Why I'm a Capitalist Pig

October 13, 2010

Catchy, huh? Well, there's no false advertisement here. I'm afraid I fit this bill. I just kind of fell in to it really. In the last year, I've been able to catch up with a lot of old friends. You and I may have had a chance to sit down for some casual chatter. In some of this chatter, did you feel that akward moment where we realized some of our thinking was quite different? I did, but it's cool.

But then, there was the common understanding of being brothers-in-arms, both God's children, sprinkled with the times we're living in... and maybe a dash of similaraties that let us say, "dang, life is hard..." and we quickly looked beyond it.

We all sure have come a long way since 1990. All of us have had some of lifes toughest periods between then and now. I'm no exception.

I recall quite clearly that it only took me two years after graduating with my college BA to realize that I wasn't going to be able to work for "the man" the rest of my life.

Enter CAPITALISM.

While I maybe didn't realize it at the time, there was this environment... that was real conducive to letting a man pursue his dream. My first job out of college (around '92) was creating "virtual" video tours of college campuses that allowed prospective high school students to hit the library computer and swap a 16-disc set of CD-ROMS in and out to view campus tours of most of the colleges around the US. When the WWW was getting hot, the company started churning out 5, 10, 15, 30 and even 40 page websites. Some pages had images, others had audio and video segments. That's what we did.

I met my future business partner there. One day, we realized, man, this is stupid. We could do this better, faster... and even cheaper on our own. Yes, we were privey to what they were charging clients, and let me just say, it was a lot more than what we charge today! But trying to avoid the entrepreneurial seizure, I stayed the course a while.

One of my colleagues left and went to another company. Not long after, he called me up and said you need to come here and head this new department up. So I did. Things were good. The best way to describe it, was I was an artist-turned-programmer. The team I was on integrated the company intranet to its own satellite uplink (hence, sending a beep or text message to a pager)

In this company, I was at a corporate office, so my boss's boss worked there... and his boss, the VP was there too. This VP was cool. I mean too cool. He was an intimidating man who was ALL business. I very much respected him. Let's call him Mr. B.

I recall the day I met Mr. B. We were in his office (like 9 of us) and in his booming voice, he said "this is huge for us, let's not f**k this up" as he twirled a gimmicky-utility-knife, can-opener-looking thingy with a partners logo on it. There I am fresh meat, and him noticing I was checking out his whirl-i-gig. He was like, "you like this, here, take it" and he tossed it to me and I did the fumbly miss thing, and it dropped on his really beautiful, probably new desk, and it put a huge gouge in it. Silence, just for a second. He fingered it, and said "ah crap, that apparently is going to leave a mark"

What's the point of all that? I don't know, but I felt that the corporate environment was cool for a minute. Really, it was cool seeing such a successful business man, play it cool with me. Let me just say it was another moment I said to myself, man, I'm gonna be that guy.

So, between the transition from job 1 to job 2 out of college, the entrepreneurial seizure struck and Innersync was born. We were doing stuff out of the upstairs of my Price Hill home. We did it better, faster... and cheaper. Simple as that. What happened to my work ethic at my day job you might ask? Pristine. In fact, I was quite open about it with my employer because I respected them.

I would go home and work late at night and then report back to my day job the next day. It did get to a point where I was meeting clients over my lunch break and it ultimately got to a point where I was telling my boss (and as far as I'm concerned, my business mentor) that I may need to "put in my notice" soon. Little did I know, they weren't going to have it. They let me reduce my work days to three days a week. Mon., Wed. and Fri. Thats right, what ever they needed out of me, I gave it to them... on time, every time. My role didn't seem to require 40 hours a week. Sometimes, I had to "camp out" at the day job to do it, and I did.

Finally though, I had to quit as outside work was to a point where it needed all my attention and I put in my two weeks notice. When I finally left my day job, I had this "super computer" of the day that was a video work-station/DTP solution that required its own budget at the time. Mr. B said "take all that sh*t with you as we can't use it when you're gone. Just remember me when I need something later." ...and BTW, they cashed in and utilized my company services later and I made things right for them too... thanks to Mr. B's kind gesture. Here, a big corporate company calls on my little company to do them services. And let me add, that I provided them some very successful solutions at business speed. Business got done... on a hand-shake and in an ethical manner. In my case, it was done in a cost-effective manner too. At the same time, I managed to employ some people in the process.

In between all this, I became Power of Attorney for my father in November 2001 (after a debilitating stroke) and he became the first "kid" I ever had. I had just been married a month prior in Sept. (we returned from our honeymoon a day before the 9/11 attack). In 2002, I had my first child. The whole first year of my marriage was spent mostly rehabilitating my dad. Then, we had another child in 2004 and I thought, I really need to make some more money, faster. So you see, my vision required big success, faster than one might expect working for the man. It was these outside pressures that pressed me harder to push forward. The drive and desire was fueled by the necessity. It was kind of sublime to really believe it was possible.

While my company is not yet where I want it to be, it's getting there and I'm convinced that between our brave men and women in the military who fight for our freedom, and what's left of our capitalist environment is what has allowed me to pursue my own dreams. I believe it is people that can erode trust and integrity, and not capitalism. You can argue that capitalism is the fuel that feeds the fire, but I've not seen a better alternative in my own books or studies. ALL environments breed bacteria. Capitalism is what made this country a world dominator. I've always favored being on the winning team myself. Everyone here has the opportunity, but not everyone is up for the challenge. Even still, those not up for the challenge can still become a valuable part of the machine that does business, if they really care to. Those that ascend being that small gear in the box (a critical part of the whole) are called entrepreneurs. These are people who take a chance, and if all goes right, make big money. And I want them to have that money because the by-product is more jobs. We have a lot of broken machines right now, and I know some whose motivation to fix the machine is dying because there is no incentive to fix it.

I want so much for others, and even my own children to feel the surge of an entrepreneurial seizure and be able to act on it if they dare to, and consequently, be free to fail as well. Those who dare to take the gamble should get the pay-off. If those who succeed are anything like me, they will give freely back to society in the ways most important to them.

So in sum, I'm the one you may call a capitalist pig. I'm proud to say it. I take care of a great group of people and their families and I love it... and I will continue to do so for as long as I'm empowered. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm working on ideas to instigate world peace. Thanks for the ear.

Tags: rants

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A Tuesday revelation in life, teambuilding and finding our place in the universe

December 08, 2009

True meaning.

Life has been pretty tough lately. I'm finding I've had no time for things I really need to make time for. I run a company, handle every facet of my dads affairs, including his loony girlfriend, and I have a long commute every day before getting home often times after my kids are in bed. I'm not complaining... I could be in Iraq.

As life gets me down, I try to find purpose in everything I do, especially if it takes a significant amount of time from my life. I have often asked myself why I run my own company when instead, I could be working for the man, getting off at 6pm and forgetting about everything until I arrive the next morning. I reasoned today that the answer is because I want to have a bright future and the closer I am to a position where I can directly affect it, the better. It takes a lot of extra effort, and time, but being an optimist, I still have some in me.

As this economy gets you down (and I'm speaking here towards other business owners and entrepreneurs) you have to be real about what is what. We are either engaged or disengaged in the things we do. To be engaged, we must see meaning and purpose in our daily work. When we are truly engaged, big things happen.

In the current economy, when there is not a lot of meaningful work to go around, then we become disengaged. We are now tasked to bring more meaning to our work.

At my company, we refine processes, pay closer attention to what ails the customer, revisit forgotten tasks, fix legacy problems and invent. Yes, invent! We think about ways to make our standard processes better and faster. We did this in 2001, so why wouldn't we do it now? We sturdy our foundations, and position ourselves for that sudden launch. All this with the optimism that when the days get brighter, the cream rises to the top.

Now as a business owner, it's easier to see this vision, and that's what keeps me going. But how do you get your small team to rally behind the vision? After all, the company is the sum of all its parts. Most of the answer, I think, is to help your team visualize their position in your organization. Show them where they can go from where they are now? Make clear what our goals as a company are. Doing this will enable them to see how they will achieve their own dreams and goals [what matters to them]. When they find the true purpose in their daily work, it will help them connect to the same vision you have.

Maybe it's theory... but consider this. If I myself do not see the meaning in a task, then why would I expect anyone else to? A health and fitness guru doesn't go through the motions for fun, they do it to see results and the thrill of controlling those results. If I took a job as a janitor, I may work diligently and be happy for a stint, but after a while, I'm bound to ask myself, "where where do I go from here?" Would I really ask myself each day, "what could I do today to help move the company closer to its goals?" There's no chance if there is no purpose or vision. It is our challenge as a leader to get our team asking themselves, "what can I do today to advance the company vision," or "what can I do today to make myself a better person?" Should the janitor expect to advance to a more senior janitorial position? The more likely scenario is that he'll take a similar job for better pay elsewhere. For many, like myself, we need to be able to visualize our next step upwards.

This is my Tuesday contribution to society. It's a dump of experiences from the day that came to a pointed culmination during my commute home. Happy holidays, and may all our futures be bright, and meaningful.

Tags: rants , web

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A comparison between money and stars

March 27, 2009

M74: The Perfect Spiral. An island universe of about 100 billion stars. Shooot, that's tittly winks!

There's already been so many comparisons and attempts to put our federal spending into perspective that I found no harm in contributing one more. The point here was not necessarily to complain about our spending... but to illustrate a very interesting point.

I was recently looking through some amazing pictures taken by the Hubble, Hubble's Greatest Hits and, how can you not be amazed by, galaxies, stars and the thought of never-ending space?

Remember when we would read in texts about galaxies containing 100's of billions of stars and other quantities that you could never conceive, let alone try to count to?

It then occurred to me that our country has already spent more dollars than the number of stars in the M74 galaxy above. Hmmm... only about a hundred billion stars? That's tittly winks! I mean, this either suggests that space is small and manageable or our spending is completely out of control. Can this be true? Numbers we've never thought about growing up are now numbers we hear on a daily basis an need to understand how to manage.

What does this mean to us... to our children? I love life, and my country and I appreciate the small things I have and the little gifts life gives to me every day. Are these things going to be around much longer? Can I expect to stick my head out the door tomorrow and breath clean, safe air?

When I break things down like this, I just wonder. Could you ever have imagined a higher number than one that quantifies the number of stars in a galaxy? Just some rhetoric to get your thoughts flowing, maybe to help keep what means the most to you in perspective, or perhaps just my opportunity to squeak out a rant or two. Have a great weekend!

Tags: rants , nature

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Smooth move, Facebook

February 18, 2009

I commend Facebook for realizing that the power and success of their social network is driven by the user-community. No one likes to be told what to do. They will turn on you just out of spite. As an internet developer who is passionate about technology, I love making my applications work with the social networks. Facebook has been a well-developed service and when MySpace was the craze, I admired Facebook. They have managed to tuck away the "porn-like" scum that you can happen upon on MySpace and it is actually taken as a serious service by professionals too.

A lot of people I know were smashed by the new TOS and claimed they were "done with Facebook." It was sad to hear. With all the other stuff in the world and economy, this was the last straw for many people. Reverting to the previous terms of service that didn't claim the very content that makes Facebook what it is... was smart. Good job, Facebook.

Tags: web , rants

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The state must love me... for Jury Duty

August 15, 2008

Jury duty... our civic duty. Something that each of us are supposed to do at least one time in our life. Maybe you've been called for it, maybe you've done it... maybe you've done it more then once?

Well, I'm only 36 and I've been called four times now. It's getting old being a whiner. Is that what I sound like? I know my obligation to this country is still lingering over my head since I've talked my way out of it each of the previous times. But, for good reason, in my opinion. Everyone knows I'm P.O.A. for my dad and if I'm not running across country to and from work, or busting late hours at the office, I'm trying to get a second to be a dad, and a decent husband.

Apparently my letters of woe have been taken seriously, because they just throw my name back into the hat to be called again... and the cycle repeats.

They tell you to bring a book, there will lots of waiting, and you will likely be presiding over something intensely wild, like traffic or seat belt offenders. It pains me to think that I could spend a week, or 3 days, or even a day of my life for $10 bucks an hour and worse, more time that I don't have to spare. Kids need fed, bills need paid and ailing dad needs assistance, family wants attention, feeling guilty not being there. Life is cruel sometimes. But, maybe these are the tests that if we pass, we're really are a man worthy of God's countenance upon us.

I think our system is broken, in many ways, but I'll keep it to one thought. If you can afford a lawyer dream team, it all comes down to knowing the granules of the law and having a set of people who want to save your ass, i.e. money. The jurers in there typically don't know the law enough, myself included I'll admit, to possibly offer any intelligence on evidence evaluation, proper ethics associated with the field, the list goes on. Others, arguably couldn't pass a 5th grade civics test. But, most of us with a shred of brain, feel that an offender who beats an officer's head in, or a son that wipes out his family, should be put away for a long time. Again, enter the dream team.

I know it sounds like I'm making excuses, but... I *really* am not interested. Ashamed, maybe a little... How life is right now, still not interested.

Tags: jason , rants

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