Today was all about recognizing support structure.
There are many types of support; emotional, physical, financial, etc.
We happen to be blessed with support in the form of utility.
Our reliance network is filled with people who are willing to be roles players...help any way they can and any way we need.
From...
Our investor's wife...letting us know her company is ready to make a deal.
My mom...dropped everything, notarized, and took me to a 'sanity-check' lunch. (nothing says mom loves ya like grilled cheese and tomato soup!)
An old friend...willing to let me feel in control because I had a moment where I didn't. (Thanks DT).
And despite all this outpouring of greatly needed help, none of it helped me as much as a conversation with my brother where I had the opportunity to help him.
I guess sometimes I need to feel like I am giving and not just taking.
And, that's tough in a start-up.
In my last job I managed almost 100 people. I was always supporting.
In this job we are moving so fast there is little time to give, rather just time to pull.
That's going to change.
I'm the CEO. I work for my team, not the other way around.
_____
Ready to serve and live what tomorrow brings
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
A Return to Normalcy-if there is such a thing
Friday was a large moment in our company's short history.
We decided to halt our launch, rid ourselves of unsubstantiated deadlines, continue to forge ahead with what we were building, and shed ourselves of pre-conceived constraints.
Without going into too much detail, the decision was very painful, but very right.
We had been worrying so much about executing that we stopped doing what made us so successful at execution.
That said, the decision came soon enough, but not as soon as it should have.
The very foundation of our organization (open communication that challenges and builds) went missing for a short period of time, and left us trying to find our groove again.
Luckily for us, we've all had enough experience at ideating our way through tough times.
After all, 'you don't throw people at problems, you throw ideas'.
We were focused, jovial, conscious of what happened, encouraged by our solution, and eager to continue building while leaving our past hiccup behind us.
It was a great sign, and more proof that we are indeed onto something special.
_____
Better prepared to live what tomorrow brings.
We decided to halt our launch, rid ourselves of unsubstantiated deadlines, continue to forge ahead with what we were building, and shed ourselves of pre-conceived constraints.
Without going into too much detail, the decision was very painful, but very right.
We had been worrying so much about executing that we stopped doing what made us so successful at execution.
That said, the decision came soon enough, but not as soon as it should have.
The very foundation of our organization (open communication that challenges and builds) went missing for a short period of time, and left us trying to find our groove again.
Luckily for us, we've all had enough experience at ideating our way through tough times.
After all, 'you don't throw people at problems, you throw ideas'.
We were focused, jovial, conscious of what happened, encouraged by our solution, and eager to continue building while leaving our past hiccup behind us.
It was a great sign, and more proof that we are indeed onto something special.
_____
Better prepared to live what tomorrow brings.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Sent to My Team - Thanksgiving Message (11/25)
With the amount everyone has been working, it's hard to pull our heads up and remind ourselves why we are doing all this. And money clearly isn't the answer. It will be the answer in the end. But it's not the answer now.
The answer now is because we are onto something special, and by coming together as a team, we actually have the opportunity to achieve it.
Yes, part of what is special is the act of starting up. But we're not just starting up anything.
We are unleashing the power of the social economy! And what exactly is the social economy?
It's...
Group buying, entrepreneurship, and social networking all brought together to form our modern economic backbone.
Think of it.
No risk to all participants. No start-up costs for any member. Anyone can get involved.
We can't be stopped, because the social economy can't be stopped.
And, The Echo System is about to unleash it.
Let's ride this wave y'all!
Much love and many thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving.
---
Ready, willing and able to live what tomorrow brings.
The answer now is because we are onto something special, and by coming together as a team, we actually have the opportunity to achieve it.
Yes, part of what is special is the act of starting up. But we're not just starting up anything.
We are unleashing the power of the social economy! And what exactly is the social economy?
It's...
Group buying, entrepreneurship, and social networking all brought together to form our modern economic backbone.
Think of it.
No risk to all participants. No start-up costs for any member. Anyone can get involved.
We can't be stopped, because the social economy can't be stopped.
And, The Echo System is about to unleash it.
Let's ride this wave y'all!
Much love and many thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving.
---
Ready, willing and able to live what tomorrow brings.
A 48 hour day? 11/23 Extended (11/24)
Started the day fired up and ready to launch.
Ended the day at 5am without a launch.
Without rehashing too much (because it hurts), doing things the right way is a saving grace, but doesn't help me sleep.
Friday now looks to be the day, but all along it was the key date in my mind (instead of 11/23) due to it being Black Friday.
Yet even with Black Friday coming we will not have shopping opportunities ready until December. Can't get pissed for starting the company when we did. Next year we'll kill the holiday season.
This season, Black Friday is more of a prove-it-to-ourselves rallying cry than anything else.
Time to shut down the engine.
Recharge the batteries.
Give thanks.
Come back rockin'.
---
Thankful to live what tomorrow brings.
Ended the day at 5am without a launch.
Without rehashing too much (because it hurts), doing things the right way is a saving grace, but doesn't help me sleep.
Friday now looks to be the day, but all along it was the key date in my mind (instead of 11/23) due to it being Black Friday.
Yet even with Black Friday coming we will not have shopping opportunities ready until December. Can't get pissed for starting the company when we did. Next year we'll kill the holiday season.
This season, Black Friday is more of a prove-it-to-ourselves rallying cry than anything else.
Time to shut down the engine.
Recharge the batteries.
Give thanks.
Come back rockin'.
---
Thankful to live what tomorrow brings.
Helplessness and Perspective (11/23)
Today was all about the hurry up and wait.
We have been pushing ourselves so hard and so long to get to 11/23.
Why?
Because on 10/26 our group laid out our launch road map:
Then it happened.
A mad dash for the finish line involving 7 straight days of 20+ hour shifts.
We reach the point of testing and snap! Major technology glitch.
Now our team quickly diagnosed the issue and was able to set a plan to fix it.
However, it meant having to delay the first launch. And, not just delay it a day, it meant delaying at least 2 days (no one should launch a platform the day before thanksgiving and then spend all of thanksgiving watching the results).
Regardless of the event and the outcome, I felt helpless.
I'm not a coder. I don't develop technology.
I rely on my team to do this, and to do it perfectly.
When something breaks I have no way of helping to fix the problem.
This is an awful feeling.
On top of that, I find myself continuing to dance with balance. A user doesn't know the full vision, and will except things not built yet because as long as they find value in current iterations they will accept evolution.
I grapple with patience.
My perspective has to float between motivating a team, driving something I can't do myself, erasing all my built up notions to think in terms of a first time user (while excepting nothing less than our product being the definition of intuitive), and constantly reiterating the vision and purpose of our journey.
This is and will be a continued learning curve, and right now I wish I was higher up on it.
My solace today...a team feeling more motivated to do this right than any other team I've ever seen before.
---
Wanting to help others live what tomorrow brings.
We have been pushing ourselves so hard and so long to get to 11/23.
Why?
Because on 10/26 our group laid out our launch road map:
- 11/23 - launch user sign up and ability to invite friends
- 12/7 - internal launch only, load merchants into the system
- 12/18 - launch actual deal purchase functionality and paypoints
Then it happened.
A mad dash for the finish line involving 7 straight days of 20+ hour shifts.
We reach the point of testing and snap! Major technology glitch.
Now our team quickly diagnosed the issue and was able to set a plan to fix it.
However, it meant having to delay the first launch. And, not just delay it a day, it meant delaying at least 2 days (no one should launch a platform the day before thanksgiving and then spend all of thanksgiving watching the results).
Regardless of the event and the outcome, I felt helpless.
I'm not a coder. I don't develop technology.
I rely on my team to do this, and to do it perfectly.
When something breaks I have no way of helping to fix the problem.
This is an awful feeling.
On top of that, I find myself continuing to dance with balance. A user doesn't know the full vision, and will except things not built yet because as long as they find value in current iterations they will accept evolution.
I grapple with patience.
My perspective has to float between motivating a team, driving something I can't do myself, erasing all my built up notions to think in terms of a first time user (while excepting nothing less than our product being the definition of intuitive), and constantly reiterating the vision and purpose of our journey.
This is and will be a continued learning curve, and right now I wish I was higher up on it.
My solace today...a team feeling more motivated to do this right than any other team I've ever seen before.
---
Wanting to help others live what tomorrow brings.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Health and Dedication (11/22)
Over the past 7+ years I've learned, built, and honed my work ethic. Without limits, without consistency, and certainly without regard for my physical well being, this so called work ethic can be held responsible for multiple trips to the ER.
But to me, work ethic is a catch all for drive, determination, passion and blindly lead stupidity.
When at my first start-up I had a great mentor who actually helped me feel as though the company and my opportunity had no limits. But what that meant, was that for success to happen I had to work smarter then go work harder.
The result was always thinking to myself...if I'm not spending every moment getting after the opportunity someone else was, and our small company would never catch up and surpass.
This mentality can be incredibly powerful and motivating, but it is also an extremely slippery slope. 8 years in a row of hospital visits, most coming on the heels of a large working bender, can attest to that. However, it's not just about physical health.
In this current start-up, the driven mentality is prevalent, but it at times can move from a positive force to a negative one.
At the moments where I think our chance for success only comes by working every moment, then not working every moment leads to guilt. Guilt is not productive.
Tonight at 4 am I realized we needed to shut down operations for the night. This was despite our first major deadline being tomorrow, and despite our CTO, David Barnes bless his soul, wanting to work through until the job was done.
Pushing a day happens.
Pushing ourselves to a breaking point can have irreversible repercussions, and that can't happen.
All told, I'm thrilled to have made the call. None of this is worth it if we aren't well enough to enjoy it.
---
Healthly mind and body needed to live what tomorrow brings.
But to me, work ethic is a catch all for drive, determination, passion and blindly lead stupidity.
When at my first start-up I had a great mentor who actually helped me feel as though the company and my opportunity had no limits. But what that meant, was that for success to happen I had to work smarter then go work harder.
The result was always thinking to myself...if I'm not spending every moment getting after the opportunity someone else was, and our small company would never catch up and surpass.
This mentality can be incredibly powerful and motivating, but it is also an extremely slippery slope. 8 years in a row of hospital visits, most coming on the heels of a large working bender, can attest to that. However, it's not just about physical health.
In this current start-up, the driven mentality is prevalent, but it at times can move from a positive force to a negative one.
At the moments where I think our chance for success only comes by working every moment, then not working every moment leads to guilt. Guilt is not productive.
Tonight at 4 am I realized we needed to shut down operations for the night. This was despite our first major deadline being tomorrow, and despite our CTO, David Barnes bless his soul, wanting to work through until the job was done.
Pushing a day happens.
Pushing ourselves to a breaking point can have irreversible repercussions, and that can't happen.
All told, I'm thrilled to have made the call. None of this is worth it if we aren't well enough to enjoy it.
---
Healthly mind and body needed to live what tomorrow brings.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Expectations, The Law & Perfection
Oh, how fun life can be when it forces you to simultaneously live and survive in opposition and contradiction to your own self.
Today was the tale of two mentalities.
On the one hand, the vast and powerful enemy 'Time' reared it's vengeful head.
On the other, the never forgiving and always relentless 'Judgement' pounded it's iron fist.
Meaning...
I have a vision for The Echo System.
It's grand, enticing, contagious and perfect.
Time has a vision for me.
It's compromise, setting expectations, and the pursuit of best case scenarios.
In the world of design, development, technology, sales and resources we must make choices. Allowing myself to live with those choices will be both an art and a practice (and certainly more practice than art).
However, today was also heavily rooted in legal matters.
And that my friends, has no room for compromise, no room for best case, and certainly no room for errors.
My schizophrenia was encapsulated beautifully when there was a moment where I was simultaneously saying on the phone...
"Let's get done what we can get done. We'll build out more as we go. We can only do our best."
While typing...
"We must get everything done exactly the way we it needs to be no matter what it takes. No excuses. We can't afford anything less than perfection."
I guess I contain multitudes.
All I can hope is that I stay large!
And oh, how I hope with all I have.
---
Balancing to live what tomorrow brings.
Today was the tale of two mentalities.
On the one hand, the vast and powerful enemy 'Time' reared it's vengeful head.
On the other, the never forgiving and always relentless 'Judgement' pounded it's iron fist.
Meaning...
I have a vision for The Echo System.
It's grand, enticing, contagious and perfect.
Time has a vision for me.
It's compromise, setting expectations, and the pursuit of best case scenarios.
In the world of design, development, technology, sales and resources we must make choices. Allowing myself to live with those choices will be both an art and a practice (and certainly more practice than art).
However, today was also heavily rooted in legal matters.
And that my friends, has no room for compromise, no room for best case, and certainly no room for errors.
My schizophrenia was encapsulated beautifully when there was a moment where I was simultaneously saying on the phone...
"Let's get done what we can get done. We'll build out more as we go. We can only do our best."
While typing...
"We must get everything done exactly the way we it needs to be no matter what it takes. No excuses. We can't afford anything less than perfection."
- "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
I guess I contain multitudes.
All I can hope is that I stay large!
And oh, how I hope with all I have.
---
Balancing to live what tomorrow brings.
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