I received this message of encouragement following my last post “My First Steps in Entrepreneurship” from a great friend of mine Gisela Garcia. I met Gisela in an IT project management class that I took last summer at UM and we simply hit it off. She’s continued to be a source of inspiration and support for which I am very grateful. I haven’t been able to pinpoint the source of the writing, but it’s also been passed around with a quote from Louisa May Alcott (the author of the classic book Little Women):
Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
– Louisa May Alcott
I hope you enjoy this in the way that I did.
What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?
What would you do if you knew you could not fail? What kind of person would you be? What would a typical day look like? There’s a reason that star-gazing provokes the most powerful dreams. They’re right there for the taking, yet you can’t touch them. Their distance only feeds an ability to inspire. Dreams may seem out of reach, but that’s not the point of dreams. They’re there to be felt, not touched or dissected. What a star is made of is meaningless to a moonlit dreamer. The epic possibilities are what’s important. The payoff is not so much in the destination as it is in the journey. By following your dreams, you make their beauty a part of who you are. Your life begins to shine. You become a better person. By chasing that star, you’ve already captured its magic.
I started writing this blog about 2 months ago as way for me to connect with many of the people I know and respect. I also started writing this blog because I knew that in the not too distant future I would be embarking upon a journey of entrepreneurship and wanted to share my story. Hopefully some of what I write here is fun, informative and maybe even inspiring. More importantly for me, it’s therapeutic. Lately, I’ve been going through a period of transition in which I’ve learned a lot and experienced much. Some of you are aware of this transition, but some of you may not. So to bring everyone onto the same page, let me get you up to speed.
I recently departed my job at Citigroup in Dallas having spent one year as a Technology Management Associate and moved back to Miami as of Monday. I’m starting Invizio, an IT services, solutions and consulting company with my best friend Kyle. Our goal is to serve small business clients in the Miami area and to do it well. What sets us apart from the plethora of IT service providers out there is that we don’t sell clients a solution, hope it breaks and then bill them hourly when it does. Instead we provide proactive monitoring and management of their IT environment that runs the gamut from desktop support to information security for a predictable monthly fee. This approach absolves a small business owner of the headache that accompanies manging the people, processes and systems that characterize IT. Our services offer them cost predictability and allows them focus on their core competencies. They save money, we make money, and the world is a happy place.
Our decision has been to build this company from the ground up. No business loan, no big shot capital injections or anything of the like. Just me, my buddy, enough to stay afloat for 10 months, a growing social network and our 11 years of combined experience in the field. I felt it was very important, albeit vital for me to able to fully commit my time to my venture and it would’ve pained my heart to give it less than my full attention. Presently I’ve decided to go cold turkey with no full or part time job. I face the prospect of a dwindling bank account and a finite mound of personal savings to burn through until it necessitates finding a job to cover my bills (see also ‘When Does An Entrepreneur Take A Regular Job?’). In July when I take my finals for this trimester, I will be putting my dual MBA/MS degree at the University of Dallas on hold.
Though for some the decision to start a company at this time in my life may be viewed as risky, I see it in a different light. One great piece of advice I once received was to not only make it a point to know what could go wrong, but also to quantify it. On one hand I’m giving up professional experience in a corporate environment, a 2%-4% annual bump and a few extra dollars in the 401K. On the other an opportunity to pursue my dreams, meet lots of people and a learning experience that is unparalled even in the event of failure. The advice I’ve received from my managers, mentors and friends all echo the same message, ‘While you’re young, with no obligations, now is the time to give it a try.’
So to keep a long story short. We’ve been planning it for the better part of a year and now we’re working on getting everything up and running in the background. Our plan is to launch officially in July so Ill make sure to do an official post about our company when we’re all set to go. Thanks for the continued support and please keep reading. “A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step”. I hope you will come along for our journey.
It was my original intention to write a post on the importance of helping others and building business karma. It would’ve said that the social capital received by genuinely helping your peers does not always directly reward ‘number one’, but may unknowingly pave a road for your own success in ways unimaginable. I really think you guys would’ve loved the piece, but I think this story illustrates the concept even better.
Just over a month ago, my friend David Mullings (CEO of Realvibez) posted on his blog about the ‘Frustration of Not Being Able to Raise Capital’. He was having difficulty raising cash for the company and it clearly pained his better entrepreneurial wisdom to vocalize it so openly. I have always had a great level of respect and admiration for David, his tenacity and his venture. Empathizing as I read, I decided right then that I would lend what little help, if any, I could.
Before I even let him know that I would try to help out, I gave a mini-pitch on his behalf to my friend Wali who is connected in with the Florida Venture Forum. One thing led to another, and now David may be on the brink of securing capital. It all started with one post for help and one hand who unselfishly lent it. That is the nature of business karma.
Without my prompting David has decided to connect the dots on his blog, and now in a guest post on NetworkingEffectively.com. He urges others to share their stories, so here I am, sharing mine. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and never hesitate to offer. It comes back around, whether you know it or not.
So I’m taking a Global Business class at the University of Dallas for my MBA, and I’m absolutely hooked. The class so far has delved into the many issues surrounding globalization, including the myriad of policies and viewpoints that abound. I’m almost all the way through “The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection” and I am simply in love with it. It’s a fabulous book about protectionism fair trade vs free trade, tariffs, trade deficits and much more all with a very interesting storytelling twist. I highly recommend that anyone interested in understanding more about the global economy give it a read. It will also help you separate some of the sense from nonsense when politicians discuss trade.
Also had a blast watching this lecture given at MIT by Thomas Friedman (author of the World is Flat and New York Times Foreign Affairs Columnist). By the time the class is through I should be through another one of his acclaimed books “The Lexxus & the Olive Tree”
And for kicks I figure you should probably give this a watch as well. Almost made me think that all Americans should have 10 children and teach them calculus starting at age 5. Hope you enjoy it the way I did, because shift happens!
Also, if you have any other book recommendations on globalization feel free to share. I intend to continue discussion of globalization on the blog, so please contribute your thoughts on the issue.
I have heard the cries of my faithful readers and will be posting more often. The last few weeks have been insanely busy and I have much to update you all with. Stay tuned, the posts will be forthcoming. Thank you for your continued support and for reading my blog.
It was my original intention to write a post on the importance of helping others and building business karma. It would’ve said that the social capital received by genuinely helping your peers does not always directly reward ‘number one’, but may unknowingly pave a road for your own success in ways unimaginable. I really think you guys would’ve loved the piece, but I think this story illustrates the concept even better.
