BornEntrepreneur

All the buzz lately in the tech world is about the bid that Microsoft put into to buy Yahoo!.  Some people are pretty anti-deal, but I think it could be one for the record books.  I always enjoy when the internet landscape totally transforms.  Google made it transform—hell, they’ve OWNED the internet for quite some time now.  I’m not saying, “give somone else a chance.”  I’m not saying that at all.  I’m saying bring it on…because free market competition is fun and it breeds crazy innovation.  I want to see what happens to the Internet landscape when the playing field tilts a bit.

On another note, here are two points of interest for your curious individuals.

1. I posted a comment late last night and linked back to this blog on a post on a related story on CNN, “Google: Will Microsoft monopolize the Internet?” because, one, the story is interesting to me, and, two, I was curious to see how much traffic it would generate.

   So far I have received 35 hits. I suspect the hits will go up throughout the day since people will most likely read this story while they’re at work.

2. I’ve been reading a couple books on the stock market lately.  And it just so happens that the announcement for Microsoft to buy Yahoo! happened the morning after I had an active E-Trade account.  So, I figured, what the heck, so I bought a few shares of Yahoo! the morning the announcement was made as my first test into the market.  When I say a “few”, I mean 3.  Heh, 3 shares isn’t much.  But it’s fun to have watched it grow a bit as the buzz spreads.  Curious to see what it closes at today.

   Ironically, I also own some MSFT stock, of which I’ve held onto since I was 16.  Just 11 shares, though.  I’m curious to see if there’s a significant rise in MSFT if the deal goes through. In case you didn’t know, Yahoo’s stock rose 9 points the day the buyout was announced.

So, I’ve been realized that other than holding on to some shares of Microsoft since my 16th birthday, I really know very little about the stock market—and picking winners.  I figured I’d lessen the gap of knowledge a bit by picking up a couple books on investing in the stock market.  Here’s what I learned from the first one:

You Can Be a Stock Market Genius Even if You’re Not Too Smart: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits
by Joel Greenblatt

1. increase # of stocks to decrease risk. (seems obvious, i know…but there was this cool set of statistics mentioned the book that shows the risk going down 75% when you have 4 stocks and all the way up to something around 80 stocks.  never seen it written out in statistics like that, rather than simply saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”)
   
2. Buy spin-off companies.  (This is was the biggest point of the authors.  Says this is where the guaranteed cash is. There’s proven statistics on it)
3. invest in companies that might be acquired soon
4. invest in good companies that are coming out of bankruptcy.
5. invest right after corporate restructuring has been announced
6. look for cool concept stores and invest in their public parent company (if there is one)
7. the Wall Street Journal is the best source for investment news.  (I guess this makes sense given that the WSJ Online is one of the few successful subscriber based periodicals online. Now that you know what tips off a good investment you can make sense of the news.)
8. Look into investment newsletters (but it costs some cash to subscribe)
1. Outstanding Investor Digest – the best
2. The Turnaround Letter

So I’m going to start reading the financial news more, watch the announcements, etc.  Mainly looking for company spin-offs as the authors seemed so confident as money makers.  Was searching for a website or blog that specialized in making announcements like this, but have yet to find one.  My first investment may not be for a little while, but I’ve got my ETrade and Zecco accounts all ready to go.

It does not make sense to have an advertisement that appeals to a small group of people in a mainstream location.

For example, I saw a big poster on the wall advertising a cement truck company.  When people see this, it does not apply to them.  Find out where cement truck customers go, and advertise there!  I’m not sure where that is—perhaps near a a construction site, cement supply store, industrial areas, Home Depot type places, etc.  But not just randomly in the middle of mainstream walkers!

Probably the biggest reason this is a problem is because it makes you feel as if you’re putting yourself out there—you’re advertising.  It’s this sense of “I’m working towards success!”  But in reality, putting up that ad was a waste of your time.  It will not bring you any new customers.  And no, it does NOT help build brand awareness, despite what some may say. As soon as it’s looked at by someone who’s not in your niche market, they dismiss it almost instantaneously.  It’s viewed as an interruption—spam.  In effect it may even promote negative brand awareness.

We’re not in the same kind of interruption-based advertising world we used to be. Grow up!

Trump: How to Get Rich by Donald Trump

I just read this book in one sitting. It was a casual, fast read. I didn’t have super high expectations as the reviewers on Amazon only rated it 3/5 stars. There were a few good nuggets of wisdom, though, just as I had hoped. Here are my favorites:

Manage people tip

• “People have different ways of achieving results. I enjoy figuring out how each of my key employees excels. If people are your resource, you’d better try to learn something useful about them. Being able to do so is what makes a good manager a great one.”

Be an informed world citizen

• “Perhaps one of the reason I’ve been able to sell and rent apartments to people of so many foreign nationalities is that I’ve made an effort to understand where they’re coming from.”

Be detail oriented (I still need to work more on this one)

• “If you don’t know every aspect of what you’re doing, down to the paper clips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwelcome surprises.”

Public speaking (tailoring your speech to your audience)

• On winging a speech 5 minutes before showtime: “all in all, it was a valuable lesson in public speaking. Think about your audience first. The rest will fall into place.”
• Never read off your note cards. You can have the best written speech, but the audience will feel it’s contrived.

Comparing yourself to others’ achievements. Don’t do it.

• “Comparing ourselves to others is a waste of time. I’ve heard people say, “well, Mr. Lucky had a million dollars before he was thirty and I’ve worked just as hard as he has.” Well, Mr. Lucky has nothing to do with you, your possibilities, your success, or your failure. Don’t let anyone else be your yardstick. That’s taking power away from yourself in a big way.”

Willie, a delivery guy from Dean Foods, comes to Mozarts Coffee in Austin TX every day at 12noon and goes through the same process. With a huge cart on wheels stacked with gallons of milk, he clumsily navigates his way down 7 stairs and then up 3 stairs. I wonder if anyone has ever thought of giving him an easier way to deal with this. It’s got to hurt his back. He looks to be in his mid 50s.

Companies have got to listen to their workers on the front line. But more importantly, the workers must know that their opinion matters that way they’ll be thinking about making things more efficient.

Paradox goes as follows:

1. Company A buys mainstream advertising. Ex. TV advertisement
2. Competitors, Companies B & C, must spend extra money on ads to keep up with Company A. This causes an oversaturation of messages to consumers, which decreases effectiveness (and sales).
3. In response to decreased effectiveness and decreased sales, Companies A, B, & C spend more on advertising.
4. Cycle repeats.

I wonder how companies can spend their advertising budget with a bit more innovativeness and subsequently eliminate this otherwise inevitable paradox.

P.S. Happy 2008.

Why is it that when people talk with someone else they discuss events, rather than feelings?  “Yesterday this happened, and then we did this, and it was cool, and then we went here, etc, etc.”  Are we so secretive as a species that it is a faux pas to mention feelings in conversation with an acquaintance?  Why are topics of conversation so bland as to be a laundry list of what they other person has done recently?  Or will be doing in the future?  Is it because we’re all so focused on ourselves, on our own lives that we each want a chance to talk about us, that it’s an understood that after you’re done talking about you I get a good chance to talk about myself?  Why is small talk about insignificant things?  Why can we not have deep meaningful discussion in casual conversation?

After all, it is this talk that helps people to grow closer together, to feel more emotionally aligned, it seems like the most evident solution.

This is your call to action…I challenge you to try and share a meaningful moment with someone—force it even—when you realize the conversation has turned into simply useless filler.

I’m getting older.  I say this a lot, but what do I mean by it?  I do not have the urge to listen to loud obnoxious music, except at certain times.  I no longer like to drink very often—hardly at all actually.  I do not even really like to drink period.  I do not like the loss of control that alcohol does to my body.  I do not like the way it makes me feel to a certain a extent.  Not the loss of control, but rather the loss of intelligence.  I take life a lot more serious now because I feel that I know who I am and where I’m seeking to go in life.  I am becoming more direct with people and insist they are with me too.  I’m growing up to the point where others who are not grown up annoy me.  I’ve done a good job at minimizing this, though, realizing that everyone, no matter who they are, has a valuable influence on me, and can help me through certain situations.  This I learned from the teachings of Og Mandino.  I love everyone I meet because they are of value to me and I am of value to them.

Being an entrepreneur is a solo experience.  It is…  It isn’t…  We could go into a long discussion about it.  None the less, you spend a lot of time alone, very few people understand what goes on in your mind, so eventually you begin to distance yourself from people—realizing you’re a bit weird.  All of us entrepreneurs are weirdos in our own right—we’re crazy passionate people.  Obsessive, perhaps. And we want to do huge things—but we hate waiting for it.

Yesterday I worked with a bunch of other solo-ists out there.  And it felt good.  So, if you’ve cast off the company of others, I encourage you to check out a co-working event in your area.  My experiment was with my Jelly – Casual coworking.  Good times.

Entrepreneurship is about leadership, risk, and follow-through—-confidence! Building your confidence is a combination of many different things. Much to the chagrin of the already self-assured people out there, confidence and self-empowerment are not in-born characteristics. It is a skill and a way of life that can most certainly be taught! I learned to become more self-confident and so can you.

Increasing self-worth is not just about what to do and how to think, but just as importantly, what not to do and how not to think. Below are a few behaviors you should work to eliminate in your life in order to build confidence and self-empowerment.

Stop Exposing Yourself to Self-Deprecating Humor

If you are in the beginning stages of building your self-assured mindset, then it is very important not to engage in situations where you make fun of yourself in front of others. Once you reach a certain degree of confidence, it is okay for some self-deprecating humor, but if you are a novice, this humor is one of the easiest ways to make your wall of confidence start to crumble. After all, confidence is a mindset that you create yourself. Does it make sense then, to question your mindset and ridicule yourself in front of others? Most certainly not. This type of humor is used by two people: the extremely confident, and the extremely weak. If you do not consider yourself “extremely confident” then don’t even think about it. You’re just hurting yourself.

Avoid Uncomfortable Situations. Be Prepared.

A smart solider always knows what to expect on the battleground before they move forward. If he/she expects conflict beyond his/her ability to handle, then reinforcements are called. Whether you’re a solider or an individual learning to grow confidence, it’s stupid to jump into situations you can’t handle. You’re just asking to get hit hard by opposition and go through a lengthy process of recovery. This can be applied to so many different scenarios. From approaching people of the opposite sex in a bar, going unprepared to a business networking event, to getting lost on your way somewhere because you didn’t have good directions, these are all instances where it is important to either “call for backup” or simply do your homework.

There’s nothing wrong with going up to someone of the opposite sex and getting turned down. It happens. In instances like this, though, support from your friends is a necessity. Say you’re walking around a bar by yourself and you go up to someone and they shoot you down. You walk away feeling a little bit less of a person. Your confidence is down and you start to doubt your attractiveness and your charm. However, if you go with a bunch of supportive friends, then after you get turned down you have a support group to go to that will reassure that the other person isn’t worth it. They’ll also encourage you to keep trying and not get down. Without these friends, there would have been no reassurance and no encouragement. Supportive friends are great for confidence building—find them and hold on to them.

Getting lost may seem insignificant, but to me it’s a big deal. Self confidence is all self. That means avoid situations where you may end up doubting yourself. Getting lost and subsequently being late is a small confidence killer that can be avoided. Before traveling to a place you’re not familiar you should have backups to ensure you find your way flawlessly. Use Google or Mapquest to print a turn-by-turn map. At the top of the printed map, jot down the phone number of the establishment (if you’re meeting at a restaurant, etc.) so you can call on your cell phone to get directions. It does not look good (and is embarrassing) if you have to call the person you’re meeting to get directions. It’s takes you out of control and automatically puts you down. Don’t fly blind. Always have a plan. But here’s the key, make it look effortless. Make it seem like no big deal. “It was easy to find the place…no problem.” (Even if you had a hard time.) Confidence is as much a perception as it is a reality. When other people perceive you as confident, it starts to rub off on you.

So, remember…

Don’t put yourself down. You are intelligent, funny, and good looking. Don’t ever give anyone a reason to hear otherwise—especially from you. And finally, be prepared. Sometimes it’s as simple as doing an online search so you know what to expect before you jump in. Going to a new restaurant? Read the reviews online so you know what others before you experienced. This will ensure you make confident and smart decisions.