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• Soul glow

  January 05, 2010

  With the end of 2009 comes the final installment of my bootstrapping blog series (with a New Year’s resolution to blog more frequently and involve all our team members!). At the end of the day, you can plan, strategize, rationalize, work hard, and dream all you want, but so much of the startup experience comes down to intangibles. Luck is frequently mentioned as being a key ingredient. And you have to be in the right place at the right time. I’ll call all of this the “Soul glow.“

  At the heart of your startup, you need an authentic soul. It’ll carry you through all the difficult times and elevate you to new heights during the good times. What is soul? I’m sure you’ll have a different definition, but to me it’s a crazy combination of passion, surrounding yourself with inspiring people, working in places with things around you to spark new ideas, a desire to collaborate with others to overcome challenges, having fun to stay sane, bringing meaning to your mission, and staying grounded with reality while reaching for goals that truly excite you. Balance is a key theme.

  For me, starting FMYI in Portland was key in terms of livability and the balance between cost and work life benefits. For example, because of the public transportation system, bike paths, and urban growth boundary, commuting times are shorter here than other cities which helps the local economy. This helps reduce stress for employees and maximizes the productive hours people can spend at work. Much has been said about the population of cultural creatives in Portland. It’s important to be surrounded by creative energy and new ideas when starting a business to help you tackle all the challenges that stand in the way.

  Passion is a key element in keeping the energy level high. We truly enjoy helping people collaborate more effectively and are excited that 2009 brings us closer to a tipping point. We’ve also surrounded ourselves by people who are great at getting things done in a collaborative manner, whether they’re employees or vendors. Our commitment to sustainability has been a differentiator for us and brings a greater sense of meaning to what we do. We’re doing the Northwest Earth Institute’s Sustainable Systems at Work course and had a lively discussion this morning about how we can continually improve and help others. Doing the course helps us get into a different frame of mind at work. NWEI definitely has a lot of soul!

  And a key element is having fun since growing a startup is hard enough as it is. Working with great clients is the biggest factor, and is something we’re very thankful for over here at FMYI. Being located in the Leftbank Project building also helps with a brewery in the basement and a cafe featuring local/organic ingredients. Occasional karaoke sessions, although potentially dangerous, can bring some soul (literally) to the workplace.

  So as I bring this series of blog posts on starting up a business to a close, I’ll raise a virtual toast to everyone that 2010 brings all of us a “soul glow.“ May all your hard work be rewarded, and your dreams realized!

  Onward and upward,
  -Justin

  Links to the complete blog series on starting a business:
  • Intro: “Head west, young man”
  • Bootstrapping: These bootstraps are made for walkin’
  • Growing: Grow with the flow
  • Worklife: Does worklife balance exist in startups?
  • Tools: Startup bliss using online tools
  • Sustainability: Sustainable startups: the triple crown
  • Soul: Soul glow

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• “Head west, young man”

  August 14, 2009

  Twelve years ago, I embarked on my own Lewis and Clark Expedition, going from the East Coast to Oregon. My journey featured a plush ride in a 1991 Ford Taurus emblazoned with neo-hippie band stickers. Portland drew me in, with its promise of rugged adventure, and the potential to do things differently. The other big reason for the move was getting a job at Nike, a culture that to me epitomized an innovative, entrepreneurial, and irreverent spirit. And free shoes of course!

  Combine the two together, and I had a perfect platform to incubate my business ideas spanning the intersection of design, organizational change, and technology. From the early days of exploring BBSes to putting my university newspaper on the web, to working on intranet projects at Nike, I was fascinated by how to connect people online, help them communicate, and catalyze action.

  But ideas aren’t worth much unless you can bring them to life. Once I had refined the concept enough through meetings with friends, basic drafts of the (now useless) business plan, and developed some connections, the vision came together. Bootstrap a company through client revenue, have an authentic brand, build a great team, and integrate sustainability. In short, our “common sense” plan born out of not knowing any other way of doing it.

  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging on the top ten things I’ve learned through the startup experience. I don’t think any entrepreneur feels like the startup feeling ever ends. You’re always looking for new plateaus and solving new challenges. So why am I writing about it now? With the worst economy in generations and so much continued attention on VC/Angel funded startups, I figured this was the time to focus on a topic that’s all about finding opportunities and going after them the old fashioned way when resources are tight — bootstrapping. You may not need to head west to do it, but I can guarantee it’ll be an adventure!

  -Justin

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• Economy 2.0 and you

  May 27, 2009

  So we’ve introduced Economy 2.0 and covered the blueprint for Economy 2.0. And we’ve talked about the definition of innovation (collaboration, sustainability, and technology). Now, let’s talk about how you can create opportunities for yourself in Economy 2.0.

  The concept of the “Brand called you“ has become even more relevant. Whether you’re working within an organization, looking for a job, or starting your own company, it’s all the same — besides branding yourself to stand out from the crowd, you need to make the business case for why you add value. It’s all about bringing compelling entrepreneurial ideas to your employer, future employer, or customers, with a clear plan on how to make it all happen. The urgency is here unfortunately thanks to the state of the global economy whether your organization is downsizing, or you’re looking to be employed.

  And the bottom line in Economy 2.0 is how you can help your current employer/prospective employer/client innovate through collaboration, sustainability, and technology. How can you leverage collaborative networks to help speed up innovation? How can you apply a sustainability lens to help create long term innovation? How can you make use of technology to help scale innovation?

  We can continue to talk about high level reasons why it’s important for you to be a part of the solution. But when it comes down to it, being a part of Economy 2.0 is all about your personal passion. I’m a firm believer that if you’re doing something innovative you’re passionate about, it’ll help you perform at a higher level. And unlike the old days when everyone wanted to get rich quick, or create the next global phenomenon, these days it’s all about quality over quantity.

  Witness innovative efforts like B-Line and Brunch Bunch here in Portland, Oregon. And check out this recent article about “The case for working with your hands.“ There’s a movement going on where people are taking things back to the basics, doing something they’re passionate about, while often putting an innovative twist to it.

  I’ll explore this topic in more detail in the coming weeks, using the story of FMYI. In the meantime, I leave you with this video to ponder, which illustrates the urgency of needing to think differently in this day and age:

  Onward and upward,
  -Justin

  Continue Reading…

  

• Sustainable sustainability

  May 04, 2009

  Next up in our innovation blueprint (collaboration + sustainability + technology) for Economy 2.0 is sustainability.

  No doubt there’s a lot of baggage with the term sustainability. What does it mean? Why does it sound so whimpy? The best definition out there is the Natural Step’s. In terms of the word itself, people criticize it for not being aspirational or inspiring. And I agree. But to me, the point is sustainability. By paying attention to the triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit), we’re able to sustain innovation and not get too out of balance. Because as we know, getting out of balance results in major shocks to the system. A lot of this is common sense and harkens back to the old days when things were simpler. Time to go back to the future.

  So the bottom line is, sustainability is an approach to sustaining innovation. Using the sectors I mentioned in Economy 2.0 blog post, let’s check out examples of sustainability innovations coming out of Portland:

  EDUCATION
  The Northwest Earth Institute publishes discussion courses about sustainability that grows sustainably. What do I mean by that? You gather some friends or colleagues, do a course, and you either repeat the process for another course, or your friends/colleagues start their own. It grows without much top down guidance because people can talk about their passion around community and the environment. It’s also innovative because it’s an education approach that spurs personal action, without being prescriptive about how to bring about change.

  ENERGY
  Want to offset your carbon footprint? Check out the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. What they do is basically create an innovation fund for the development of renewable energy sources like solar power and wind farms. It’s a successful attempt at lowering the barrier to entry for new sustainable technologies while leveraging a fresh approach to marketing something that could be dry. And what makes it sustainable in the long term? There will always be a higher cost to new technology. This is a program that engages people and organizations to help bring down the barriers without relying solely on investors.

  FOOD
  Portland Farmer’s Market is an organization that has been putting on farmer’s markets since 1992. As we know, these markets are the perfect balance of people, planet, and profit. What makes it sustainable over the long term is the message of a closer, direct connection between the farmers, community members, and the food.

  HEALTH
  Coalition for a Livable Future is a group of almost 100 organizations dedicated to health and livability in the Portland area. By addressing health at a high level and stressing the interconnectedness of the issue, I’m betting that CLF’s efforts are sustainable over the long term. Health isn’t an isolated issue. We’re all connected to it.

  HOUSING
  Verde creates environmental job training, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities to residents of Hacienda CDC affordable housing and to other disadvantaged individuals. The key to the success of affordable housing is the success of the residents. By providing sustainability-related education and opportunities, Verde is working toward the long term success of the residents.

  PRODUCTS
  Rebuilding Center is a major hub of reused materials for new buildings and remodeling projects that employes disadvantaged community members. By taking a more balanced triple bottom line approach, the Rebuilding Center is creating a long term success model that will be more sustainable than the boom and bust cycles of more traditional home center retailers.

  TRANSPORTATION
  Ecoshuttle provides transportation services to groups using innovative vans powered by renewable fuels (and there’s wifi on board as well!). Long term, this approach is smart because of potential volatility with traditional fossil fuels, and is a competitive marketing advantage.

  Do you have suggestions of other innovative models of sustainability in these sectors? Share them in the comments field below. In my next blog post, we’ll examine how technology can be leveraged for innovation in Economy 2.0…

  -Justin

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