Learning How to Swing for Cheap

“I figured out how to swing cheap“. Clay Hebert

I was on the phone with @Clayhebert and I couldn’t help but write down this quote.  In today’s electronic world most of what you need to get started is already free or cheap.  It means that you do not have to wait to save $1000.00 or $10,000.00 to get started on your idea.

I remember in the early 90’s when the idea of having your own website would require that you fork over $5K to get four pages.  Today, in three minutes for free.

So much of what once required a specialist, now only requires an internet connection and your PC.

The below tools are some that my team have been using.  I hope you find them useful.

Change This-has a great list of manifestos e-books authors include: Seth Godin, Hugh MacLeod, and more.

Guy Kawasaki’s Garage.com has some practical tools like: PowerPoint slides for investors, Business Plan Outline & Operating Income Plan Excel sheets.

$100 Startup is a new book from Chris Guillebeau.  Start with watching his video.

What are you starting on?

The How of Your Life is the Essence of your Special Sauce.

What you accomplish is less important than how you accomplish it.

Our Reward System is a Mess.

In our world today, we are rewarded and revered for What we accomplish.  But I believe the world has it all wrong.

Follow me as we scrutinize our lonely metric of empire building, wealth generation and conquest oriented success system.

The What of your life is easy to size-up.

  • You built a consulting practice from scratch.
  • You stood up a software company.
  • You made partner in your firm.
  • Your book sold a gazillion copies.
  • You started a non-profit for orphans in Swaziland.
  • You run a Fortune 1000 company.

But How you went about your What is only evaluated after you are gone.

If you are one of the greats, the How of your life will be detailed in a PBS documentary or New York Times best seller.

Most of us will not be personified in film and print after we are gone.

What will the lasting effect of your How be?

North Korea and the United States both maintain peace in their countries.

How this is accomplished evokes condemnation and admiration.

Donald Trump and Walt Disney both generate(d) a lot of wealth and were/are considered massively successful, the What of their life.

Which will change history for good?

Who would you follow?

Will The Apprentice reruns be played throughout every home in America fifty years from now?

A forefront example is Steve Jobs.

His What was on the cover of magazines affirming our beliefs about greatness and genius.

And now that he is gone, the How of his life is being unpacked.

How he erected the tower of Apple was not always as worthy of admiration.

Let me suggest to you, What you accomplish fails in comparison to how you accomplish it.

How you navigate life, family, and work is more important than what you accomplish.

Your How is difficult to copy, reproduce or fabricate.

Your How is actually your competitive differentiation, your special sauce, your art.

When you fuse What and How together it’s like the joining of atomic particles.

You engage a mushroom cloud of power, influence and goodness.  

Disregarding one or the other will leave you in want eventually.

Focus on your How today.

Your What will be of greater value if you focus on How.

Get Outside of Your Normal

Getting outside your everyday circles is like dropping a bunker bomb on your normal. Today I spoke with an Environmental P.H.D Economist.  How he thinks. What he thinks about. The zip code in which he resides.  The country he just returned from.  All of which are outside of my every day.

And it requires my brain to stretch and tear apart the synapses of normalcy.

I’ve never met with an alligator wrestler or a Prince of royalty.

I’ve never shared a meal with a refugee who lived in the Gaza strip.

But I have……

Cold called and interviewed the man responsible for the first Cubicle design for Herman Miller.

Shared coffee with the Sherpa who carried the IMAX camera to the summit of Everest.

Toasted over a glass of wine with David Robinson, Hall of Fame basketball player.

Cried over the stories of slaughter listening to a first person account of slaughter in Rwanda.

Normal is overrated.

Small is too small.

Live well. Choose Adventure.

Marinate-The Juices of Life

Soak, absorb, take-in, become, slow, the longer-the-better.

Much in life becomes better with age or in time.  The more time, the more the juices can be absorbed.  In life, business, family we tend to move so fast that we are unable to absorb and fully become conformed by our experiences.  We are always eager for the next thing.  And as a result, we rarely marinate in only one place, theme, thought, or season.  In essence we skip the aging process and deep flavor available to us because we’d rather just keep moving.

Marinating requires stillness.  The good stuff will never take its full effect if we don’t slow down long enough to take it into our veins.

This goes for pain as well.  Our survival nature prompts us to hurry past pain.  Of course, right?  But what if the lessons, the wisdom available from the experiences can’t be taught or the seasoning can’t infiltrate the core unless marinating occurs?

The juices of life can’t all be absorbed thru a blender, a microwave, a pill or a speed read.  Some of it, the best of it, just has to be experienced.  Sometimes on a slow simmer and soak.

What should you marinate in today?

The Greatness of Men’s Dreams

Over the past two months I have had the privilege of seeing Mount Rushmore, Independence Hall and the original Stars and Strips flag in the Smithsonian.  I am struck by the greatness of men’s dreams.  The dream of democracy was once only that, a dream, a vision, a far off someday.  And yet, with a lack of evidence or proof and with grave risk, our current freedoms were initiated.

These symbols are powerful emblems of our heritage as Americans.

I wonder what dreams that we have that beg to be birthed?  Although they may not be carved into a hillside or spark a song of national anthem.  What might they do to the world we live in today?

Risk much.

Dream.

Passion and the probability of success

Without passion, how will you be successful on your next project, your startup, your next …..?

Very few people are willing to hang their neck out on the limb of passion.

Most, would rather play it safe in the shelter of the safety of someone else’s.

With Passion, your probability of success is exponentially greater.

A fervent belief fueled by the rocket boosters of passion is difficult to duplicate, emulate or fake.

You either have it or you don’t.

If you pull a lever every day, then it is likely that you are resting under the umbrella of someone else’s plan.  Which can be very difficult and often those you are following have long since lost the passion that started their quest.

A good friend of mine has hung a shingle and issued a warning against the industry he is accusing of profit focus and not passion.  Buffalo and Company (about to become Buffalo and Jackson Company).   Xan is bringing passion and belief into a shallow shell of an industry-men’s clothing.  How can he not succeed?

Do you know how many times Howard Shultz heard from potential investors “no one will ever pay $3.00 for a cup of coffee”?  Starbucks founder, now has 12,494 stores worldwide.  How ’bout them apples?

What do you have passion for in your life today?  @ work? away from work? with your family? life goals?

See my latest encounter with Stefan Loble, founder of Bluff Works.  You will love his passion and excitement.  Click here for the full Podcast Interview.  

You Have a Choice in How You Tell Your Career Story


What is your story going to be?

“You don’t put a team together with a computer.
They call it Moneyball I think he bought a ticket on the Titanic”.

Billy Beane, Oakland A’s general manager had one of the lowest player recruitment budgets in all of baseball.

Instead of trying to compete on recruitment dollars, he changed the rules.

He employed an Ivy League mathematician to leverage a statistical computer-generated model (sabermetrics) for recruiting new players.

He was laughed at, ridiculed and dismissed. Especially early on when the results were not positive. His peers, his family, his team all doubted the substance and reality of his experiment’s likelihood of success.

And they were all wrong

It took a desperate heretic(s) to help change a 100 year old game. Today, the business of baseball is forever changed. Now teams predominately utilize similar methods in architecting winning teams.

For the past seven years I have lived the life of Billy Bean in the Retail Gasoline Industry.

Although baseball holds the crown for more glamorous, the business of selling gasoline is as fierce and complex a business.

Gasoline, alcohol, coffee and tobacco have always been the four industries that I have viewed as highly tolerant to economic downturns. My conscience precludes me from the tobacco industry. The crowd of the alcohol business keeps me away.

Howard Schultz has dominated the business of coffee. But the business of selling Gasoline has remained largely unchanged since the first Model-T rolled off the line.

From Big Oil companies to small independents both have gone about the daily gasoline pricing process the same way:

  • check the competition
  • check my product cost
  • Check my gut (what should I price today?)
  • send a smoke signal or carrier pigeon to every location I own to communicate a price change

This is how I found the industry

We started asking, “If we could automate all of those steps through software, would you buy it”? Some said it could never be done. Our competitors said it was “Pricing Nirvana”, but a few said “Yeah I think so”.

Like Billy Beane, I started creating a software solution to a business problem that had never been done before. We were wrong more than we were right. But we were right enough of the time to keep advancing.

We found a few willing customer’s who had very little too loose other than closing down their roof-top pigeon coops.

(Image Creative Commons by @MSG’s)

Years later and with the on-sight of gray hairs we control over five (5%) percent of the total gasoline sold in the United States, the naysayers are no longer jeering us.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of product are sold and reported on like a stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

We created a technology that enables our customers to manage their entire network of locations through their iPhone.  We connected every device from headquarters to the store:

  • Point of Sale
  • Pumps
  • Electronic Price Signs

It Costs a lot to be first

When you start paddling out into the Blue Ocean it is extremely lonely. You hear all kinds of “it can’t be done” or “good luck trying” type statements. Some of us are made to ignore the people who say the world is or should remain a certain way. It does not mean we do not doubt ourselves or consider aborting our mission.

We do however possess an inordinate amount of passion and belief that carries us beyond where most are ever willing to go. And, “the first guy to the wall is always bloodiest”.  It costs a lot to be first.

When I stumbled on the movie MoneyBall, I discovered the translation of story that I needed. Baseball and Gasoline are very dissimilar, but the power of passion and leading a revolution in a 100 year old industry is the same.

So I have a choice. I can tell one of two stories.

  • “I lead a software team who serves the gasoline industry”.
  • Or “Have you seen MoneyBall?………”

As you might assume the second story is both more true as well as exciting to listen to.

What versions of your story do you have?

Why You Should Create a Personal Board of Advisors?

Board of Advisors

Our own lives are often the most difficult to interpret. 

Good companies, companies that last, have a Board of Directors and sometimes a Board of Advisors.

Directors give you mandated direction.

Advisors aid you in charting a course.

Last year, I formed a Personal Board of Advisors to aid me in the key decisions and directions of my life: personally, professionally and spiritually.

Hand picked

This Board of Advisors was constructed by personal invitation.  These men are exceptional in their respective trades.  They work in various different industries: Law, Publishing, High Tech, Ministry, Real Estate and Finance.

Mercenary and Missionary

Most of them have a unique perspective on the intersection of life and business.  I like to term this convergence being a Mercenary with a Missionary heart.

I trust them personally.

They are selected because we have invested in each other’s lives personally and professionally.  In order to yield to their insights, I want to know I can trust their motive for me.

I receive raw unfiltered scrutiny.

As a result we are able to skip past many layers of niceties or suspicion and get straight to the core issues.  I trust their intentions and therefore their advice.

Group conference call

On a practical note, we have a group conference call one to two times a year.  In addition, I reach out to them individually as things come up.  The purpose of the group call is to huddle up on a particular topic or pending decision.

I prepare for this call just like I would a board or executive meeting.  I provide a summary, some back-story and then the options or paths that I am considering.

Honestly it makes me nervous at times. 

These guys have played in the big leagues for a long time.  At times I feel like I’ve been playing for the farm team.  I have to push past that nervous nudge and move forward trusting that the gain is greater than the pain.

Here is some of what I have to get past:

  • You’re wasting their time.
  • They have better things to be doing.
  • They’re tired of me asking for help.

Sometimes I even tell them this is what I am struggling with.

As you’d expect they graciously say “that is non-sense”.

I thought I was the only beneficiary. 

It turns out that they are grateful to be helping me.  I accidentally modeled something for them that they wished they had in their own lives.  As a result we all win.  As they connect with other men who were strangers to them but all centered around the common goal of “help Aaron”, something good happens.

Humility is a pre-requisite.

You have to assume that you do not have all of the answers.  If that is your posture, then go for it.  If you are looking for a circle of people to just praise you without challenging you, don’t waste your time and theirs.

NY Times article.

I came across this article in the NY Times.  It offers another perspective on this idea.  See NY Times article about the purpose and approach behind a Board of Advisors-For Your Life.

Notice the distinction this draws between Advisers and Directors.  This was an important definition for me as well.

Feel free to ask me more questions about this.

Good luck.

Do You Feel Like You Are Playing for the Farm Team?

Your career can feel like Farm Team baseball.

Farm team baseball feeds the Major League teams with the rising cream of the crop.  Once recruited, young talent starts proving and validating what the scout witnessed during try outs:  fielding grounders, throwing heat, and smashing home runs.

It’s the turf where some of the young recruits morph into MLB players.

Playing for the farm team advances each players probability to get the call to “The Show”.  Every farm team player wants to play in the major leagues and the farm team is a necessary season in the career of most ball players.  Some guys only spend a few weeks or months playing the circuit of small market towns like Omaha, NE.

Some players are unable to break through the talent pool requirements and end up stuck on the farm team for their career.  For every season a player spends on the farm team, his dream of playing in the big leagues becomes less likely.

Why do you care?  You don’t even like baseball?

Many of us feel like we are playing on the farm team today.

Your current career, company, position, accomplishments, compensation, and level of influence feel drastically different from your original dreams.

Recall for a minute where you thought you’d be?

What you thought you’d be doing?

Who you thought you’d be doing it for or with?

As a result you feel stuck playing minor league ball when you
know you were made for the Major Leagues.

You are right.  But that isn’t the whole story.

Interview CEO’s and ask

Did you know that if you started interviewing CEO’s, writers, directors, founders, owners, presidents, artists, (insert your example) that you look up to as Major League players you would encounter that they also feel some of these same sentiments?

Try it. You’ll be surprised at what you hear.

The difference between baseball and your life is that you have a choice to change it.

You are not as stuck as you think.

First, stop waiting for the call from the major leagues.

The cyclical cycle of anticipation and disappointment is not working.

Instead start your own team.

Stop playing ball by someone else’s rules.  You don’t believe me?  Buckle up……

Meet Jack @thegoodrun

NYC Digital Media guru by day and legendary musician by night and weekend @jackopierce.  Ask him if it’s exactly as he envisioned?

Meet Barry @Calxeda

Intel for twelve years thought cell phone chips should run rack servers instead.

Ask him how long he played for the farm team before he quit and started his own team?

Meet Jon @jondale

Ad-hoc consulting for years.  Quit and went and got an MBA from Seth Godin and launched Moolala.  Ask him how many farm team practices he feels like he’s attended?

Meet Matt 

Creating AutoCAD drawings of libraries in strip malls.
Quit and now decorates the downtown Denver downtown skyline with modern architecture.
Ask him how tall or unique a building he will need to design to feel he’s made it to “the show”?

The difference between playing on the farm team and major leagues is all in your head.

Welcome to the Show. You made it. Watch the Rookie Trailer.

What can you change in your thinking today?  

Finding a Medium Switch: Learning to Live in Balance

I once was told by a friend that he “does not have a Medium switch”.

For some people, you cannot find their “on” switch.  They seem unmotivated, static and placid.

For some people you cannot find their “off” switch.  They are exhausting, incessant and unaware.

My friend wasn’t saying he is in between these two examples of “On” and “Off”.

He was saying that he pours himself so deeply into something that he lacks the ability to pace himself.  When the switch throws “On”, he feels a surge of power, clarity and passion that injects into his project.

If the switch is in the “off” position, his project lacks all creativity, motivation and desire.

Finding the medium switch can be very difficult for creative people.  

Far too frequently the switch is either in the unequivocal “On” position only to wear down to arrive at the dust settling position of an exhausted “off”.

I too am working to find “Medium”.  I wonder where you’ll find yourself if you’re willing to take an honest inventory.