Holy Search Feature Batman!!

Was looking for some shirts on CafePress... I narrowed the search down to Protestant and got these results... Yikes!

clipped from www.cafepress.com protestant T-Shirts and Gifts Related Topics: baptist, catholic, cross, church, religious, faith, Lord, Christianity, bible, Jesus, god, christian, religion, Religion / Beliefs, apparel more... Featured Products Love & Peace Tote Bag $13.99 Bush Cheney Boobs Mini Button $1.50 Question Bush Button $1.99

The Message ??

I was browsing through some competitors sites and I ran across this promotional product on a competitors site.. I was a bit taken back to the unprofessionalism of this.. is this the kind of message you want to send to your customers?? Now I know that this may resonate w/ a certain crowd....but man cmon

I think that our approach will be much different .. it will be interesting to see if our Vision and Values will resonate w/ Gen Y..

I wonder if the owner knows what kind of vision he is promoting and how it will effect him in the long run...

my .02

clipped from passwordjdm.com New arrival! “KEEP YOUR PIMP HAND STRONG!!!” Keeping PasswordJDM on top on the game and well ahead of the competition ain’t easy… I just make it look easy, all because I KEPT MY PIMP HAND STRONG! I’ve got a near zero reaction time when it comes to using my pimp hand and you should too! Them trash talking sorry asses had to find out the hard way. This is how I live my life, and this is something I want to share with all of you. Therefore I just had to make a shirt we can all rock. “Keep Your Pimp Hand Strong!!!” is more than just a battle cry, it's a motto we can all live by. A saying like this is what separates real players from the fakers… the gangsters from the wanksters. I wrench, I represent, and I regulate!!!(In more countries and in more ways than you’ll ever know!) This is what I do… day in, day out. Start by making your move and solidifying your position in this game. I have, and it has paid off heavy. Rock hard and strong with PasswordJDM, never let up representing JDM to the fullest and throw up a big “W” like a bat out of hell clocking trap speeds of 160+ while you’re at it. “Keep Your Pimp Hand Strong!!!”and always let those who wanna test you know that you ain’t afraid to spill his/her spinal fluid. Do it with a smile on your face, grin a little, and watch the other fella turn into a marshmallow. Always “Keep Your Pimp Hand Strong!!!” Wear it, Live it!

Viral Threads ???

I know that I am in the middle of a startup as we speak...so I shouldn't be thinking about anything else right? Can entrepreneurial ideas be spawned from current ventures effectively? Well today was the straw that broke the camels back.. I saw this post today regarding getting Twitter shirts made for the SXSW conference.

I sent an email to Threadless regarding a possible contest for our startup when it launches to kind of help us really let our customers define our brand and be involved right from the beginning. In the email I sent I pointed out how I could bring a new demographic to there site and would be really excited to offer a great prize for the best design. I got back a cordial reply simply stating good luck ... but we already have other contests going on.. I totally understand their stance .. they are a really busy company that is really focused on the users driving the community ...which I agree w/ 100%...no advertisers..

So the dim lit light bulb went off in my head.. What if their was a social driven marketplace for web communities and sites that their users could create and vote for their favorite designs. Think of the viral nature in which people could find out about other sites and more importantly more about the community in that particular community. Think of sites like Twitter , Meebo , Digg , MyBlogLog, Reddit, Search Engine Land, Technorati , the list goes on and on... I know that the communinty made up of tons of other communities could drive different themes for times during the year. Also think of the contests you could have between rival sites: Pageflakes vs. Netvibes or GotVmail vs. RingCentral or Meebo vs. EBuddy , Twitter vs. Dodgeball etc. etc...

The sites themselves would have to sanction the contest's in order to use Logo's for use. As a business owner this would be a no-brainer for me as viral marketing tool...The ability for a community to help define a brand is quite powerful. Plus I like wearing cool T-Shirts...I see implementing the social networking tools as a great bridge to gain traction.

Here is where the rubber meets the road... I do have some close friends that own a silk screen business ...so I made some inquiries on the actual cost and breakdown of this process. It is totally doable and their are margins to be made are acceptable. The question is what business model would I follow.. Do we split revenue w/ the sites? Do we charge an inclusion for sites? or do we have a monthly subscription for advertisers/partners . .. Needless to say I have friends that are extremely talented in web development so I have no doubts on that end... The big problem is how can I juggle both startups... could I implement a Woot style format where it would be a sale a day..to curtail time spent on it.. I think that I could handle the PR/Sales aspect of it..

Just thinking out loud... :)

COCA: The Driving Force of Commerce

COCA (Cost of Customer Acquisition) is the number one determining factor if your online business is successful. So with that said when I was developing our business plan that was a major issue...how could we reach our target audience in a way that our competitors couldn't.

Our business model is effectively giving us a competitive advantage over our competitors...

Ray Deck makes a great point below...

This is true for more than just web services. Geoffrey Moore says in Dealing with Darwin that particularly in a volume operation, innovating the business model is crucial to success. (He contrasts this with a complex systems environment, where s 10x improvement from the technology is the focus of innovation.) Cost of customer acquisition (COCA) is usually the most crucial lever to pull in the business model, because that is how dollars come in. Especially when the back-end is built on commodities, the ability to generate top-line either at lower cost or at a higher effectiveness is going to be critical.

For web services that essentially want to operate like media properties, they have two issues: getting readership, and selling inventory. So 2/3 of the business is really about getting customers (either indirect, as readers, or direct, as advertisers).

Bill Gates : Is Google taking your best talent?

I find it humorous that Bill is making a big stink about this..I didn't see Sergei or Larry complaining? Makes you think about his motivations...

clipped from www.horsesass.org

Microsoft founder Bill Gates testified before a Senate committee today about education. He did digress, however, into a topic that has perked my interest for some time:

Gates said the nation’s economy depends on keeping the country’s borders open to highly skilled workers, especially those with a science or engineering background. Federal law provides 65,000 H1-B visas for scientists, engineers, computer programmers and other professionals every budget year. High-tech and other employers say that’s not enough.

“Even though it may not be realistic, I don’t think there should be any limit,” Gates said, adding that Microsoft hasn’t been able to fill approximately 3,000 technical jobs in the United States because of a shortage of skilled workers.

Cool Marketing : What do you think?

Tonight I was watching Real Housewives of Orange County . I know I know.. but it is really amazing to see these people in the twilight zone...it is crazy..and quite hilarious.

Any way I was watching a scene in which one of the moms was drinking a beer ..when a bubble popped up with the following text "It will take Jo (the mom) 20 minutes on the elliptical machine to work of that beer" next bubble "Renew your Membership at Jackie's Gym. I have never seen this kind of co-marketing while a show was on before very slick how they tied the two shows into the bubble.

Startup Progress : The Office Setup

Ok.. so we signed the LLC documents today and the checks are being cut (Two months in the making) .. I am stoked to say the least. The web development team is all in place and ready to roll... Now my focus is on our actual office setup.


Just a little background.. our main investors and some of the executive team will be located down in Atlanta. Myself and 2 other poor souls will be located near Portsmouth NH. This has already proved to be quite a logistical challenge so far..I am thinking of ways for us best to incorporate a efficient collaborative environment.

Our Office space is conveniently located across the street from a main Verizon hub..which we will be using FIOS for business 30mbps/5mbps up/dwn . So we will be cookin for sure.. :)

Next is Voice Comms... I really want to go w/ Skype. I have been a Skype user for almost a year w/ Skype in/out . The only problems I ever have is w/ my slow Comcast connection.

We will be extremely reliant on our phone system so this is extremely crucial to our day to day ops... I plan on using Plantronics Voip headsets comments would be greatly appreciated on this..

We also plan on using Google Apps $50/yr program for all of office needs. I have a jotspot account as well for collaboration.

So now I have to choose PC's for the three of us.. we are on a limited budget so I would welcome any recommendations on a good setup .. i.e low maintenance etc. We will be primarily using browser based applications so we don't need any monsters. Can we save in this area to spend in the dual monitor department?

I already have a Lexmark X5470 combo setup.. so we are good to go in that area.

Any thoughts on a setup would be greatly welcome!