Entrepreneurness

It has been crazy busy lately. If anyone wonders, "How can a person without a full time job be busy?" Well, it is more than possible. After participating in Stanford's Entrepreneur Week, and brainstorming, writing, producing, and editing a video, we attended Wednesday's session, and won the Creativity award, so now I have 2 packed days in my schedule next week. And I had to move a meeting I had set up with a CEO of a company a day back, so that's 3 packed days. And that Friday I'm supposed to present to a venture capitalist, so that is 4 packed days. And the following Monday I have my business plan due, and quite possibly a presentation, so I need to prepare for that. And we were planning on going to LA that weekend... not going to happen. I think I'll microwave some Lean Cuisine for Thanksgiving. So, now I'm involved in another startup, and recently presented for literally millions of dollars for funding to a major corporation. Oh how time fl...

I have a theory. I have a theory that people with the personality type of ENFP (Myers-Briggs Extroverted-Intuition-Feeling-Perceiving) are likely to be seen as people with ADHD. For some background, ADD is a sub-group of ADHD, so people with ADD have ADHD, although the people with ADD aren't hyper-active. (Yes, I know it's a but confusing, but that's how it was explained to me) I read somewhere that only 1-2% of the population are ENFP's. It's funny, because when I meet an ENFP, I know they are an ENFP, it is an indescribable bond of likeness that is formed. So, If I am correct and most ENFP's display the symptoms of ADHD, does that mean that ADHD is really a 'disorder', or merely a personality difference of those who categorized the ENFPs as having ADHD? Could it be that we have a different learning style than most, so have been bored by conventional schooling of the average school teacher who tends to be of the same personality type? The botto...

So, today I decided to take a walk and ease my brain for a bit of time. Taking the 'think like a traveler route' I just walked around my block and made observations. So, here they are: I've never noticed it, but right next to my apartment complex there is a fenced area. Through the holes of the fence it looks like someone has made a sort of microcosm of their own. I saw run down cars, old trailers, a different kind of life in the middle of a suburb. Then I noticed this tree with various things hanging on it, and there is was...a parrot. Just sitting on a tree branch, without a care in the world. I've never seen a parrot just chilling in a tree. But I knew right away that that tree was his home, and I could tell that it was an aged parrot, who had similarly like its owner, claimed this microcosm as its home. They made their own retreat, own world in the middle of a suburb. I continued to walk, I even picked up a leaf from the ground. What was the story of this...

Today was a great day! Our movie, "Soapy Saves the Day!" was selected from more than 100+ Stanford entries for the "Creativity Prize"! Guy Kawasaki even said that he loved the video :-). I'm psyched because the creativity category is the one I most wanted to win, and the prize we won is amazing! I'll be attending this: http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/28346 which will be an excellent opportunity for me to increase my network and learn more about everything going on here in Silicon Valley. I may even be able to get some investors or at least gather some interest in my ideas! So, as for Tom Kelley's "do what you love"...totally. Even though I'm straying off the path of normality, there is something inside me that is telling me that this is the right path to take. At this point I can't even fathom just asking to be employed at a regular 'ol 9-5 job. Even though people may give me funny looks after they asked me where I work....

I attended the Tom Kelley talk at Stanford, and took some notes during his lecture. Here are the valuable invaluables :-). "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain and artist once we grow up" What happened to all the artists? It's OK to be an artist! 1. Think like a traveler The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes - Marcel Proust 2. Treat life as an experiment "I haven't failed. I've just found ten thousand ways that do not work." 3. Nurture an "Attitude of Wisdom " "It's not what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that ain't so." - Mark Twain 4. Use your whole brain...and your "tortoise mind" Take time to daydream. FIND YOUR OWN MUSE 5. Follow your passions DO WHAT YOU LOVE , you'll be better at it. Find the happy medium between: Good at, Born to do, Pay you to do Keep a journal of when you feel at ...

So, Myself and a couple of other people went to Tom Kelley's talk (yay!), and afterwards they presented an object to be used in a 3 minute or less video. The object presented was a water bottled, and the goals was to create as much value out of it as possible. Our submission can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyPvck5O1Hc I would recommend watching it in high quality by clicking the link and clicking "watch in high quality" It was a pretty fun project, and I probably though up at least 15 different viable concepts for it. We ended up doing a concept I though of while brushing my teeth on Thursday night and putting my 'tortoise brain' to work. I think the video turned out pretty well, with working on all of these 'big projects' it was nice to actually complete something, as I work the best under pressure with a deadline! If the movie is well received I'm looking into turning it into a children's book with a DVD. That way kids can ...

As an Entrepreneur, the same things that seem at first to be exciting, can also be daunting. As an Entrepreneur you are working on your own at first. Meaning: You do the work, you come up with the ideas, you motivate yourself...you, you, you. It can definitely be a hard thing to find your supports that you trust that won't "injure" your idea. It's like finding a babysitter for your new born baby... you wouldn't trust just anyone. With an idea you'll tend to get inventor-paranoia, its not a very happy place to be, but at times it is the only way to be. If you idea is in a fragile state you often can't afford to blab your idea to anyone who asks. You need to tell people strategically, telling those people who can help you in some shape or form, and tell people only the information that they really need to know. I make sure to document in my inventor book the people I tell, just in case, and so I can control who knows what information. There comes a...

So, I've been doing a ton of research lately to try and find a good lawyer. Here are some of the methods that I've been attempting that might come in handy. (Not listed in any particular order) 1. The Best Lawyers in America- Book in library that has lawyers listed my specialty and location 2. www.google.com/patents and searching for key words of your idea, pulling up the patent, take note of the attorney who filed the patent, and then research them and contact 3. Blogs- do a search for what you need within the profiles of blogs 4. www.axxiomlegal.com 5. uspto.gov under resources, search for a licensed patent agent or lawyer 6. Look at city records for similar businesses and see what lawyer filed them 7. Call similar businesses and ask who their lawyer is