Category:

General Thoughts

1

Predictions for 2013

January 2, 2013, General Thoughts, Humor
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/predictions-for-2013/

One of my annual traditions has to become to publish my predictions for the New Year.  You can review past years here, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

And now without further ado, here are my 2013 predictions!!

2013

  1. No political compromise or “big deal” on budget or spending happens.
  2. Democrats push for and get immigration reform as Republicans cannot think of a reason to fight it and get away with it.  Gun control efforts fail.
  3. Disney announces 3 new Star Wars movies, starring Honey Boo Boo Child as an Ewok baby.
  4. UK leaves EU as the EU disintegration continues.
  5. High ranking member of British Royal family dies.
  6. Not a good year for Hugo Chavez. He does not live long enough to see summer.
  7. Bad year for stocks but gold sets new higher high.
  8. Alabama wins college #1 in football.
  9. Falcons face Patriots in the Super bowl, and the Patriots win.
  10. Apple releases a watch as their next must have device, not TV. Apple stock stagnant as Android operating system becomes dominate player.
  11. A nationwide Internet sales tax is imposed by Congress.
  12. William and Kate’s baby will be a girl and will rule as Queen Victoria.
  13. Lindsey Lohan dies of drug overdose.
  14. Kayne West and Kim Kardashian’s child is named 666 after  the “cute mark on the back of his head.”
  15. Economy officially enters recession.
  16. Democrats begin calls for reform of the new health care law as it is judged too difficult to implement.
  17. Real estate prices remain flat and then fall at year-end.
  18. Academy Awards split between Lincoln and Les Miserable, with Lincoln winning Best Picture but Spielberg not winning Best Director.
  19. Elmo creator Kevin Clash indicted.
  20. Gas prices go up because of Iranian conflicts and global uncertainty even though supplies and reserves surge.
  21. Food prices  soar as energy prices go up.
  22. Syria’s crazy leader Assad is killed in the streets live on TV.
  23. Iran attacks US warships in the Strait of Hormuz.
  24. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt separate, settling for 3 kids a piece. (I predict this every year.)
  25. A big quake in California is declared biggest disaster ever. The wealthy flee California and the CA budget deficit doubles.
  26. Ryan Seacrest comes out as trangender and dating Justin Bieber.
  27. Facebook Premium is revealed for business sites, offering lots of new analytic features and some of the mailing to groups options they removed earlier.
  28. Slideshare is the adult version of Instagram and becomes hot.
  29. Google + finally catches on as Google forces users to adopt it by clever service bundling.

 

As far as resolutions, first let me review my past resolutions and their outcomes.  In 2009, I resolved to eat more bacon.  In 2010, I resolved all new t-shirts.  In 2011, all new socks.  Failed there and it took until 2012 to accomplish that.  But, now I do have all new socks!  For 2013, I resolve to eat out more to help the economy, because I want to do my part!

Have a great 2013!

0

2012 Was the Best Year Ever!?!?!???

January 1, 2013, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/2012-was-the-best-year-ever/

I ran across an article in Forbes saying, “It may not feel like it, but 2012 has been the greatest year in the history of the world.” Sure doesn’t feel like it does it? The economy still sucks, the election was unbearable whether your guy won or lost, Hurricane Sandy, the shootings, the fame of Honey Boo Boo Child, and Kayne and Kim breeding are enough to convince the average person that 2012 sucked! For me, I must admit 2012 was not great.  I recall 4 or 5 doctor visits inside my body.2012

But Forbes is right. 2012 was the best year ever. And 2013, regardless of the events we focus on, will be even better yet. We get caught up in our daily lives and forget big picture things like that in the last 30 years the number of people living in extreme poverty has halved.  That means 1.5 BILLION people are better off. Just as with compound interest, the long term trend is the important thing.

Back when I taught at Georgia State University, I ended every semester with a lecture that consisted of only a few slides and no oration. Instead of speaking, I played the Beatles’ song “Its Getting Better All the Time.” Each slide showed one way that the world is getting better over time. You can view it here. It came from a great book available here. Can you guess the name?

Anyway, we must forget our small petty concerns ($16 trillion in debt for example) and remember that overall, 2012 was a great year for lots of people!

And yes, I think that Kayne West and Kim Kardwhatever reproducing is the most sure sign of the Apocalypse.

Happy New Year!

 

0

Secret Dale Carnegie/Ayn Rand Love Child Exposed!

November 24, 2012, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/secret-dale-carnegieayn-rand-love-child-exposed-2/

Well, I hope the post title caught your attention! One of my new friends, Brian Johnson, just published his first book. Fiction, the book tells the tale of the supposed child of Ayn Rand (yes, the great author) and Dale Carnegie. Great premise and great read. I finished it yesterday and I enjoying it immensely.  I cried and laughed.

But most importantly, the book deals with entrepreneurship in a great way.

I recommend this book highly. And want you to support Atlanta’s new authors. Please buy and read this book!

Buy here.

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Craziest Thing I Ever Heard: Is This America?

October 7, 2012, Financial Concerns, General Thoughts, Global Trade
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/craziest-thing-i-ever-heard-is-this-america/

Well, this is certainly a crazy time in the US. With the election soon, and all the craziness thus ensuing, there are countless examples of how America has lost its way.

Typical America

I have never been more in shock at the stupid, silly things you hear every day. But this beats them all!

The US Supreme Court has a case before it now that I bet you have not heard about. On October 29th, the court will hear the case Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons. In 1997, Supap Kirtsaeng studied at Cornell University, and was shocked to learn that textbooks were much cheaper in his native Thailand. So, being a great entrepreneur, he called home, had his family buys tons of books which he sold on eBay, pocketing $1.2 million in profit. Textbook publishers sued, saying he was violating copyrights. They won.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (New York, Connecticut, and Vermont) upheld a lower court’s ruling that anything that was manufactured overseas does not qualify for the first-sale principle. This 1908 idea says that you can resell your cars, cameras, watches, or anything else without worry because the original copyright holder only had control over the first sale. If you buy a Mercedes car, the new ruling requires that you get permission from Mercedes to sell your 12 year old car. Think they will charge for it? Got some jewelry from your Italian great, great grandmother? You can’t sell it without permission!

The Supreme Court may slap this down, but seeing some of their other decisions, who knows! It is very likely that in November, you will learn it is illegal to sell your 200 year old French clock! Imagine the impact on eBay or Craigslist.

America is dying. Ask Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt (both of them!) if they could sell their imported English items, and I am pretty sure (ok 100000% sure) that Jefferson et al would laugh at the question. This is the slippery slope. He hear that one court decision only leads to more decisions that take away our rights! And now we see it in effect.

1

Guest Blog: Stop the Whine & Win! by Emra Smith

July 12, 2012, Entrepreneur Personality, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/guest-blog-stop-the-whine-win-by-emra-smith/

Is this little Weiner dog having a moment of happiness and utter joy or what!

She charged into that soft sand digging and flinging it sky high. Next thing she buried her nosed and rubbed her face as deep in as she could then scoured her little body before she rolled over for a back rub. Her tail beating a million wags a second. I could hear her laugh as she shamelessly rolled, dug and tumbled again and again and again. Unbridled, ecstatic happiness.

Stop Whining!

Emra Smith’s dog says stop whining!

When last did you experience utter joy?

Do you laugh every day?

Do you prefer complaining and whining?

 To live a joy filled life in utter happiness every day takes some doing. It’s not showered on you, you choose it and then work toward it and then you’ll have it. It’s that simple.

There are 5 skills that are an essential part of daily living that need to be a part of your life of happiness:

  • Not Complaining and taking a 100% responsibility of your life
  • Belief, acceptance of yourself& understanding your innate gifts
  • Dreams, wants, envisioning & targeting goals
  • Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle
  • Giving to yourself & others

I want to highlight the first – not complaining. Life has many ups and downs and many painful, stressful, exhausting experiences that deplete us. It could be illness, losing a job, financial crisis, divorce, broken friendships, having a stressful work environment or being in a relationship that’s filled with conflict. Each of theseaffect our lives dramatically. You know what surrounds you right now and how can you not ask if happinessis possible in any of this?

 How do you not get trapped into days of constant complaining, dissatisfaction and misery?

 You take 100% responsibility for your life, your actions. There’s no room for excuses by blaming someone else or a situation. You get to make the choices of what you want to do.

  • You need to take time out to think when you feel your emotions rise. Assess the experience and see what troubles you.
  • Decide what to do. If you choose to not change your situation, know the reason very well as it will see you through.

Taking responsibility for your actions vs. just complaining about them increases your courage and strength. In turn this facilitates an inner peace where the fountain of true happiness resides. You become rooted and grounded and can stand strong in the storms of life. It is then easy to choose moments of unbridled joy in utter happiness.

 You can live a life of happiness & utter joy!

 Don’t whine, win!

 So here’s what to do now:

  • What is your happiness number? On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being utter happiness. Write it down.
  • Write 3 factors that keep it from being a 10
  • Choose the top one and write 3 action steps you will take to start the process of change
  • Read the FR*EE ebookJABULA for examples and further thoughts
  • Go to http://www.facebook.com/emrasmith , Like the page and share 1 action step and get support with your next step.

Emra Smith is a Speaker, Mentor Coach, Trainer& Author. To learn more go to:

http://www.lovelivingtoday.net/

0

The Caroline Clause = Toot Your Own Horn

February 9, 2012, Entrepreneur Personality, Entrepreneurship Stories, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/the-caroline-clause-toot-your-own-horn/

I was downtown today at the Metro Atlanta Chamber getting ready for this year’s Business Person of the Year Award. Chris and I will be judges, along with several other people of course, for this year’s contest. We did the same thing last year, really enjoyed it, and also helped present the awards at the ceremony in June. See a pic of that below.

Jim Beach and Chris Hanks of School for Startups

The awards always make me think of my cousin-once-removed Caroline. For those of you who do not understand how the whole cousin system works let me interject for a second: the children of your first cousins are first cousins-once-removed, and  your children and your first cousin’s children are second cousins. So, Caroline is my cousin Joyce’s daughter. When she was applying for college, she applied for many scholarships, grants and awards. She even nominated herself for certain scholarships that required nominees. Her brother Daniel teased her and said that he thought it was unfair that she was nominating herself. Her response, “Well, someone has to win, it might as well be me.” Of course she was right and won many of the scholarships that she applied for, and just recently graduated after a highly successful college career.

Back over a decade ago, the business I was running, American Computer Experience, was in a growth mode and we decided to go and raise venture capital. This company had always relied on public relations marketing, and had been very successful with it. We learned that by packaging a theme for the media, we could place many articles in newspapers around the country that helped promote our brand. For example, one year we would talk about how our program was a huge benefit for young girls, and we would distribute bios and pictures of all of the girls that had attended our programs. The next year we would choose a different theme, something like disadvantaged kids or minority kids. But as the company grew, the public relations needed to reinforce the idea that the company was a good investment, and therefore the PR effort was changed to promote the founders, Doug and me. We hired a PR firm that literally asked me which awards I wanted to win and told me the cost to win certain awards. I selected the awards I thought would look cool, and wrote a check.

There is that old expression that the only way to get business is to ask for it. I 100% agree, and would like to point out that the only way to win an award is to get nominated for it. If you don’t have a Vice President of Communications to nominate you, realize it’s quite okay to nominate yourself for most awards. I’ve done it, and won some of them. First cousin-once-removed Caroline was right, “Someone has to win, it might as well be me.”

Gets those applications ready!

 

1

Atlas Shrugged Part 2 Details and Trailer

February 7, 2012, Events, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/atlas-shrugged-part-2-details-and-trailer/

Atlas Shrugged Part 2 will happen.  And again, we greet the news with mixed emotions.  Glad it will get done, scared they will screw it up, again.

Enough has been said about Part 1, yes its was so exciting that it got made, so disappointing that it was not better.  I guess my imagination is better than a $10 million budget would allow.

Jim Beach of School for Startups

The first half of the trailer for Part 2 looks more like a Fox News commercial.  There is no new footage, as they have yet to film anything new, but they couldn’t even find any old Part 1 stuff laying around the editing room floor apparently. The second half is mostly a Rand interview from 1959.  For those that really want to push her legacy, you should get all the videos of her, and burn them!  She is cold and heartless on video and makes a very poor spokesperson for anything, much less her already harsh message.  See the trailer here.

Part 2 will begin filming in April with a release date in October, just before the election. Should make for some very interesting comparisons.  Part 2 should include the famous Money speech by Francisco.  To refresh…

“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Aconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?”  Can’t wait to see this part!

 

2

Entrepreneurs Lack Common Graces

February 7, 2012, Entrepreneurship Stories, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/entrepreneurs-lack-common-graces/

I have been overwhelmed recently about some of the entrepreneurs I have run across.  It seems like so many of them have forgotten, or never knew, common courtesies.   I have three guys in mind, of different ages and backgrounds.

One guy, Bob, approached me about help with a medical product he had invented.  He called or emailed every week for months, and I always talked to him and emailed back.  His product is pretty technical and few would see its potential.  After a couple months, I found a great potential investor for him and arranged a meeting.  During the meeting, it was clear that the investor understood the product and market place much better than Bob.  And, the investor offered some incredible advice about how to improve the product so that the whole market would embrace it.  He expressed interest in seeing more.

School for Startups on Kindle

School for Startups on Kindle

Two months later I emailed Bob out of curiosity, to see what was up.  I had not heard from him since the meeting, nothing, not a thank you email, nothing.  Bob responded excitedly that he was about ready to present again.  Again?  What about a note to the investor telling him thanks and the status?  And a note to me to keep me from looking stupid?  Nothing.  And how he is excited to present again?  No way. I may love the idea but I would never help this guy again!  He was just rude.  Not by action, but by lack of common graces.   Someone arranges a meeting for you, you write a thank you note.

And a word on thank you notes.  One line of an email, especially if the email includes other stuff, does not suffice.  Old fashioned hand written notes still work best.

Another entrepreneur was a guy that I had helped a lot, had sent tons of business his way.  He used to work at a Fortune 50 company, and I need an intro there.  I asked him, explained what I needed, and he said no, politely, but no.  The reason was he might someday want to do business there himself and did not want to use up his favors there.  I was asking for an introduction, not a big deal.  He was not doing business there now at all, and his business is not related to theirs.  But he said no.  And I bet 50% of his current portfolio somehow was introduced by me.  Wow.

And finally, Samuel.  He is running a business I suggested to him.  The other day I asked for 10 minutes to fix a hard drive that I busted.   He said he could do it the next week, he was busy.  A big reason he is busy?  I got him set up.  Now, he is too busy to set aside 10 for me.  Wow.

Am I crazy?

0

Facebook IPO Fools Errand

February 3, 2012, Facebook, General Thoughts
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/facebook-ipo-fools-errand/

Well Facebook has finally filed for their IPO, and it will make Mark probably the 4th or 5th richest person in the world.  Congratulations.  I am so happy for him and his new 1000 millionaires.

But, you people that are excited about buying shares soon, a word of caution!!!  Do not buy!!!  This stock is fully priced as is.  It has been traded on SecondMarket and SharesPost for years.  What this means is that the market price has already been set, and is widely known.   It will be around $29.75 per share.  So, that is the value of the company, not a cent more.  If you pay above $30 a share you are betting that the stock will grow faster in the future than it has in the past.  Is that possible or likely?  Not in a billion years!

Jim Beach of School for Startups Dislikes Facebook IPO

Jim Beach of School for Startups Dislikes Facebook IPO

Facebook has grown to some 875 million users.  Can it get another 875 million?  Or another 100 million?  Are there really people sitting on the sidelines waiting to join Facebook?  Enough to continue their past growth rates?  NO.  So, membership growth has and will continue to slow dramatically.  The question then is can they better monetize Facebook and make more money from it?  Can they sell more ads?  Sure they can, but those sales are already priced into the price too!

Usually with an IPO, founders leave lots of money on the table.  The founders sell in the morning at say $20 a share, and it jumps to $100 by nightfall.  The founders left $80 per share on the table.  Mark was smart enough to delay and delay the IPO, so that the IPO price now reflects true value.  The price may soar but its fools buying a already fully-priced stock.  Within a year, the price will be below its IPO price, I predict.

2

The Purpose of an Entrepreneur

January 29, 2012, Business Ownership, Entrepreneurship Tools, General Thoughts, Startup
http://www.schoolforstartups.com/the-purpose-of-an-entrepreneur/

Your purpose as an entrepreneur is not to make money, it’s not to become independent of the wrath of an unfair boss, it’s not to avoid the morning commute and it is definitely not to live the life of your dreams…  well maybe those are some of the reasons but they are not THE reason.  I am writing this in hopes of it being taken to heart by those of you that are currently pursuing your dream of being your own boss or are considering making that dive into the deep end.

Jim Beach of School for StartupsIt seems the age of greed, destruction of our planets resources and foul business practices is coming to an end and the companies that flourished during those times are on their way out.  What we are now ushering in is a time of small business opportunity like never before and with this opportunity comes some significant responsibility for those taking advantage of it.   You now have more opportunity to become financially independent than ever before and you must use the opportunity to make the world a better place or we end up right where we left off.   When you consider how much of an impact businesses, large and small, make on our lives, our planet, our families, our health, our relationships, our decisions and everything in between you begin to see the ‘big picture’ and with that insight you should begin to see a level of responsibility that not many people must face.

That responsibility is to provide purpose and meaning within your business.  Guy Kawasiki mentions three purposes in this video below, number one is to ‘increase the quality of life’, the second is to ‘right a wrong’ and the third is to ‘prevent the end of something good’.  In this super short video he delivers information that EVERY entrepreneur should take to heart.   When you really think about the impact your business will have on your own life, the lives of those you love, your employees, the environment and everyone you do business with you will begin to see just how important it is to run your business with a strong moral foundation and a core group of values.

I am tired of hearing about corruption, greed, fraud, extortion and crooks getting away with financial murder all in the name of bonus checks.  We have an opportunity to rebuild our economy and our business practices based on decisions of the heart rather than the wallet.  There is plenty of profit in making the world a better place… now go make some, and let benevolence be your compass!

Now, if my geeky “Rush fan” side can take the stage for a moment, there is a song written by them called ”Closer To The Heart” in which the first line really sums up what i am trying to say here…

“And men who hold high places, must be the ones to start,  to mold a new reality, closer to the heart…”

Geek aside, they have a great point with those lyrics… Those that have the most impact and influence have a moral responsibility to make the world a better place due to their influence and must do so in order to help our world recover from an age of greed and corruption.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject!  If you have a company i would love to hear how you help make your employees lives better, what decisions you have made to take the high road, what values your company holds or anything else you feel like sharing.  If you have ideas as to how others can influence in a good way please share those as well.

 

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