How Silicon Valley is Changing My Life & the World
Last week I had the opportunity to attend the IdeaMensch SF conference here in San Francisco. Being able to attend the conference and hear a stellar group of speakers share their experiences was absolutely amazing. Following the conference, I got the unshakeable realization of how lucky I am to be living in a place that encourages and promotes innovation around every corner. More specifically, there were three things that stuck out to me about Silicon Valley and the opportunities that it provides for people brave (and crazy) enough to try and change the world. Safety in Numbers Philip Rosedale spoke at the conference and completely blew away everyone in attendance. Specifically, there was one comment that he made about the start up frenzied culture here in the bay area: ‘People think that entrepreneurs are crazy; but in fact starting a company in San Francisco is a safe bet. There is 10 times the start up density of other American cities here in Silicon Valley. This is important because 9 out of 10 companies fail, and being in an environment that is flush with these connections is priceless. Why? Because you can completely bomb your own company, walk into a bar in the mission district and meet your next employer, co-founder or conceive the next big idea in the blink of an eye.’ That comment set off a light bulb in my head because Philip is 100% correct; I have literally walked into bars and seen formation agreements signed over shots of Fernet’s. The act of starting your own business in general is indeed risky — as Phil’s 90% failure rate confirms — but in contrast, starting a business in a location like San Francisco becomes the safe thing to do because of the resources & culture available to you as an entrepreneur. New Money is Fun I’ll lead into this point with a story: I took a visiting friend from New York out on the town with me one random Tuesday night. Aside from the general whiskey-fueled banter that’s the result of the night on the town, we also chatted about … Cherry: A mobile application that provides mobile car-washing services Uber Cab: A mobile application that provides taxis / towncars to users Get it Now: Mobile app that delivers anything you want for a nominal fee (plus tip for the delivery guy / girl) Part way through the evening my friend stopped the conversation and mentioned that she thought these were some of the coolest, innovative ideas she had heard of in a long time. She continued on to mention that any time the conversation shifts to business in New York, it’s always centered around Wall Street and the old money financial sector. Which leads me to my point … Old money is boring. It’s not innovative It’s not changing the way the world works as a whole And it’s sure as hell very exclusive with high barriers to entry On the contrary, new money … Changes the ‘status quo’ Creates new jobs, not replaces existing ones (*cough* *cough* finance, law, other old money industries) Provides the ability to change the way the world works in a positive way Uncertainty is Addicting There are times when the uncertainty of how a start up is going to continue to service existing clients, funnel new business into the company...
read moreSetting 3 Month Super Goals
When I first moved to San Francisco, I took the time to write out a list of goals that I wanted to achieve on a poster board that I hung at the entrance to my bedroom. These goals were drawn up in three month increments — that is, I had three months to go out and complete the items listed on my wall. So I decided that my first set of goals should be based on personal and professional ambitions. The personal goals included … Meet someone new every day: Not done (too generic, as I didn’t define it very well) Give a gift to someone every day: Not done (also discovered this goal was too generic) The professional goals included … Land 3 clients in three specific verticals:Done YouEye VMware bioSPOT Find a charity to begin working with: Still on the lookout. Suggestions for bay area non profits that use technology to improve the world? Make 20 calls every day: Not done (ended up realizing that cold calling wasn’t the most efficient use of my time and canned this goal pretty quickly) Aside from the tangible professional achievements, what I learned from this goal setting session was … It Pays to Be Literal: Don’t set vague or conceptually debatable goals. This is easy to do professionally (land a new client, get a promotion, find a new job, etc) but is actually quite difficult when setting personal goals. Re-Visit Your Goals Daily: Find a way to visit your goals on a regular basis (saved image on phone, Evernote app, etc) so that you can continue to monitor your progress. Focus on Quality, not Quantity: Don’t feel the need to set a large number of goals for yourself. Instead, focus on a small number of tangibly measurable goals that you can track yourself. Share These Goals Publicly: Don’t hide from your goals — place them in a publicly noticeable space and discuss them with your friends & family. With that in mind … I’ve set four new goals for the next three months. Let’s see how this round goes 🙂 — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreConfidence Rules
Just wanted to pass on a gem of advice that I’ve recently realized to be 100% true … Confidence is Everything In the past three months, I’ve used confidence to … Cold call my way through 2 continents worth of assistants directly into the office of a C-Suite executive at a Fortune 500 company Went from zero to 3+ clients for my company Asked out a woman who was much taller & better looking than I am — and got a YES Advice I can share on gaining confidence … Get out of your comfort zone as much as possible: This will make you more confident when you’re in comfortable situations & able to smoothly handle awkward ones Write a list of things you’re good at: Figure out the weaknesses in your strengths and improve on those points Write a list of things you’re bad at: Use this list to make a secondary list of action items — what steps will you take to turn these weaknesses into strengths? What social situations could you use to improve your confidence … Concerts: Go to a concert — BY YOURSELF — and come out of the event with at least 2 new sets of friends (complete with contact information) Coffee shops: People tend to post up in coffee shops to work or read — try interrupting their space and starting a conversation that lasts more than 5 minutes Libraries: If you get a good conversation going in a coffee shop, take on silence at it’s best: in a library. Take the coffee shop exercise to the next level and start a 5 minute conversation with someone of the opposite sex in a library. What has confidence done for you lately? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreCherishing All That’s Important to You
Earlier this evening, I found out that a friend from many years back had recently lost his father. For some reason it didn’t seem real to me. All I could conjure in my head was the memory of a vibrant father figure; an enormous grin glued on his face, cracking jokes, playing obnoxiously loud 80’s hair medal music and just generally being a big bundle of smiles. Now, more than a decade after I last saw the man he has moved on to the next life. Which made me think … Am I doing a good job of cherishing all the special people in my life? You’d do well to ask yourself the same question. Even better, you’d do well to honestly answer that question. Cherish the people in your life. You never know when they (or yourself) won’t be around anymore. — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreWhat I Learned about Sales from Buying $65 Worth of Face Cream
When it comes to cosmetic products, I’m the definition of an average guy: I have one stick of deodorant, one bottle of body wash, and one tube of hair gel. In essence: I don’t really give a s*** about high-end cosmetics products because they’re not important to me. So Imagine My Surprise When I Was Approached by a Cosmetics Saleswoman at the Mall Today I thought she might have been confused: Why would she choose me, of all people, to approach? Well, 20 minutes and $65 later, I realized how smart she was to approach me with the face cream offer. Here are the five steps that she used to connect my wallet with her product that all marketers should incorporate into their tool bag. 1. Doing Your Homework The saleswoman made a big assumption when she walked up to me: She assumed that I was a pretty regular guy and, as such, didn’t spend a ton of time or money on upscale cosmetic products. She then framed the problem and gave a solution: Problem: Men don’t normally take care of themselves by purchasing high-quality cosmetics because they’re ‘lazy’ or ‘uninterested’ Solution: Her product only takes an additional 30 seconds to use once a week It’s [next to] impossible to get a new client to listen to you if you don’t immediately prove that you a) know their industry / business, and b) can improve the way that something could be accomplished (i.e. ‘increase sales / efficiency by 100%’) 2. Setting the Buying Stage Encourage customers to get into the habit of saying ‘yes’ early in the relationship, as it’s a contagious feeling that develops a sense of trust between both parties. Also, by asking ‘yes’ questions you can walk customers into a mental corner where every answer became a ‘yes’. Questions that this saleswoman asked me included: Do you have a lot of face time when you’re conducting business? Do you look at someone’s face the first time you meet them? If you could fix any redness or blemishes on your face, would you want to? 3. Ability to Purchase When you’re taking the time to engage a potential customer, do you know if they actually are in the market for some version of your product / service AND can afford to buy it? Even though I wasn’t in the market for face cream, she knew that I was in the market to buy something at the mall by asking one simple question: What are you shopping for today? When I answered that I was there for a couple new pairs of sneakers, she was able to do the math and realize that I was already in the mindset of spending about $100 (estimate $50 per pair of shoes x 2 pairs of shoes = $100) and that I definitely had the mindset of buying something in the general price range she was selling. 4. Why Buy Now? I kept putting her off with the statement “If I want to buy this, I’ll come back in 3 days time and buy it from you.” Her response was this: Why wait? Let’s try the product out now. To prove her products worth, she applied the cream to my left arm and left my right arm untouched. The difference was actually pretty phenomenal — her product delivered!...
read moreSocialite Karma
I’ve noticed something over the past two weeks … Karma smiles down on those who invest time & energy in their relationships Take this story, for example: Yesterday, I sent a Facebook message to an ex co-worker just to say ‘hi’ and reminisce about an old work joke we used to tell He responded with your standard ‘great to hear from you’ note … along with a mention that he had some business to send my companies way Just for taking 30 seconds of my time to send him a message, I ended up with a hot new business lead The point of the story is that you should take more time to connect with friends, colleagues and connections that have fallen by the wayside Think this is just a one-time example? Lightning in a bottle? Well … By travelling through Japan solo this past January, I was able to make new friends that literally span the globe. When I re-connected with one of these friends last week, we began planning a trip through southeast Asia for early 2013 While attending a house warming party for my friend’s sister last weekend, I met someone who was actively searching for online marketing help and asked for my card so we could connect I’m not connecting with these people with selfish, self-serving results in mind — I’m simply dropping by and saying ‘hello’ Every week, I challenge you to go out of your way and connect with an old friend, ex co-worker or acquaintance and ask them one simple question: How have you been lately? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read more“What’s The Best Thing That Happened Today?”
So, I encourage everyone to end each day with … What’s the best thing that happened today? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreHitting the ‘Go’ Button
Sometimes, you have ignore conventional wisdom and press ‘Go’ It rarely makes sense at the time, but sometimes you just need to have the guts to pull the trigger and make a tough decision. Recognizing points in your life that are ‘Go’ times is a skill one acquires over time. You just have to experience the ‘Go’ button enough times to recognize when you’ve struck gold or found bear scat. So do yourself a favor and hit lifes ‘Go’ button. You’ll thank me later. — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreAttitude is Everything
Sometimes, running your own business can chew you up and spit you out. It seems like the entire world is against you (it is), that you’ll never get anything done (you will), and that you are slowly but surely losing your mind (you are — that’s why God invented Evernote). So, to help you fellow / potential / aspiring entrepreneurs out there, I wanted to share a great piece of advice that a friend told me a few weeks back. This very wise person told me that “All you can control is …” My positive attitude The way I present my product / service to others The amount of effort I put into presenting my product / service to as many potential customers as possible Everything else, according to him, is beyond your realm of control when finding new customers for your product or service. So next time you’re feeling down, ask yourself … What traits or feelings do I experience when I’m in a positive mood? Who can I lean on to help turn my frown into a smile? What support system do I have in place? Without fail, what can I do to make myself smile under any condition? Otherwise known as “If someone was pointing a gun at me, what action could I take that will guarantee a smile?” If none of the tips above work, then I’d recommend a steady stream of Johnny Walker Black Label, a comfortable couch and the movie Out Cold. — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
read moreFueling the Fire: What Motivates You to Win?
“Fear is for people who don’t get out very much” The world is a terrifying & amazing place that will chew you up and spit you to the curb in the blink of an eye. How would I know such a thing? I’ve failed more times in the past four weeks than I have in my entire lifetime. I’ve gone from the highest of the highs to the lowest of the lows, having mood swings comparable to a pregnant woman who’s just been told that Whole Foods is out of pickles and peanut butter (hint: don’t ever tell a pregnant woman that). Then why do I keep going? Well, that’s fairly simple … Drive: Getting so close to winning the gold (numerous times) over the past four weeks has made me even hungrier to hold it in my hands. I’m hungry — I want it so damn bad that I won’t stop until I get a taste of it. Stubborn-ness: Don’t tell me I can’t do something — forget you. I can do whatever I set my mind to. And because I’ve got the drive to prove everyone and their mothers wrong, I won’t give up until I do. Winning is Everything: Say what you will about Charlie Sheen, but that dude was really onto something with his whole #winning mantra; it’s all the matters. Read biographies by Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan or Peyton Manning and they’ll all tell you the same thing. Second Best = Last Place: There’s no prize for second best in this world — either you bring home the hardware or you don’t. Who cares if you were second/third/fourth best … You still didn’t close the deal. There’s no one to wipe away the tears — you simply need to get back on the bike and ride. In the immortal words of Ricky Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” What keeps you moving forward? How do you motivate yourself to bring the house down? — Aside from being the CEO at MKG Media Group, Mike is a dark beer aficionado with a healthy appetite for travel and pushing personal boundaries. A proud graduate of Washington State University, Mike currently calls San Francisco home. Twitter // Google+ //...
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