The Launchpad

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The Launchpad serves, for now, as the hub for my efforts to assemble at least one startup team and launch something.

The way it works is pretty simple: I’ll put up information about myself that any potential partner should know. If I sound like someone you’re enthusiastic about working with, contact me and we can talk.

Passions & Interests:

History, especially U.S. History, most especially the Civil War, the American Revolution, the Old West, the 1930s and 1940s.
Startups – I get all excited and my heart starts beating quickly when I get around anything having to do with business startups. I simply love them. I love the idea that people can build a whole community, a financial future, a whole life, from scratch.
Technology – Since I was a young child, my family has said that I love anything that makes noise, lights up and has buttons. I love gadgets and I love how technology can advance our lives.
The Internet – The Internet and the PC have been the greatest life-altering inventions in the last three generations. The Internet has simply changed our world, and I believe we’ve only scratched the surface of how it will revolutionize our lives in the future.
Games – In particular, online games. Games are simply fun. They’re a great way to challenge your mind or break away from the challenges of daily life. I’m also developing a growing interest in how “gamification” can be used to engage people in activities that they may normally avoid, such as education and healthcare.
Mobile/Location-based applications – I love mobile applications. I download and try many just to see how they work and what makes them interesting. I especially have an interest in mobile/location-based games.
Liberty – I can hear you now… Huh? You’re bringing politics into this? I love liberty and the concept of people being responsible for their own destiny. I actually don’t like politics (although I do like the competitive “game” part of it), but you cannot achieve one without being willing to deal with the other. I love the road the founders set us on and detest the massive left turn (pun intended) we’ve taken.
Communication – All of my life I’ve been interested in communication of all sorts. I love movies, TV, books, comic books and music. I came “this” close to being in the music business. I haven’t longed to be in the entertainment or communications industry for a while now, but I could definitely see myself doing a startup in that industry and loving it.
Community/Social Media – Show me a new community or social media site online and I will likely sign up for it or already have an account. I test them all out to see how they work and I stay pretty active through a number of online channels. The one area in which I haven’t tested the waters… podcasting.

Experience:

OK, you’ve read what I love, what really gets my heart pumping. So what have I done? Surprisingly, I’ve done a lot. You can read all of the gory details on my LinkedIn profile. But I’ll boil it all down to this.

Marketing – I love marketing. I’ve studies and practiced it for the last 10 years. Even in jobs that weren’t categorized as “marketing” jobs, I’ve tried to push them into marketing and keep learning it. I have done print production, copywriting (for print, web and radio), graphic design, website development, marketing strategy, and created print and web ads. While I’ve had no “professional” experience with social media, I’m probably one of the most active social media users you’ll find. I explore it simply to see how it works and what people/companies are doing with it.
Management – I was the assistant manager of a fast food restaurant for a number of years.
Customer Service – both retail and corporate
Project Management – I don’t love it, but I can do it well.
Retail sales – If I love the product, I can sell it.
Shipping & fulfillment

Basic Beliefs:

Religion: Christian
Political: Conservatives consider me libertarian. Libertarians consider me conservative.
Race: Races are for running, not classifying people. I judge you on who you are and what you do, not skin color or ethnicity.
Finances: I’m frugal, but I’m not cheap. I believe debt is evil and causes more harm than good. I like money and I want more of it. Money is useful, but it’s not the main goal of life. I’ve worked for Dave Ramsey. If you know how Dave feels about money, you get an idea of how I feel about it. More on how this attitude on money applies to startups further down.
Pet Peeves: Meetings. Pretentious people. Doing stuff just to look busy.

Business Philosophy:

I believe business is for making money. If it doesn’t turn a profit, it’s a hobby. That having been said, I’m not greedy or money-centric. What I want is to build products that excite customers and amaze people. If I can do that, I can make a profit. But I won’t get along with someone who demands to take home profits as soon as they start coming in. I’ve known those people. They’re usually broke and their business went bust. Plow those profits back into the business and build something lasting!

I believe in bootstrapping a business. I’m not going to saddle my family with debt (remember how I feel about debt) so I can finance my startup adventures. I’ve seen way too many bootstrapped companies succeed to think that’s a necessity. There are alternatives to destroying your financial future. To that end, I’ll also keep my “day job” until my business is capable of being self-sustaining. I know there are people who believe that unless you mortgage everything you have to the hilt and quit your “day job” to work on your startup full time, you’re not a real entrepreneur. I disagree and, luckily for me, I can think for myself and form my own opinions.

I believe in finding team members and not just hiring employees. I agree with Dave Ramsey when he says he has never wanted employees. Employees come to do tasks for you, collect a paycheck and go home. Team members work with you to achieve goals and win. I don’t ever want an employee. NEVER!

I believe in the E-Myth premise of working on your business, not working in it. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in work and working hard. Anything else is a waste of your potential. But I don’t believe in small dreams. I don’t want a j-o-b, I want a business that becomes self-sustaining. I eventually want a cash engine that opens up opportunities for everyone involved.

I believe in treating people fairly, in critical thinking and in surrounding myself with people who are better than I am. That way, I can be inspired and always challenging myself to grow and improve. Anything less is a waste of time.

I believe that you should feel you’re changing the world and doing work that matters. If you don’t love what you’re doing, you’re wasting everyone’s time.

What I Offer a Startup:

I have years of marketing experience. I can (and usually do) dream big. I am discovering I’m good at looking at products and operations and seeing where the customer experience can be improved. (This is something I assumed was natural for everyone, but have learned it’s not.) I’m good at looking at the big picture, but then breaking it down into manageable pieces to tackle. I have experience with web development (mostly PHP, HTML, XHTML). I’m not afraid to just jump in and do what needs to be done. If I don’t know how, I’ll learn. I’ve done that A LOT!

I see myself handling marketing as well as having a major role in product development and customer/user experience development.

My Weaknesses – Otherwise Known as Your Opportunity:

CTO/Developer – I’m a slow web developer. Since I don’t do it on a daily basis, I tend to have to go find out how to do something first. I would be a great backup or support developer.

Graphic Designer – I can do design, but I’m not a great designer.

CFO – I understand accounting. I’ve even done some of it in the past. But I don’t love it. I’ll eventually need someone who loves it.

Personality:

I’m an introvert by nature. I’m overcoming that, but I still have a hard time with things like small talk. If you’re an extrovert or a natural networker, that’s a big bonus.

You should love to have fun and laugh, but be able to get down to work and bust it to get things done.

When I believe something, I can be tough to convince otherwise. Usually because I’ve got a reasoned basis for my beliefs. But I’m not hard headed or stubbornly immovable. Reason with me to get me to your way of thinking and I’ll back your idea 100%. If I have no opinion, I’ll tell you that as well. I won’t take a stance just so I can take a stance. I’m willing to try new things to see if they work better.

I want to create something incredible, not get rich quick or at any cost. You should be the same.

I love to learn new things. I love to explore. I love to grow.

I believe in work-life balance. I have a wife and two young children who depend on me. I will work my tail off for any startup I work with, but I won’t ignore my family. You’ll get 150% from me, but not of me.

Accomplishments:

I was brought up to believe that if you worked really hard, people would notice and you would be rewarded. Imagine my frustration and disappointment when I learned the truth. The people who are willing to promote their accomplishments get ahead. It was one of my first marketing lessons. Promote yourself or no one else will. But that also means that until recently I never really took stock in things I’ve done. It sounds silly, but it’s true. I didn’t realize that there were points in life and I was supposed to be keeping my own score. So, here are a few things I’ve accomplished.

I started my first business when I was about 10. I had a trash service for the apartment complex I lived in and would take residents’ trash to the dumpster twice a week for a quarter (or something like that). It probably wasn’t the safest thing for me to do, but it only lasted a few months.

I went to work for an Arby’s franchise in the early 1990s. I did a really good job and was promoted to assistant manager within 6 months. I stayed for the next three or four years.

I once worked for a company that was going through very rough financial times. I was in their marketing department. This is where I learned graphic design, print production and some copywriting. I also learned to utilize bootstrapping principles to save them money. In one year, I calculated that I saved the company more than $50,000 by finding ways to do things myself or by learning to do tasks so we didn’t have to outsource. And I did all of this surviving about six rounds of layoffs, increasing my workload by 4X and not getting a pay increase for more than two years.

I often find myself being the “picker-upper” at companies. When someone leaves without a replacement and the company desperately needs someone to pick up the pieces and keep things going… that’s me. I’ve done it over and over and saved companies money and lost clients by doing it. I said it before, if it needs to be done, I’ll do it.

I worked for a marketing agency at one time. I was there for a year and, just before I left, my boss showed me statistics on the impact I’d had on his company. In the year I’d been there, his revenues went up something like 50%, despite the fact that he’d disengaged from his company for a 3-month period to work on another project. He also took his first real vacation in years. I wasn’t responsible for bringing in new customers, but I kept his company going while he was disengaged by keeping his existing customers happy and well-served and keeping things going smoothly within his company so he could focus on sales outside of his company.

I rebuilt the corporate intranet for my current employer pretty much from scratch… three times.

I’ve built (and rebuilt) numerous websites and blogs over the years for myself and others. Sadly, nearly all are extinct at this time. But a few examples are around if you want to see them.

I planned out and built a location-based game for the Layar augmented reality application. (Never released)

I was part of the Startup Weekend team that designed and partially built the location-based iPhone game GPSAssassins. (It was later finished and released by two of the SW team members.)

Why Do I Want to Start a Business?

Basically, it comes down to this:

I want to be responsible for my own destiny. I want to succeed or fail based on what I can do; based on the plans I help create and how well I help execute them. I’m tired of carrying out other people’s plans and dreams.

I want some freedom over where and when I work. For nearly 20 years now, I’ve worked at least 20-30 miles from my home. I commute an hour each way every day. I know more people in the town I work in than in the town I live in. I go in to work at the appointed time and I leave at the appointed time, regardless of what time of day I’m most effective. It’s time that I get some say in the rules I play by.

I’m tired of corporate BS. The best, most challenging companies I’ve worked for have been entrepreneurial. The more corporate they are, the more miserable I am. Rules that serve a purpose are good. Rules that simply restrict because “companies need rules” are stupid. Office politics are a waste of time and generally only make sure the inept excel.

And the biggest reason… I can’t help it. If you don’t feel this way, you won’t understand. (And you’re probably not the partner I’m looking for.) But it’s just something I’ve GOT to do. I feel like I’m going to explode if I don’t do this. I think about it all the time. I’m obsessed with it. And there’s nothing I can do to change it.

OK, your turn. Do we share multiple passions and values? Do I sound like someone you want to team with? Do we have complimentary skills?

Contact me. Send me links to your Facebook, Google+, Twitter or other social networking accounts so I can get a feel for who you really are when you think no one is looking. Tell me about yourself, your interests and your experiences. Let’s explore the possibilities.

I’m ready to get started!