Living the Startup Life

I was interviewed earlier this week by Adam McFarland where I was quoted saying:

“As a young entrepreneur, you will have NO work/life balance. I am very serious about this. If you want to succeed, you need to be working 24/7 every day of the week.”

I have received a lot of comments about how this is not the way life should be lived and that a person who does not set time to relax or party is not living a healthy life.  They call me a fool because I jeopardize my friendships and relationship because I work 24/7.  They say that I might be able to keep this up when I’m young, but when I’m 50, I won’t be able to keep up the same life style.

Well, I don’t plan on working 24/7 everyday for the rest of my life.  The goal is to build an empire before I have a house and family of my own.  But the theory behind not having a work/life balance has a deeper source.  It’s not that when I plan to have a work/life balance once I hit 30; it’s that I see work being a part of my life.

Seeing my product launch is much more fun and rewarding to me than going out to Hollywood and partying all night.  Working with my team till 3am in the morning is more fun and rewarding to me than going to the movies and watching some flick about some else’s life.  Reading a book or article online is much more fun and rewarding to me than watching Family Guy on TV.  Meeting new people through Twitter or blogging is much more fun and rewarding to me than going out with the same people every weekend.  I think you catch my drift here.

I think the point of all this is that I don’t differentiate between my work and my life.  That’s the underlying concept.  People have such a negative connotation with the word “work.”  We hear it all the time: “I hate my job”; “I’m so glad it’s Friday”; “Gah! I hate Mondays”; “I can’t wait till the weekend.”  People in our society seem to think that work sucks.  My team and I are of the mentality that work is fun!  So when I say that I’m working 24/7, it doesn’t mean that I’m losing my mind, stressing out the entire time.  It means that I’m having fun 24/7.

When I do an interview, go to a mixer, meet a person online, or blog and tweet, I am working.  This is a part of my job as the Chief Marketing Officer of Future Delivery.  I consider everything that progresses my career or that develops me personally as “work.”  This is where we may argue with semantics, but work to me doesn’t have to be something that makes me money.  It can be something that expands my network, social status, or influence in the Gen-Y community.

I have a great relationship with my girlfriend.  She understands that I have a startup company and that my company is my number 1 priority.  We’re able to keep a healthy relationship because I do set time during the week to take her out on a date.  When she’s watching TV, I’m sitting next to her with my laptop doing work.  It’s actually the best relationship I have ever been in.

I’m not a fool, nor am I crazy.  This is just the life that I choose to live.  You may say, “Jun, stop working so hard all the time.  Take a break and have some fun!.”  I’ll tell you, “I AM having fun”

Read me at HeyStephanie.com on 12seconds.tv

I was recently featured as a guest blogger on my friend’s blog HeyStephanie! I wrote about the new video site 12Seconds.tv and how you can utilize it to spread your personal brand. The site is so new, that you can easily leverage what I’ve learned from social media and YouTube to become a 12Second star!

If you guys want an invitation to the site, just shoot me an email at jun (dot) loayza (at) gmail.com.

The idea of working for oneself circles the brain for more reasons than potential earnings, supposed freedom, and pure thrill - it does so because at some point we need to have our personal touch on business direction, and feel the joy of creating businesses that make a difference. Truly, no one knows business potential like each and every one of us does.

Beyond mere potential though, are the elements that make businesses successful; two of which are marketing and product creation. Last month I wrote about the differences between product-based businesses and service-based businesses in my given industry - forestry. At the risk of creating an “easier said than done” situation, in this post we’ll explore some tips and steps for taking a service-oriented business, and marketing it as (or making it) a product.

#1: Market Your Services As A Product

My biggest fear in creating a consulting business based on carrying out a service - in my case a service to both business and ecosystems - is that it is seen as an extra or mere option. To quell such fear, offer the service as a product, meaning that it must have positive consequences both long- and short-term.

The best way to carry out this transfer is to research and outline the consequences of ignoring your service. Cite law, case studies, and true benefits of your service. Incorporate them into your mission statement, as it is very important that you believe in them yourself. Lastly, market the ways in which your services make businesses run smoother, attract investment, and foster confidence and development.

When your system has been in place long enough, you may want to approach regulation that would make your business a necessity. An example of a service built on necessity is Environmental Assessment consulting: when development requires assessment to continue, the service deliverable becomes a valuable product.

#2: Diversify Your Services

Diversify your services not just for name and fame - but do so for multiple, viable revenue streams. Importantly, spreading your butter too thin may be worse than building a crap business to start with.

Identify people and trends that relate to your idea, and build them into your business plan. Integral to this are people you can trust to build your business alongside you; those who work in a niche which you may not be very familiar with. You must be familiar enough to know how to market and identify opportunities, then trustful enough to pass the task on to your business partner.

…and #3: Better Than Trend-catching is…

In fact, MUCH better than trend catching is trend CREATION. As with my first point, if you can take a mere trend, and make it a requirement you would be golden.

It’s a tough world out there. Not only are we seeing real signs of economic stagnation, but even the top performing businesses are cutting costs everywhere. Nowhere is this more evident in Canada than in the business I have the pleasure of partaking in, the forest and timber industry. But, hidden within the fact that the industry and its funding sources are in the crapper is the fact that we are in a time open to innovation and change, a.k.a the best time to build business.

Be that change, make that innovation, and most importantly, use it to follow your dreams.

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Helpful Links: Initial Steps, Management Help (more to browse within), and Canada E-business training.

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Torbjørn Rive is the writer and owner of Variable Interest. Variable Interest is also a member of the Brazen Careerist blog network.

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This is what Web 2.0 is.
This is what Web 2.0 is doing.
Our generation is now massively collaborating online, blurring the lines between privacy, commerce, government, love, facts, ideas, proprietary content, and life.

How has Web 2.0 affected your life?

Constance wrote a great post comparing the Y Generation to Britney Spears. To compare our generation to Britney Spears is truly a big leap, but I understand the connection that she was trying to make.

I think that we are risk-takers and that we are the generation that truly has a mind of its own. We switch jobs easily and try to look out for whats best for us. We really are not loyal to our employers and want to experiment with pretty much everything. We are the new media generation and we have a much lower sense of privacy than any other generation before us. We can become self-made celebrities using YouTube, we can keep track of our hundreds of friends using Facebook, and we can publish our deepest thoughts using blogs.

I think that Britney is just a person who is garbage (sorry for being so blunt). I don’t think she truly represents our Gen because even though you can say that she is a “risk-taker,” she is weak and got caught up in the hollywood glamor.

If I had to choose a female celebrity that encompasses the Y Generation, it would be Natalie Portman. She would be a great person to represent our gen. She graduated from a distinguished university, has become an internationally known movie star, is absolutely gorgeous (had to throw that in there), and is not afraid of controversy or putting herself out there:

She is a vegetarian, advocate of animal rights, and doesn’t believe in an afterlife.  She is our generation and I think the ideal female representative.

What do you guys think?

YOU ARE YOUR BRAND.  Everything you do or say becomes a part of your personal image and directly reflects what people think about you and how people act around you.  This not only greatly affects your social life, but your professional life as well.  I feel that every undergraduate student should start blogging to build his or her personal brand.

Think about it.  If you’re thinking about interviewing with a company, you can bet that they will google you before they set up an interview.  Unlike a blog, your resume is a lifeless glimpse of your experiences.  A blog is a very personal, deep look into your thoughts, passions, interests, fears, and abilities that allows the interviewer to get to know the you that you want the world to know.

I was thinking of impactful and concrete reasons that students should begin blogging immediately.  Luckily, I met CK today at Startup Camp in San Francisco hosted by Sun Microsystems.  CK wrote a terrific blog on just this topic.  So since CK has her info down like Charlie Brown, I feel that the best thing I can do is tell you how to ease your way into the blogging community.

1. Begin by searching for blogs that interest you

Use blog search engine sites such as Technorati or social network creation sites such as Ning to search for blogs that you have a deep interest about.

2. Read the blogs and learn which blogs have the most readers

Understand which blogs have the most readers and why.  The beauty about blogs is that you don’t have to have perfect grammar, nor do you really need to proof read your posts.  It’s all about being real and expressing your true feelings.

3. Comment on the blog posts

Write a comment on a blog post that brings value to the blog or asks a relevant question.  If you disagree with what the person wrote, then even better!  I have seen so many great discussions and debates online that end up in great friendships on the blogosphere.  DO NOT write spam comments that blatantly advertise your site.  People know when you’ve actually read their blogs and are writing meaningful content.

4. Create your blog!

Just feel free and dive right in.  Use free blogging platforms such as Wordpress.  There are many designs, widgets, and settings that you can play with so take some time to play with all of them.  Trust me, you’ll really enjoy customizing your blog page once you get the hang of it.

Once you’ve created your blog, make sure to let me know so that I can check it out.   See you on the blogosphere!!!

Startups are tough. It can be a tough and lonely road where you will work 100+ hours a week, and see no initial movement in your business. Few companies make it to the point where the company finally starts running on its own, and subsequently, the company starts running you. My business partner Yu-kai Chou and I call this point the “point of no return (PONR).” Up until the PONR, you are the sole driver of your company. If you stop working, then your company doesn’t advance, and you don’t eat. However, after the PONR, even if you stop working, the company will continue advancing and the work will continue to pile up. You are no longer the main driver of the company because it is pretty much on cruise control and hopefully headed in the right direction. Just because the company is moving, it doesn’t mean that it is moving efficiently or to the place it should be moving to.

This is the second point where most startups fail. There is so much work after the PONR that the business owner is completely overwhelmed and doesn’t know what to do. He puts in more and more hours but the work never ends and he eventually burns out. So how can you ensure that you are prepared for the PONR?

1. Create systems

You should not be working on the day-to-day activities of your company; instead, you should be working ON your company’s overall strategy, direction, and management. Each area of your company - tech, finance, operation, marketing - should have a system that works on its own. The system should be efficient and easy to understand so that a new employee could easily pick up the system and work in that area of the company.

Don’t wait till the PONR to start creating your systems. If you have not created your systems before you’ve hit the PONR, then it is probably too late because it will take a tremendous amount of time and money to create systems for your company. Start to create systems as soon as you start your company. Even if you’re the only employee, make sure that there are systems to the way everything is run and make sure to document the systems so that your first team member will understand how to run the systems.

2. Empower your team

A startup company has very little capital. How on earth can you gather a team of people who will be passionate about your company and work for you for free? The key is to empower the members of your team and to choose your team members very very carefully. You need to hire people who are self-starters, and like to work in open ended, creative environments. You need people who do not need their hands held in order to accomplish an assignment.

What I mean by “empowering your team members” is that you give them the opportunity to accomplish their goals in the their own way. If they feel that they own a piece of the project and company, then they will feel passionate about it and work extra hard to achieve their goal. Empower your team members by giving them big responsibilities and giving them free-reign on how they will accomplish their goals. In essence, you set the finish line; they choose their path.

What other ways have you found effective in empowering your team?

My colleagues (Yu-kai, Shin, Gabe, and Garren) and I went to an event tonight called The First 100 Days of a CMO. The presenter was Scott Hamilton from Allign and he spoke about how a CMO can successfully integrate himself within the company and ultimately lead the company to success. Overall it was a great presentation and what I want to write about is something that stood out in my mind during the event.

The room was full of people in their mid 30’s. My colleagues and I had badges on that read “students” so that people would be able to recognize us and place us in the right seats (not that they couldn’t distinguish simply by looking at our young faces). During the event, Scott asked us to get into groups and run a case study about how to effectively quantify the commitment of your marketing team.

To be honest, I wasn’t that into it and I merely sat back while everyone at my table discussed some points. After listening to what they had to say, I commented on my view points, added to their ideas, and began to sum everything up into bullet points and key topics. To my surprise (surprise because everyone was at least 10 years older than I was), everyone loved the direction that I was headed towards and chose me to be the speaker for our table. They wanted me to present my ideas.

The funny thing was that Yu-kai Chou, who was sitting at another table, was chosen to speak for his table as well. Now what’s going on here? We are literally fresh out of college, and we’re asked to present the ideas when there are people here with 10+ more years of experience than us. Yu-kai and I decided to analyze the situation and we came out with these conclusions:

1. We speak with authority and confidence

If you want to demonstrate that you know something and can contribute to the topic, you need to speak with confidence and in factual statements when adding your ideas. Yu-kai and I speak through people - not just at them - when we are adding out points of view. Speaking through a person means to actually project your voice through them, so it’s like you’re talking to them as if they were two steps back from where they are standing. We also speak with authority by giving clear, concise ideas with concrete stories to back up our ideas.

2. We synergies ideas

Yu-kai and I not only look to contribute our own ideas, but we look for the synergies between all of the ideas. How does this comment relate to the other comment and how can it further our project. It is one thing to acknowledge that the person had a great idea; it is an even better thing to take her idea, mix it with yours, and come out with an even more powerful idea.

3. We lead with questions

Yu-kai and I love leading with questions. This means that we begin every team conversation with probing questions that make everyone in the team contribute. We do not want to give a lecture and tell everyone on the team what to do; instead, we know that 5 heads are better than just one, and by creating an environment where everyone feels confident and free to contribute their ideas, we generate the perfect setting for the best ideas to flourish.

4. We summarize points and make it concrete

Yu-kai and I both summarized the ideas and strategies of our tables. Not only did we summarize them, but we articulated the ideas to our team in a clear and concise manner so that everyone understood the exact steps that we were taking. We also acknowledge the person who made the contribution for each point so that they feel praised and rewarded for their efforts.

These 4 reasons are why Yu-kai and I were both chosen to speak for our tables. Learn to use these traits successfully and you too will become a leader.

Its not all creativity and glamour.

Most people have the misconception that being in marketing means that you do the creative work and develop catchy advertisements or develop a brand new marketing campaign to reach more people and generate more sells. Well, that is only but a small fraction of what I am doing as the CMO of Future Delivery.

Now that I have my own company, people often ask me what it is that I actually do. So, this is what the CMO of a startup company does:

1. Market Research

Thats right. A big part of what I do is research the entire market. And when I say entire market I mean everything from industry trends and competitors, to surveys and TAM analysis. Its a dirty job but someone has to do it. The CEO is out there building the business plan and the CTO is building the product. It is my responsibility to figure out what kind of product the market is ready for and will accept as a solution to their problems.

2. Business Development

If you hate to cold call or cold email, then this is not the job for you. A startup company has no name, no reputation, and no clients or customers. It is my job to go out there (even right now with no product), and sell our product. I am dead serious here. I am making phone calls and setting up meeting where I am literally walking in with nothing but a laptop and few concept drawings of what the world will look like. Do we actually get some clients? Of course we do! If I weren’t able to convert leads, then I would be in the wrong business.

You will receive a lot of “No’s”, a lot of canceled meetings, and a lot of unreturned calls; however, the CMO must be persistent and must always remain positive. In essence, this is a numbers game. The more people I contact and the larger my network grows, the higher the chance that I will meet someone from a company that will listen to my pitch and like it.

3. Branding

Here comes the fun part. Like I said, we have no name; therefore, it is my job to go out there and develop the brand. I must develop a strategy to stick our company brand in the mind of our target market. There are many ways to do this and the fun part is finding the right ones that work. Here are a few strategies that I’m working on right now: blogging, facebook, linkedin, thought leadership, squidoo, youtube, and career development mavens. I will blog about my experience with each one and which ones work and which ones don’t.

4. Public Relations

Like David Meerman Scott, I do not believe that we should pay a lot of money to get journalists and other media to write about us. If we develop the right content, build thought leadership in the career development field, and attract users, then journalists and the media will come to us. And believe me, when they come to us, we’ll be ready. I am developing the Press Kit and the Media Page so that when the time comes that someone is researching Future Delivery to write an article, they’ll know right where to look to get all of the information that they could possibly need about Future Delivery.

5. Team Leadership

I do have a team that is working with me: Shin Kadota, Peter Suberlak, and Michael Wang. All of them studied at UCLA with me and all of them are very eager and bright young minds. From my experiences, I have learned that the best way to lead a team is to empower them and make sure that they are the right person in the right seat of the bus. Each person on my team is leading a specific project. I give them the opportunity to accomplish task B, but I do not tell them exactly how to get from A to B. It is completely up to them to decide what steps they should take to get to B, which gives them the feeling of ownership and freedom that motivates them to do an amazing job.

What are your experiences with being a young CMO? I would love to hear your stories and hopefully we can learn and grow from each other.