Anything Goes Lab.. Uncut!

Are you Going? >> Real Connections, A Real Ferrari, and No Hierarchy - MassTLC 2010 - Bill Warner's Blog

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:15:00 -0700

MassTLC 2010 is designed like the Internet - tons of connections and no hierarchy. And the event moves fast, like this Ferrrari 360, which four lucky people will drive at the event and one will take home for the night.

via billwarner.posterous.com

Are you signed up yet? If not.. Why? Great experts and entrepreneurs.

If you are in Boston the MassTLC Innovation Unconference is THE don't miss event.

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Starting from The Heart: Bill Warner’s Founding Advice | how2startup

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:55:00 -0700

How Starting from the Heart is Relevant

I believe that having gone through the above exercises will help you in many ways, including practical ones, as you build your startup. Who should you hire? People that share some of your beliefs and intentions, ideally, and that can understand your people. What features should you add to your MVP? Ones that are aligned with beliefs/intentions/people.

via how2startup.com

A nice summary of Bill's advice from Roy Rodenstein about his experience at Startup Weekend. I like how Roy ties the founding advice into longer term aspects of both product and customer development.

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what I'm doing differently

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 08:25:00 -0700

What am I doing differently today because of AnythingGoes?

For me, the most important part of AG was the community – the energy of the group – the friends I made – and one thing that's changed in my life is the kind of conversations I'm having. But how have my actions changed since the session?

Well here's one thing:

Bill Warner got me to create a Posterous blog (by simply emailing an iPhone audio recording of one of our brainstorm sessions to post@posterous.com) and since then I've been blogging.

This might not sound like a big thing – everyone's blogging these days and services like Posterous are making it easier and easier to get started.

For me though, it's a really big step. I'm someone who's kept my writing private for years – I've been been “blogging” in private since 1998 – keeping a personal, unpublished journal, that is, and I've probably spent more time on it than anything else.

In essence, I was taking the same approach to my writing that some entrepreneurs take when they launch a product – go into stealth mode, keep it secret, ask people to sign NDAs, try to polish your product till it's perfect, and then release it in a big splash.

When you spend time in the startup world you learn that this defensive, secretive approach doesn't always work out.

I've scrapped that mentality in my entrepreneurial projects and recently, I've scrapped it in my writing as well. I finally got the courage to show my rough, unedited face to the world. I've recognized that starting conversations is more important to me than achieving perfection in prose.

So how does this relate to Bill Warner's ideas – the core of the AnythingGoes curriculum?

I think one thing you can gain from Bill's concept of “timeless intention” – one thing you can gain from exploring your intentions and finding simple words to express them – one thing you can gain from doing this among peers in a setting like AnythingGoes – is courage.

Bill believes entrepreneurs need “tools” to follow their hearts, since the world often pushes us to follow our heads. I believe the tools Bill has already created are effective in the way they build courage.

Here's a blog post I wrote yesterday, describing how I'd teach the core of what I learned in AG. This is my own take, not “approved” by Bill or anyone else – you can read it and see what you think.

how I understand Bill Warner's “Follow your heart” message now

“Intentions aren't something you invent, so don't try”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/how-i-understand-bill-warners-follow-your-hea

Below are some of my other recent posts about entrepreneurship and inventing (my own personal positions, not necessarily reflecting Bill's philosophy, but influenced by it):

your work is your vote

“What each of us does for work has at least as much, if not a greater social impact than the way each of us casts our vote in a presidential election.”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/your-work-is-your-vote

the etymology of tools

“Are we going to hear the messages of the inventors?”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/the-etymology-of-tools

manifest intentions now

“If your intention is to help people make new friends, you could host a cocktail party.”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/manifest-intentions-now

language, money, intention

“Don't work for a company if you don't understand or believe the language it uses to describe itself.”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/language-money-intention

thought experiment: products as teachers

“What would you need to teach someone so that they could solve the same problem that your product solves?”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/thought-experiment-products-as-teachers

If you've read this far and want more, I've made this offer to anyone who visits my blog:

an offer to readers / premature optimization

“I'll take any rough piece of writing from this blog, refine it, shape it, clarify it, and make the improved product freely available here – if you have a use for it and you let me know.”

http://blog.rudiseitz.com/an-offer-to-readers-premature-optimization

-Rudi

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TEDxBoston - Bill Warner - How to Build a Startup Company from the Heart

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:25:00 -0700

via youtube.com

Did you miss Bill Warners TEDx talk? Watch it here or on Youtube.

"Use your head but follow your heart.. and you'll always have a leg up".

This is also Bill's basis for Anything Goes Lab.

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My Second Week at Anything Goes Lab

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:26:46 -0700

(Original version of this post:
http://carreno.me/posts/my-second-week-at-anything-goes-lab)

If there were a single lesson I would take from these 2 weeks it would be: don't be afraid of failure. We all know this, but putting it in practice is not easy, fear has kept me from doing many things. How did I learn this time? I heard very smart people telling stories about their failures, and they were not embarrassed, they even laughed about it.

The most convincing was having Bill Warner telling how a New York editor rejected his book. Some of his ideas were inspired by Wayne Dyer's The Power of Intention and he gave him credit for it. The editor's answer was pretty close to if I wanted to read Wayne Dyer I'd buy a book by Wayne Dyer.

As a team, we also had our own dose of failure, Scott Kirsner, a writer for the Boston Globe, came to visit. When he compared us to Curves I don't think he meant it as a compliment.

We invited 2 guests to have lunch and talk, they were Eric Peters and Desh Deshpande. Eric was CTO and technical co-founder of Avid Technology It was interesting to hear how Eric and Bill created the co-flow that made Avid successful.

What is Co-Flow?

All of us have multiple intentions, and because we're humans, there aren't two people with the same intentions, it's like our DNA.

A company on the other hand, has only one intention, the vision of the original founder, what wanted to achieve with the idea. Because unique, it's called the primary intention. The goal of a startup is then, building an invention to achieve the primary intention; we say that the primary intention flows through the invention.

But the founder is not alone, there're co-founders and employees, all with intentions of their own. There's co-flow when the members of the team not only follow the primary intention, but also add-up to it, they amplify it, this is the most powerful concept in building a company from the heart.

It's essential to identify the primary intention very clearly and communicate it to every member of the company. This was one of the main goals during our first week at Anything Goes Lab.

Eric Peter's task was to create the technology to allow movie editors use a computer, it was the 80's and they were still cutting celluloid to do their work. Bill asked Eric to create the hardware and software to display movies at 15 frames per second. Defining the target display refresh rate was a tricky decision, make the number too low and the editors won't like the product or will buy a competitor, make it too high and you'll run into technical difficulties, will need more resources, and delay the release.

Eric accepted the requirement without arguing. Didn't say anything either when Bill asked "is it ready?" which I assume happened countless times. When Eric got back to Bill with a working solution, it was capable of displaying 30 frames/second. He knew his people (the editors) better than Bill, he knew 15 wasn't enough to convince them to switch. He also knew that Bill wouldn't allow him to work with a target refresh rate of 30, so he kept it secret.

This is a good example of co-flow at work. It's also proof of the exceptional abilities of Eric Peters as an engineer. This gave Avid a huge advantage over the competition, today its yearly sales are over $600 million.

Desh Deshpande

Desh shared some of his stories as an entrepreneur, among others, as co-founder of Cascade Systems and Sycamore Networks. We have an audio recording of this session.

We discussed the principles of building a startup from the heart and he agreed with most of our ideas. He thinks using your head is an obstacle especially in the beginning, if you use your head you might never start a company. The first steps are irrational and they come from the heart. But when things have started, the head can be useful too, for instance, recognizing that some approach you've been trying doesn't work. We summarized this idea in the sentence follow your heart, use your head.

Among the teachings Desh shared with us, there's one that caused a big impression on me, something I already knew, but the clarity and conviction he used stroke me: identify the good people early and never miss an opportunity to work with them.

Deliverables

Some of you might be wondering what goal we achieved, what concrete deliverables we completed in these two weeks, I know it because we asked ourselves the same question the last few days. We took the boards and put everything in a wiki, you're welcome to take a look and even make comments. There're 26 of us, with our stories, our people, intentions, beliefs and inventions.

We've already started working on our startups, we intend to be in touch and help each other through this journey. Who knows, in 5 years, if we're lucky, someone else will invite us to talk to a group of young entrepreneurs, to tell them our story, how it all started at Anything Goes Lab.

(Original version of this post:
http://carreno.me/posts/my-second-week-at-anything-goes-lab)

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Group Takeaways from Desh Despande's Talk

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:08:00 -0700

Summary of the takeaways from Desh Deshpande's presentation at Anything Goes Lab.

Desh asked us to summarize the messages that resonated most with us during his talk, here are some of the key takeaways the group noted.

Build credibility that you can leverage –

For an entrepreneur to get funding she/he needs credibility. Credibility comes from proving that you have done something similar before – ideally led or been part of a successful entrepreneurial team before. So, try to have some work experience with smaller startups under your belt before you start your own.

Focus on the smallest problem –

The one thing entrepreneurs cannot have enough of is – resources. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on the smallest problem that at one time. When faced with two large problems – throw one away and cut the other in half!

What problem to solve?

A litmus test of whether you’re working on the right problem is whether you can convince a customer of its value. Check how excited they are and are they willing to invest. Unless someone is willing to pay for it, you’re not working on the right issue.

Recipes for success –

Being ‘Hungry’ is a recipe for success. If something that was once exciting has now become a chore, give it up. Let someone else who is ‘hungry’ take it over - they might do a better job. Also, it frees you up to do something that you are ‘hungry’ for.
Selling it at home. You need to have your partner/spouse on board with your entrepreneurial venture. It might help to mutually agree on a set of deadlines/milestones for yourself and stick to them.

The experience –

Lastly, Entrepreneurship is not and should not feel like a sacrifice. It’s not about the goal, you're doing it because you enjoy it. As a part of the experience, an entrepreneur continuously questions his/her goals and approach. Consider it as a gift and embrace the process!

Special thanks for Makarand Joshi for summarizing the list from the group.

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6 Minutes of Fame (repost)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:42:00 -0700

Bill Brett for The Boston Globe

July 29 in Boston
Bill Warner, founder of Avid Technology, spoke about "How to Build a Startup Company from the Heart ."

via boston.com

It looks like boston.com changes the Url when adding new photos, so I used the posterous bookmarklet to preserve the image.

Robin's original post now points to Mark Wahlberg who's not "our fearless leader at TedX Boston".

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6 minutes of fame

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:44:07 -0700

Bill Brett of the Boston Globe photographed our fearless leader at TedX Boston:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/specials/bill_brett/latest?pg=3

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Desh Deshpande's talk and Q&A July 22, 2010

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:48:00 -0700

Desh Deshpande came to Anything Goes Lab on Thursday July 22 to tell stories at the big table.

Desh_Deshpande_Anything_Goes_2010_Jul_23.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Update: We've summarized our takeaways from this talk in a new post.

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AGL Takes on Mount Monadnock: Details Below!

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:19:00 -0700

All you need to know:
--This Saturday!
--Meet @ 9 AM (arrive early! we'll be making sandwiches!)
--CIC 9th floor space
--Bring 2 water bottles
--Email me your number if you want a wake up call
--Return by 6PM

Extra details:
* There are still a few open spots! I want you to come! If you get
tired I will even channel my inner sherpa and carry you! Add yourself
here: http://www.doodle.com/4hqv3pyaz2pvighn
* Transportation is taken care of
* we will have PB&J Sandwiches + chips + the spoils of a CIC kitchen raid
* lists below: pretty much everything is optional except for WATER. If
nothing else, bring at least 2 water bottles!

Things you should bring:
Water. At least 2 Water bottles (Somebody is always thirsty.)
A second, or third, t-shirt. (You will be hot and sweaty.)
Bug spray. (unfortunately not applicable to legacy code bases)
Camera! Recording devices! Magic singing bowls!

What should I wear?
Gym or khaki shorts.
Cotton T-shirt or pile/underarmor
Hiking boots with sturdy socks or running shoes
Please see the attached picture for proper attire and hiking form.

What should I expect
A solid 4-6 hours hiking
Beautiful scenery and vistas
Hot weather
Me narrating any interaction with wildlife as Steve Irwin

"But Kip, this sounds intense!"

No, dear reader, this is hiking. Camping is in tents. :P

Contributed by Kip Landergren

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Anything Goes at the Liberty Bar - Photos from our field trip

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:28:43 -0700

Thursday was the last day of the Anything Goes Launchpad 1a Program. So a bunch of us walked across the bridge to the bar at the Liberty Hotel. A great time was had by all!

Click here to view these photos:

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Launchpad 1A: A Postscript

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:07:00 -0700

My mother, being the concerned parent that she is, asked me the other day if spending 2 weeks in Kendall Square co-working was really the best use of time. "Shouldn't you be back in your office debugging your widget [so that you don't go bankrupt in the next 2 weeks]?" That last part in parentheses was not explicitly stated, but strongly implied. I responded that like elementary particle physics research (a former life), the payoff might not be concrete or immediate, but the exercise is fundamental enough that the long-term effects are unpredictable, but bound to be significant somehow. [Yes, I do actually talk like that, it's a known problem.] Like Congress when they killed the Superconducting Supercollider in 1994, she didn't seem entirely convinced. Plan B, which was marginally more successful, was to assure her that I was staying up even later than usual toiling away on a paying consulting gig that would ensure that I wouldn't be moving back into the parental basement for the forseeable future.

I came into Anything Goes Lab a bit of a skeptic, but recognized that stepping outside my comfort zone of self-imposed INTJ hyper-rationality would undoubtedly be a character-building experience. It took almost the entire 2 weeks to come up with anything resembling a coherent arc of intentions and beliefs that segued organically into the invention. I couldn't possibly have accomplished it without the help of the insightful group of extremely diverse, yet fundamentally like-minded people brought together by Bill and Nick. It's going to be fascinating to continue to follow everyone's progress.

Now that Launchpad 1A has officially come to a close, I feel more satisfied than I ever imagined at being able to clearly articulate what the point of it all actually is. I'm also eerily unphased by the lack of a MassChallenge stamp of approval. (Failed to establish a co-flow with a random panel of judges. Meh.) I literally can't wait to lock myself in my closet of an office and toil away until The Widget is up and running and into the hands of the people that really matter. My trusty polyester assistant, Tux the Tester, is poised and ready with the RF probe and equally enthused by the prospect of having no life while all his friends are off frolicking in the ocean.

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My First Week at Anything Goes Lab

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:18:00 -0700

When 2 ladies you did not know tell you that they are your groupies,
you know you are doing something right. This happened to me at
Innovation Breakfast, when I told Bobbie and Janet that I was one of
the members of Anything Goes Lab. I have always been envious of rock
stars, I felt so flattered.

What is Anything Goes Lab?

It is a workshop for entrepreneurs, founded by Bill Warner and Nick
Tommarello. Instead of building our companies with our heads, we are
learning to build them from our heart. Business plans and how to raise
capital are still important, but instead of working on these topics we
spent the past week talking about our passions and motivations, trying
to establish who are the people we want to help with our invention.

As humans, this makes sense with most things we do in life, but how do
we apply it to starting a business? This is what Anything Goes Lab is
about. Bill has worked for several years creating a methodology and
tools to help entrepreneurs achieve this goal, this is the first group
of people where he is putting his ideas into practice, this is why we
are called Launchpad 1A, and yes, we are guinea pigs, which makes it
even more exciting.

You can watch this presentation for details
http://innovationbreakfast.com/innovative-events/the-last-innovation-breakfas....
Here, I am just telling a short part of the story, from my
perspective.

The first task everyone must complete is a statement, I would share
mine if it was ready, this is Bill’s:

I intend to help people follow their heart
I believe people need tools to follow their heart
I believe people are pushed to follow their head
My people need help to follow their heart

Simple but powerful. The success of your company will depend on how
your actions (and your co-founders) are aligned with this statement.

What Do We Do?

Before starting the program I thought it would be "work" with some
conversations, it happened to be the opposite: conversations with some
"work". This fits Bill’s idea of what a startup is: a long intense
conversation, peppered by bursts of invention, fueled by intention,
motivated and moderated by beliefs.

We are divided in 5 groups, mine is called In2Possible, we are 7 guys
and 1 girl. Each group has a board where we compose our statements, we
use cards with different colors for intentions, beliefs, people,
inventions, stories and goals.

Collaboration is everything, we talk to everyone, not only within our
group. I feel psyched being surrounded by such smart people, they are
working on so many cool projects, they have so many clever ideas. An
interesting aspect of the experience is that we feel like if we knew
each other for a long time, in part it is because we share similar
interests, but also because we are discussing intentions and beliefs,
it is because we have been talking from our hearts.

Broadcasting

We intend to tell the world what is happening here, this is why I am
writing this blog post. We want to spread the word about the concept
of starting a company from the heart and we want more people involved
in the project.

We have been blogging, taking pictures and recording videos:
http://ag1uncut.posterous.com We have not done any editing, that is
the reason for the name uncut. We want to make the content public and
we welcome anyone who wants to use it.

We tweet with the hashtag #anythinggoeslab and this is a list with
most of the members of Launchpad 1A:
http://twitter.com/chrismyles4/launchpad1a/members

What is Next

But how do you go to the next step: building the invention?, this is
what we will be addressing this week, I will tell you how everything
goes.

(Original version of this post:
http://carreno.me/posts/my-first-week-at-anything-goes-lab)

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Fifteen team members at Anything Goes present their founding intentions (45 minute audio)

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:45:00 -0700

Fifteen of our hard core Anything Goes team members got together today to venture beyond timeless intention. We dove into the real world, into the beliefs, stories and inventions we are working on today.

We also started a new way of working and sharing that was quite successful. (Thanks Eric Peters for the wiki suggestion.) Turns out that our Wordpress blog comes with MediaWiki, and we just had to turn it on.

We created a page for Launchpad 1a at http://wiki.anythinggoeslab.com/wiki/Main_Page

We then went through each person's timeless intentions and beliefs, as well as their work today. If you click on each persons's name from the main page, you can see their ongoing work. You can also follow their changes, and provide helpful comments.

Remember, this is uncut audio...just as it came in. Find the links for each person and it might make more sense.

2010-07-20_Discussion_of_Conteporary_Beliefs_and_Inventions.MP3 Listen on Posterous

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Anything Goes Lab Pictures - 2 of 2

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:51:01 -0700

Pictures from the first 3 days at Anything Goes Lab, Launchpad 1A

Abby Fichtner

Developer Evangelist for Startups, US Northeast

BizSpark for Startups: Web | Facebook | Twitter / WebsiteSpark for Small Web Shops: Web |Facebook | Twitter

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Automatic reply: Posterous | Re: Anything Goes Lab Pictures - 1 of 2

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:50:15 -0700

Thanks for writing! I'm traveling for the next 2 weeks and so have limited access to e-mail at the moment, but I'll be back on Monday, 7/26.

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Anything Goes Lab Pictures - 1 of 2

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:49:17 -0700

Pictures from the first 3 days at Anything Goes Lab, Launchpad 1A

Abby Fichtner

Developer Evangelist for Startups, US Northeast

BizSpark for Startups: Web | Facebook | Twitter / WebsiteSpark for Small Web Shops: Web |Facebook | Twitter

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Timeless Intention on the Internet

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:44:38 -0700

I [Robin Coxe] entered the phrase "timeless intention" into Google,
thinking the results might be, well, interesting. After a mere 0.13
seconds, the search yielded 769 results.

ag1uncut has not escaped the notice of the Googlebot.

A hickory white furniture maker in North Carolina informs us: "Each
piece draws upon history, yet is designed with a timeless intention
that fits into today's lifestyle," thereby demonstrating that timeless
intention can be readily transformed into vacuous marketing-speak. The
vast majority of the links present convoluted arguments for or against
the existence of God or musings on the meaning of life, often with a
New Age-y twist. [I'll refrain from comment except to state that I
believe that "42" is as good an answer as any and do not believe that
crystals can be programmed like computers.] There's also a link to a
mySpace page for an Italian slacker/surfer dude from LA who lists his
age as 103. Judging from his photo, he's either one of the Twilight
vampires or not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Anyway, employing words like "timeless intention" without proper
context can result in varying degrees of hokeyness, but this trend
towards the supernatural is hardly surprising. The notion of being
free of the confines of the 4th dimension screams BIG PICTURE.
Expressing our fundamental motivations in universal language makes our
specific inventions more memorable by placing them in a human context
to which nearly everyone can relate. In more practical terms, many of
us tend to get caught up in or distracted by the transactional and
technical aspects of our businesses. Keeping in mind exactly why and
for whom we're doing what we're doing-- periodic reality checks--
couldn't possibly be a bad thing.

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words on our nametags -- starting conversations

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:52:32 -0700

a request

Can you help me test one of my beliefs?

a belief
I believe that knowing just one word that's important to someone can help you start a conversation with that person. I believe words can help people meet.

an action
When you're at Anything Goes, pick a word that's meaningful to you and wear it on your nametag. When you see someone else's word, ask them about it.

an example
I just wrote my word on an index card and folded it over my shirt pocket. I was having trouble choosing my word so I asked Eric Braun and he suggested the "le mot," which is French for "the word."

an offer
If you can't think of a word, I'd be happy to help you brainstorm. You could also ask your team. Also, if you'd like your word to be part of the broadcast that we're doing collectively in AnythingGoes, I'd be happy to write up a quick story about you and why you chose your particular word. Let me know.

a detail
You don't need to stick with one word -- you could pick a different one each day, depending on your mood. Maybe someone else will suggest a different word for you, and you can try it out.

background
I launched a startup in 2008 based on this idea: http://www.whimwords.com
I built a website that lets you reserve your word and reconnect with people you meet in real life, using only their word (even if you didn't get their name or any other contact info). Most recently the project focused on singles' events, but the idea isn't limited to that. I wrote up my intention in an essay here:
http://www.rudiseitz.com/HowWhimwordsGotStarted.pdf
I'm looking for help with next steps on this project. You'll be helping a lot just by experimenting with the idea -- independent of the technology/website -- and telling me about your experience.

Anything Goes Lab.. Uncut!

Are you Going? >> Real Connections, A Real Ferrari, and No Hierarchy - MassTLC 2010 - Bill Warner's Blog

Starting from The Heart: Bill Warner’s Founding Advice | how2startup

what I'm doing differently

TEDxBoston - Bill Warner - How to Build a Startup Company from the Heart

My Second Week at Anything Goes Lab

Group Takeaways from Desh Despande's Talk

6 Minutes of Fame (repost)

6 minutes of fame

Desh Deshpande's talk and Q&A July 22, 2010

AGL Takes on Mount Monadnock: Details Below!

Anything Goes at the Liberty Bar - Photos from our field trip

Launchpad 1A: A Postscript

My First Week at Anything Goes Lab

Fifteen team members at Anything Goes present their founding intentions (45 minute audio)

Anything Goes Lab Pictures - 2 of 2

Automatic reply: Posterous | Re: Anything Goes Lab Pictures - 1 of 2

Anything Goes Lab Pictures - 1 of 2

Timeless Intention on the Internet

words on our nametags -- starting conversations

Nick Tommarello Interview