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A few years ago I listened to a guy tell me how he was going to start a business.  This gentleman certainly had some talent in the arena of the business he was starting; however, as we got deeper into his ideas for his business I think he had a misconception.  The misconception is that others (ie: venture capitalists) would throw money in his lap (not literally of course) because he had a great idea and some talent. 

(Keep in mind, this guy didn’t even have a business plan.  Although, he did have some contacts who might help him in his business ventures.)

In any case, this morning I was reading Guy Kawasaki’s blog (who is a venture capitalist) and he had the “ten worst opening lines that you can use” when invariably asking others to support your business venture. 

Here is what Guy said were the 10 worst opening lines:

1. You say: “I’m bright and ambitious.” Investor thinks: “That’s a relief because I usually invest in stupid and lazy people.”
2. You say: “I’m a blue sky thinker.” Investor thinks: “You have no business model, and you don’t know how to ship.”
3. You say: “I don’t know much about your firm, but I thought I’d contact you anyway.” Investor thinks: “You’re a lazy idiot–why are you wasting my time?”
4. You say: “I love to think of new ways to solve problems.” Investor thinks: “Is this a high-school science fair?”
5. You say: “I have lots of great ideas, but I have trouble figuring out which one to try. Let me tell you about a couple.” Investor thinks: “I want to know which idea you’re going to kill yourself trying to make successful, not which ideas have crossed your idle mind.”
6. You say: “I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur.” Investor thinks: “I’ve always wanted to be a professional golfer. So what if you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?”
7. You say: “I’m sure you are aware of the growing need for security. Web 2.0, Open Source, whatever.” Investor thinks: “If you’re sure I’m aware, why are you telling me you’re sure I’m aware.”
8. You say: “If you sign an NDA, I’ll tell you my idea.” Investor thinks: “You are clueless. How can you not know that venture capitalists don’t sign NDAs?”
9. You say: “The last time I contacted you, I…” Investor thinks: “I’m going to fire my secretary for putting this clown on my calendar again.”
10. You say: “My goal is to build a world-class company.” Investor thinks: “How about you ship and sell the first copy before we talk about world-class anything?”

To read further, you can read Guy’s thoughts here.

ok…i realize the cowboys are not in the superbowl…

honestly, i don’t care for either team, but i do hope it is a close game!

between finishing up a couple projects for school, hopefully i will be able to catch part of the game…i know i will at least take a timeout (no pun intended) to watch the halftime show.

goodnight!

i saw jim collins speak several years back.

you can check his website out here.

the man is brilliant.

i have read good to great several times these last few years.  a must read!

here is a great quote from the book:

 ”It is very important to grasp that LEVEL 5 leadership is not just about humility and modesty.  It is equally about ferocious resolve, an almost stoic determination to do whatever needs to be done to make the company great.”

if you haven’t already, go pick up this book today!

tomorrow lil george is getting dedicated.  i can’t believe that today he is 7 weeks old! 

yesterday he was bobbing his head, drooling and staring in the sky.  now, he’s…uuummm…doing the same thing… 

so, if you are in the area tomorrow, come by the orchard to see g-will get dedicated.

let me explain.

yesterday kathryn ended her maternity leave and went back to work at the church. it was my responsibility to watch him in the morning, then bring him to her.

all was going well at home: he was sleeping, eating, giggling…until i decided to bring him to the church, so i can go to work.

i put him in his car seat…and that is when the crying began! he would not stop!

i finally got to the church to do the baton hand-off, but being a good dad and husband i didn’t want to leave him with kathryn crying. i did all that i could to get him to stop: bounced him, talked to him, starred at him, held him upside-down (j/k), read pride and prejudice to him…i tried everything!

then the master stepped in: father of three, mac user, starbucks addict… in a single bounce and a little pep talk in his ear, he was calm and quiet.

what the heck!!!

here’s george with the master…

does anyone have word on the new mac that is coming out in december?

if so, i’m considering holding out to buy a mac until then…

my computer is on the fritz!!

today i am off to spend time with my family.  my mom and dad are in town to meet their first grandchild!  they drove up from the great state of oklahoma.

i was sitting here going through emails…my wife is next to me feeding george.

all of a sudden george let out a loud explosion that made the next door neighbor’s dog bark and the hair on the back of my neck stand straight up…

i said, “oh man, not again…it is never ending!!!”  the caveat is that at the end of the eruption my wife didn’t skip a beat, as she told me that her duties are shipping (feeding) and i am receiving (changing diapers).

maybe grandpa and grandma will take over receiving for the day…

i don’t know if anyone had the chance to watch the start of the playoffs yesterday, but my friend jeremy affeldt, who plays for the rockies, is in the playoffs!!!

i’m excited for his team and i hope they go all the way!!

good luck jeremy!

now, as it pertains to our cubbies, unfortunately they are starting the playoffs on the wrong foot!  hopefully their first game loss was a wake-up call, “hhelllooo, you are in the playoffs…you can’t blame anyone for losing this time!”

go cubbies!

IF YOU ARE GETTING A WINDOW POPPING UP THAT SAYS “DOWNLOAD“…DO NOT DOWNLOAD…

MORE LATER…

TED