subsequently walked into your market daring to be the best. That worked for a while but when the market dissipated you were left without a direction. That’s why we see that declining stage in the famous Product Life Cycle - because inevitably you’re out of business. So as the Cassette gave way to the CD gave way to MP3 and onwards to oblivion, we saw these once dominant players desperately selling off divisions and assets. Essentially they were calling it a day on a pretty good run.

For our generation, things will be different. There is only one real asset you’ll need to protect and nurture as an entrepreneur - intellectual capital. See, buying up bricks and mortar, equipment and extended warranties, or cubicles and photocopiers, isn’t as necessary as it once was. You’ll notice a lot of existing companies with huge infrastructures that suddenly realize there is a shift in their customer’s needs and that they can’t re-configure their four million dollar production facility to make the new widgets needed for tomorrow. That’s why you need to manage your intellect more than anything else. It’s about the only asset that moves as fast as today’s elusive markets.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with and within several start-ups who create entirely in virtual space. They have project managers and communication technologies that, believe or not, generate more conversation than currently exists between John in cubicle 3A and Theo is cubicle 3C. Working with these companies can be an unbelievably energetic experience, where thoughts become ideas become reality faster than you can say “I need your month’s-end by morning”.

The best feature that these virtual companies have embraced is flexibility. They use their intellectual prowess as a tool to foresee where the next wave of action will be and then pick the right talent out of the virtual network to get the project underway. Now by no means is this a plug for everyone to go start up a virtual company, but what you should consider is how flexible your company will be.

My partners and I started our beanbag company on variable costs alone. Even if we were going to lose a small fraction by renting the same thing over and over again, it was still worth it for us to maintain the flexibility that would be required to run a business while in school. Add to this that we were doing our market research on the fly (a common entrepreneurial practice), it was safe to assume sufficient changes were going to be made as we progressed as a company. Having only variable costs meant that we knew exactly what our margins were, we knew how far we could deviate and still make money, and we knew that if it turned out that potatoes had a better market than beanbags… well, we could scrap the whole operation altogether.

It’s quite obvious that some businesses will always need an element of bricks and mortar but here is one piece of advice if yours happens to fit that bill. Don’t ever purchase an asset out of convenience. Buy the asset because it adds a strategic weapon to your arsenal. Make every asset your focus because if you treat it differently it might easily become obsolete in today’s age of rapid change.

Ah yes… we all know this game. Remember? Think way back to the start of high school and you will come to fully appreciate the concept (and importance of) branding. Yup, I said it alright - branding is just like adolescence.

Even though, as young adults, we would never have admitted to trying to fit into a particular cookie cutter mould, the fact is… we were. Here was our first (and second and third etc.) attempt at branding ourselves. We were discovering our values and checking out who really appreciated what we stood for. Our friends were like a market segment we were trying to impress. The concept really isn’t that far off if you think about it: for-or-against drugs vs. for-or-against disclosure, for-or-against making curfew vs. for-or-against corporate governance. We were in fact branding ourselves.

Some of us were ‘rockers’ or ‘goths’ or ‘preppies,’ and when we walked the school hallways, members of the other groups would immediately recognize to which label we belonged. Compare that to the automobile industry where BMW brings performance to mind. Mercedes brings luxury. Volvo brings safety. Ford brings tough. These are the associations which are invaluable to a company and should also be invaluable to YOU! The moment someone decides they want performance, their first instinct is to look at a BMW. Imagine if the moment someone thought about public speaking, your name came to mind.

Heck, how do you think I got the opportunity to write this column?

I work with a great group of partners in our company, FieldLevel Innovations. I don’t have the time to describe our unique dynamic in depth but when assembling the team, the original managing partners would recognize a need in the organization and would list the people who best exemplified what would fill that void.

“We need to speed up our research methods” followed by “I know just the guy.” “We lack in this skill set over here” and then “I bet that this person could solve that.”

This is branding. Representing what you do best. As an entrepreneur you have to take your strengths and exploit them as far as they can reach. At the same time, recognizing your pitfalls will allow you to identify what other ‘brands of people’ can really add an element to your team.

Everyday I wake up and I make a conscious effort to stand for the same thing and I strongly recommend that whatever force is driving your success needs to become more “real”. Rocker, Performance, Entrepreneur - give that force a name and people will think of you first when faced with a need that you can fill. Like when they need an air guitarist… uh… I mean columnist.

Happy New Year folks,

Between the year’s two primary semesters (Fall session and Winter session) comes what I like to refer to as “the off-season.” Those two and a half weeks between Fall final exams and the start of Winter classes. And as is the case in many sports where signings and trades take place during the off-season, FLI (FieldLevel Innovations) also found itself in the midst of a furry of signings. Our team successfully completed its first MBO (management buy-out) just before the New Year by purchasing 50% of our over-sized beanbag company, Woosaa, from the original investor. And so my friends, comes the story of negotiating with REAL money.

I personally love to barter in a marketplace, and I can’t say that I’ve been immune to the Texas Hold ‘Em virus that’s been floating around - but for all those who have yet to experience it, negotiating business is essentially these same situations but with much higher stakes!

First there is the meeting where everyone speaks in generalities and is agreeable (hopefully). This is usually nothing more than an acknowledgement that a negotiation is likely to occur. Then comes the discovery meeting(s) and rest assured that here is where listening gets critical. You are not only trying to get to the root of what the other side is trying to say, but you are also trying to listen so well, that you can propose solutions they never even thought of.

My classes call this ‘Finding out Interests over Positions’ because essentially everyone declares what they will and won’t do, but the truth is that people are usually just protecting their interests and cannot foresee another position that will satisfy them. I can’t dive too far into specifics but it’s safe to say that this type of recognition paid dividends for FLI.

Once you’re all on the same page with what really matters, it’s time to look within and see where you can make headway. Remember this though… you can’t have everything in a negotiation, even if it’s given to you! Why? Because the other side will eventually resent you (when they clue in) and your reputation is everything. Can anyone name a Yankees/Red Sox trade of note that occurred AFTER Babe Ruth cursed Boston? Exactly.

So then where do you draw the line? When do you win?

When making sacrifices you aren’t just being a Good Samaritan (insert the exhaling of capitalists everywhere). You are still using your business savvy to decide which sacrifices give you the best return on your credibility with the other side and causes the least damage to your situation. At this point I will preach one more theoretical approach that never fails - the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA).

In FLI’s situation, we had to really ask ourselves what we were buying. We knew we wanted to own Woosaa Ltd. entirely but it was important for us to re-visit why. Did we believe that strongly in the brand, the work to date, the vision? At how much did we valuate these things (as well as future cash flows)? We looked at our BATNA and knew that we could conceivably choose to “not buy.” The lesson here was that there are always other options, even some that you may have written off at the start.

In hindsight I feel good about the whole process. Minimal feelings were hurt, a business relationship was salvaged and remains in tact for future projects, and of course, we bought the company. It may not mean much now, but it’s a strategic step to executing our 3 year vision - and that for us was the overriding factor.

Now let’s have a look at what the river will bring.

During my undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, myself and five other Management students from a variety of specialists in the B.B.A. program, joined together to create value for ourselves by pursuing an initiative that would pragmatically test the theory we had learned in the classroom over our three previous years.

The venture that followed, FieldLevel Innovations Inc. (FLI), was comprised of a student who had returned to school after sometime spent with an Asset Management firm. Together, he and I made up the unofficial decision-making body of our organization. We were later joined by an international student who translated his excellent research skills into the analysis we came to rely on. Also on board was a hard working student from small-town Ontario who, although the least entrepreneurial of the group, showed an unwavering commitment to the company. A female marketing specialist turned out to be the addition that would keep us all in line. Finally, the group was rounded out by a student who was exceptionally talented in the world of finance, and matured beyond his young age in a short amount of time.

As one of the two initial Managing Partners for the company, I befell the responsibility of leading our organization in a consulting engagement for a mid-market retail operation that was cash-strapped, riddled with embezzlement, and mired in a vicious cycle of underpaid employees leading to increasingly higher turnover. After a series of negotiations with the Owner of the establishment, our company earned the contract and began the on-site hours.

I am a firm believer in small wins and milestones. Our first day on-site at the operation was not as well-received as when we had visited a couple weeks prior to say our hello’s and state our purpose. Now that we were officially “in the door”, the employees did not seem phased by our presence and remained jaded by the conditions under which they were working.

As a first attempt at a small win, I delivered an initial presentation to the nine employees, introducing our team and openly acknowledging the issues and challenges that would require everyone’s patience and unity if they were to be overcome. Because the employees’ sentiments about the Owner were not favourable, I made sure to commend him publicly for his recognition of a problem and willingness to accept suggestions on how to correct it. I added legitimacy to our lack of experience by citing that we were working in collaboration with a University of Toronto Professor and professional consultant, who would also be on-site. The most important piece of the presentation however, was that we (our company) were not going to change the direction of the ship but rather they (the client) were going to do so, with our team as their support. It was important for them to know that all their suggestions from years past, were now going to be met with an open mind and an active pen.

Over the course of the engagement, I became our company’s unofficial spokesperson. I liaised between the consultant and the FLI team, as well as did the buffering between the client’s Owner and his employees. Essentially, I became a medium by which all parties communicated. A different voice has the power to deliver the same message, but will generally be better received. We built a reputation of abiding by our word through a series of visible changes that employees took notice of.

The experience in its entirety required elements of humility and vocal leadership as different situations emerged. What was originally a group of employees who punched a clock 9 to 5, saw our team arriving at 8am and not leaving until the early hours of the next morning, all the while on-site alongside them. Although we didn’t preach this type of commitment, the employees began to fall into two classes; one of which attempted to parallel our work ethic.

With regards to the remaining class, among them was a 62 year old Scottish fellow who did see the potential for the company and, although disgruntled over his treatment, wanted to know that we were committed to staying the course if he agreed to give assistance where he could. I re-assured him of our ability to stimulate change and we subsequently replaced three of the four employees, the Scottish fellow not included. With respect to his expertise, I actively involved the gentleman in the training of new hires. This did a great deal to keep him intrinsically motivated and set the standard for the culture we wanted everyone to share.

During this experience, a great deal was learned about the situational aspects of leadership. Although I had been taught by a previous course that leadership can be embodied in four main principles, I came to realize that leadership is in fact a series of small actions. It could be how you focus your eyes when someone older and more experienced is talking to you. It could be getting down on a shop floor because you need to see first hand what its like to fasten a widget. Sometimes it can even be about giving people the right issues to consider as oppose to passing down judgments, so that they know they can arrive at a solution by themselves.

FieldLevel Innovations is still engaged with the client in reference, and I continue to learn the leadership responsibilities that are inherent in the role.

Everyone has an idea, or at least the ability to generate an idea.

You can’t help but walk around for a day and hear the genius of people as they candidly throw ideas that could have a tremendous impact on the world around them.

We log these ideas in our memories and if we ever give them a second thought, we classify them as having potential.

The idea has potential.

This is the most frequently used incomplete sentence you will ever hear.

As a student, I have been told several times, by teachers, relatives, friends, colleagues - that I have potential. It sounded complimentary at first until the novelty wore off. And then I thought…

My ideas have potential.

Potential for what? We never do finish that sentence. Probably because potential could just as easily mean the potential to fail as it could the potential to succeed.

For those of you who are exploring the potential of your ideas, recall that success is the ability to move from each failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm - Winston Churchill.

So whether you are propelled by discovering the potential of your idea or better still, your own personal potential, understand that to do either requires you to embrace your failures and shortcomings in order to recognize your strengths and successes.

Here is your box. Notice the dimensions. Please place your thoughts within the box. This is the universe in which you will operate. The failure rate grows with each deviation from the center. The letters after your name will dictate how closely you can approach the edges. You are not the first person to inquire about what lies beyond the borders. Others before you have tried and failed. Stick to what you know and you will find security in our rewards. If you decide to tread outside this box we do not assume liability for your actions. As it stands, you are being groomed. In twenty years people will associate your name with expertise, and recognition for your achievements will follow. You are walking the straight and narrow path to success. If at any time you will feel this box is not for you, please bring this to our attention. ‘Taking risks’ can be found in the third paragraph of our mission statement. Note that these risks must first be approved by management. We believe you have the ability to keep us on par with our objectives and timelines. Your manager is currently out of the country. Your first order of business will be to meet with our partners on her behalf. Best of luck and remember… this firm needs disciples, not leaders.

See the need?