Meet Ascend!

We created a new pitch person on climber.com. Come by and check her out, her name is Ascend and she will be your personal job agent. She can help you understand what drives you in the work place and make recommendations as to the types of places you have a best chance of succeeding!

Drop by and say hi!

Cheers,
Mike

Climber.com launches new Fingerprint Assessment!

Well, sometimes you need to look outside your organization to move forward. We found some really smart PHD's to help us with our assessment! We launched it about a week ago and have had great success with it.

Come on back and take the new assessment, it helps us find companies that you would love to work for. Check it out at climber.com.

Cheers,
Mike

More than 1000 people a day are creating Climber.com profiles!

One of the toughest things about creating new ideas is wondering if what you are dreaming will actually translate to real life. Will there be a demand for it? How hard is it to explain? Online we have very little precious time to get our message across so the product must be easily and quickly understood. For Climber.com, we came up with "Dating for Jobs." and it works!

Hiring companies are also very excited. 100+ companies have applied to partner with Climber.com. We are currently interviewing these companies and only choosing those companies are committed to providing their employees a great place to work. Do you know a great company that would benefit from our service?

Cheers and thanks to those of you who have helped us so far!

Mike

Venture Capital in Two Trips Six Years Apart:

In late 1999 as the bubble was bursting, I called on a dozen or more Venture Capital firms pitching my idea for financialaid.com. I was was not well received, I was a young 29 years old and I was not expecting to be treated like a bad kindergarden student. I had built two small successful companies but that did not matter. Most of the VC's said no right away, stating that we did not have the experience to create the vision. We did receive a few offers but choose to pull equity from our houses and sign away our lives to raise the small amount of money needed to fund the nancent business. It worked out extremely well for us. When we sold the original founders held 96.25% of the shares. Had they invested they would have seen a 80x on their money.

In November of 2006, we decided to call on some of our friends on Sand Hill Road. This is the centerpiece of the Venture Capital community. It is truly an amazing part of the world. I can only guess how many companies have pitched their product on this street and how much money has been invested. One of the companies we called on told us they were responsible for 10% of the NASDAQ, had they held all the positions they had invested.

This trip was different. We were well received and treated with the level of respect that you would expect from business professionals. I do not know if it was the timing, my prior success or higher caliber of people but this trip was an amazing learning experience. Re-writing the business plan, putting together the PowerPoint and pitching your vision force you to quantify what you know to be true in your heart. (We are still engaged with a several firms so we will keep you posted on the outcomes.)

We have always kept our internal business plan, but it is much more difficult to write one for people who have no idea what you do. The process, which took two weeks, required the commitment and buy in from our top management staff and tech team. We walked away with a much better idea of what we need to do and how to explain it to all of our customers.

Another benefit that is not mentioned very much was that very intelligent people drilled into our business. They asked very tough questions and forced us to defend our passion for the business with compelling data and unique solutions. We walked away with a great sense of direction and confidence.

You do not have to travel to Sand Hill Road to go through this process. Write your business plan and present to intelligent people you respect who will give you honest input. They can help you through tough times and allow your to refocus you on your weaknesses. Companies can create a board of advisors to help with this.

Cheers,
Mike

Great Projects attract Great People:

There is a real-world balance between the job and the pay. How hard do you think it is for Yahoo to hire a web developer? How about the IRS? How about for the same pay?

Those with the greatest skills have the luxury of choosing the work that they want to do. For the most part they have solved the money part of the equation. So why are there great web developers who are not working new exciting projects? There are a series of reason including pay, location, company mission, blah, blah, blah.

So how does the little guy attract great talent?

I believe part of the answer is to dream big and work on projects that can change the world. Through climber, we have learned that in most cases people would rather work on a great project than get paid more money. They would rather be part of the great team that produced cool and exciting products than succeed in a company where their worldly contributions would not be recognized.

Interview and hire people whose beliefs are in line with your company goals. Turning them into believers is the first step in understanding your sales process. If your employees think your products suck, they probably do. Ask them.

Got Sucky Products?
You need to fix this first. It is extremely difficult to hire quality people if your products suck. However, if you can sell prospective hires on your new vision you may have solved your most of your problem. Be innovative, look at the people in your industry who are on the leading edge and jump over them. There is always an envelope to push!

Aspire to be innovative.

Cheers,
Mike

Simple Update:

We are working very hard on creating new tools in climber.com we have crossed into 6,000 users and have three Fortune 500 companies who are using our beta product. Additionally, have more than 22,000 jobs in our system. Our EDLOAN company continues to experience double digit month over month growth.

We are days away from launching an entire new front and back for both climbers and companies. This will provide all users with a better interface and a deeper suite of tools.

If your company is interested in becoming a beta client please email nickj@mingle.com.

Oh yah! It's time to start hiring again. We are looking for ruby developers who are interested in working on a new product for climber. If you got skills send your resume to careers@mingle.com!

Cheers,
mike

Been a long time coming:

I have been lagging on the blogging. Not to make any excuses but we have been so busy and more importantly eight weeks ago my second child, Lincoln Michael O'Brien, showed up !

As the business is coming out of its infancy and into being a toddler, I thought I would share some success metrics that we use.

Break Even Point: We have been going at this almost a year now and have hit an important milestone. BEP (when ones expenses match ones income) is a powerful place to be. At this point any additional sales profit that occurs drops directly to the bottom line. Basically, from this point your free cash flow and ability to deploy it effectively determines how profitable you are as a business.

Key Indicators: In every business there are leading indicators that provide insight into how the business is doing. The faster you can understand these and develop a measurable metric the closer you are to the pulse of the business. We created the MMX(marketing multiplier) which is our expected return on each marketing dollar. So if we spend $1 of marketing we expect a profit yield of 3.2 or $3.20. We then order all of our marketing by the MMX and allocate our budget appropriately. With this tool we can also update our marketing on a real time basis. We can compare the instant MMX (same day yield) and the tail ( days 2 through 365).

Good luck with finding your key indicators!

Cheers,
Mike

More Pictures

Pictures Speak a thousand words.

We have been working very hard! Go to Climber.com to check out all of our work! Check out some of these pictures.. I have some very exciting news so check back soon!

Great Minds Think Alike...

I had the fortune of meeting a fellow entrepreneur on a recent trip to adtech in San Francisco. He created and sold a business to a major online player. He poured his heart into it and took care of the people he worked with to make it happen. We had much to talk about and found that we had a lot in common. Our business practices of empowering a team and understanding the hedgehogs that make our businesses go.

What was even better was that he challenged to think deeply about venture capital and all that it entails. We spoke of the benefits and the problems. But the best part was that he drilled down into what Mingle's real needs are. He did not let me off the hook with high level answers. It was a great session. What I think was most important was being able to chat with someone who has no agenda and a similar mind set. I think this helped clarify some business strategies. It is important to find people of like minds to challenge you.

Cheers,
Mike

Late night work:
Sometimes the best work is done beyond the hours of 8 to 5. Tonight four of us are pushing hard to reach a critical goal and we are having a great time. It feels good to work as a team with a single purpose it is what collaboration truly is. A new type of extreme programming, four people on one computer all pitching in. It is these type of experiences that bring people together and bonds are created.

These are the times in a young business that will be reflected upon with a sense of pride when the product serves its ultimate goal, success.

And, the pizza and beer are not so bad either.

Cheers,
Mike

Be a Monkey!

One of the best ways to build a business is to be a pain in the ass to the existing 500 pound gorilla. Is there a market that they are under serving? Are their clients unhappy with them but have no alternative? These are very good markets to exploit.

The infamous 500 pound gorilla has got what I like to call the "Three M's", Money, Market Share and Momentum. But many times these make that gorilla an easy target to a broke, agile, no business having monkey.

Momentum carries the gorilla forward down the same path. Any change in business strategy can mean a loss of their current customers. He has to plan, measure, and move with passionless thought. The monkey swings from idea to idea and has to stay way out in front since he is often showing the gorilla the path. The monkey is the innovator the gorilla the executioner.

The monkey is hungry and does not have much capital, he needs to find some early success or die. He is willing to listen to his customers and create a product that is truly reflective of their needs. The gorilla pours huge amounts of money into marketing to convince customers that his product will solve their problems and to maintain market share. The monkey is passionate the gorilla is introspective.

Market share can be a pain for the gorilla. He has worked very hard to get where he is very resistant to change. Change means risk and uncertainty, this is bad for the stock price. New products might not sell as good as the old ones and he may lose customers. The monkey has no market share to speak of. He can create niches of customers for whom he will deliver the world. He can create new and innovative products where there is no market. He can steal whole markets with a shift in paradigm. The monkey is creative, the gorilla is protective.

And keep in mind some day you will be the gorilla to some young monkey.

Cheers,
Mike

Knowing the right decision:

We often hear about leaders who have made big decisions correctly, even though their decision goes against conventional wisdom. Take Steve Jobs, of Apple, who in 2001 launched their first Apple store. Their thought was that for someone to truly give Apple a shot at being the computer of choice they would need sales people who really understood the product. They opened this store just as Gateway was closing their stores due to soft sales. Many analysts thought this was a poor decision. The rest is history, Apple operates more than 81 stores nationwide and their 2004 sales exceeded 1.5 billion.

Apple was already the hip computer. Following the lead of such stores as BCBG, Disney and Hollister, they turned their store into an experience. This electronic hip experience was backed up with a superior product and a amazing product development team. Steve knew this was the right decision at the right time.

Many times I have a hard time articulating the reasons behind a decisions, however, I know to the core of me that it is the right thing to do. I often will sit and think about the basis of the pending decision and allow my mind to bubble the reasons for the decision to the top. If I do not take the time to do this I feel the decision is more emotional than rational and I will err on the side of rational every day.

Cheers,
Mike

Great Things Happening:
We launched our new corporate site (I use the term corporate lightly)! You can visit it at www.mingle.com. It is still a work in process, but check it out.

We are currently featured on blogger.com as a "Blog of Interest". So for all you new readers, please forgive my poor grammar and spelling errors!

If you are interested in becoming an alpha member please create a profile by clicking here. Why do you want to be an alpha member? It's free and you will be on the cutting edge of the future!

Enough with the infomercial.

Cheers,
Mike

Clarity:

Had a great call today with a prominent Venture Capitalist (have several more scheduled next week). He confirmed an opinion that we had been floating around the office for some time. We need to focus on our climber.com product. Like most entrepreneurs, we are thinking ahead to climber version 3.82 and in reality we are still completing our beta version.

Sometimes, it takes someone from the outside to gently nudge you in the correct direction. This does not mean changing the destination just the road. So we are working with godspeed to complete our user interface for Climber.com (by the way we are hiring talented User Interface people, send resumes to info@mingle.com). The new look and feel should be completed in the coming weeks and we should have a news set of features!

Cheers,
Mike

Clearing the Mind:

I just got back from a great vacation with my wife. It was a nice break from the hectic pattern of life. It was the equivalent of my mind letting out a big sigh and I realized that I really needed to take time to decompress.

Laying on a beach with nothing but blue water and the sun is the best medicine for clearing the brain. I think everyone will agree that once you do decompress it allows your mind to attack your problems from a new perspective. It frees you from some of the biases that could cloud your judgment. This allows you to create a new solution with true insight. Your mind sorts out what it needs and flushes everything else out. For me this happens in the background, without really thinking about it.

Many people talk about similar experiences when they do yoga or meditate. I often sit quite for a few minutes and try to let go of the world.

Cheers,
Mike

Burning Desire to Succeed:

One of the traits that I admire most in other people is a burning desire to succeed. When I hear the success of other people it inspires me. I recently was able to hear William Taylor speak, he is the founding director of Business 2.0 and author a book to be released later in the year, "Mavericks at Work". He provided many stories about success and the desire to succeed. It seemed that against all odds people succeed. He pointed to the example of the airline business where collectively it has lost billions of dollars since inception save one company, Southwest Airlines. He went on to say that Southwest was the best performing stock in the market since 1985 (I could be wrong on the year). The arguable worst industry in the world you find the most successful company. I take inspiration from this, Southwest understands itself and they can communicate their message effectively to their customers and shareholders.

I see this as a war of will and likewise I believe in any role you need a burning desire to succeed to stand out.. This passion for success is easy to identify in people. They are often high energy positive people who love a challenge. They are competitive and can see the value of a team of people with like mind. When many of these people get together with a single focus their chances of hitting that goal is increased exponentially.

Cheers,
Mike

Tough Weeks:

These last few weeks have been very trying. Anyone who has put together a software product know that this is a difficult process. Creating something that is unique online and creates true value for its users is even more difficult.

We have had to make some employee changes as well. This is very difficult in a young business, but the bottom line in the bottom line. A product that is delayed even a month or two means missing some critical numbers and also increases the burn rate. In order to stay on track sometimes it means making the tough decisions. This week was no exception. It is compounded by the fact that the changes we had to make were with truly great people, who will succeed elsewhere. They just were not the right people for the right job. In the book, "Good to Great", this is covered very well. The author explains that if you have someone in the wrong seat on the bus you are doing them a disservice and that you as the manager have to be the adult and make the tough decision.

Cheers to a better week,
Mike

Taking Employees Home With You:

I was visiting a friend who has a very successful design company. He was very frustrated with one of his managers. He had spoken to a lot of his friends and colleagues about this person. He had been thinking about it this person for some time and how she did not fit the company any more. She had become complacent and had some issues dealing with customers.

The bottom line is that she was stealing time from him. When he went home he was frustrated and consumed with her ineptness. Sometimes the toughest thing to do is to cut the cord. Today he is still struggling with this employee and time that he should be enjoying after work is being stolen by this employee.

He knows what he should do, but he has failed to act. As soon as he realized that this was happening, he became culpable. Once he solves this issue he will be free to work on items that will allow the business to continue to succeed.

Cheers,
Mike

Beware of Partners:

Sometimes lessons that you learn leave you jaded and hard. It is the difficult paths that we have walked before that we are careful to choose again. I hope that those who read this can learn from this lesson that I learned first hand. This is a very important lesson.

Choosing partners to start a new business happens everyday. Sometimes, people become so excited about the idea of the new business that they overlook attributes in their partners. They overlook many things in order to get the baby born. I have learned this lesson first hard. I had a partner who did not live up to her promises. It was only after the hard work of other that she wanted to become involved, after the business was profitable (she also had other non-business related motives). Keep in mind that a problem partner will always be a problem partner. If they are tough to take in the beginning, they will be unbearable later on.

So here is a list off must do's before entertaining the idea of a partner. This by no means is a catch all. Please feel free to send me some additions. These focus on their histories being an indicator of their future promise.

• Spell it out: Define the role and commitment level of each partner, down to the hours of the week that they are going to work on this project. Sign this document!
• Understand Outside Activity: Find out where their heart are. Are they working on outside projects? Are they 100% committed to your project?
• Talk to old partners/business associates: This is where I failed. People build a reputation over a period of time. What is the partners reputation like? DO NOT TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT! Ask around, take your time. Talk to co-workers, business associates, employees and anyone else who knows this person. Failures are ok and expected, but what is their success ratio. Who invested in these ventures, how do those people feel about them when things went south.
• Google them: But don't trust the press releases, websites and any other media which they might control. You can use this to validate history, but, take it with a grain of salt.
• Background check: This is a must. This will tell a lot about a person and their credit/legal history. Someone with bad credit will have a negative impact if you need to borrow or raise money in the future.
• Trust your Gut: You know what the right decision is already. If you have any hesitation you already know what you should do.
  
• Trust Someone Else's Gut: Chances are you know someone who can pick people out. Get them to spend some time around this potential partner. Their bull-shit sensor will be better tuned than yours.
  
• Ask a mentor: To this day, I have people who teach me lessons all the time. These mentors help act as a unbiased sounding board. If you do not have a mentor, there are places such as SCORE that will introduce you to older business people.

Bottom line is that starting a business is a long term commitment and the more successful it becomes the more that is on the line. Bad partners will sink their teeth into you and bleed you as long as they can.

Great partners are the complete opposite. They are people who compliment your skill set and who from the beginning are committed 100%. They are also very difficult to find. Here are some ideas of places to look.

• Family & Friends: This is a double edged sword. These are the people that you trust the most, but sometimes these feelings get in the way. Be careful, but that said I have always done very well with family. You can't beat their commitment
• Co-Workers: This is great because you get to see how they work. Are they committed to task? Do they get their work done? Are they a dreamer but not a doer?
• Business Associates: Since they are in business, they have a reputation and history. Do you have friends or associates in common? Ask their opinion! This is a good group if you can find many good opinions about the potential partner.
  
• Church/Community Groups/Universities: All these areas have many people who know the potential partner. The more positive opinions you can get the better.

Thats it!

Cheers,
Mike