Wikipedia defines Energy as:

“In physics, energy (from the Greek – energeia, “activity, operation”, from – energos, “active, working”) is a scalar physical quantity that describes the amount of work that can be performed by a force, an attribute of objects and systems that is subject to a conservation law.”

Over lunch yesterday, I ended up having some discussions about where entrepreneurs get their energy. More on some of my thoughts around this later, and also on things I’m trying to do (like LaunchUp.org) to provide a spark of energy to entrepreneurs here in Utah.

But my main takeaway is this: Entrepreneurial energy is very different than that described by Wikipedia about energy in physics. Physical energy is subject to laws of conservation: “In physics, a conservation law states that a particular measurable property of an isolated physical system does not change as the system evolves.”

Entrepreneurial energy is not subject to the fixed nature and inability to grow. It actually grows and grows as you have more if it being shared. As the system evolves, the energy available to entrepreneurs keeps getting larger and larger, and the more individuals involved in local ecosystems of entrepreneurship share this energy, the faster energy spreads and the greater the available energy is. It’s a perfect example of the snowball effect. Some places are doing a hell of a job evolving their system, and from the outside looking in, I can see their entrepreneurial energy breaking the laws of conversation.

It’s about sharing and connecting. About being open. About getting all amped up on entrepreneurship and making sure everyone else knows it.

Finally, where do you think (generally or specifically) entrepreneurs get energy from?

I’ve never seen Seth Godin present in person. I’ve read a few of his books and occasionally follow his blog. Overall, I’ve been impressed with his thoughts and information.

Kelly King Anderson from StartupPrincess.com took the initiative and organized and event with Seth Godin here in SLC. She reached out to me, and needed some help with sponsors, so Doba signed on board to help the event out.

It’s at a cool new venue called The Rail Event Center.

Details: http://startupprincess.com/sethgodin/

Register: http://lunchwithsethgodin.eventbrite.com/

All the proceeds benefit the The Red Cross for Haiti Relief effort.

And I’m very much looking forward to seeing that head in person.

Just got a notice last week that they were accepting nominations for the v100. I think it’s a great program, kudos to vSpring Capital for putting it on.

It’s a community-nominated and peer-selected organization for entrepreneurs in Utah.

I’ve been selected for the last 3 years running. Having said it’s great, it seems like when I go to the annual event or get the directory, it’s the likely suspects each year. I think that is backed up by that it’s been around for 7 years (100*7=700) however, there are only 260 members to date.

Anyway, like I said, it’s a great program and great idea.

To help it out a bit this year, I purposefully ignored my usual suspects, and nominated 15 early entrepreneurs that fit the definition of this program spot on. I’ve been lucky to meet most of these folks through LaunchUp.org, and am really amped to see who else I’ll meet through that this year.

In the spirit of openness and transparency (and to support Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that Privacy is Dead) here’s my list of nominees:

I hope some of them make it to the actual final list, as they all deserve to be there based on the criteria as set forth.

Good job vSpring keeping the program running for going on 8 years!!

I’ll be doing the same by posting those I vote for in the final voting once that is set.

About the v100
The vSpring Capital top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs, or v100 is a community-nominated and peer-selected organization of the top venture entrepreneurs with ties to the state of Utah. With over 260 members to date, the v100 was created when the vSpring partners noticed the need for an organization that could offer recognition to the state’s talented entrepreneurs and provide them with opportunities to partner, collaborate and maximize the chance of success. It is designed to help locate and cultivate relationships among top CEO and CTO talent. 2003 was the inaugural year of the program and thanks to participation and input from people like you, the program has been an amazing success. Our vision is that this will be integral in helping to develop and mature Utah’s startup ecosystem and in building trusted and informal relationships with top executive and technical talent in the region.

Well it’s official. Till this morning I was an in-flight wireless virgin. No longer. This is my first blog post from the friendly skies.

I’ve joined the Mile High Club of Internet denizens surfing from 30,000 feet above the ground. It. Is. Ridiculously. Awesome!!!

Give me enough extra batteries (sorry Apple, your battery life sucks) and GoGo and I’ll just keep flying round and round the world getting work done like a wild man.

Why am I flying? I’m headed to London for Doba meetings and then since I was close, Le Web next week in Paris. I’ll try to post anything that’s cool, they have a lot of heavy hitters coming for the conf.

Now on to more important matters. The In-N-Out Project was a smashing success!

Had a great time camping out, got a bunch of In-N-Out swag, and was able to deliver an early Holiday Miracle to Doba: Burgers and Fries for the Inaugural Doba Double Double Burger Brunch at 10:00 a.m. in the morning. We call is the DDDBB.

My buddy DJ Waldow that came and camped out with me has a great summary and pics and video of the whole deal: In ‘N Out Burger: What Would You Camp Out For? For sure check it out.

I’ll leave you with this video:

If that’s not thinking and acting like a kid, I don’t know what is.

Tonight, I’m camping out at In-N-Out Burger in Draper, UT. They’re opening tomorrow.

It’s their second location in Utah. (or the 3rd as Orem opens tomorrow too)

I love In-N-Out. I first ate there when I married a California girl and started going to the Bay Area regularly. Since then, I’ve developed a rule while traveling: if I’m within 20 miles of an In-N-Out, I eat there.

Some might say this love (nah, I’ll admit it, call a spade a spade, it’s an obsession) is childish. I mean it’s only a hamburger joint. And some might say camping out there tonight in 20 degree temps on cement just to be front of the line tomorrow morning is a bit immature. I mean, who does that sort of stuff?

Kids do. They’re not hung up by so many of the things us boring adults get hung up by. Some of the best things I’ve done to keep myself from caving into life’s pressure, or to build a cool culture at my companies, or to just shake stuff up are things that are firmly in the adolescent world.

Tonight is one of those things. And tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. when they open and I’m munching on a scrumptious Double Double and Animal Style golden french fries, washing them down with a strawberry shake, it’ll all be worth it. Because it’s fun. Fun is the opposite of boring. Life should be fun. Go do something that people will think you childish for.

(PS – If you’re local, we’ll be there around 6:30 p.m. It’s just NE of the I-15 and 123rd South interchange, you can’t miss the giant, golden, glorious In-N-Out arrow sign beaconing you to partake of wonderment and goodness.)

Today Doba launched our Dropshipping Blog.

It’s been a very long-time coming, and I’m excited to see Doba throw our hat into this ring. In the end, it’ll help us better engage and communicate with our community of suppliers, partners, and online sellers.

You can see some of the very smart and talented folks at Doba that will be postulating from time to time by checking out our Dobloggers.

I wrote an article for the November issue of Utah CEO Magazine based on my mountaineering accident back in June.

I lifted the title of my original blog post detailing the accident and called the article Curveballs: Five life lessons from a close call with an errant boulder.

You can see a scanned PDF of the article from Utah CEO here: Curveballs (in case you want to print it, since printing blogs is a crap shoot, and why wouldn’t you want to print something so awesome?!)

Here’s the text of the article:

Curveballs (or boulders as they may be)
5 Life Lessons From a Close Call with an Errant Boulder

by Jeremy Hanks

On Saturday night June 13, 2009 I found myself lying in the Nephi emergency room all hopped up on morphine with a seriously deficient right leg (what I’d find out later to be a broken fibula, a torn ACL, and a severely damaged calf muscle). What happened?

Blame it on Mt. Rainier. Ten days before a first attempt of my life’s list goal to climb Rainier, our group embarked on our final training trip–an overnight climb of Mt. Nebo. That afternoon, I was standing in a snow gully when, with nearly no warning, a car tire sized boulder traveling at high speed hit my right leg from behind. Curveball. A six hour epic mountain rescue later delivered me to the aforementioned Nephi E.R. (I’ve posted a full rescue report with pictures and videos at: http://bit.ly/curveballs)

Here are 5 things that I’ve learned in the last 4 months while trying to recover and get back to normal:

Falling Off is the Easy Part

Climbing back on the horse takes way more energy than falling off. To switch metaphors, think of a 100 car freight train, and how much energy it takes to get it loaded and up to 60 MPH. Picture it derailing catastrophically. Think of the energy now required to fix that train. I had worked really hard to get ready for Mt. Rainier–training, education, and trip logistics. It’s a tiny fraction of what I’ve done since and still have yet to do if I want to climb Mt. Rainier next June. It can be extremely difficult, discouraging, and downright disheartening to rebuild all of your lost momentum. Stay positive, be patient, be persistent, and you’ll get there.

Pain Is Your Friend

“Make friends with pain and you will never be alone.” – Ken Chlouber. For my physical therapy and exercises, I channeled that idea. Figurative pain is no different. Things worth doing are going to be painful–especially change. Ask yourself how much pain you’re dealing with in your life or at work, and if it’s not much, find some more.

Let Challenges Motivate You

It’s only a matter of time before you get hit by a curveball. Be driven and motivated by people and situations saying “you can’t do that.” It’s a mindset that can be learned and practiced. The easiest way is to manufacture a change that disrupts the status quo and then react to the chaos that follows.

“What if?” Changes Nothing

“What if we’d left camp 5 minutes earlier that morning?” “What if we’d turned down a different route?” This mental game focuses on things that seem controllable, but ultimately it’s focused on the past, not the future. It’s draining. It’s defeating. Those “what ifs,” well, they didn’t happen. What did did. Focus on what you control in the future and ignore the rest.

Refocus on Your True Priorities

When I was sitting in that snow gully busted up and bleeding and wondering if and how my friends would get me to help, I can tell you I wasn’t thinking at all about Doba or employees or metrics or anything that normally consumes most of my energy. I was thinking I was going to be in trouble with my wife. But in all seriousness, that’s where your mind goes: family and friends. I know it’s cliche, but it took a near miss to help me reevaluate where I spend my time and what’s truly important to me. Spend some time before this year is over on what really matters.

Battle Scars

The crazy thing? If I could choose (assuming I get mostly back to normal) I think I’d let the rock hit me again. It’s life’s figurative and literal curveballs and battle scars that teach us and add richness to our lives. Thanks for letting me share, and I hope you’ll be inspired to reflect on your life and business.

Jeremy Hanks is an entrepreneur and founder of Doba and GearTrade. You can follow Jeremy by subscribing to his Adventures in Entrepreneurship blog at www.jeremyhanks.com

When he’s not spending time with his highest priorities (aka wife and kids), he’s plotting his triumphant return to Mt. Nebo to exact revenge on a large boulder.

… Politicians are still politicians (surprise, surprise) and I’m completely disenfranchised about our country’s leaders and the system they’re beholden to.

365 days ago I told the world I’d voted for Barack Obama. I even found a group of like minded people and we all got together election night. We were more hopeful for our country than I remember feeling in a long time. I’ve been reflecting on that and the previous year over the last few days. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

The whole deal reminds me athletics and high school. Picture the quarterback(s) of your high school football team. They were it. Even if the team sucked, even if we lost every game, they still owned the place. They were the quarterback of the football team for Pete’s sake. True, if they win a state championship, they get hoisted on a shoulder and dance with the homecoming queen, but if they loose, are they really any less in control of their limited domain? They still dance with the homecoming queen. But you know what? High school ended. And a tiny few of those quarterback gods who roamed the halls, well they were good enough to graduate to playing on a University football team, and their reign moved up a notch. They ruled and roamed and were so cool. They quarterbacked on the BYU (insert your college here) football team. There were bad ass. If you met them, even saw them, you told people, you talked about it. But you know what? College ended. And then a lot of things changed. A tiny, tiny few of those uber studs went on to quarterback football in the NFL. We gathered the family and watched them defeat their enemies every Sunday. But if they didn’t defeat and win and perform, we shook our fist and yelled at the TV or booed in the stadiums. Popularity became performance, performance became popularity. Over time and judged by history, an even tinier few of those warriors became Payton Manning or Brett Favre or John Elway or Dan Marino or Joe Montana or Johnny Unitas or Roger Staubach–the best of all time. That group of players where judged by how many touchdowns they threw, how many games they won, how many championship trophies they have on their mantel. They are judged on performance in the big leagues, and if they don’t perform, they’re not popular. Quite a difference between that and high school. It’s why we call them professionals. They perform.

Our politicians are high school football quarterbacks (shoot, some of them are high school kickers, some I read about are even the water boy). They’re not judged or accountable for real performance. They’re going through the motions so we all think they’re cool, so that they can be reelected in the greatest coolness competition and system the world has ever known. Too often, they spend energy on massive wastes of time pandering to what they expect will gain them favor with their constituents. The system (just like high school) rewards it. We don’t just need a Joe Montana president, we need Joe Montana politicians across the board. Guys that audible the right play and throw touchdowns when game is on the line. But guess what? Joe Montana politicians can’t exist, can’t function, without the NFL.

So a year has gone by. Change didn’t happen. For all that President Obama promised, I see very little that the day he won the election wouldn’t have been handled the same way as John McCain, or anyone else for that matter. Same types of people got appointments, same types of decisions are happening, same bickering and pointing blame, same posturing and positioning for 10 minutes of fame. Am I regretful that I voted for Obama? No. McCain would have done things different, but in this perverse way, all the exact same. And at least Obama inspired me for a time, maybe that’s all I can hope for. 3rd party candidates might be better, but the problem is, they can’t get elected, they can’t even make the high school football team. I’m disappointed mostly. There are no doubt vast differences among politicians and the actions they take and their priorities, but in the end, they’re all still playing with other 17 year olds on Friday nights in front of 500 people at Budge Field at Burley High. It’s business as usual, and most damningly, politics as usual. Can’t we figure out a way as a country to get NFL players playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday at the new Cowboys stadium in front of 100,000 people and millions more on TV?

We so greatly revere our Founding Fathers in this country, and the system they came up with (rightfully so). 222 years ago they took what the world had tried to that point, applied their own learnings and intelligence, and came up with the best system. But honestly? They came up with high school football. Unless as a country we can affect structural changes, nothing will change. Processes and systems are what we’re controlled and bound by now. Politicians can’t help but be politicians, no more than a high school football quarterback can help being the most popular kid in school. The world is different now, change is happening faster. Maybe we should look forward to the future for our country and our government and our citizens, rather than always looking over 200 years to the past.

I hoped things might change 365 days ago, but alas, for that to happen, we need the NFL, not high school athletics and cliques. Sorry Mr. Obama. I still think history will show that you were a good (maybe great) high school quarterback. But that’s not good enough for me. Your promise of change rings hollow to me now, but maybe that’s really not your fault. Maybe its our fault for not being intelligent enough to demand real foundational change. Here’s to your reelection in 3 years time, I know that’s what you’re already thinking about.

Posted over at www.launchup.org how my accident derailed LaunchUp for a few months.

We’ll be having our 3rd next week. Wednesday November 11th at 6:00 p.m. at Marketsplash/Logoworks in Lindon.

Companies presenting will be MuseBuzz, PageMass, and SocialToo.

Paul Brockbank (LogoWorks CEO) will be handling the entrepreneur amp session.

And we’re serving Pumpkin Pie with Whipping Cream!!

It’s going a great night of great entrepreneurial mojo, you won’t want to miss it! I hope to see you there.

Here are the glorious details: LaunchUp #3

Finally, we are also building a list of those that want to support first-time technology entrepreneurs in Utah. You can join the LaunchUp community. It will help us track those that want to help, and then we’ll be also publish everyone’s name on the LaunchUp community page soon.

Help spread the word!

The number 3 is great. It’s more than just one, more than a couple, but a lot less than too many (like as in 10). It’s a number that if you limit yourself to, you have to make some trade-offs. Top 3 priorities, 3 dream trips, 3 people you’d most like to meet, etc. You have to focus to get down to 3. I guess what I’m saying is Top 10 lists are overrated.

I want to start periodically doing what I’m going to call the Rapid 3 here on my blog. I’ve found that if you can ask someone successful 3 targeted questions and get back 3 focused answers you can learn a lot in a very short period of time.

To kick it off, I couldn’t think of anyone better at communicating simple yet powerful ideas in short and sweet format than Guy Kawasaki–he does this regularly in his business books, Rules for Revolutionaries is my favorite book of his. Guy’s been a trusted advisor to me and Doba for about 2.5 years now. So here we go:

- What’s the most important thing every aspiring entrepreneur needs to know?

The most important thing is that sales fixes everything. That is, as long as you’re generating sales, you’re in the game. All the “vision,” “promise,” “passion,” and “partnerships” don’t mean much unless you have sales. I’m not saying you should sell products that are junk or not finished just to make a buck because “returns break everything.” But great entrepreneurs ship.

- What’s the biggest mistake you see first time entrepreneurs make, and how do they avoid it?

First-time entrepreneurs never make their “conservative” financial projects. As a rule of thumb, I add one year to the ship date and divide by 100 whenever I hear a forecast. The best way to avoid it is to make a bottom-up forecast. That is, starting from $0, figure out how you’ll make each dollar of sales. Most entrepreneurs do a top-down analysis and “conservatively” assume they can get 1% of a multi-billion market.

- Is it harder or easier in 2009 to be an entrepreneur compared to 1999? Why? And how should that impact actions you take as an entrepreneur?

There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that it’s harder because people are spending less. The good news is that costs are much lower–tools, people, marketing, and infrastructure. The thing is to build your business out now while costs are low so that when spending returns, you’re off to the races.

I cannot help it: I have to plug something I’m doing. Your readers should use Alltop to stay on top of news, tips, and tricks at http://smallbusiness.alltop.com/ and http://ecommerce.alltop.com/.

What do you think? Would you answer this Rapid 3 differently than Guy? Thanks for the insights Guy!!