The past few days I’ve been moving.
Though disruptive and inefficient, moving provides special opportunities that rarely present themselves (by design, perhaps).
I like moving because I reflect on those things I possess (for now) and love, a chance to explore a fresh part of town and unearth incredible places that tell a great story, and to embrace the energy of the people I see and meet. Ceasing ownership in the things you no longer need feels great — like tending to your garden.
I’m now living in a live/work (is there a difference?) loft in SoMa — the nucleus of innovation and tech in San Francisco. Indeed, I’m home.
My favorite time of day, per usual, is early in the morning when I walk Jackson. Like me, he’s always up for exploring somewhere new — typically en route to plunder great coffee. We’re both quite simple, so it’s always a meaningful journey.
Just a few days in, we’re getting in to our groove and making friends with the locals. I dig the vibe of the atmosphere; he enjoys the open layout where he can keep an eye on the space from nearly every corner. As always, we’re happy.
I used to think that the American Dream was owning a house somewhere you enjoy. Now I’m not so sure. I’d miss these moments far too much.
Supporting local artists makes me happy (Taken with Instagram at DAG SF)
“Suits and ties in an office are just another type of uniform, but in an arena where uniforms no longer serve any useful purpose. At one time they probably showed that the wearer was, at the very least, able to purchase and maintain a fairly expensive piece of fabric. Now, however, in an individualized, interconnected culture, your achievements speak for themselves. The suit and tie is an anachronism.” — Richard Branson on Office Ties and the Company Dress Code; Entrepreneur, May 29, 2012
Jackson’s sleeping in chaos (Taken with instagram)
Quattro is pleased (Taken with instagram)
It works! (Taken with Instagram at Old Faithful Geyser of California)
Not for explorers (Taken with Instagram at Battery Mendell)
Most people know that I’m not motivated by money. Instead, I have built companies to do innovative work, to change the status quo, to play the game by our own rules, and to surround myself with a team filled with people with core strengths.
In my opinion, the culture of a company is perhaps the most important ingredient to being successful. Another word for culture could be the happiness of your team. Culture is achieved through many different elements, but generally, your team needs to be motivated about the exciting work they are doing, comfortable financially and professionally, and valued.
The biggest challenge I have faced to date as an entrepreneur has been trying to scale and maintain the culture of working on our team. It was easy when I was sitting among my team but this has been especially difficult as our company has grown to establish an authentic presence elsewhere — distributing the team across many offices.
When I meet entrepreneurs who have scaled their companies quickly, I always seek to understand the lessons they’ve learned about maintaining culture. More often than not, they rarely have faced the challenge of opening multiple offices and distributing their team. Instead, they simply move to bigger office space to keep the team together and ensure the space is built to help maintain the culture. Unfortunately, companies that service clients don’t have the luxury of establishing a bunker — they always need to be where the opportunities to work with cool clients are. That means you must distribute.
I’m always learning and trying to improve my own knowledge base in this area, but here are a few lessons I have learned from others that I think could be valuable to future entrepreneurs:
At the end of the day, it is always good for CEOs to know that a company evolves over time. In fact, if you want to succeed, know that everything will change.
The only consistent should be the spirit of the company — the culture — the happiness of being a part of something special. It is not easy work, especially when you face big challenges like scaling, but it’s worth fighting for. And, perhaps, the only thing that really matters.
When I was in sixth grade, my neighborhood friends and I decided to open a small business — selling juice to those thirsty patrons walking by our house.
My friends wanted to open a “Lemonade” stand and reaching for the Kool-Aid, started preparing. However, I had a different idea.
I remembered a moment in my youth when my folks took me to the Ohio State Fair and we drank a “Lemon Shake-Up.” That was a special moment and a happy time.
For those that don’t know what a lemon shake-up is it is essentially water, crushed ice, “fresh” lemon juice, heaps of sugar, and, importantly, a few fresh cuts of lemon. You shake it up (go figure) and serve it tall with a straw. I’m thirsty just thinking about it.
You realize this but to point out the obvious — there is no fundamental difference between “lemonade” and a “lemon shake-up.” The product is the same; however, the marketing and the customer experience is different.
So we went to the store and loaded up on “fresh” lemon juice and lemons. We created posters highlighting that we were offering access to “fresh, ice cold lemon shake-ups.” We set up our stand and got to work flagging cars with our signs and smiles. When a customer stepped up to the stand, we cut the lemons, shook it all up, and served it tall with a straw.
Ask any kid on the street what the market price for “lemonade” from a stand is and they’ll likely say $0.25-$0.50 per glass. At least that’s what it was back then.
We charged $3.00 for a lemon shake-up and I remember a few generous folks giving us $5.00. That was big money back then. Huge money.
Importantly, our customers were happy — perhaps our product reminded them of a happy moment in their life. And we killed it that summer.
Now, whenever I see a lemonade stand, I always stop and tip generously with the hope that perhaps I’ll help inspire an entrepreneur. I’ve yet to see a “lemon shake-up” stand but I’m hopeful I will. That would be special for many reasons.
[Ed. Note: A big thanks to my wonderful mom for helping me fact check this story. She has reminded me of a few other small businesses I started when I was younger — I’ll share those stories in the near future.]
Polaroid Cakes (Taken with instagram)
Happy Mother’s Day! (Taken with Instagram at 826 Valencia)
The Crumbly Team celebrating our biggest milestone ever: Submission to the App Store (Taken with Instagram at Anchor & Hope)
Captain Cakes (Taken with instagram)
“If you want to do something — do it now.” — Larry Harvey
“Companies that leverage Timeline and Open Graph see explosive growth. If your startup doesn’t utilize those, it’s like playing baseball against players who are using steroids.” — Paraphrased comment made by David Lee of SV Angel