"Celebrating Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Heart House

Can A Non-Profit be entrepreneurial?

You betcha!

In 2008 I had the honor of joining the board of directors of Heart House Austin, a free after-school program dedicated to providing a safe haven and academic support to low-income children and encouraging them to become good citizens.

Heart House’s innovative after-school program is the only daily program for school-age children in a neighborhood known for its high crime, high unemployment, and lack of affordable, quality care for children. At Heart House, children have access to caring adult mentors, homework assistance, art enrichment, computer learning, health and safety education, and literacy programs.

Founder Anna Land is the entrepreneur behind this organization whose dedication and endless love for the children that Heart House serves is what has helped this charity grow from an idea into one of the city's most admired non-profits. Her vision for the organization is to continue to grow Heart House and open additional sites where the program can continue to help children in need in Austin and beyond.

What Heart House does:

• Keeps Kids Safe
• Improves Kids Behavior At School and At Home
• Improves Kids Achievement At School
• Helps Working Families
• Is A Wise Social Investment Focused On The Potential Of Young People

Heart House HALOS

In January 2009 the organization will be launching the Heart House HALOS (Heart House Angels Lending Our Support). This professional auxiliary organization will bring together forty couples (or individuals) who are looking to find a unique, fun and meaningful way give back to their community.

The founding members of the HALOS will have the chance to shape the group's long term mission and fund raising goals while also creating an opportunity to help Heart House while networking with a diverse and amazing group of people.

Heart House is seeking people who have a desire to be involved with a local charity and have an entrepreneurial spirit who can assist in creating the HALOS program.

The cost to join the HALOS is $1000 per couple or individual (per year). Four times a year the HALOS will host a social gathering, but more important they will be the ambassadors of Heart House throughout the city - helping raise the visibility and spread the word about this fine organization.

If you are looking for an opportunity to get involved with community service and give back to Austin, but have never known how to get started - BECOME A PART OF THE HEART HOUSE HALOS! Now is the time to join and become a founding member.

The first forty members (couples or individuals) will help Heart House charter the organization in January 2009. This organization is seeking people with an entrepreneurial heart who can make a difference! Come soar with us.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Bazaarvoice

I am not sure that anyone could properly "Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship" and not highlight Brett Hurt and Bazaarvoice. The company is one of the most talked about and fastest growing in Austin. Beyond their leadership position in helping large companies / brands understand and utilize the best of social media conversations to drive business, it is just a cool place to work.

Bazaarvoice technologies enable consumers to write product reviews and contribute user-generated content on leading e-commerce websites, helping build online sales using authentic customer opinions. They bring the power of social commerce to the world's best brands. Social commerce happens when you connect customers to one another in ways that drive measurable results to your business.

I have several friends who work for this company, and everyone of them raves about the technology, the opportunity, and the culture. Serial entrepreneur and CEO Brett Hurt is the c0-founder of the company and a man who is passionate about building more than just a company.... he is crazy about the culture.

I asked Brett to answer a few questions about culture, entrepreneurship and Austin:

Thom: What is it that makes Bazaarvoice special?

Brett: The executive team really focuses on our culture. And I really mean “focus” – actions not words. I spearhead that focus as our CEO and our head of HR calls me the “Chief Culture Guide”. Since the inception of our company, we spend 20-25% (3-4 hours) of our executive team quarterly strategy meeting discussing culture. Our best brainstorms have come out of these fierce conversations.

I take culture very seriously for three primary reasons. First, I believe it leads to better performance – it can be measured in our client renewal rate, which is critical as an ASP (or SaaS) business, as well as our win-rate versus competition. Second, it makes it more fun for all us – including me. I sometimes pinch myself when I wake up in the morning; I truly love my job and the Bazaarvoice team. It is very humbling to see our team embrace the culture.

The executive team and I may be putting the ball in motion, but it is others that carry it through. For example, one of our Sales Directors (not a management position) leads our Bazaarvoice Foundation initiative – our charitable arm. Third, it leads to better retention. Employee retention is a killer for most companies. Domain experience is very important, especially in a new industry.

Transparency is a huge part of our culture, and I think it’s really important. As soon as the economy started its freefall, I gathered the entire company and told everyone about how the management team and Board of Directors were ready for it. We had been in a contingency planning mode for more than a month. We all need to stay focused to take advantage of the incredible advantages and opportunities we have, and being upfront and honest goes a long way.

If you treat your team with respect, as adults, then they respect you in turn. And if everyone knows the good and the bad, they will rally harder in the face of adversity. Weaker companies may hide the bad because they are afraid of how employees will respond. This is a natural human behavior but it is absolutely the wrong way to build a solid culture. Trust leads to exceptional performance.

More than anything, we attract and hire only five-star players, and a sense of humor is a big plus. We test every candidate and put them in a high-pressure situation – this helps us separate our finalists. We take our work seriously, but not ourselves. We take time to find pleasure in our work every day, and it creates a fun, challenging atmosphere of excellence. In fact, just about every day, a client tells me he or she can “feel” our culture in interactions at all levels of the company, and that our culture is deep and real. They often ask if they can come work for us, and we are very flattered when they do.

Thom: What is it about being an entrepreneur that draws you to build businesses?

Brett: This is the fifth company that I have founded – the most recent was Coremetrics – and it’s the challenge of creating game-changing solutions that genuinely help others that draws me to building businesses. My friend, Derek Woodgate (a local futurist), told me “entrepreneurs create the future”. I like that.

I also take great pride in building a great team and giving good people good jobs. With Bazaarvoice, Brant and I saw an untapped opportunity that would – and has – revolutionized the way all of us make purchases, and I saw a huge financial upside as well. This is a global need, and I’m proud of the fact that we already have 380 team members, 290 clients, 7 solutions in 20 international languages, and 4 locations globally (Austin, London, Paris, and Singapore).

I always want to challenge myself, and surround myself with smart, driven people. In some ways, it is like my Wharton MBA experience all over again. I’ve been very fortunate to successfully build on great ideas, and Bazaarvoice has the biggest potential yet.

Thom: What is it about Austin that makes it the best place to be an entrepreneur?

Brett: As a native Austinite – and I guess not many people can say that – I wouldn’t have done this anywhere else. Beyond my natural affinity for Austin, I like that Austin’s energy drives creativity – it’s such a unique city, and frequently top-rated on many dimensions. It’s rapidly becoming a larger city (I recently heard from Brewster McCracken that 10,000 people are moving here per month), but it’s small in that we are all so interconnected – it’s so easy to meet people who can help (like Bootstrap Austin, Leadership Austin, or TexChange), or whom we can help.

It’s almost like there are less than two degrees of separation between any two people in Austin, especially in technology. Finally, people in Austin are just plain happy to be here – it’s one of the best cities in the world and always in the nation’s top-five in educational background, per capita.

Bazaarvoice continues to do great things, and I predict that they will continue to grow into one of Austin's legendary success stories.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Vignette

Can a company with revenues of $200 million really be entrepreneurial?

YEP, depending who is in the CEO job.

The December meeting of the Central Texas Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) had a great speaker this week in Vignette (NASDAQ: VIGN) CEO Michael Aviles.

A self-described hired gun who has come into several companies in a variety of industries to help turn them around, Aviles had a great attitude about his role in helping grow Vignette and his role as an entrepreneur - who also makes his family a priority!

He clearly knows that running a company (start-up or public entity) is a 24/7 ordeal, but he encouraged the audience to block out the necessary time for piano recitals and ball games, to be sure that the family does not get the short end of ones limited time. Then do what it takes to get the job done at work. You can do both!

Every company has their own story and tries to make their situation "different". Aviles says the job of a good CEO is to take complex situations and break them down to simple parts. A Stanford professor told him that to succeed a leader needs to "define their job and look for plain stupidity". He has never forgot that lesson.

To Aviles running Vignette is like having a 15 year old start up. He faces all the same challenges of a young growth company, plus the demands of Wall Street. Such tasks requires leadership....
But, being a CEO with great ideas does not mean your team will follow you. To achieve change, you have to change the environment. He prefers to do that with the existing team when he comes into a company, but counsels that changing the environment sometimes means changing the people.

Aviles was a great speaker who connected with the audience of nearly 100 Austin business professionals. I am always a big believer that one trait of a good leader is being able to give an effective speech. He delivered!

He left the audience with more than just his story, he had a series of lessons for entrepreneurs that he has learned through his career:

• Running a company is a life and a career, not a job. Think long term


• Make your personal decisions before your professional ones when looking at a new opportunity (He is another one who LOVES working and raising his family in Austin. There seems to be a trend with everyone I have profiled in the "Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project")


• Use your IQ and your EQ. Read the tea leaves and assess the situation of the company.


• Establish and build relationships. Show your personal side (The theme of "the importance of building and maintaining business relationships" also runs through all the successful professionals I meet).


• Get some quick wins in the first 100 days. Use the early days to cover a lot of ground and take a lot of notes on what you discover in your new company.


• Do not spend too much time on any one thing. It is easy to get sucked into single issues.


• Think transition. Do not try to make all the changes at once.
  

It is great to see bigger companies who are also run by those with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Vignette has been around a long time in Austin and has had some ups and downs, but Aviles seems to be a great leader as the company moves forward.

Once again, ACG has some of the best programs in town.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Moximity

How Many Austin CEOs Have Beaten Michael Phelps In A Swimming Race?

Only One!

Bryan Jones, CEO of Moximity, is a former international competitive swimmer, and former member of the United States Swim Team who is the only local CEO who can lay claim to ever having beaten the 14 time Olympic Gold Medal winner in the pool.

While Phelps went on to Olympic fame, Jones earned both his MBA and JD from the University of Texas and spent several years practicing law as an associate with a major international corporate law firm. In 2008 he left the comfort of "Big Law" to pursue his real passion for entrepreneurship. He has never looked back.

Now Jones is a co-founder and the CEO at Moximity. The company joins together social networking with cell phone and global positioning technology -- and is working toward becoming a service that everyone uses everyday. Two years ago the iPhone did not even exist and consumer GPS technology was still something new. Today the world is changing and the sky is the limit for Moximity.

Soon, people will be using their smartphones in ways that previously sounded like science fiction. The end result is more services resulting in a more efficient way to interact, and all this costing the users very little money for a huge impact on their lives. Moximity lets people know the proximity to friends, restaurants and other cool venues and events.

A recent story about the company in the Austin American-Statesman stated:

"Moximity's service, which is available from the Apple App Store, works by integrating social networks such as Facebook and Twitter with a Moximity application on an iPhone. It also lets users pull up information on nearby bars, restaurants and live music. Users can see where their friends last checked in and can publish their own updates, which are automatically published on Facebook and Twitter as well.

"For now, the service is available only in Austin, but the goal is to break into other college towns in the future. (Early market research by Jones showed Moximity was a hit with fraternity brothers, who used it to meet up around town.) Moximity also wants to expand to mobile devices beyond the iPhone. "

In addition to the American-Stateman article the company has also been written up in the Washington Post, Tech Crunch, USA Today, VentureBeat and had an honorable mention in a Jay Leno monologue.

Moximity is also utilizing their deep levels of expertise in social networking and mobile technology to help other companies take advantage of these new trends in reaching potential customers. Mobile Blasts is their mobile marketing solutions consulting service that can assist clients to identify the best online and mobile tools to achieve marketing objectives. More info still to come about his new service, but it should be a hit with local bars and restaurants who need to make sure that they are top of mind with the people who are out and about!

A final side note about Phelps: When I asked Bryan about his personal experiences swimming with Michael Phelps he laughed and told a funny story about when the US Swim Team was in Australia for a swimming competition. The future Olympian plugged Jones's Nintendo 64 game system directly into the wall without using a voltage converter. The 240 volts from the wall caused the machine to catch fire in the hotel room (the United States electrical system uses 120 volts while Australia is 240). So much his new Nintendo, there was no more playing video games on that trip. Phelps never replaced the electronic device, but Jones has no hard feelings! (***I think Phelps should give Jones free endorsement for Moximity to make up for that Nintendo 64 inferno. Hey, just a thought!).

Best of luck to Bryan Jones and Moximity as they build an international platform for their product. I wish I had an iPhone... as if I did, I would sign up today!

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas

The month of December I have dedicated my blog to highlighting the people, companies and organizations that make up the entrepreneurial spirit that makes Austin great. While entrepreneurs create amazing companies which bring the world new technologies, products and services (and jobs!), they also impact our society.


No organization better exemplifies this spirit than The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas. This organization is the catalyst that allows busy Austin entrepreneurs, and their companies, to easily impact the local community for the greater good.


The Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas is a community. They amplify the philanthropic efforts of their member companies, entrepreneurs, boards and employees who invest equity, time and talent to make Central Texas an even better place to live, work and play.


Their programs help build successful corporate cultures and allow start-up companies to participate philanthropically, even though charitable funds may be scarce. The ongoing programs that facilitate the ability to donate time and stock that have a material impact is a priceless gift for both the companies and the community.


The EF offers the structure for early stage companies to allocate inexpensive private equity to a donor advised fund, creating a source of cash for corporate community investments that doesn't impact future company earnings or operating cash.

Successful entrepreneurs know that community involvement contributes to successful corporate cultures, helping attract and retain the best team members. The EF facilitates special initiatives and help design community involvement programs which can provide valuable team building experiences. I know first hand, as the company I work for, vcfo, is a regular participant in the EF's Spring and Fall Service Days, where our staff works with the employees of dozens of other local companies in a combined effort to help improve the facilities of several local elementary schools.

The Entrepreneurs Foundation’s current portfolio contains equity from over 130 active companies. Employees and their friends have donated over 16,000 volunteer hours and through the organization’s leadership projects, they have made a real difference for hurricane evacuees, women with breast cancer and their families, affordable housing and education.


At the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas, member companies challenge the conventional wisdom that corporate philanthropy and community involvement is the province of large corporations. Increasingly, companies of all sizes are realizing that “giving back to the community is good business”. The benefits of corporate citizenship can far exceed any costs and are realized in terms of employee morale, recruiting and retention, and in the strengthening a company’s brand or reputation.


The local entrepreneurs and their companies who support the causes of the Entrepreneurs Foundation are making a difference for the Austin of today and the Austin of tomorrow.


Have A Great Day.


thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Apogee Search

Can Your Target Audience Find You?

This is the question that greets you on the homepage of Apogee Search. Gosh, we all hope that those we desire as clients can easily discover us when they go looking for our products or services, but too often we are lost in the crowd of the over populated internet.

Founded in 2001, Apogee Search is an industry leader and one of the country's largest marketing services firms. Their highly experienced staff of internet marketing professionals work to deliver a variety of client solutions that goes far beyond click-throughs to a website.

In a world where hundreds of companies and consultants claim to be Search Engine Optimization experts, companies are confused on how to gain the results they desire for their internet marketing investment. CEO and founder Bill Leake wants to help educate his customers on what success really looks like in the world of internet marketing.

I have known Bill Leake for over a decade, and he is an entrepreneur with a real passion that goes beyond just building a successful company. The father of seven children, he wants to make sure that he is making a difference for his clients, his industry and his community. Bill takes pride in seeing his company's efforts achieve real results for customers.

"We're in the business of helping other businesses grow, by helping our customers implement measurable, provable online marketing campaigns to drive leads, sales, and profits. In a tough economy, our clients need us even more", says Leake.

"We know how much impact we're making in our client base, since we see the numbers. For every job we create within the walls of Apogee Search Marketing, we've probably helped create about 20-25x that number for our clients and their supply chains in turn from the increased business we've helped them bring in. In that sense, what we do can really serve a higher purpose, as our ripple effects throughout the economy are magnified far beyond our walls. Properly done, company building can be a truly noble endeavor".

Bill credits Austin as a great place to grow a company. He sights three things about the city that allows the entrepreneurial spirit to thrive:

1. Phenomenal talent pool

2. Phenomenal place to live personally (did I mention he has seven kids).

3. Phenomenal state tax & regulatory policies

I agree. Austin is phenomenal on so many levels. Austinites have a love affair with Austin - and this pays dividends for the business community.

Bill wants to see other entrepreneurs succeed - and often will sit down for lunch with those seeking his advice. However, he does not like those who just wish they had some other "dream job" or their own business - he thinks people need to take control and take action; "There's a big difference between being an entrepreneur and being a wantrepreneur. Far far far too many folks whine about their day job and have a 'fantasy job' that never moves beyond fantasy. Fantasy jobs are fine, as are fantasy football teams, but at some point you have to get off the fence and jump into the pool."

He believes that good advisers and hiring the best employees are the most important parts of growing a business. Leake tries to surround himself with the smartest people, and listens and learns. He knows that he is the one who must make the final decision and follow his passion, but doing this in combination with the right team is what has lead his company to being on this years Inc 500 list of the fastest growing companies.

Thanks to Bill Leake and Apogee Search for being another great example of Austin entrepreneurship and we look forward to seeing the company's continued success.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrating Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - GamePlan

GamePlan is a strategic marketing and advertising agency that redefines the way that marketing communications are performed for a successful integrated campaign. They specialize in using new media and viral tactics that are incorporated into events, sponsorships, guerrilla marketing, word-of-mouth, entertainment and alternative reality platforms designed to leave an indelible brand impression on a target audience.

This translates to: THEY DO COOL STUFF!

The company's CEO and founder Tim Hayden, and the rest of the team, are considered national thought leaders in the "Experiential Marketing" arena. More than an "event marketing firm", GamePlan takes a unique approach to customize each engagement to ensure that the client's results produce both ROI and a memorable impact for all involved.

Hayden is one of the most intriguing entrepreneurs with whom to discuss business theory. A true visionary, he understands the changes that technology and the internet bring to his clients - without throwing away the cornerstones of traditional business practices that are still relevant to success. He is not one of these "flash in the pan" entrepreneurs who tend to throw out the baby with the bath water (yes, a cliche, but it is the right example!).


Tim enjoys being an entrepreneur because of the control of his own destiny. "While I may have a team that is accountable for GamePlan's overall performance, I can only look in the mirror on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons to hold myself responsible for our direction and ultimate position of success (or failure)" says Hayden. "There's no one above me to blame or credit. The liberty, the responsibility and the opportunity to be at the helm of innovation are the purist of joys found in my life of an entrepreneur".


As for living and working in Austin, he adds; "There is no greater city than Austin for starting a new business. I have a roster of coffee shop mentors that I'm certain would not grant me access or time if I was in New York, San Francisco or Dallas.


"Being the Live Music Capital of the World, home to so many politicos and having 125,000 college students within 30 miles of downtown makes for an atmosphere rich with diverse ideas and a 'hell-yeah, why-not' attitude. This all has led me to be confident that there is a willingness to share experience and guidance in Austin like few other places on the planet.

Tim Hayden and GamePlan are another example of the entrepreneurial spirit that continues to lead Austin toward a brighter tomorrow.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Greenling

Mason Arnold has passion. He is a local entrepreneur who wants to build a business, serve his community and save the world. This is not a minor calling, it is his life's mission.

He is the man behind the local Austin fresh produce delivery company, Greenling. On the company's website his title is listed as "Cookie Monster". Mason is committed to preserving and conserving that which is essentially Austin. He promotes an Organic, sustainable community and believes we can achieve remarkable economic progress without sacrificing our health and the health of our environment. He believes we must better embrace sustainable living practices if we are to continue to prosper and has adopted a personal mantra for going green: "Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something."

And Mason walks-the-walk by staying active in his community and sponsoring local events for the likes of Charity Partners of Austin, DonorsChoose.org, Keep Austin Beautiful, TOFGA, Capital Area Food Bank, and numerous local school fund-raisers. He is also an active member of the 2009 Leadership Austin Essentials Class.

Greenling is everything you ever wanted in a grocery company. They bring you Local food and Organic food fresher than you can get in the grocery store, for about the same price, delivered to your door for FREE! You can trust what you get from Greenling to be the best food anywhere.

Greenling buys from local farmers whenever possible. Buying locally is an important part of Sustainability. They visit local farms and get to know the people growing the food. They also investigate every company they deal with, local or non-local, to ensure they share the values of Organics and Sustainability.

The company and the team who work there are a great example of what makes Austin unique.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - ABJ Tech Innovation Awards

The month of December I am dedicating this blog to celebrating the entrepreneurial spirit. I am focusing on Austin based companies, since I live here - but the world is populated with amazing people who have vision to create businesses and change the world.

Today's blog post was made easy thanks to the Austin Business Journal who hosted their 2nd annual "Tech Innovation Awards". Thirty-six companies were nominated for the awards and over 150 people attended the breakfast. The big mistake was made by those who did not attend the event, as this was a great gathering of some of Austin's most brilliant entrepreneurs.

The winners:

Luminex Corporation, Patrick Balthrop (Healthcare / Biotech category)

HelioVolt, Dr. BJ Stanberry & Dr. Louay Eldada (Clean Energy / Environment category)

Nuventix, Mick Wilcox (Clean Energy / Enviroment category)

Vircion Inc., Peter Walker (Gaming category)

Gemalto, Ashish Malpani (Hardware category)

OnNetworks, Jen Grogono (Internet category)

Click Forensics, Paul Pellman (Internet category)

ADRevolution, Andrew Westmoreland (Software category)

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners. They are the perfect examples of what makes entrepreneurship great. Even in tough economic times it is the people who work in these growth oriented business who pave the way for the successes of tomorrow.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - Austin Tech Happy Hour

Bryan and Angie Menell knew it was time for the Austin Tech Community to have a regularly scheduled fun event for no other reason than because when great people come together, anything can happen. Poof, the Austin Tech Happy Hour was born.

In 1999 those who lived and worked in and around the tech industries were well aquainted with the "High Tech Happy Hour". While these events grew to personify the wild party scene, they were also part of the local tech culture. After the bust, there was no mood to party like it was 1999 anymore.

But optimistic entrepreneurs can't be kept down too long, and the time was right to bring back the fun.

This even has grown into a great place for those who work in and around the Austin Technology Startup Community to gather, meet, network, and play.

The last Austin Tech Happy Hour of the year is this Thursday, December 4th, at 6:00 PM at Molotov (on 6th Street). If you have never made it to one of these events, you must check it out.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - MindBites

MindBites is your place on the web to learn directly from other real people and share what you know with the world. It is like the YouTube for instructional videos.


This self-publishing platform and social marketplace for instructional content enables people to share their unique knowledge, skills and passions through audio and video lessons, earning money for themselves or for charity. The result is a unique community of discovery with content that simply can't be found anywhere else – from Teaching your Baby Sign Language, to Cooking Tandori Chicken, to Surviving a Knife Attack, to picking up Last Minute Tips to Give A Speech or Toast, to Changing a Tire - - for a very small fee you can learn to do anything.


By enabling people to learn, connect and share as never before, MindBites promises to revolutionize the way the world shares knowledge.


This Austin-based company is the brainchild of entrepreneur and CEO Jason Reneau. I have had the pleasure to work with them and created two MindBites of my own. There might also be a four-part MindBites training series on how to better network and cultivate your ever important business relationships coming out in the near future (stay tuned!).


If you are not familiar with MindBites, check them out. Pour through the sight and devour the videos. Learning has never been this fun.


Have A Great Day.


thom

Ben Bernanke in Austin

I had the good fortune to be nearly front and center today at a speech given by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. It was his first major policy address since the economy got into this mess in October. vcfo had purchased a table and we attended with several clients and other friends of our firm.

His presentation to the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce had been scheduled six months in advance, and the historic economic events of the past few months made this one of the highest attended business luncheons I have EVER seen in Austin (appox 1700 people!).

Mr. Bernanke is a smart guy. Much smarter than I am. I strained to listen to his every word and to understand the importance of what he and the rest of the government officials are doing to help stabilize the global economy. While he was clear that we still have some tough times ahead, I found that his message also had up-beat undertones. He was clear that this crisis is NOTHING like the Great Depression, and he sighted several reasons why this is not the same situation that faced the policy makers 80 years ago.

What I found most interesting was how the national media reported the comments made by the leader of The Fed to the Austin business community. Before I had time to drive back to my office there were stories up on Forbes.com, The New York Times website, SmartMoney.com, CNN Money.com and countless other financial sites about the Chairman's comments. They all had negative headlines (such as "Bernanke: Economic Weakness to Continue"), many of which implied that today's talk in Austin was somehow linked to the stock market's 670 point drop (his talk concluded about an hour before the markets closed in New York, although I am sure that the transcript of this talk was released to the press earlier in the day). Maybe those out of town who read the transcript got a different message than those of us who heard the spoken word live and in person. I understood his comments as very balanced about the future.

The address really had no new revelations about the state of economic affairs - but it was both realistic and cautious while still optimistic. The fact that the media would all use negative headlines on this evenly weighted (between positives and negatives) speech is a reminder that bad news sells more papers. The articles did go on to quote his more optimistic points, but much lower on the page.

I wonder, does the way the media report on such stories help to feed the continued downturn?

I will say that Mr. Bernanke struck me as both brilliant and funny. In his prepared remarks he was sort of dry, but during the Q&A he was both light hearted and self-deprecating. I feel better about the future of the economy knowing he is one of the people steering the ship. Hopefully he will prove me right!

Have A Great Day.

thom

Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project - Goldwasser Real Estate

When we think of hot Austin start-ups and entrepreneurship we do not often think of the Real Estate Industry! However, last week my friend Chad Goldwasser announced that his real estate team was leaving Keller Williams and was launching a brand new national brokerage firm: Goldwasser Real Estate.

With the horrible state of the economy and the residential real estate business struggling, many would shy away from stepping out on their own. But not Chad. He is a visionary who sees this as the perfect time to launch a new model real estate company that can change the national real estate business.

Chad has consistently been one of Keller Williams top agents and the leader of the top team of agents in Austin.

Over the past 10 years, the real estate industry has been hurt by an influx of under-qualified agents looking to make a quick buck in a profession that emphasized volume and commissions over quality service to their clients. Consequently, many home buyers and sellers have been frustrated with the lack of consistency, service and market knowledge of real estate agents, ranking them just above used car salesmen. Goldwasser Real Estate seeks to transform the industry by moving away from the prevalent franchise-based brokerage structure to a service-based model that offers agents unprecedented training, revamped compensation packages, and powerful tools and technology that enable them to provide extraordinary value to home buyers and sellers.

"We want to be the Nordstrom of the real estate world in terms of quality and service and the General Electric in terms of systemization," said Goldwasser. "Goldwasser Real Estate balances these two ideals to create a unique value proposition for our clients, partners, agents and employees."

Chad is also working with me on the newest book in the "Some Assembly Required" series: "Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Real Estate Professionals" (New Year Publishing, 2009).

I expect to see big things from Goldwasser Real Estate. It is in down economies that great companies are born. Chad and Tara Goldwasser, along with their business partner, Greg Cooper, have stepped out into new territory... and I am proud that they are here in Austin, Texas! They are a good example of how entrepreneurs face a tough economy head-on.

Have A Great Day.

thom

"Celebrate Austin Entrepreneurship Project" - December 2008

Every December I dedicate the posts on this blog (or most of them) to praising those I admire.

In December 2006 I focused on authors and bloggers whom I admired. I called it the "Praise Others Project".

In December 2007 I focused on Passion. The "Celebrate Passion Project" highlighted those whom I have seen put passion out there for the world to see.

This year I am going to honor the Entrepreneurial Spirit that makes my hometown of Austin, Texas so spectacular. While I realize that people read this blog from all over the world, and that there are amazing entrepreneurs in every city... I only have a month. Thus I am going to write about some of the cool companies and their founders whom I have the honor of knowing here in my local community.

I hope you enjoy this series of blog posts.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Not Everyone Will Like You... And That's Okay (Part 2)

Sometimes things just don't work out. Relationships are hard. It's not you, it's them.

I am not talking about dating. I am talking about your professional business network.

I got a call from a person who had a falling out with a business friend. This person sort of "broke up" with him, yet their relationship was purely professional. She basically fired him as a friend. He was confused, and I think hurt, by the whole thing.

He wants an explanation. And while politely looking for some clarification might bring him some answers, in the end he really needs to stop dwelling on one person in his network who does not appreciate the mutually beneficial relationship he thought they had. I told him that if this is not a pattern with the people in your life (fleeing), then he should let it go and concentrate on the people who do matter.


In May of 2007 I wrote a post titled "Not Everyone Will Like You.... It's Okay", which is one of the most popular blog posts I have ever written. (In fact, if you google search Not Everyone Will Like You it comes up number one.... and it seems a lot of people hunt for information on this topic!). Apparently people are often surprised by the fact that they do not click with everyone they meet, and they worry about it when they have one person whom simply does not connect with them.

You cannot force someone to be an active part of your world. If you find that a series of people avoid you (or worse, alienate you), then you should look inward about how you interact with people and if you are bringing value to them, or just seeking benefits for yourself. But if it is rare occasion that people reject you, do not take it personally. It really might be about them, not you!

I had a friend in college who was like my sister. We hung out all the time and helped each other in some rough times. I never assumed there would come a time in our lives when we would not be friends. However, she met a boyfriend who was none too happy with her best buddy being a guy (or something, as he made me persona non-grata very fast.... heck, maybe he just did not like ME). I had no desire to date her, but both she and her new beau were convinced that I was a threat to their relationship. She told me she had to make a choice (really? she did not), and it was NOT me. It was the only time in my life when someone who I considered a very close friend tossed me aside like trash. It hurt. I did not know how to handle the rejection. There was clearly a misunderstanding that I felt could be overcome. I tried to keep the friendship alive. It was a disaster.

While I have never seen this person again in 20 years (she did marry the guy and I hear they have had a good life...which makes me very happy!), I still regret that our friendship dissolved for what I still view as "no reason".

But it was from this experience that I learned that you cannot force someone to be your friend. Relationships of any type must be a "two way street" and mutually desired. I have many other friends whom I have remained in touch with for decades, so this is not a pattern. Everyone has their own stuff in their heads, and I will never know the real motivation for these events.

Regardless of her reasons for not wanting or needing me as her friend, it was her prerogative to not like me anymore. I am sure if she were to comment on this story that her point of view of the situation two decades ago would be different.

That is the important thing to remember. Everyone sees things from their own point of view. You can drive yourself nuts contemplating what you could do differently, but you can never control the thoughts and actions of other people.

The best advice is to move on when there is not a bond with someone in your network. Do not dwell on the single incident. Be sure that you are treating the other people in your life well and making a positive impact in their life. Let go of those who do not choose to understand the value that you bring to those in your network.

Make sure that you take the time to be sure you are making others a priority. It is easy to get full of yourself and only focused on your own needs. It happens to everyone, but this will turn off a lot of folks. If the pattern is people who you have formerly been friends with who now avoid you, then the issue might be you. People like those who are "givers", not those who are "takers". The trick is to find the right balance of give and take with those in your life.

My point in this is that you have to pay attention to how you treat others, but if you are making efforts to be a resource for those in your network, then most people will see the value that your bring to mutually beneficial relationships. Those who don't are not worth the time you spend dwelling on.

Okay folks, this post rambled on a bit... but I think it is an important topic. Your thoughts?

Have A Great Day.


thom

Books Make Great Holiday Gifts

Add caption

Are you looking for a great holiday gift idea for a co-worker, client, friend or family member?

Give them a book!!!

If considering a book as a gift, please consider giving one of my books:

"Some Assembly Requied: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships"

"The ABC's of Networking"

or

"Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women"

Please visit Amazon.com

Also, personally signed bulk orders are available by sending an email to publisher(at)newyearpublishing.com.

Have A Great Day

thom

Thanksgiving Week

As I mentioned in a post a few days ago, I love the concept of Thanksgiving. It is one of the best holidays.

Sure one reason is the great food (mmmm Pumpkin Pie and homemade cranberry sauce!), but the real reason is that it is important for each of us to step back for a moment and look at the things in our lives for which we are grateful. Nobody is an island, and we are interconnected to so many other people who help us achieve that it is important to recognize and acknowledge others.

The work week of Thanksgiving is always short, as most of us in the United States are given both Thursday and Friday as a day off. The school kids get even more (when I was a kid we just got Thursday and Friday off, but my kids get Wednesday, and some districts and private schools just close for the whole week!), which takes parents off focus at work as they figure out childcare issues. Thus this is a great time to reach out to people, as you should have some free time, since many others you normally interact with are gone. Do not fall into to common trap of not reaching out to people this week by assuming they are all out of the office. You will be surprised how many are at their desk with some time to take your call!

Think about the five people who have had the strongest impact on you in 2008. Clients, co-workers, friends, family-members, neighbors, the barista at Starbucks who always smiles in the morning -- whoever has made your world brighter. Now find a way to say "Thank You" to them. Don't be shy, as this is Thanksgiving Week. You can cloud it in your personal ongoing tradition of always thanking the five whom impact your life (even if this is the first year of your tradition!). They will be thrilled by your gesture.

Here five groups of people who most impacted my life this year who I would like to thank (the list is longer, but we will stick with five for the purpose of this blog post):

My wife and daughters. I am thankful that we have had a healthy and productive year. I appreciate their support of my busy career schedule coupled with my author / speaker business. While our schedule is crazy and hectic.... they are the purpose behind all my goals and ambitions. I congratulate them all for their personal achievements this year.

My father-in-law and his wife. This summer they took our family for a two week vacation in Italy. A week in Venice and a week on Lake Como will forever be remembered as a wonderful opportunity to escape the regular routine of life and share unique experiences with my wife, kids and my in-laws. There generous gesture of the trip was the highlight of the year.

My business partners at New Year Publishing. Over the past three years my life has forever been changed for the better because Dave and Leslie Morris and New Year Publishing. Our joint venture of New Year Publishing continues to grow and open new doors for all of us. The experience continues to bring me new learning opportunities and allows me to live my dream as a professional speaker. I would also like to honor my first co-author, Marny Lifshen. We completed "Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women" this year, and working with her on this project has been a very positive experience. The book is selling well and we are getting great reviews.

Everyone at vcfo. I enjoy working at this growing and dynamic company. I have enjoyed the past year as much as any year in my career. The people are professional and have challenged me to stretch myself. I am confident I have made an impact on the company, and look forward to continuing to do so in the new year.

My dad and brothers. This was a unique year for the Singer family. Dad sold his home and moved into a retirement facility (at age 94). Thus my brothers and I had to sort through six decades of my parent's lives. We had our annual family reunion at Dad's house as we boxed up countless memories. I will never forget the last evening sitting on the diving board drinking wine with my brothers (out of mom's Waterford Crystal Goblets) as we toasted the good memories that we had shared in the house. Very emotional for me, as I grew up in that house, knowing I would never be there again. But home is not a building, it is the relationships we share with those we call family. It was a sad time in some ways, but also a testament to my parents life. I was reminded that I am a very fortunate guy.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Healthy

Healthy beats sick.

After 48 hours I now am starting to feel normal again. I slept most of today and watched hours of cable news and I Love Lucy reruns.

On the one hand, an entire weekend wasted.

On the other hand, I had lots of time to be humbled and ponder my recent dedication to wellness. I had not been really sick in over two years. I have worked hard to get enough rest and eat well to avoid having just the sort of episode that took me down this weekend.

Alas, I am reminded that without our health we are damaged goods. Yet I think I (and others) often take our health for granted. It takes a big cold to remind us of just how much we need our bodies to be fit and going strong if we want to accomplish all that we can. I do a lot of things and often walk a tight rope of getting it all done. Fortunately there were no major plans this weekend.

With all the holiday parties and other get togethers around the corner we all need to be careful not to get a cold or the flu. I had a flu shot earlier in the fall, but that did not good with a big ol' cold.

And those of us who live in Austin, Texas have the delightful "Cedar Fever" season coming up from December - February. What is "Cedar Fever" asks the uninitiated? It is hell on earth.

We have these trees here in Central Texas that spray pollen into the air once the cold weather arrives. It took me years to develop the cedar allergy, and I spent that time thinking people were exaggerating the symptoms.... until I fell victim.

Cedar Fever is like having the flu for a whole month. And worse, the congestion often leads to sinus infections and other things. Without my allergy medicine I would lose the yearly battle. This little cold episode has reminded me I need my health to survive January.

PS - thanks to all the people who left comments on my "Sick" post or emailed me with remedies (or good wishes).

Have A Great Day

thom

Sick

I hate being sick. HATE IT.

I usually have several things going on at one time, and I try to keep all the balls in the air. Being sick takes away my ability to control my schedule.

Friday morning I felt a cold coming. By bedtime I was clearly ill. Today I am resting, but that means I am not doing all the things that I need to do.

It is humbling to have a bad cold. It takes over. The medicine makes me feel loopy and thus while I feel better I am hardly myself.

I have not been really sick in almost three years. At least it is a Saturday when we had no bigger plans. Still a bummer. Yet it will make me appreciate feeling good again in a day or two.

Have A Great Day.

thom

Thanksgiving Memory

I enjoy Thanksgiving. I remember being just a lad and my mother would host some extended family for turkey and all the trimmings.

My dad was in charge of carving the bird. I did not inherit his skill, as I tend to mutilate the poor turkey each time I carve.

My grandmother would come. For grace we would all stand and take turns saying something we were thankful for in the past year. The rule was that you could be simple, detailed or even funny, but you had to have something serious for which you would share your thanks. You could not pass or make a joke for the sake of being a cut up.

Grandma, who died in the spring of my first grade year, would always go last (respect to the elder matriarch). She would list her ten children, twenty-six grandchildren (not one-by-one!) and then wrap up the circle of thanks by adding that she was thankful she was the last person in the line....as the food was getting cold!

Every year it made me laugh. Still does for some silly reason.

As we close in on this holiday of the grateful, I hope that everyone can take a moment to look to discover what has made their year just a little brighter. Even in the tough economic climate there are the things that can make our hearts smile.

I could list my things here, but it would fill the page. I am very fortunate and I know it. Thanks to everyone who has touched my life in the past, present and future.

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I also have been investing a lot of thought into my annual "Praise Others Project". Each December I dedicate this blog to praising those I admire. Authors, blogger, speakers, entrepreneurs, friends, etc....

This year I am going to praise the entrepreneurial spirit that is so visible in Austin, Texas. Each day I will write about a person, company, organization or movement that has that spark that creates business. I hope it will be a fun exercise and that you will come and read the daily entries and share them with others.

Have A Great Day.

thom