3 Ways to Give Beyond #GivingTuesday

'Tis the season for giving and in case you missed it, today, Tuesday December 2, 2014 was the official 'Giving Tuesday'. Maybe this can offset the Black Friday and Cyber Monday "getting" frenzies (though you could be "getting" for "giving" to others).

Did your inbox get flooded with "Giving Tuesday" solicitations for a kazillion charities? Mine sure did. And all the social media feeds were not very different either. #GivingTuesday was the top trending hashtag on Twitter. And just in case you don't really want to help others (channeling Scrooge), there are many studies and talks trying to convince you why you should, for example how to get happy giving money.

Maybe you were on the ball and had already figured out how much you're going to give and to whom and made it happen today - on Giving Tuesday. Then again, maybe you were super busy with the business of living and working and didn't have time to do so, or you just don't know who you'd like to give to, yet.

Not to worry, you can give any day of the year. Yes, there are matching grants offered on this day, but it doesn't really matter - announcing the matching is just a way to get more donors like you to hurry up and give right now. The 'match' donor is most likely going to donate the planned amount anyway.

I'm glad that I can give at any time, and I can give in three different ways.

1. Giving Money.

Much of Giving Tuesday is about monetary donations, which is understandable as non-profits need money to be able to offer services to those in need. The good thing is that they will take the money any time you can give it!

Figuring out who you should give money too takes a bit more effort. If you have money to give and you're ready to do so, you can do it for:

• A charity drive sponsored by your workplace
• A charity drive in your (or your kids') school
• A charity that a friend or family member is involved in
• A charity for a cause that you are intellectually/emotionally attached to

If you're picking your own favorite cause, take some time to check it out and make sure it meets your standards and it's legit. A quick look at http://www.charitynavigator.org/ would be help.  And if you're up to it (and not likely to be caught up on how it'll be used), go ahead and give some money to the panhandler on the street. It's all good!

2. Giving Time.

Otherwise known as volunteering, this is the one thing, other than giving money, that keeps non-profits running. When you donate your time, you are giving of yourself in more personal way, and, most organizations welcome that, especially if you have some specialized skills that they need.

Before donating your time to an organization (check them out first!), you may want to consider a few things:

• Do you want to do this just one-time or on a recurring basis?
• One-time may help you ease into it if you're just starting out in volunteering
• Can you make - and keep - the commitment?
• Thinking of mentoring after work each week? Consider if your schedule would allow it.
• Would you enjoy the other people you would work with?
• You're more likely to keep your commitment if you're comfortable your co-volunteers 
• Would you like the work you'd be doing? 
• Frankly, I'm not big on cooking large vats of food, so it's a good thing that soup kitchens often have more helpers than they need.

But, you're not limited to organizations. You may have family members or friends who need companionship or some help (lonely grandpas, aunts who don't drive) who would greatly appreciate your gift of time. And don't they say that charity begins at home?

3. Giving Spirit.

No, not 'spirits', but giving of your spirit. Of the three ways of giving, this is probably the most spontaneous and the least structured. It is nothing more than showing compassion and spreading some cheer, and you can do it as often as you want, to anyone.

Some examples of how to give of your spirit:

• Thank the barista who gets your latte with some genuine warmth, eye contact and a little personalization. As in "Thank you! You are fast, even with this crowd!" vs. a mumbled, face-averted "Thanks".
• Praise your coworker's effort, especially when no one else is paying attention to it. ("It was really nice that you stayed late to help John figure out the bug.")
• Give a meaningful compliment to a family member. ("You even got your introverted cousin laughing at the party last night.")
• Email a friend you haven't been in touch with for a while with a link or story she'd like.
• Say something nice to the person waiting in the checkout line with you.
• See something that makes you feel good on Facebook? Don't just 'like' it, be bold, and write an authentic comment about how you feel. It'll make more people feel the same way.

The funny thing about giving of your spirit is that it can be the easiest thing to do but also the hardest, especially when we're so wrapped up in our own affairs and can't remember to do things without prompting. And for some people, it also not easy to connect emotionally with those who are not close friends or family. But it does get easier the more you do it though, and best of all, it makes you feel good!

Giving Tuesday is over, for this year at any rate. Do you still plan to give?

Image courtesy of rakratchada torsap at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Never too late!

So, it's been eons since I posted on this blog.  There was always something else to be done. And since it didn't appear that any readers were having paroxysms of withdrawal symptoms because of the paucity of posts, there was no external pressure to do so.  I had started the blog mostly to get myself to write something which was not 'business-y' on a regular basis, which unfortunately is not a strong enough motivator for me to make the time. So when weeks became months and I still hadn't posted, I got to thinking that maybe it was too late to post and I should give up.

But, I do have another motivator - I don't give up, not easily.  If I were a canine, I'd be a bulldog (or is it a terrier?), sticking with stuff, growling and yapping long after a sensible creature, like a cat, would have walked away.  Anyway, what's the worst thing that can happen if I posted after a long hiatus?  Nothing more than spambots getting happy.

Plus, there was the bonus of having a ready-to-go topic to write about in my not-too-late post: it is never too late for most things in life. (Let's not get literal about this with a "it is too late to catch the train if it's already gone!" type of argument, though.)

Here's my random, very incomplete, list of things that get pushed way, way out to the background until it seems their time has passed, but they clearly belong in the  'never too late' category.

1. It's never too late to get in touch with an old friend
2. It's never too late to tell someone how you feel about them if it's good (if not, file it under 'things better left unsaid' - after all, you've managed to not say it for so long)
3. It's never too late build on relationships you care about
4. It's never too late to start a fitness program, or just start moving (if you want to keep it simple)
5. Expanding it a bit, it's never too late to start paying attention to your health and what you eat
6. It's never too late to start learning a new language 
7. Actually, it's never too late to start learning anything, as long as you have the basic capacity to do so (it might help if you first learn swimming before you try surfing)
8. It's never too late to end a bad habit (still smoking?) or build a good one (call your mom every week!)
9. It's never too late to start saving, even if you're a boomer who partied like there's no retirement
10. It's never too late to read the book you've wanted to for years (Shakespeare waiteth for thee)
11. It's never too late to start a new activity/hobby - like blogging :)
12. It's never, ever too late to be compassionate

What's special about a New Year

Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Why is the first day of the New Year so special?  It's not just the good times and watching the ball drop in Times Square even when you're thousands of miles away in a different time zone, though when you're young, good times may be all that you care about.  But, as you get older, you want more from the event than just the ephemeral experience of partying.  It is because the new year promises a new beginning and we all want another chance, if not for 'do-overs', at least for 'do-betters'.

And new beginnings require changes and big efforts require big changes. If you're already on an fitness program, it is not difficult to add another 15 minutes or do another routine, but if your exercising consists only of clicking your TV remote from the couch, starting to exercise requires you to change.  Change is difficult for many of us who've been conditioned to aim for comfort and predictability and avoid any chance for failure.  But change is life and as we're all changing in small ways even if we don't know it, we might as well sign up for the big changes that we can consciously make to get us to where we want to be and who we want to be.

Considering a change in 2014?  Check out this post from James Altucher.  Wild and crazy, but totally on the mark in its message.  Vive la change!

Post Thanksgiving

Thankful for the beauty of fall

(Excuse the small pun!)

It's still Thanksgiving weekend and even with the possible food coma, Black Friday shopping and overload of family and friends, we may still have a bit of the actual 'giving thanks' feeling lingering in us.  A glow of gratitude. A counting of blessings resulting in warm fuzzies.  After all gratitude seems to be the easiest, cheapest and safest drug to help fight stress, depression, anxiety, the general blahs.  So we can take a couple of minutes and extend the good vibes by giving thanks (skipping the attendant gluttony) for a few 'extensions' to the standard lists.

1. Family.  For sure we're thankful for our immediate family and sometimes our extended family (especially when they're at the table).  How about the many generations that went before us to make us who we are?  We may have names and occasionally faces for a generation or two (or, if lucky, three) before us, but just thinking of our ancestors and the place(s) they came from and imagining their lives gives us a much better appreciation for our own lives and times (where we can obsess about the selection of heritage vs. 'all natural' turkeys).
2. Health.  We tend to give thanks for our own and our family's good health if one of us recovered from something nasty, but we forget we stay healthy with exercise and diet. Give thanks to the fact that you can bike to work, or live close to a wilderness area with great trails, or your daily life is so full of activity that you don't need to 'work out'.  And many of us should thank our good fortunes for the plentiful access to healthy tasty foods (yay for farmers markets!).
3. Work.  While being routinely thankful for having jobs and incomes (sadly 'at least I should be thankful I have a job' is all too common), we could extend our gratitude to our coworkers who enrich our work lives, the mentors who help us out, the innovation around us (if we're lucky) and the sheer satisfaction of accomplishment which work of any kind brings to us.
4. Challenge.  We don't like it when the going gets rough.  We get hurt or disappointed by people.  We're frustrated when things don't work they way we want them to.  We're stressed when projects sputter at work or kids act out at home.  But, if you stop to think about it, you'll recognize that you grew and learned something from every one of these 'I wish it didn't happen' events.  The 'difficult people' and 'rough patches' that make you stronger and add texture to the tapestry of your life are worth your thanks.
5. Fulfillment.  The feeling that you've been of help to someone is right up there with gratitude as a happy drug, being 'fulfilled' is the best possible state.  So make it a double-shot, give thanks for all the opportunities you've had to be compassionate and of service to others. 
6. Fun.  If you're reading this post, you're one of the fortunate ones with access to the Internet and discretionary time (both of which are in themselves worthy of serious gratitude) and you probably get to do something fun maybe even on a daily basis.  It doesn't matter what it is - video games, cartoons, music, foodie fests, football, books, sitcoms, art, scrabble - you should give heartfelt thanks you're so lucky to be able to indulge in something just because it pleases you.
7. Beauty.  It is all around us, in the earth, the sky and stars, the creatures that share our planet, in the people of the world from babies to babushkas, in the ideas and artifacts we humans conjure.  It gives us joy, sometimes even when we're not aware of it and deserves gratitude for its presence.

That's it, a few extras for consideration in giving thanks - I don't feel compelled to make it a list of 10 (another thing to be thankful for).  What's on your thanksgiving list?

Nurture the nature

The prevailing conventional wisdom for doing pretty much anything, from losing weight to packing lunch or changing jobs, is:

1. There should be an article, or more likely a blog post, posted somewhere, anywhere.  Literally anywhere in the world, Singapore Times, Belize Bulletin, Capetown Courier.  Whatever.  Preferably shared on Facebook by your cohorts (not your parents' generation!).
2. It is neatly encapsulated into a checklist.  Something you can put (better yet download) into your to-do list.  There's an app for that?  Even better.  (There isn't?  Then build one!)
3. There's a study!  Some university doctoral candidates researched this very topic and published it in some journal.  Never mind that the topic could be as common-sensical as lack of sleep makes people tired and cranky (something you already know from past, painful experience), but hey, the study makes it worthy.  (Hope you're the type to check out the details, because studies can be, hmmm, spurious sometimes.)

Anyway, here's the thing to do (and the subject of this post): Talk to your kids about your family, give them the 'backstory'.

For generations this was something that was pretty much taken for granted.  Kids spent so much time around their parents, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (essentially the tribe), that they heard these stories all the time (and probably rolled their eyes when hearing them as teenagers).  Genes were not enough to make a 'family' - being together and knowing about each other were needed.  You heard about grandpa running a grocery store not because your parents wanted to make sure you'd grow up believing you could be a successful tech entrepreneur, but because that was just part of your history.  And knowing the good as well as the bad was a given, because it showed that (a) things work out (b) families stick together through thick and thin and (c) there's probably a moral in there somewhere that nana just couldn't pass up in each telling.

We live differently now.  Our families are not close and in our hyper-competitive, uber-structured, always-on lives we need a strong reason (and peer pressure!) to take the time to tell stories.

• Want the article?  Here you go.   
• Want the checklist? Voila! Here's another article which lists the twenty questions your children should be able to answer.
• Want the study?  Mentioned in the articles above.

All these exhort you to talk to the kids and build a family narrative.  This is not just so you give your kid an edge in growing up to be a billionaire entrepreneur, an Olympic athlete or an arena artist.  It is so they can grow up stronger, more resilient, and happier in whatever path their lives take them.  It's not enough to pass on the DNA, but to nurture their nature.  Kids need to hear about the people around them, just ordinary folks (not celebrities), who've managed to live decent lives. This helps kids build confidence in their abilities to manage their own lives.  (I've seen it work for my friends' adopted kids too - maybe there's a study somewhere.)

But please, don't stick to those twenty questions - they may not be relevant, and worse, may just be boring. Twenty fleshed-out stories (like how your grandma's grandma drew water daily from the well when she was 90 years old or how your uncle traveled to Africa in the Peace Corps and never came back), may be more memorable.  Stories need to be told over dinner, on road-trips, around campfires, curled up on a couch on a rainy day (hint, hint, make the time to talk to your kids!), but e-books and videos are good backups (note: backups) too.  

I enjoy channeling my strong, independent great-grandma who survived being gored by a cow in her late eighties ("it was only a cow!") - do you have a story that inspires you?

Study science with soul

The pendulum has swung.  First there was the hand-wringing that we didn't have enough graduates with 'hard' degrees - science, engineering, technology and math - now, recent news from  a Harvard study is about the 50% drop in the number of students in the humanities.  And the phenomenal rise in online learning shows vastly greater interest in computer science or business courses than in philosophy or anthropology.

Though my own major was in math, I was always attracted to the liberal arts, auditing classes when I could, and strongly believe that not only are the liberal arts fascinating, they are necessary for individuals, as well as society as a whole, to be complete.

Why?  Because:

1. The 'hard' subjects are all about the 'how' - humanities help us with the 'why'.
2. Calculus and compilers don't teach you about different cultures.
3. The past formed our present which informs our future (why history matters).
4. We need a moral compass to guide us through the unprecedented changes caused by medical and technological advances, from clones to drones.  Philosophy helps.
5. Art expands the mind (think different).

The United States holds the innovative edge largely due to its ability (so far) to pay serious attention to the arts and humanities, as well as the sciences - a fact that other countries are recognizing and working hard to emulate.  We're at a time when we can discuss the science of the soul as well as the soul of science.  We should embrace this kind of 'blended learning' and keep it going, don't you think?

Images courtesy of renjith krishnan & Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

Time is money

A truism.  And some variations below, noted while waiting for a software fix ;)

1. Wasting time is wasting money.  
• Well maybe, for commercial endeavors.  Otherwise, wasting time is just that.
2. Spend money to buy time.  
• That works for personal and business 'work', from paying someone to clean your home to outsourcing your social media research so you have time for other things.
3. Your time is worth money.
• Depends on what you do with that time doesn't it?
4. Saving time is saving money.
• See #3 above.
5. Saving money is saving time.
• If it is time spent in making money, sure.
6. Spend time to make money.  
• Yup, if what you're spending time on is income-worthy.  Like polishing up your coding skills or 'networking' for consulting gigs or baking cookies.
7. Money is time.
• The reverse of 'time is money' though hardly anyone says that.  Maybe because of the perspective - if you're not hurrying up, you're losing money, but if you're spending money, you're what, losing time?
8. If you don't have money, spend the time.
• Assuming people who don't have money, will at least have the time - why students wait in line for hot concert tickets, and the rich pay the students to wait in line for them.
9. If you can't spare the time, spend the money.
• Again with the assumption that you're the kind of person who is more flush with cash than hours.
10. Money can't buy you time.
• Sounds like a contradiction to #2 doesn't it?  But this is about the time that you don't have at your control and is often controlled by nature, the time for stuff like healing.

Final thought: time is worth more than money.  Especially in relationships, ask any counselor (or mom!).  Spending time on the things you care about gives you experiences to savor, builds memories to cherish and long term happy feelings from both.  Wouldn't you agree?

Equal Value? 

Ikigai

One of my least favorite things about the end of the year is the ubiquitous 'year in review' list.  The best, the worst, the whatever-the-editor-fancies list.  So, as my last post for the year, I decided I would not do a 'look back' piece, but a 'look ahead' one instead.  As I work with a for-profit as well as a non-profit organization, I thought it might be good to reflect on encouraging and inspirational to-do items for entrepreneurs who are hoping to make a difference in 2013.

But, then as I was randomly web-surfing while drinking my chai, I ran across a mention of 'ikigai', the Japanese word which roughly translates to your reason for being. The 'Why?' of your life. Ikigai has been recently mentioned in various articles (like this one) as one of the secrets to a healthy long life.  Frankly, I'd think that it would be great for anyone, at any age, to know his/her own reason for being.  In fact, most people who seem happy with their lives appear to have a good sense of their own 'ikigai' and are living it, whatever it may be - feeding a family or fighting for causes.

Ikigai is probably what is driving most entrepreneurs - at least the ones that stick with their ventures.  There is something powerful driving the middle-class woman who starts a school for destitute children in India (here's the story) as there was something driving Steve Jobs.  Ikigai might be the answer to the question 'what makes an entrepreneur?'.

Of course, the 'reason for your being' is available to everyone, it is just different for each of us.  And it takes effort to figure it out.  When you do, you're half way to fulfillment.  The other half is figuring out how to live your ikigai. In a long-ago post, I wrote about why I do what I do - create, care, connect - and it is good to be reminded of it as I make choices, big or small.  After all, the ikigai is only the reason for your life, you still have to take the actions that make it your life.

Wish you a happy 2013 - may you find your ikigai and bounce out of bed every morning in anticipation of living it!

Good products do social good

I got to thinking about this when reading a Quora post on how to get people to notice your startup.  There are many suggestions for marketing, social or otherwise, but the key is always just one thing - build a good product that people want to use.  Marketing is good for only so much, if the product doesn't do it, for whatever reason, it's not going to make much of a difference.

Thinking about some of the really good products of the past few years made me realize how many of them have had huge, positive, social impact - even when they didn't start out that way.  Apple created iTunes to get people to quickly and easily buy music for their iPods - no stated social goals, purely revenue/profit driven.  But, it (was) is a product that people want to use, and now it has vast numbers of educational podcasts and videos, from top universities too, and iTunes has, as a side effect, made quality educational content available to everyone.  Social good?  Check.  Take Google, from search to YouTube.  It has changed the way people get information, and more, it quickly and easily delivers previously unavailable information to people who need it.  For every person who wastes hours watching dancing cats, there's someone learning about how to identify heart attacks from just plain stomach rebellion to too much spicy food.   I don't know about the 'don't be evil' mission of theirs, but their tool is seriously used for good.

Let's not forget the now ubiquitous smartphone - and it all started with Apple's iPhone, though the med tech visiting villages in India to provide on the spot assistance is not using an iPhone necessarily.  It's changed education, health care, emergency assistance - you name it.  Again, the goal was not to do good directly, but provide this must-have tool which has changed our lives that could be used by any number of people to deliver the 'good'.

Then there's Facebook.  Almost a billion users strong, recently reviled for its tanking stock price and the social network that everyone joins and many kvetch about.  It started out as an exclusive, somewhat elitist (only the cool schools are in) online student group, almost a gossip board.  Now it is not only keeping far-flung families connected and feeling loved (go grandmas!) but providing a platform for a myriad socially focused groups and even played a part in mobilizing people during the Arab spring of 2011.   It fosters conversation, whether someone is sharing their latest idea for going green or slamming the convention speakers.  It is bringing people together, and helping keep them that way (though arguably some of them need to be reminded to get out and do it in person too).  Much of it may be banal and self-serving, but there's no question that Facebook has been an agent of social change

By the way, the older companies like Microsoft and Yahoo are also doing good on a daily basis with their products.  Whatever you may say about MS Office, the world still uses it - and that includes kazillion non-profits - because it does the job, and I'm finding that tons of social groups, especially small volunteer ones, are all active users of Yahoo groups.  And of course, there's their email - used for distributing sketchy jokes as well as tips to manage your money - the app that just refuses to go away. (By the way, if you're a fan of the all 'good' ideas bubbling out there, check out The Daily Good.)

Yes, this list is mainly of tech companies, because, honestly, that's the field I'm in and what I was ruminating about.  This is not to imply that these companies are all warm and fuzzy like gargantuan, but cuddly, teddy bears.  It's just that all of these are for profit, in a major way, yet they have achieved vast, global social reach and impact - because of the nature of their products.

Maybe more wannabe social entrepreneurs should focus on their products and why people would want to use them, knowing that the good will follow (along with the money).   What do you think?

(Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

A social entrepreneur starts early

Last Friday, as I was driving back from a meeting, I heard just a couple of sentences on the radio before I turned it off to think (I still do that sometimes), but what I heard was something that stuck in my mind.  (If you're interested in the whole thing, I tracked it down to this talk on Forum, here it is: Silicon Valley Culture).  The part that stuck was that Valley entrepreneurs prioritize 'entrepreneurship, family, philanthropy', in that order.

It is definitely one of those statements that evokes a 'hmm...', a statement that would not resonate with everyone, but certainly reflects what we've seen with a lot of entrepreneurs, Gates being a notable example.  But what made me think about this was a meeting with someone who appears to be embodying the exact opposite in terms of focus.

A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to meet Joel Mwale, a young man with a strong entrepreneurial drive.  He's visiting here from South Africa (where he's attending the African Leadership Academy), his visit sponsored by his mentors Terry and Carolyn Gannon (retired, Silicon Valley entrepreneur/execs super-active in various social causes).  The Gannons believe that Joel would get a lot by meeting the many entrepreneurs and academic stars in the Valley and he's definitely making the most of his visit.  When we met, I heard about his journey from poverty in a small village in Kenya through school, where he was well on track to be under, or even 'un', educated, until a chance study tip from a classmate lit a fire in him and catapulted him to the top 10% of students in the country.  And Joel is fired up to be an entrepreneur.

Joel is not thinking of just getting rich himself and helping his family though.  Joel dreams of doing something to improve the education situation in Africa (though he's from Kenya, his scope is for the whole continent).  He's not thinking 'philanthropy' (after entrepreneurship and family, as in the Valley), he's thinking 'social enterprise' - and how he can use his drive, his smarts, his life, to make a difference. 


Joel has started working on his next venture and, as as a fellow edupreneur, had a deep conversation about the learning community platform provided by my startup.  He is one of the 10 winners of the Google Zeitgeist 2012 award for Young Minds for young people showcasing how they are making a positive impact on the world.  Amazingly, Joel's award was for an enterprise that he started a couple of years ago to bring safe, clean water to his village and is now employing over 30 people.  


Joel is not waiting to do well before he does good.  For him entrepreneurship is fully integrated with helping solve some of the basic problems impacting people's survival and growth.  And just to put it in all perspective, Joel hasn't celebrated his nineteenth birthday yet.

Top CEO trait: Stick-with-it-ness

It's been said before: what a startup needs is a CEO who doesn't give up just because the outlook is bleak.  I've covered this in a previous post about Pandora which was one of those companies that everyone expected to fade away but went public and is still going strong.

This applies to large companies too - what helps a shaky enterprise survive and succeed is a CEO that believes in its potential and digs in for the long haul to nurture its growth.  We know all about Jobs and Apple.  The story of Ariba is less well-known.  I was one of those who was surprised that Ariba was still around when I heard it was to be bought by SAP for $4.3 billion.  Today's article on Ariba story and CEO Robert Calderoni in the Merc News reminded me again why persistence is a virtue in CEOs.

Too many entrepreneurs think if you don't make it big fast you might as well get out ('go big, or go home').  That may be true for some companies/industries, but it is certainly not universal.  For sure it could be difficult to stay with a venture that doesn't produce enough revenue to pay the team, but that's why entrepreneurship is not for everyone, regardless of the prevailing hype.  True entrepreneurs stick with it as long as they can see there's potential in their vision - they bootstrap, moonlight, crowdfund, whatever they can do to keep the fire burning.  (For sure, Ariba didn't have to go ask Granny for funds, but they had the same problem - at a different scale - of staying afloat and re-tooling their business.)

The trait of determination is even more critical for social entrepreneurs.  All change is hard, and effecting social change definitely takes a patience, learning and perseverance.  The people who need to change the way they live, work, eat or learn may not be ready to do so just because you have this wonderful idea to make it all better, even if it costs nothing.  Behavioral change takes time, and may require many failed efforts before hitting a successful model, which means the company needs a CEO who's willing to stick with the vision and do what it takes.

In an earlier post I'd quoted Randy Komisar on entrepreneurs matching up to different breeds of dogs at different stages of a company's evolution.  One important breed got missed there - bulldog!

Resolution time

January 1 is just another day on the calendar, but for many it's the day that brings the usual push to make resolutions to better ourselves.  It is something that many do every single year -  if we're not cynical, we'd see it as a testament to the fact that hope (for improvement) springs eternal in the human breast.

Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, has a new book out in which he contends that if you want to give yourself the best chance of success you should work harder.   According to Mark, this is because the only thing that is under your control is the effort you put in.  This article takes Mark's guidance and suggests that putting in more effort (setting goals and measuring results) is a worthy resolution for the new year.

All good.  Effort, not just time worked but striving towards goals, is absolutely necessary for success and is a good idea for your resolution list.  But, I do not agree that 'the only thing that anyone...can control is their effort'.  I believe there is one thing that is much more important, in fact, you wouldn't be putting in the effort without it.  That thing is attitude.  Attitude is something that you can absolutely control, and your attitude will determine your success (and the effort you put towards it).  My suggestion?  Put in the effort to 'cultivate a positive, can-do attitude' at the top of your to-do list.  The rest will follow.  Happy 2012!

Getting started

As I'd mentioned in a couple of long-ago posts (here and here), I'm not blogging for publicity - I blog primarily to keep my right-brain from getting moribund and sharing opinions on a couple of things I care about is easier to achieve than truly creative writing.  But, the down side is that I don't blog that often as I'm swamped with 'real' work - it's been almost a month since the last one!  Some day I'll make blogging part of my 'real work' and presumably blogging bliss, or at least productivity, will ensue.

Meanwhile, I ran across a post on how to get start and fund a social enterprise.  It is short and eminently to the point and I totally agree with all the directives here:

1. Find your passion
2. State your values
3. Start with small ambitions
4. Speak the language of 'we' rather than me
5. Act as a 'for-purpose'

This list is intended for startups for 'social good', which are often non-profits, but in my opinion every one of them is applicable for a 'for-profit' enterprise.  Even the 'for-purpose' is a great reminder that every venture has to have a purpose that you can build around, and a purpose/goal of 'doing good' is just as vague as 'making money'.  

There is one key point that I believe needs to be added, both for social as well as commercial ventures:

     6.  Have a funding plan

While the post is aimed at fund-raising and using the above fundamentals to fuel it, even fund-raising needs a plan.  Whether it is self-funding, boot-strapping, angel/VC funding, individual donations or foundation grants, you can't get started without figuring out how you're going to finance it.  As someone who heads a non-profit that also funds other non-profits, I know that a funding plan is essential to delivering the 'good' - just as it is critical for success in a for-profit venture. You can read the post here.  It is worth reading, and saving, for all would-be entrepreneurs - just don't forget the financial plan!

Making it happen

I just read a post by Altucher on the #1 habit of people who get things done, aka, 'effective' people.  He refers to Stephen Covey's most popular '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' - the book he wants to beat - and zeroes in on the #1 habit: Be Proactive.

A few years ago, I happened to read Covey's book and it does have good stuff - but honestly, I can't remember much of it, though I'd probably recognize them if I heard the seven habits.  Or not.  A lot of these self-improvement books do tend to blur and sound the same, so I probably couldn't tell which were from that specific book.  But that's not a bad thing per se.  It is likely there are just the same few things that we can do to help ourselves, and it is the way they are presented that may resonate with each of us differently as individuals and get us to remember them, and, more importantly, do them.

I like Altucher's pick for the One Thing that rules them all.  No one would argue against being proactive, in fact, that is the only way to get anything done.  What is even more helpful is Altucher's exhortation to 'start today' - he's asking you to be proactive not procrastinate - and his neat little 'how-to' for chunking down your goals into 4 categories and listing what you can actually get a handle on right now makes it look like a no-brainer.

Of course, this is good advice for everyone, but particularly so for entrepreneurs, and he does give some examples of that.  Though I'm more likely to emotionally connect to 'The Tao of Steve Jobs', Altucher's post is a fun read and easy to practice.  Here it is: 'The #1 Most Effective Habit'!

The Tao of Steve Jobs

Just to get it out of the way, 'The Tao of Steve Jobs' has nothing in common with the movie 'The Tao of Steve' except for the first four words.  That's it.  This is not a book or movie or anything more than one small blog post about one amazing man.

It's almost a month since Steve Jobs died and there have been a zillion people opining about his life and legacy, as well as the inevitable detractors and tut-tutters.  And just when the stories seemed to be slowing down, out came his biography and TV shows - even SNL did its best. There are so many angles to the stories too - Steve the entrepreneur, the dropout/rebel, the wunderkind who was shunned by the tech establishment and then came back to show them, the family man who was felled by cancer.  Here are two widely different perspectives I liked reading: James Altucher's blog post and the eulogy by Mona Simpson (Steve's sister). 

For Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs, Steve was a god.  The one we all wished to be like, the fearless (and smashingly successful) entrepreneur,  the tech visionary who couldn't be caught, the genius worshiped by product designers everywhere.  Would-be entrepreneurs as well as famously successful ones (Zuckerberg, Page and Brin for example) desired to learn how to do it 'Steve's way'. 

The Tao of Steve Jobs, as I like to call it, are all those 'core values' that define the way he did things.  All these items are well known and are excellent advice not just for entrepreneurs, but possibly to anyone wishing to make something meaningful in his/her life:

• Focus.  
• You can't do everything, and certainly can't do everything well.  And yes, sometimes the focus is overwhelming and obsessive, but it may have to be so to get the job done.
• Simplicity.
•  Not only because of the inherent beauty in simplicity, but because it ultimately produces a better product, experience, outcome.
• Excellence.
• 'Perfect' trumps 'good enough' every time.
• 'Stay hungry.'
• If you're not striving and yearning for something, if you're not passionate about it, it's not going to happen.
  
• 'Stay foolish.'
• Do what you believe in.  Take the risk to act on it.

 (The last two are from Steve's speech to the Stanford students.  If you've somehow missed it or want to hear it again, here it is - one of the best commencement speeches of all time.)

A long while ago I wrote about what is important to me - create, care, connect (you can read that post here).  I realize how Steve epitomizes each of those.  He was undeniably creative - I've always appreciated Apple more than any other tech company as they tended to create, not copy/buy, successful ideas.  Steve cared deeply about what he did (even if he did not directly show his 'care' in the traditional way for social causes).  He micro-managed (and threw tantrums) because he cared so much about every aspect of what Apple built.  As for connecting, he connected the dots way, way outside the box and saw possibilities others couldn't even imagine.  Despite his imperfections, I admired him and what he represented - an embodiment of truth in design and the entrepreneurial fire.  He will be missed, and it may be ages before another like him shows up, but, like me, techies and entrepreneurs everywhere will be inspired by the Tao of Steve Jobs for a long time..

Upside of Failure

The Sunday New York Times magazine had a thought-provoking article on whether schools should focus on building 'character' and not just academic competence.  I generally applaud the sentiment, though I also believe that kids get much of their character guidance from parents and the community, with the school supporting and emphasizing it.

The article is titled 'What if the Secret to Success is Failure?' and goes on to cover all the character-building benefits of failing at something which then leads to future success.  Again, yes, I do support the concept as I believe it builds resilience, which is a big factor in successfully navigating this fast-changing world.  (I also believe students should be taught compassion, but that's a different story.)  What made this article particularly appealing to me is how much of this approach resonates with successful entrepreneurship.

"True: learning is fun, exhilarating and gratifying.... — but it is also often daunting, exhausting and sometimes discouraging."  Just like entrepreneurship!  "People who accomplished great things.... often combined a passion for a single mission with an unswerving dedication to achieve that mission, whatever the obstacles and however long it might take."  That is the defining characteristic of an entrepreneur.  The concern about children from affluent families having so much done for them that they're unable to deal with setbacks is somewhat like an over-funded startup failing because it never had the pressure of limited resources making it focus on what was really important.  And of course, the idea that failed experiments and uncertainty contribute to the development of grit and ultimate success is one of the reasons that, in Silicon Valley at least, a two-time entrepreneur is respected, even if the first time was a bust.

There is more, for example, 'social intelligence' and 'optimism' are super helpful for entrepreneurs too.  Read the article here - it'll make you wonder if teaching entrepreneurship will do more than just help build the economy.

From here to there and back

I just read a post (originally published over a month ago) about a non-profit started by a young woman a few years ago.  It 'identifies, trains and mentors' smart, promising girl students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds to complete their education and prepare for careers.  The training sounds a bit like finishing school for business (and entrepreneurship) and the result is a bunch of highly motivated girls dreaming of building the next Google - in India.

The non-profit, Roshni Academy, was founded by Salma Hasan, while she was a junior at college and has significant funding from Silicon Valley philanthropists.  There are a couple of cool aspects to this social enterprise:

• Like other Stanford students, Salma started a venture and got funding while still at school, except this was for a social cause
• The Academy focuses on teaching/building intangibles - confidence, public speaking, conflict resolution (!) - not just academic skills

But what I find most impressive is that Salma wants to bring the same techniques here to the US where there many under-resourced girls with a lot of potential who don't even know the kind of futures they could have.  A model pioneered in India being brought to the under-served communities in the US is fascinating at many levels - including the fact that the idea was hatched by a student in the US to help solve a problem in India and is being brought back to address the same problem here.  It would be interesting to see how well it works in the US and how much tweaking, if any, needs to happen to fit this culture.

Mentoring (along with training) is key to getting students to dream - and achieve - big, especially if they are not exposed to a high-achieving environment in their families or communities.  Fortunately, there seems to be a renewed interest in mentoring in the US, maybe due to the combined pressures of the economy and an under-performing public education system.  The Roshni Academy may be a timely solution.  You can read Vivek Wadhwa's entire post here and watch the video and end the week feeling good about social entrepreneurs who dream and achieve.

How you do it matters

There's a big brouhaha over Netflix raising the price of its DVD+streaming option almost 60% a couple of days ago (read one view here).  From a business perspective, a lot of people actually believe that it is a smart, and possibly necessary, action for Netflix if it wants to remain as uber-successful as it is now.   But the customer reaction is mostly due to how the price hike went down - it was steep and there was no evidence that the higher price offered any customer value, which in turn caused customers to believe that the action was purely for financial gain, 'greed'.  Many feel that a couple of more modest price increases tied in to some service improvements and spread out over time would have caused barely a ripple in the Netflix base.

Once again it is all about the customer.  I've written before about 'knowing your customer' and how a company that was adamantly true to its mission of customer satisfaction could be super successful, but the reverse is true.  Companies that lose their customer focus stumble and it takes a lot to recover.  I'm personally a long-time customer and big Netflix fan, mostly due to how well they delivered on the customer experience, even through occasional problems.  But Netflix insisting that customers shouldn't complain about the price increase because it is only the cost of a latte (and hence not a big deal) seems surprisingly insensitive.  I'm sure there are many customers like me who'd happily pay twice that if they felt they were getting something more for the premium.  All that Netflix needed to do was think about the customer - in advance - and ensure the price increase was done right and, more importantly, presented right.  Or, if the reaction caught them by surprise, Netflix could/should quickly do some damage control and smooth those ruffled feathers.

Many Netflix customers were also fans of the company so this is an uncomfortable time for them.  For entrepreneurs, Netflix, with its most impressive founder/CEO Reed Hastings, is a shining example of how a company should be built.  Here's hoping it will make its customers happy real soon and wipe the smudge off its halo.

Entrepreneur vs. executive

I'd read this article a while ago and found it both interesting and fun - fun because it is amusing to see a bit of yourself in 'case studies'. The article itself - with the lofty title of 'How Great Entrepreneurs Think'- is about a case study comparing how successful entrepreneurs and successful corporate CEOs would approach the same problem of a hypothetical startup .

The #1 take-away is that entrepreneurs shift their goals as they go along based on what they have to work with, while executives stake out a goal and then figure out what they would need to work with to make it happen. It seems to me that the environment determines the approach - and possibly attracts the kind of person who favors that approach. A startup is, by its nature, fluid and changeable (see my previous post on the adaptive startup) and I'd guess a successful entrepreneur has to roll with it. Conversely, larger companies probably cannot afford to have fluid goals - how do you get 10,000 employees rallying around shifting objectives when it often takes months just to get the objectives for the year communicated and 'aligned'.

The other distinguishing characteristic is putting a premium on acquiring a customer over doing market research and having first-hand knowledge of the industry/market niche vs. relying on focus groups (most entrepreneurs I've met don't use focus groups). That is probably due to the fact that the entrepreneur cannot spread the risk unlike the corporate CEO. Again, it's entirely possible that entrepreneurship draws the kind of person who likes getting her hands dirty and believes in the knowing-by-doing gospel versus what other people tell her.

Enough with my post, go read the source - it's a quick read and you may recognize a bit of yourself there.

Money or meaning?

Whoa, it's been a month since my last post! I'm sure there's a way to keep up the blogging while swamped with my startup work, just need to make time to find it ;)

One of the tasks that is occupying me is getting additional funding. We're currently in a boot-strapping mode and with a tiny team, it takes longer to get the boots-strapped, so to speak. A judicious infusion of funds will fuel growth very nicely. But, where the funds come from make a difference - in fact, where I should choose to spend my time looking for funds is important too as time is a precious commodity. Given our social entrepreneurship leanings, it is not surprising that what we do for our business and how we do it is just as important as how profitable it will be, so we'd want investors who'd support that.

This HBR case study is a timely one about an entrepreneur assessing whether she should take angel funding with strings attached - the strings and the way the deal is proposed are relevant to the decision. The article itself does not proffer an answer, allowing the reader to make his/her own call. The comments are thought-provoking, covering the gamut from 'of course, take the money' to 'run away from this!'. My own position is that every choice an entrepreneur makes is based on what s/he wants from the venture - money, meaning or both, with the last one requiring more subtle balancing and compromising. Check out the article here for a quick exercise which may reveal something about your own priorities!