Reskinning the wings in-flight

Have a dream?

2008-11-05T17:15:25-05:00

"I have a dream" --> "Ask not what your country can do for you ..." --> "Yes we can"

Memorable lines from speeches that move us
These three men (two known to be great, the other hoped to be) have something rare we all crave in times of uncertainty, fear or hope--the ability to create a vision of a better situation, and the possibility of movement from a place where we no longer wish to be toward a better place. To make the vision believable, our leader must:

Create a vision of where we want to go
Create a team to manage the journey
Evoke emotion in each of us that inspires us to contribute our support

President Barack Obama will have setbacks just as Kennedy and King did, but I believe he has what it takes to move the US from the 9/11 era into the 2050 era where we will begin tackling difficult problems faced by all countries (such as economic volatility, energy, water, food). The 9/11 era was filled with fear, uncertainty and isolation, but the 2050 era plays to our strengths of hope, creativity, innovation and ambition. Solving big global problems requires integrated solutions and a leader. It's time once again for the US to lead with idealism, competence, transparency and accountability.

Whether or not you supported Barack Obama for president, it's time to begin figuring out how shift our focus from 9/11 to 2050. By doing so, we'll improve our businesses, feel better about ourselves and be able to offer our children opportunities as great as we have enjoyed.

Why Distributed Solar?

2008-03-20T17:53:33-04:00

In my last post, I talked about personal criteria for a new solar power business endeavor. This post explains why I chose the distributed solar power industry.

Three factors make this industry very exciting

Increasing energy prices
Decreasing solar power production costs
Solar power enhances to the current power grid (so utilities shouldn't fight it)

Increasing energy prices - we hear near daily news stories of increasing energy prices due to a combination of: rising global energy demand, reduced supplies of economically accessible fossil fuels, increased costs of new generation facilities (CAPEX). Additionally, utilities face uncertain (potentially large) costs associated with updating neglected transmission infrastructure, and accounting for carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. These macro forces all indicate a strong trend toward increasing electricity prices.

Decreasing solar power production costs - Photovoltaic solar power production costs are going the other way - they are experiencing downward price pressures from learning/efficiency improvements and scale economies similar to the microprocessor industry of the last two decades. PV electricity can now be produced more cheaply in Japan than it can be purchased from traditional utilities--Germany and Spain are on track to do the same in the next 5-10 years. In the interim, we must rely on incentives to reduce consumers' PV cost to near-utility pricing.

Grid enhancing - the current US electrical grid has endured a post-deregulation period of underinvestment, and needs new capital investment to keep up with rising energy demand (especially peak demand). Peak energy demands strain the grid as it carries expensive peak-load power to homes and business in summer mid-day heat to run air conditioning. PV Solar provides a terrific offset to this problem because it provides its maximum energy mid-day when the sun is brightest. Home owners with PV solar panels can generate their own mid-day power, and because of net-metering, send unused electricity back to the grid where it can be consumed by a non-solar neighbor (using only the tiny fraction of the grid between homes instead of the high-load portion between the power station and the neighborhood). Essentially you're removing your demand (and a portion of you neighbors) from the peak demand period -- utilities love this for three reasons:

They don't have to use their most expensive generators to supply your peak demand
They may be able to delay capital investment in new generating capacity
They can delay investing in the grid infrastructure

Sound Exciting? I think so. The implications are even more profound when you consider how this technology can benefit the grid-challenged developing world once costs come down far enough.

PV, solar

Restarting with a sense of purpose

2008-02-03T17:35:02-05:00

We'll the long blogging break is over -- With my Babson MBA in the bag and a few weeks to recover, I'm anxious to write for fun again. After completing a capstone (final) project, many on our team were anxious to move forward with the endeavor for which we wrote a business plan. My gut told me it was time to back away to discover where I really wanted to spend my time and startup energy (not to mention money).

Three criteria were critical:

A sense of making the world a better place (something I could explain to my kids)
Some sort of global contribution--I believe our generation has the resources and potential to lift most of the developing world out of poverty and desperation.
An endeavor that excites me. Life is too short to toil simply for money and prestige. I want that same excitement I had as a fighter pilot working on talented, motivated teams chomping at the bit to plan, brief, execute and debrief missions--the inability to sleep in because you can't wait to get started for the day.

After explaining several ridiculous options to my wife (who happily listened, then told me I should keep thinking), I've narrowed my focus to energy independence through solar power. I'll explain why in another post.

For now, I'm happy to be blogging again. In addition to helping me clarify my thoughts, this should get Josh H-M to quit harassing me about my long break.

Babson Financial Workshop

2007-09-12T20:54:39-04:00

Les Charm conducted a one-day Fast Track Entrepreneurial Finance class last Saturday to help bring entrepreneurial finance into perspective. Many thanks to Les for spending his Saturday morning tuning us up -- He helps set Babson apart. Here is a video of his wrap-up, and some supporting files

Here are some files that support the entrepreneurial finance class

Files used in the full semester class
Blank term sheet
Example term sheet
Venture financing terms defined
Good business definitions
Term sheet summary
M&A Valuation Review
Investment Banking role
Capital Structures
Sale of private companies
Rising Role of Private Equity
Deal Terms (US & Europe)
Raising money - ten mistakes
Raising money - Don't Say
Biotech Startup
Current VC Information

Articles
How to Snag the Strategic Investor (BW: 8/18/2003)
Contest Cash Crunch (Mass High Tech: 9/1/2006)
You Must Hire the Right People (BW: 3/26/2003)

A Whole New Mind

2006-09-20T12:19:12-04:00

Babson, like many MBA programs, has added creativity modules to its program to increase graduates’ effectiveness--I think this great idea has not yet yielded enough benefit. The module we completed several months ago included poetry, sculpture and other right-brain stimulating activities. What many of us were left wondering is: How do these activities increase my effectiveness as a businessperson?

Daniel Pink has an answer in A Whole New Mind. He asserts that the left-brain, logical thinking that has driven our economy and society for twenty years to unrivaled wealth is insufficient for the next twenty years. During a dawning “conceptual age” we will need to harness our thus far neglected right-brain thinking that excels at pattern and opportunity recognition, and combining obscurely related ideas into something new.

Pink presents the argument perfectly for left-brain thinking analysis so we MBA students can get it. Firstly, he maintains that even exquisite left-brain thinking is insufficient due to:

Abundance – we have all of the material goods we need, but it’s not enough
Asia – Millions of offshore superbly-capable, well-educated engineers (and other professionals) are able to do L-B-thinking jobs very well at US minimum wages.
Automation – If you think offshore professionals can do your logical analysis job cheaply, you can only fathom how close to zero cost a Moore’s law curve riding computer can do it (either now or soon!—ask a travel agent).

Secondly, after convincing us that we need new types of jobs and new minds(-sets), Pink describes the types of attributes that will be valued and rewarded as US workers seek higher-concept careers. Resources and exercises at the end of each chapter guide readers who want to start their right-brain workout routine. I cannot improve upon Garr Reynolds’ excellent summary of these attributes: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning (http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2006/08/from_design_to_.html)

In the end, Pink states that “your future will depend on your answers to three questions. In this new era each of us must look carefully at what we do and ask ourselves:”

Can someone overseas do it cheaper?
Can a computer do it faster?
Am I offering something that satisfies the non-material, transcendent desires of an abundant age?

If you buy any of these ideas (like I do), then A Whole New Mind offers an interesting, compact roadmap for exploring how to thrive in a “Conceptual Age”.

Enjoy,
Ed

At What Cost?

2006-09-03T12:15:12-04:00

I have been a proud member of the US military for eighteen years, and have been most proud of the honor and integrity of every military member I have encountered. I hope the accounts that follow represent misinformation.

If these accounts of prisoner treatment are true, can you imagine what we have traded for short-term "security"? Our great military reputation of honor and taking the high road will require generations to rebuild.

Audio Broadcast

Dr. Moira Gunn talks to Dr. Steven Miles, the Minnesota MD who studied tens of thousands of documents released by the Department of Defense about US military prisons in Iraq. Included were those from the notorious Abu Ghurayb prison near Baghdad. What Dr. Miles found was extremely disturbing.

Esquire Feature

Here, at great personal risk, an elite Army interrogator comes forward to reveal his experience at a secret prison camp in Iraq. And more like him will follow. The story of Human Rights Watch and the search for the truth about the United States military and torture.

Starting Up

2006-08-18T20:37:08-04:00

Yesterday I attended the Churchill Club’s Startup Success 2006 in Palo Alto, CA where Guy Kawasaki moderated a panel of successful entrepreneurs who willingly shared their secrets to success. This panel is responsible for extraordinarily useful services such as: LinkedIn, JotSpot, Photbucket (I use all three) as well as Third Rock Mining and Jajah (which I’ll be checking out today). For those of you who do not know Guy Kawasaki, he does a great job of weaving together many ingredients to make a meaningful event. He is always an entertaining and informative host—see his TieCon West “Art of the Start” presentation to see what I mean.

Here is the panel

Lauren Elliott - Third Rock Mining – Founder
Ried Hoffman - Likedin – Co-Founder, CEO
Joe Kraus - JotSpot – Co-Founder, CEO
Daniel Mattes - Jajah – Co-Founder, CTO
Alex Welch - Photobucket – Co-Founder, CEO

Since I was wiped out by a cold, I decided to enjoy the general message and networking rather than take detailed notes. However, there were a few themes that popped, and out of respect for Guy, I’ll list the “top-

10”

(OK, really five). To purchase an mp3 of the event visit the Churchill web site.

Get a product out early and iterate – “If you’re not slightly embarrassed by your first version, you waited too long”
Distribution Channel – make sure you can really get your product/service to its intended audience.
VCs will look for a $50-250M liquidity event – make sure that where you want to go before you decide on VC.
Celebrate your successes -
Celebrate each victory along the way
Be persistent (Joe), but not stupid (Guy) – Great story of how Excite refused to admit defeat and scored a big win.

Events like these help keep me focused on what is important in a startup while I'm deep in a different world working on an MBA. Babson has a one-day event next month called Venture Sartup--we'll see how the ideas translate.

Thanks to my dinner table mates Bryan, Will and others for an enjoyable evening.

Competition

2006-08-17T18:17:22-04:00

The August 21st Business Week has a good feature on competitiveness. An essay by Joe Torre on winning is the lead article and does a great job of framing what competition is all about: “Competing at the highest level is not about winning. It’s about preparation, courage, understanding and nurturing your people, and heart. Winning is the result”.

He describes competing in terms of what you can control: Being expertly prepared, overcoming fear of failure, and remembering that a competitive team is comprised of people who need to feel necessary. “A winner is somebody who goes out … every day and exhausts himself trying to get something accomplished. Being able to get the most from their ability. That’s what winning is all about”.

Other teasers: Experiment Fearlessly, Obsess about customers not rivals, Get personal, Stay hungry.

Later today I’ll have the chance to hear from some of my entrepreneurial heroes at the Churchill Club’s Startup Success program. Guy Kawasaki will moderate a panel of speakers including:

Lauren Elliott, Founder, Third Rock Mining
Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder and CEO, LinkedIn
Joe Kraus, Co-Founder and CEO, JotSpot
Daniel Mattes ,Co-Founder and CTO, Jajah
Alex Welch , Co-Founder and CEO, Photobucket

This should be a lot of fun since I admire all of these entrepreneurs and use services from three of their companies! (Plus Guy's books and blog). I’ll let you know how it goes.

Fast Teams

2006-08-09T22:05:36-04:00

Throughout the Babson MBA, we work in small teams (6-7) to complete assignments, projects and presentations. Babson calls these teams “study groups”, but I think the term team better captures our shared commitment and accountability – some skin in the game. Flying fighter jets in the military demonstrated to me the amazing power of competent, dedicated, inspired teams—I think the same power is available in business teams as well.

As we begin working with new teams in September, we have the opportunity to harness this power and expand our networks--not only by connecting with 6 or 7 new people, but by adding their connections from previous study teams. Now, when we have new problems to solve, we will have tight connections with 12 to 14 classmates and loose connections with just about everyone in the class. This process also helps develop invaluable relationships that will endure well past graduation.

Donald Clark’s web site highlights the difference between teams and groups as well as the process of creating teams from groups: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadtem.html. Here are some highlights:

Foundation

Teams have numerous goals, but one should stand out as your rallying point. An example of a central goal is: “create the most effective study team in the class”. A supporting goal might be: “to create and deliver the best marketing presentation”. Everyone must know, agree upon, and be committed to accomplishing the team’s goals.

Key to accomplishing team goals is productive participation of all members:

Contributing data and knowledge
Sharing in the decision making process and reaching consensus
Making the decision
Making an imposed decision work

Shared Commitment Requirements

Communication - Open, honest, and effective exchange of information between members.
Trust - Openness and truthfulness in critiquing and trusting others. We must get past making only positive critiques--our teammates deserve better
Sense of belonging - Cohesiveness by being committed to an understood mandate and team identity.
Diversity - This must be valued as an asset. It is a vital ingredient that provides the synergistic effect of a team.
Creativity and risk taking - If no one individual fails, then risk taking becomes a lot easier.
Evaluation - The ability to self correct.
Change compatibility - Being flexible and assimilating change.
Participatory leadership - Everyone must help lead to one degree or another.

Groups to Teams
A lose interpretation of Donald Clark’s recipe for making your group into a team.

Develop a Sense of Urgency - Team members need to believe the team has an urgent and worthwhile purpose. Establishing a sense of urgency and direction is pretty well be done for us by Babson and helps teams know what their expectations are. The more urgent and meaningful the need to reach a goal, the more likely it is that a real team will start to emerge. The best teams define their performance expectations, but are flexible enough to allow changes to shape their own purpose, goals, and approach.

Set Clear Rules of Behavior - Teams develop rules of conduct to help them achieve their purpose and performance goals. Some possibilities include:

Attendance – make participation a priority
Confidentiality - personal revelations must remain among the team
Analytic approach - facts are friendly
Constructive confrontation - make your unique point of view known, but do your homework too!
Deliverables (the most important) - once you have are responsible for an assignment, do it well. If you run into a roadblock, ask for help. But, don't abuse the trust your team has placed in you by min-running your assignment. The team does a grave disservice by letting a team member tag along for a free ride (this will not happen in the real world, and usually shows up at exam time).

Keep the Team Informed - Challenge the team with fresh facts and information. New information causes a team to redefine and enrich its understanding of objectives, thereby helping the team to set clearer goals.

Grow Together - Teams must spend a lot of time together (bonding), especially in the beginning. Yet potential teams often fail to do so. The time spent together must be both scheduled and unscheduled. Creative insights as well as personal bonding require impromptu and casual interactions.

Reinforcement Works Wonders - Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward. Positive reinforcement works as well in a team context as elsewhere. For example, by being alert to a shy person's initial efforts to speak up, allows you to encourage continued contributions.

What are your thoughts on teambuilding?

Crunch Time

2006-07-22T23:34:32-04:00

Last week’s NC mountain vacation with super friends was a great time to reconnect with the people who mean the most to me (family and friends). However, this week marks the beginning of three busy weeks of traveling, Air National Guard work and Babson MBA final exams.

Babson is a entrepreneurially focused business college with an MBA program that allows students to earn a well-respected MBA while working (three very full days on campus per-month plus about 30 hours per-week crammed into whatever else it is that you do. Babson’s big draw is its entrepreneurial emphasis (top rating for 13 consecutive years) which fits with how I view all future successful business people working. Two great books outline this theme better than I can. Re-imagine! by Tom Peters and The Future of Work by Tom Malone paint a pretty good picture of what it will take to succeed over the next decade as an employee of a medium/large business, or founder of your own. If you buy these authors’ opinions (I do), you’ll never look at “job” the same way again.

As we approach our Babson four-week August break, I’m looking forward to reading a book or two, working on a business plan, but especially catching up with my wife and three children. This MBA while working while being in the National Guard while raising a family certainly stretches you, but fits with a plan to launch a business during the next two years.