It’s Official!

The articles of incorporation have been posted with the secretary of state and we are officially Remarkable Tributes, Inc.  I feel like passing out cigars. 

Blog Today, Book Tomorrow

I am a mother of two small children…three if you count this new business.  I am always finding parallels between life motherhood and entrepreneurship.  I figure that one day I will write a book about these similarities.  I might have to hire a ghost writer (maybe that lady who wrote the hilarious Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy), but all of the examples will be real.

Here are a few proposed chapter headings…

• It Takes Two to Tango: How all great ideas are mash-ups of other ideas
• Sharing the News: I’ll tell my boss about the business when I start to show
• Branding: Practicing yelling the brand from the back porch (or possibly “Branding-Branding-Bo-Fanding-Banana-fana-fo-fanding-Me-My-Mo-Manding-Branding.”)
• Trust in the Delivery Room: Finding the best vendors and partners
• Hormone-Induced Paranoia: Testing and retesting the business model
• Bed Rest: Maintaining momentum and urgency in times of lull
• Crawling Before We Walk: Teaching a business independence one army-crawl at a time
• Shower Games: How to launch the new business without silly games
• Your Baby Might Not Be Beautiful: How to take and use feedback without getting defensive
• Family Planning: What is your exit strategy or not

What do you think?  Any other chapters you’d suggest?

Adventures in Branding

Branding for a small business (who aspires to greatness) can be daunting.  On one hand you don’t want to think about it too much, as it can be distracting from the real business of building something worth buying.  That said, it is important and something I have spent some time this past month working on.

So, where does one start to create a brand.  In my case, the whole thing started when I misplaced the high resolution and source files for the Creative Outlet Labs logo (perhaps I confess too much) that a talented friend designed for me several years ago.  I started using the low-res version on www.CreativeOutletLabs.com and on www.isAbsolutelyRemarkable.com, while I searched for the files and even contemplating recreating it.

As a tangent, I love the idea of Creative Outlet Labs.  All of the business concepts that I have toyed around with have been in the creative space, thus the mention of Creative Outlet.  The Labs portion was a nod to technology (another pillar in my business ideas).  My vision is that Creative Outlet Labs would work to push out dozens of great ideas, businesses, applications, and can’t-live-without innovations over time, each of which might have their own identity.  From a branding perspective, the phrase Creative Outlet Labs has some serious limitations as a brand.  For one it is EXTREMELY long at 20 characters and is a bit of a tongue twister.  How you might want to break it up to fit it into a reasonably-sized logo make it look funny.  You put Outlet on its own line and it appears that we are advertising a discount store, for instance.  Perhaps it was destiny that lead me to lose those original logos.  It wasn’t meant to be.

So, work began on the “Remarkable” concept (now in serious development).  At first my thought was to downplay the “Remarkable” piece and put Creative Outlet Labs at the center, but now that I am up to my ears in development, designs are underway, and marketing plans are being fleshed out it became clear this was a bass-ackwards approach.  Demonstrating flexibility, I decided to turn 180-degrees and de-emphasize Creative Outlet Labs and focus on Remarkable for the new launch this Summer.  The company is still Creative Outlet Labs, but in the same way that a company called Obvious made Twitter (wait, they just changed the company name to Twitter Inc, so perhaps that is a poor example) or how the company 37Signals makes Basecamp (while they don’t even own the domain name Basecamp, which gives me hope).

Now, this lead me to all sorts of follow-on choices and decisions, some of which are agonizing and are indicative of the kinds of trade offs a small business makes.  I still have a little website that works great at www.CreativeOutletLabs.com.  At some point soon, I’ll be merging that content into the new site (I’ll leave you in suspense, although you link to Creative Outlet Labs will still work).  However, I can’t do that immediately as I don’t want to take focus off the main development activity to do something that would be temporary.

Furthermore, I have a super fun mini-tribute application that lives at www.IsAbsolutelyRemarkable.com that I plan to rebrand as well this Summer.  This is planned without any disruption in service, so keep sending those mini-tributes and sharing smiles!

I am still several weeks from unvieling the logo designs and plans, but I can tell you about the process to create the logo itself (the manifestation and distillation of the brand into a single image, pretty heady stuff).

I started with some brand characteristics (I know, how “corporate” of me).  These were some things that eventually I’d like the service to be known for.  I am not naive enough to think that I can will this to happen, but if I am purposeful about it, aligning design and decisions around these characteristics, perhaps one day these things will be attributed to me by my customers.  At least that is the concept. 

So, I started with a list of four characteristics (I’ll share those in another post, perhaps as I describe the kind of decisions they have been prompting me to make).  The designer took these, along with example logos that I liked, example logos that I didn’t like, and examples from others in the industry.  I even made a list of characteristics of a great logo that I have developed over the years (having lived through very bad branding efforts, world-class identity developments, and having worked in start-up environments where these decisions are made and for one of the most valueable brands in the world, all of which provided great learnings in this area).  If you are interested, I’ll share some of these brand concepts in a future post.  These formed a starting place for a great discussion and several rounds of back and forth concept design and “narrowing down.” 

We now have a logo that we’ll start using soon and are working on the corrolary items like color palettes, font treatments, and other design language that will drive the brand even further.  I know, perhaps these are only decisions that a marketeer can appreciate.  That said, I have been able to narrow down preferences and really reinforce and articulate the important aspects of the branding through this process.  As with other things, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination (although in this case the destination is very cool).

The whole process reminds me a lot of naming a child, actually.  There is a lot of pressure to do it right and it is only years down the road when you know you might have made a mistake.  Perhaps I should add this as a chapter to the book I may pen someday.  The working title for the book is “How Entrepreneurship is like Motherhood”  (more on that later).  I think I will call this chapter “Branding: Practicing yelling the brand from the back porch” or “Branding-Branding-Bo-Fanding-Banana-fana-fo-fanding-Me-My-Mo-Manding-Branding.”

The Best Job Ever!

Some girlfriends and I slipped away last weekend to a retreat where we could visit, reflect, and relax (and find some snow falling if you can believe it…in late April!).  At the retreat we played some games and in one a friend asked me what my favorite job of all time had been and why.  Without thinking about it much, I mentioned working for a software start-up early in my career.  There were tons of things I didn’t know, we weren’t terribly successful (all things considered and by benchmark standards), but, man, I will tell you that we had a lot of fun.  I don’t think I haven’t laughed so hard at work since those days.  Thanks to every colleague and customer who made that experience possible!

It could have been because the group and company was small (see a great post by the good folks at 37Signals about the concept of ten-groups, very provocative and right on the money in my experience).  It could have been because we were making creative software and selling it to schools.  It could be because I was learning so much and having fun stretching my professional muscles.  In any case, that is the position that came to mind.

Later, I was reflecting on my answer and thought that what I am doing with Creative Outlet Labs might be my favorite job ever.  After all, I am posting an article to the blog at 10:25 PM!  I am back learning, creating, and risking in new ways.  I so enjoy the creative process that I don’t consider it work and I have literally paid (instead of been paid) for the privilege of being involved in an inspiring project like this.  By all accounts and measures, this might be my favorite job.  The “job” of an entrepreneur.

I think the only job I would like more is to be the leader of a successful business.  I feel like I am on my way there and can’t wait and will someday soon be honored to invite a whole new group of customers (you!) to be a part of this journey.  Sign up for the beta to be a part.

What has been your all-time favorite job and why? 

When the “Right Way” Isn’t Right

I am often struck by the irony of doing things the “right way.”  Whether it is a rigorous new product introduction process that seeks to remove all of the risk in a product launch or an exhaustively detailed product specification document which outlines customer needs before any customers are acquired, there seems there is a “right way” to do things that often doesn’t work, despite the amount of effort put into the process.

Tom Peters and the authors of Made to Stick both have written about a skunk-works project at the industrial products company, Ingersoll-Rand, who sought to improve their time to market from 4 years to less than 1.  When faced with a decision to build a casing from plastic or metal, they knew they would have to test for durability, whi ch often involved “protracted, careful studies of the tensile and compression properties of both materials.”  However, they didn’t have time to spell “protracted,” so they tried something else.  The team tied samples of both materials to back of a rental car and drove around the parking lot.  The plastic composite held up just as well as the metal and they moved on to the next decision.  No extensive metalurgy, but rather a quick, real-world test.

Another entrepreneur who has applied this same approach is Kara Goldin, who founded Hint, Inc., who makes water-based beverages.  She wrote in an article published by Andrea Adelman for Ladies Who Launch that “Our focus groups are friends, family and individual customers. I’m a big believer in just launching the product and getting it to market as opposed to doing elaborate focus groups. Get your product out there and show demand to impress investors. If you have an idea, just go for it. Launch in a small local market, even among friends at work and school. Ask for honest opinions of your test products. My business wouldn’t have happened if I got bogged down in focus groups and didn’t just take a chance!“

When taking a leap of faith, we are often encouraged not to “look down.”  I think the same applies to planning.  Rather than focusing on process and doing things the “right way” (usually driven by fear of failure), better to just overcome the fear with action.  Launch something.  Get real customers using the product and providing feedback.  Develop a true empathy for the customers, which will ensure that at each decision point that you can best advocate their priorities.  This will have a greater impact on business success than extensive focus groups, market research, or just about anything else you can do to mitigate the risks of starting a business or launching a product.  Don’t look down.  Look up and out and take the leap!

This is why that we are Creative Outlet Labs are planning a public beta of our new service Remarkable.  If you have not yet signed, up go to www.CreativeOutletLabs.com and we will let you know as soon as it is ready!

Photo by Alan.

Benchpress Your Creativity

There are a lot of pressures on a new business.  So many reasons to get distracted.  So many reasons that to explain why things are not progressing.  Furthermore, we all know the statistics around new business enterprises and it is no surprise that many would-be entrepreneurs face the odds and talk themselves out of doing anything at all.

I have just finished re-reading David Schwartz’ The Magic of Thinking Big which I last read early in the 90’s.  Although some of the examples are a little dated, there are lots of great ideas and I recommend it.

One exercise is in the chapter called “How to Think and Dream Creatively” under the seciond called “Believe it Can Be Done.”  The exercise is to take an unthinkable concept (the example in the book was “How many of you feel it is possible to eliminate jails within the next 30 years?”) and allow people to come up with reasons why it isn’t possible.  For the jail example, it is easy to think of dozens of reasons why it is impractical to let criminals out loose on the street.  Then, the moderator changes the activity by asking “Will you try extra hard for a new minutes to believe we could?”  He asked the group, “Now assuming we can elminate jails, how could we begin?” and the group begin slowly brainstorming ideas.  Before long, the group in his example came up with 78 concrete ideas on something that they thought before we impossible.  Dr. Schwartz’ summarized the activity like this:  “When you believe, your mind finds ways to do.”

So, the lesson for me and any other would-be entrepreneur is to realistically assess the risks of their business, and then put focus on all the reasons that the business will be sucessful.  Stretch your creativity to see the possibilities on the horizons, like the ship in the picture above by Alan, and the path will become clearer.

Fast Forward and Look Back

Fast forward 10 years.  We have a highly successful company that is doing tons of good for our customers and the community.  The team has grown along with the business and we are having a blast.

I pause one day and think back to a random Saturday in the early, early days of the business.  November 2007.  I am am up to my elbows in requirements planning and the hard prioritizations that must occur in product development.  I am on the phone with suppliers exploring new levels of partnership.  At my feet are two little kids.  Both of them a little too noisy when I am on the phone.  One asking me to stop my work to write out the words in the latest superhero adventure he has illustrated.  College football and household chores in the background.  My son asking me if I like building software, in the same way that he likes building with Legos.  All of us pausing for a lunch of chicken nuggets before their naptime. 

Perhaps today is the day that some breakthrough feature was envisioned.  Perhaps this day is a turn-point that I don’t yet recognize.  Perhaps today is just a perfect day.

5 Year Plans and Other Works of Fiction

In a recent lecture at MIT’s Sloan Business school, Ricardo Semler said some provocative things about business planning.  Below is an excerpt:

“A 5 year plan is just an extrapolation added to wishful thinking. Have you ever seen a business plan that says, “I’m going to go up 5% and then down -14% and then -22% and then I’m going to recuperate a little bit and then it’s going to go to hell?”

‘Cuz that’s what happens. That’s how it looks in practice, but that’s not the way we design it. We’re willing to trick ourselves into thinking we have control as long as we do it with wishful thinking.”

I am a planner.  Big fan of planning, actually.  Love making lists and checking things off.  Love twiddling with spreadsheets.  Just wish I could be better at making and executing a plan.  I bet you feel the same.  Who wouldn’t want to be able to predict the future?  Especially for new enterprises that don’t have years of trend data to extrapolate from.  No tracks in the snow that can be followed to the top of the mountain.  How do you make a five year plan?  All it is is wishful thinking.

Guy Kawasaki in his book, The Art of the Start, talks about how forecasts are mythical.  Everyone knows they are made up.  Any research company worth your subscription fees will tell you that there is a big market to be exploited.  Any schmuck can do spreadsheet exercises to arrive at a $50M company.  The truth is not in the forecast, but in the passion.

The truth is the not every can exploit a growing market.  Not everyone can build a $50M company.  Not everyone can start something.  So, throw a dart at the board or spend hours doing sensitivity analysis in Excel and convince yourself in the viability of your business.  Because it is not the accuracy of the forecast, but your own depth of your conviction that makes the difference.  You will not find a track.  You must leave one.

Photo by Jason.

The Best of Times

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

I loved this quote.  As a naturally impatient person (or should I say “I have a healthy sense of urgency”?), I can relate to this sentiment.  What is interesting, however is that no matter how strong the Remarkable by Creative Outlet Labs idea is, it couldn’t have happened 20 years ago.  Frankly, the core technology didn’t exist.  Technically, infeasible.  Economically, disasterous. And, I don’t need to remind you that 20 years ago, I was not ready to start a business with this level of sophistication (any entrepreneurship activity would have been limited to birthday party planning or lemonade stands).

So, I shouldn’t lament that I didn’t start this business 20 years, but rather celebrate that I am starting it now!

This beautiful photo was taken by my friend, Allan, who is a fantastic photographer and artist…and the designer behind my corporate identity.

Teamwork Unplugged

This week my husband and business partner has been out of town.  In his absense, I have continued to push forward our development and marketing planning.  I have been actively collaborating with some of my vendors (one in Colorado, one in Pakistan, one in Georgia…it’s a small world afterall).  Makes me think a new about teamwork and that business is built one relationship at a time.  As Hugh MacLeod so appropriately drew in this cartoon, “Go team!”

To Do Good

There is a famous company in Silicon Valley who built a business on the supposition that they should “do no harm” or said another way “You can make money without doing evil.”  In their case, it is boatloads of money and I enjoy using many of their products, so they are doing many things right.

That all sounds fine, but it seems to me that there is a higher standard than just to avoid evil?  I don’t want to stop there.  I want to build a business that does good.

To provide direction in decision making during these key stages of planning Remarkable by Creative Outlet Labs, I thought it might be good to get a definition of what doing good is.  The dictionary defines it as “moral excellence” or “of high quality,” among its dozens of definitions.   Useful, but not terribly prescriptive.  The good book speaks of it roughly like this: “In everything, set them an example by doing what is good.  Show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech, so that no one has anything bad to say about you.”  This is helpful, as well, as it emphasizes providing leadership, as well as doing good.

How do you demonstrate high integrity and quality in a business or product?  By focusing on customers and providing them tools they can use to make the world a brighter place.  By making “giving back” a key tenant of the product offering and of the company priorities.  By giving voice to people’s stories and memories, because everyone knows someone who is remarkable.

It may be a bit ambitious, but I have faith that a business build on the tenants of doing good, can…well…do good!

There will be more information in the coming weeks and months about the good we intend to do.  In the meantime, subscribe to this RSS feed and I look forward to connecting with you!

Behold the Plan A

The good folks at 37Signals, who it is no secret have greatly influenced my thinking on the topic, talk about the importance of self-funding a start-up.  Outside funding is “Plan B” as they like to say.  They come from a perspective of a start-up founded by developers.  Get 2-3 people, they contend.  Write code.  Get people to use it.  Charge them.  Rinse and repeat.

 

I have been advised by other entrepreneurs that I know to “hold onto equity” (because you can’t get it back easily) and to “hold onto my money” that I might have personally invested by finding a partner who can help me develop a product.    I am not sure how I do both of these things simultaneously, although both are great counsel from folks I trust who have years of entrepreneurial experience.

 

One of the best pieces of advice I received about funding came over a year ago from a serial entrepreneur that I heard speak at a Portland Business Journal event.  He talked about heading up a joint venture between two companies that shared ownership 50/50.  He said when they needed another round of funding, the 50/50 partnership failed to deliver because one company couldn’t afford to invest further, but didn’t want to give up control.  The other company wanted to invest, but was contractually limited from investing more than the other.  The business ended up failing and the take-away was that the capitalization method should match the business strategy.

 

So, what is the business strategy of Creative Outlet Labs and how I am answering the question of capital?  The strategy is simple.  To to good by becoming the leading provider of personal tributes, allowing individuals to appreciate, collaborate, and celebrate those who are remarkable.  To do this, we don’t need to be big.  We just need to be better than the alternatives and utilize all available technologies.  We don’t need to have the most features.  We need to focus and make it easy for people to get from point A (the idea and the occasion) to point B (a finished tribute) in rapid fashion.  We don’t need the backing of a large company to get started and make a difference (although perhaps that is an exit strategy).

 

So, for now, the capitalization plan is to self-fund and retain the equity.  I am a realist.  I know, the business and the products may not always be my baby, but I can ensure it gets off to a good start…narrowly focused on doing good.

What Would You Do, If You Could Not Fail?

I have one of those inspirational cards in my office at work with a phrase like this written on it.  It is from the good folks at Quotables and I have looked at it thousands of times.  It is empowering to contemplate what wild and unbelievable things you could accomplish if you knew success was guaranteed.

 

However, it is easy to fall into two other interpretations of this concept:

1. “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail too badly?”
2. “What can you do that you are confident about?”

The first is a subtly, but an important one.  The quote doesn’t say “how high would you climb if you knew there was a safety net?”  It says instead, “what would you do if you never needed a safety net?”

 

The second is more tricky.  The quote does not ask you to constrain your dreams to those things that you are reasonably confident that you can accomplish on your own.  It asks for a mental leap of faith.  I, like most people, enjoy working on things that I am confident I can succeed.  I like to play games I can win.  The challenge is to think beyond that comfort zone and think about yourself as more capable and luckier than you have ever been.  This is basically a requirement for entrepreneurs, because the deck is stacked against us, but yet we place our bets.

 

So, if I could not fail, what would I do?  I would start Remarkable by Creative Outlet Labs and do good in the world.  Thank you for joining me on this journey.

 

As an aside, although the card I have attributes the quote to “unknown,” others credit Dr. Robert Schuller with penning the concept (which makes sense considering he is a world famous optimist).