Nicholas Holland and Jackson Miller, pictured here, launched gpsAssassin, a location-based multi-player iPhone game, after developing the company and product at last year's Nashville Startup Weekend

photo credit: tmgstudio

This weekend I participated in Nashville Startup Weekend. That’s right: the idea behind this event is to start up a business in a single weekend.

My team (which ranged over the course of the weekend from as many as 8 people at the beginning to as few as 3 people still going at 5:00 AM after Saturday’s work session, and back up to 6 when we presented our new company on Sunday evening) successfully scoped, designed, and built a prototype of a web-based application dealing with group food ordering. We also developed the business plan, marketing plan, and financials for both a bootstrapped and an invested approach all between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

This is not merely an exercise; this is a viable business that we will be launching in the coming weeks. Our presentation even garnered investor interest.

In short, over the course of a weekend, with the help of pizza, beer, coffee, and Red Bull, a new company was developed with a marketable product and a business model that is cash flow positive in month 1, profitable in month 3, and can either produce dividends for its creators or become an attractive acquisition target in the months and years to come. And that was only one team: several other companies formed this weekend, too.

The big takeaway from the weekend is this: it doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time or money to do something awesome. What it takes is focus and determination to get it done.

The next time you question whether something can be done, or whether you have the time or resources to do it, maybe try figuring out what you can do. And then do it. And then figure out a way to make the next step happen. And then do it.

It sounds simple enough, but inertia can be hard to overcome. Making that first step is challenging, but incredibly rewarding when it leads to a finished product.

Happy Monday! Here’s hoping your week is full of focus and determination.

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography

At a party a few nights ago with the #RoadTwip crew, I was asked what the goal of this blog is. I said that I think there are steps people need to take, sometimes in sequence, sometimes all at once, to help themselves feel more empowered and like their work has relevance. Those steps aren’t always upward and they aren’t necessarily linear. But my hope for this blog is that it might provide some inspiration for deciding what that next step is, and then taking it.

Somewhat along those lines, Po Bronson wrote a fantastic article in Fast Company, debunking some myths about making changes in your career. In it he addresses the importance of having work that feels right:

Michael Dell once invited me to a meeting with several CEOs on the topic “What do employees want?” The CEOs took turns describing all the benefits they provided and how they gave out free M&Ms on Wednesdays and appeased their employees with stock options and free parking spaces. My point was essentially that employees don’t want M&Ms; they want to love what they do. I thought everyone would laugh at me, snickering “How indulgent! How naive!” Instead, the roomful of CEOs stood up one by one to agree: The value in their companies came from the employees who were motivated to be there. One passionate employee is worth 10 dispassionate ones.

Honestly, I think this is one of the best articles I’ve ever read on this subject. It’s definitely worth reading the whole thing.

Do you see progress in your professional life as a series of steps? Are you waiting to take the next one? Do you know what the next one is yet?

ReadWriteWeb links to a video of Steve Ballmer speaking at Stanford’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders program. He talks about, among other topics, why now is a great time to start a business.

He also encourages the audience not to be dissuaded by others’ skepticism:

“My parents thought I’d lost my mind to drop out of Stanford Business School to go to a company that makes software,” Ballmer said. “My dad said ‘what the heck is software’ and my mother said ‘why the heck would a person need a computer?’”

With so much pessimism about the economy, it’s always a good reminder that there are hidden opportunities in times like these.

Image credit: Dan4th, via flickr

An article in FT.com addresses the gloom typically felt by executives (and others) during a downtown and offers reasons to be cheerful.

There is still business to be done, demand to be met, and customers to be served.

Moreover:

Donald Sull, professor of management practice at London Business School, wrote recently about seizing the upside of a downturn. “Most managers look for golden opportunities when the good times are rolling,” he said. “This is a mistake. The best opportunities often arise during downturns when distressed sellers are forced to offload valuable assets at bargain prices.”

Sure, it’s hard to hear this when you’re struggling with something external, like being out of work, or if you’re a manager, being required to let people go. These are difficult circumstances, but it’s no less true that there are still opportunities out there.

Now let’s hear from you: what are your stories of opportunities that have come to you at this most unexpected of times?

They not only perform better during expansions but recover faster when growth rebounds from an economic slump.

Source: HarvardBusiness.org – The Daily Stat: Which Companies Bounce Back, Post-Recession?.

How are you adding value to your business today?