SOPHISTICATED FINANCE

Upload Music to Facebook

2009-12-15T10:34:00-05:00

The Music Producer, based in Miami Beach, FL, has a new feature which let's you upload your original music to Facebook. Maybe my FB friends don't upload music but I have not seen this feature yet on FB.

To upload music to FaceBook, go to The Music Producer website, create "My Music Space", click on FaceBook Connect. Then any music you create in Music Producer or upload to My Music Space appears on your wall on FaceBook and in the news all your friends see. You can also use My Music Space to upload videos and photos to FaceBook.

The Music Producer is a nifty product that let's you create your own music and has a 30 day free trial. Check it out here.

"Social Entrepreneurship" Confuses the Issue

2009-12-11T11:21:27-05:00

I have been involved in a well known non-profit project for the last 120 days. This is a project with a recognition level similar to Save the Children. I have learned a few lessons, which are listed below.

Everybody will take a meeting with a representative of a well known non-profit
To become a well known non-profit, in large part it is all about who the spokesman/leader is
You must have an audacious goal which changes the way people think about the problem
Many people involved in the project have different objectives and different sets of principles for decision making
There should be no difference in the project whether you sell cups with the project logo or sell a product with a contribution margin as the means to fund raise for the cause, provided the financial contribution is reinvested in the project and does not conflict with achieving the mission

Most of these "lessons" are the same findings in determining a successful startup. Entrepreneurship is entrepreneurship whether you are a non-profit or the next Google. What the non-profits need to do is think more like entrepreneurs. What more entrepreneurs need to do is to recognize that social objectives are consistent with profit making companies.

I think over time the distinction some people draw between social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship will go away. The distinction does nothing to contribute to understanding. Evidence that the distinction is going away comes from Atlanta-based Better World Books, a VC-backed company with an explicit commitment to a social project (illiteracy reduction) and a defined financial commitment to support that goal. However, to achieve the overall objectives the company is a for profit company. More people should be considering the Better World Books model. Then we can stop talking about "social" entrepreneurship and have more time to solve the world's problems.

Previous thoughts on "social" entrepreneurship are here.

Image credit: echoinggreen.org

Decision Making and the Smart Man

2009-12-09T08:14:35-05:00

Back in March I posted on the role of assumptions in developing the business and financial model. The important point was that the assumptions represent the key risks in the business model. Yesterday I read a good post on recruiting in the Private Equity and Venture Capital Recruitment blog. In the post the author suggested that one should trust their intuition and check their assumptions. The key point was that your intuition is frequently a better indicator than a rigid checklist approach.

My definition of intuition is " facts that you cannot articulate". Therefore, when you rely on intuition there are a series of facts and certain assumptions which logically lead to the conclusion--the intuition. I have on many occasions worked with highly intuitive people. Frequently I have been able to put togeher the facts and assumptions that led to the intuition. There are two points here.

For most intuitions the facts can be discovered, if you work at it--perhaps with another person
The assumptions in the intuition represent the risks in the decision or conclusion

I do not use intuition much and never have, but I have great respect for intuitive people. However, I always take the time to construct the facts and the assumptions in an intuition in order to identify the risks or the errors in logic.

Another technique I always use is the "smart man" hypothesis. Whenever, you are trying to understand something like an intuition, assume the person is very smart. By assuming they are very smart, you force yourself to find the facts and the assumptions that would logically lead to the smart man's conclusion. Dismissing something as "woman's intuition" or "off the wall" usually means that you were not willing to put in the effort to understand how a smart man would have arrived at the conclusion.

Note: I learned about the smart man hypothesis back in the early 1980s. It has served me especially well in better understanding many, many people and their thinking. I am sure it has been renamed to be more gender neutral but I do not know the new term.

Mission

2009-12-07T17:20:38-05:00

In entrepreneurship and in corporate America much is made of the “mission” of the firm. The mission explains the corporate focus and principal objective of the firm. Unfortunately, the mission statement is frequently written and then ignored. Equally problematic is the executive who puts his personal ambition and recognition ahead of the mission.

An excellent example of people who understand mission are the guards at the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier in Washington, DC. This story was sent to me by several people today, the anniversary of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington , DC , our  US Senate/House took 2 days off in anticipation of the storm. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the  duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier were given permission to suspend the assignment.

They respectfully declined the offer, 'No way, Sir!' Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding  the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be  afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

CEO Needs to Consider More than Profit

2009-12-03T10:33:00-05:00

A new study published by a group of academics in Arizona shows that employees are more highly motivated when the CEO focuses on more than company profitability. A survey of 520 companies shows that employees place a high value on relations with customers, their own welfare, the community and environmental issues. CEOs that ignore these concerns lose respect from employees and demotivate them. Additional detail is available in HBR December 2009.

Not a surprising set of findings but perhaps the survey results will make this type of thinking more mainstream. For those of you who do not think you can afford concerns such as the environment or the community, consider what the cost is of demotivated employees.

SFL-Social Media Calendar

2009-12-03T08:18:24-05:00

Courtesy of Refresh Miami, the upcoming events in South Florida for social media are shown below.

Refresh Lauderdale - Intro to Web Typography - December 3 @ 7:30PM
Come join us as our second Refresh in Broward county kicks off the month. Dan Rubin and Michael Montgomery will be speaking about web typography.

Pizza and sodas will be provided, and we’ll all go grab a beer/wine/drink after at Lolas.

200 East Las Olas Boulevard, Suite 120, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301
You can RSVP on facebook here:

Refresh Miami December 16.
We'll most likely be having a holiday party, get together on the 16th. If you’d like to present, please let me know. RSVP

Upcoming South Florida Events

December 3
SFTA Holiday Networking Party 5:30PM - 8:30PM

December 4
Conversational Marketing Workshop at FIU

December 5
iPhone Developer Meetup "Hands on code to learn push notification with Appush"

December 7
Web Monday West Palm Beach December Meetup

December 8
Social Media Club South Florida - 7PM @ Transit Lounge (729 SW 1st Ave Miami, FL 33130)

December 9
Wordpress Meetup: Hack proof your WP site. Security tips.

Wine Tweetup at Jade Kitchen WPB

December 10

Terremark: CLOUD COMPUTING: IT Strategies to Rebound from Recession with Confidence

SFIMA - Holiday Wine Party : Support of US Marine Corps Toys for Tots

December 11

TechAmerica Abacus Awards

December 16
RefreshMiami Holiday Party
http://refreshmiami.org

December 21
Miami Ruby Brigade December Meetup

Overcoming Startup Fear?

2009-12-02T10:15:00-05:00

Social media tends to follow themes. I think it has something to do with the phases of the moon, but I am still researching. Recently I saw two good posts on overcoming the fear of doing a startup (here and here). Both writers basically talk about the fear that almost everybody has of a startup and illustrate their success in overcoming the fear.

Most people are afraid of failing. As you get older you realize that failing is part of life and you just need to start over. The more logical fear is the fear of losing the money invested in the project. Again, life shows that money can be replaced. The other common fear is related to what your peers or friends will think of you if you fail. Most good friends will admire your courage to strike out on your own. So go for it!...but first read every post on SF about knowing the customer need and determining the size of the market opportunity.

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Another Benefit of Twitter

2009-12-01T10:11:00-05:00

Last week I put up a silly weather tweet.

"Need wood workers to build ark in Miami. Torrential rains but low winds."

My fiend @Neilkod responded as follows.

@rhhfla no kidding. My 5:30 AM bike ride was rained out. didn't see that coming. how about an iphone app that cancels the alarm if raining?

With the current state of location-based services (LBS), the iPhone technology and NOAA weather feeds, the idea of managing alarms based on weather conditions is not far fetched. In fact the whole idea of managing alarms based on a variety of external data sources is quite intriguing. Maybe a conference call alarm could be triggered only when the host is on line or the buy dinner alarm would only trigger when the spouse leaves the office.

I think the informality of Twitter spawns creativity.

Management Insights from the Israeli Army

2009-11-30T13:43:55-05:00

I have written about the military 11 times on this blog, with these two posts the most popular (here and here). I find the military to be an excellent source of management techniques and lessons. Today I read a terrific post (terrific being my highest level of praise) from the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles. The post is titled "Soldiers of Fortune-How the Israeli Army became the most prolific innovation engine on earth". Setting aside the hype, this article is worth about three blog posts. You definitely need to read the full article if you have even a passing interest in management. Very valuable also if you are in a resource constrained environment.

The management lessons to be learned from the Israeli Army are:

Flat organizations work best when you are resourced constrained
Put the most talented person in charge of a mission, not the most senior person
Foster open communications that ignore organizational rank

The economic development lessons to be learned are:

Universal military conscription fosters a country-wide set of values
Everyone serving in the military creates more cohesiveness because people are exposed to all social classes and are forced to work together
Mandatory military service creates more mature, experienced and serious students when they later enter university

The human resource lesson to be learned is that participation in elite units, such as military intelligence, is a very good indicator of future performance. Elite organizations, whether it be MIT, the Seals or JP Morgan, all screen for certain qualities that will also benefit your organization. Pick people from elite organizations.

Another interesting thing about the article is we could have changed Israel for Singapore and the story would have been identical. The only difference is that in Singapore they encourage the most talented people to stay in the military for 20 years and then to retire into senior positions in the leading quasi-government companies. Singapore is also more hierarchical. Nearly the same model for another successful small country.

So if you are running something small with limited resources--such as a startup--there are many good ideas here from the Israeli Army. Next post we will talk about innovation and the Israeli Army.

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Mercosur Trip

2009-11-27T10:33:00-05:00

Next weekend (December 5) I will be leaving for a trip to Monteveideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. I will be attending a conference in Uruguay and then visiting client prospects in BA.

I am especially looking forward to my first trip to BA. BA is one of about seven cities that I have left on my list of places to see. The others are Istanbul, Athens, Rio, Johannesburg, Moscow and Cairo. Most of the rest of the world's great cities I have visited.

Would appreciate reader thoughts on places to visit in BA and especially restaurants to eat at. Please leave your ideas in the comments.

Would be happy to meet with SF readers in Paraguay and Argentina. Send me a tweet (@rhhfla) or email me.

Blogging should continue uninterrupted that week, but post topics could be even more eclectic than usual. Will try to restrain myself and avoid five posts on economic development :)

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Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T10:50:00-05:00

Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

For each new morning with its light
For rest and shelter of the night
For health and food, for love and friends
For everything Thy goodness sends.

For more quotations on graditude, try Quote Garden

To everybody in harms way, be safe this Thanksgiving.

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Miami: New Incubator

2009-11-24T16:19:39-05:00

Courtesy of a tweet from @bobwhite7, I am pleased to announce that Miami has a public incubator run by EDC, a non-profit development organization focused on South Florida. EDC also runs an incubator north of Miami at an "unnamed" state university with whom I am not affiliated ;)

More information on the new incubator is here. Appears challenging to find a phone number or email for EDC but maybe someone can provide that info in the comments.

UPDATE: Complete contact info for EDC is now in the comments

Chrome OS--Matching the Customer Need

2009-11-24T10:41:00-05:00

Some experts argue that you develop the product and then match it to the customer need. I strongly believe that you first identify the customer need(s) and then design the product around those needs. As the video below demonstrates, Google developed Chrome OS based on a profound understanding of users. This new OS boots fast, has a simple intuitive user interface based on the web browser and an open app framework which allows it to open any application that has a web/browser version. In summary, Chrome OS has speed, simplicity and security--a nice summary of most people's needs for a computer.

Talent Rarely Matches Ambition

2009-11-23T10:22:00-05:00

The ambition and passion of young entrepreneurs is rarely matched by their talent and experience. The Netsetter has a good post entitled "Replace Yourself--A Guide to Delegating Your Workload" which encourages founders to trust employees and delegate. This may speak to the point about supplementing talent but it is a less effective solution in filling in for the missing experience.

Venture Hype has a new post that shows that the average high tech founder launched their business at 40. VH stated the following advantages for the older founder:

They offer a lot of experience

They are more cautious

They are likely to have their own funding

They have nothing better to do

They have credibility with bankers and customers

Bottom line, experience comes with time, which young entrepreneurs can rarely make up. The good news is that many of you will live to be 100. Maybe taking ten years off to work for a really good company before you start your business is not such a bad idea. As St. Augustine said:"Patience is the companion of wisdom".

Social Media Affects Information Presentation

2009-11-20T08:27:48-05:00

Yesterday I met with a lady who is the director of marketing for a bank. She was interested in my views on how to use social media to get the bank's message out to clients and prospects. One can not live on finance alone :)

I basically made the following argument.

The world has created more information in the last 10 years than in the entire history before that time
Consequently people are challenged to aggregate and filter this huge flow of information to be useful
Therefore, customers will participate in only a limited number of information sources and the challenge for marketers is to identify the flows used by prospects and customers
Younger prospects are probably using different information sources from older customers (e,g,Twitter vs blogs) so marketing probably has to use multiple channels in social media simultaneously

Nothing too earth shattering so far.

Then I said that because we are all becoming information managers, customers will come to expect the ability to manipulate the information received in the format most useful to them. In other words, no longer will customers be satisfied with a single format, static presentation of information such as a monthly credit card statement. Customers will want the ability to sort and re-format the information in the way most useful to them. The companies that are first to provide this flexibility may gain a temporary competitive advantage.

Perhaps the more important point is that habits and behaviors related to real time, multi-channel social media will have an affect on how we want to deal with traditional information (such as monthly credit card statements).

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