Friday, September 26, 2014

I Cannot Wait to Leave...

"There is never enough time to do all the nothing you want"

              ~Bill Watterson - "Calvin and Hobbes"


It was already Wednesday morning and I still had not determined what the topic of this week’s blog was going to be.  
 
This fact didn’t necessarily bother me as there have been several instances in the past where I simply sat down on a Thursday evening and just started writing whatever was on the top of my mind.
 
Unfortunately for me, I have now written over 280 blogs since its inception, so new topics on the fly, are becoming somewhat rare.
 
Now this past Tuesday, I had met with an investment banker, Ken, who specializes in mergers, acquisitions, capital investments, and people who want some consulting as to how to position their businesses for sale.  The meeting was set up by a partner in my CPA’s office, putting two people she respected into the same room to see if there were any synergies that could be created.
 
I always enjoy meeting new people... especially if they can bring a fresh perspective into the conversation... so I agreed to the meeting.
 
Ken started the conversation by asking me a bit about my background and what it is that my business does... to which I gave him a short synopsis of my personal history, some of my interests and hobbies, and a brief insight as to what OptiFuse does to differentiate itself from the others in our market space.
 
I then turned the tables on Ken and asked him several questions about himself and what did he like and dislike about investment banking.
 
One of the great insights that he gave to me, as an investment banker, was his observations as to why people sell their businesses.
 
As he explained to me, business owners want to sell their businesses primarily for two reasons: 
  1. They are tired... bored... and burnt-out and want to try their hand at doing something else... maybe to start a new business in another industry... to start doing charity work... to spend time with their families... to work on their golf game... to travel the world. 
  1. They are nervous about their financial future and want to take chips off the table allowing themselves some level of financial liquidity.  In other words... they think that their business is at the pinnacle so cash-out while the going is good.
Now, truth be told, I’ve never really given any consideration in selling OptiFuse... mainly because I don’t possess either of the above two reasons.
 
I believe that life shouldn’t be put on hold until one reaches a certain age or place in their life. 
 
Therefore I try (while encouraging others) to spend time TODAY doing the things that I want to do... not wait until I’m 65... 70... 75... or beyond...
 
I try to do my philanthropy work today... I try to travel today... I try to spend quality time with my family today... I try to learn new things today... I set new challenges for myself (so I don’t get burnt out) today...
 
I’m not waiting until I "retire" to live a full and enriched life... I’m trying to live that life each and every day...
 
As far as taking chips off the table... even if I was able to sell OptiFuse for the right price (or even at a premium)... what would I do with the money?  Maybe I could invest it into real estate... or into the stock market... or maybe invest in someone else’s company... but the way I look at it... any investment carries a certain amount of risk... so I might as well keep it invested in something I know and love (yes... it is strange to say that I love fuses and circuit breakers).
 
So selling the company, retiring, and doing more of the things that I already do isn’t my cup of tea...
 
But what about all the people who don’t own their own company... what drives them to leave their work and retire?
 
I wanted to research this topic a bit before writing today’s blog so I went to several websites to see what other people were saying about retiring...
 
My initial hypotheses was that people wanted to continue to work as long as they could... even if it’s just part-time work...
 
It seems to me that by continuing to work a bit after the typically retirement age of 65, several things could be accomplished:
  • Working allows people to keep their minds active by problem solving and keeping abreast of new technology.
  • There is a social element of going to an office and interacting with people.
  • It helps financially by supplementing savings, pensions, and social security with some earned income.
  • It gives spouses some time away from one another instead of constantly being underfoot.
  • It helps to mark time.
What I found in my research was that I was completely wrong in my assumptions... but for mostly the wrong reason...
 
OVERWHELMING... the hundreds of comments I read from a multitude of retirement related articles and websites can be summed up as the following:
 
I hate my job... I really hate my boss... I completely dislike the people I work with... I am annoyed with the idiot customers I need to service... I don’t like where I live so I’m moving away as soon as I can... commuting is stressful... and I can’t wait until retirement comes so I can start living a life I really want to live...
 
After about 60 minutes... I needed to stop reading all of these comments... it was the most depressing thing I had seen in a great while (well... that’s because I don’t watch or read the "news")... I thought I was reading descriptions about forced labor prison camps...
 
I was saddened on two levels...
 
First... life is too short to wake up each day in which to live in misery... I suspect these older workers (ones ready to retire) felt trapped because they are not likely to find very many new job opportunities at their current age... they go to work with bitterness... loathing every minute that they are there...
 
Secondly... I feel a certain amount of malice toward the companies that employ these people... corporations that create a work environment where people actually hate being at... the management at these companies don’t lead, they subjugate their employees; ruling with an iron fist and weeding out any dissention amongst the ranks.  Keep your mouth shut and your head down is the motto of the soon-to-be retiree.
 
I can’t imagine having to work in an environment that treats you so poorly that you can’t stand being there...
 
I also can’t imagine running any company where there isn’t a free exchange of thoughts and ideas... where creativity is discouraged... where top-down management takes all the credit/money/perks while the rank-and-file does all the work... and where employees don’t feel valuable and want to leave in the worst way... it seems counter-productive...
 
...but that is just me... 

Your workplace should be a place you feel good about going to each day... it should not be purgatory.

Happy employees make productive employees...  

I think that Mark Twain said it best, "It’s only considered work if you’d rather be doing something else." 
 
Thank you very  much for your support of OptiFuse where we love what we do and hope to be doing it forever.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Two Turn Tuesday...

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference"
                                                ~ Robert Frost


This week is the week I patiently wait for each year...
 
Over an 8-day period, approximately 300 bicyclists and I will ride from Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money and awareness for the Arthritis Foundation.
 
Each day we ride anywhere from 47 to 102 miles as we ride our way down the coast of California...
 
The fourth day of the ride is simply called "Two Turn Tuesday"... since the directions for that day’s ride are fairly simple... turn out of the camp driveway in Big Sur... follow the Coast Highway for 77 miles... and turn into the camp driveway in San Simeon... two turns and you’re there.
 
It is truly one of my favorite days of the ride... in more ways than one...
 
As we leave camp and make the first turn onto the highway, we are faced with the first challenge of the day... a thousand foot climb taking us to the high cliffs above the crashing waves below... enveloped in a thick morning fog that gives a certain eeriness to our ascent...
 
It is usually on these long climbs where you see other riders struggling (especially those who actually suffer from the debilitating disease of Arthritis... but who somehow find the courage and metal fortitude to attempt such a feat as riding the entire distance of 540 miles).  As the stronger riders go past these slower yet persistent riders... we yell out words of encouragement in an attempt to help them find their inner strength to continue up the hill.
 
Upon reaching the top, you’ll find a long gentle decent awaiting... followed by more ups and more downs...
 
Along the next 35 miles... there are plenty of turn-outs that will give you a moment to catch your breath... while the spectacular scenery takes it right away again...
 
While at these stops along the road, you can meet fellow travelers who’s lives you will intersect with... sharing some travel tips and a few precious moments of time... and then they’ll depart your life as quickly as they came into it...
 
After about 20 miles, as the fog lifted, we came to our first aid station... this is a place along the side of the road where ride volunteers offer the riders nourishment and fluid replacement... as you enter the rest stop... the volunteers loudly clang their cow bells signifying that you have completed the stage and then scream words of encouragement and give you last minute information about the road ahead as you once again make your way back onto the highway... Reaching the rest stop gives us a chance to relax for a moment, reflect on our accomplishments, and prepare ourselves for the next stage of our journey.
 
As the morning wore on, we notice that more and more motorized vehicles pass us on the hills and valleys... most drivers were courteous and kind giving us plenty of space on the narrow shoulders while others seemed truly annoyed and tried their best to intimidate the riders with their horns and swerves into the space that separates the traffic and the steep cliffs to the right... either way we wave to them as they pass us knowing that we are in no rush to complete this magnificent day...  
 
Finally we found ourselves at the travel oasis known simply as Gorda, a last-chance service station and convenience store.  As a ride veteran, I knew only too well that this was a final stop before the dreaded "twin sisters" that lay ahead of us within the next mile.  Time to get psyched up... or psyched out... about the grueling ascent that lay before us.
 
The "twin sisters" are a series of two hills that resemble two camel humps each with a climb reaching nearly 1000 feet in elevation.  By this time, the sun was beating down directly upon us as we scaled the two mountains... with each turn of the crank, we felt a bit of pain... but knowing that it brought us that much closer to our goal... upon reaching the summit of the first sister... most riders are spent... after a quick decent it only brings you to the foot of yet another test of fortitude...
 
(click HERE to see some incredible bonus footage of the decent of the first sister)  
 
Finally we reach the summit and with it an easy glide to our final rest stop to once again refuel and recuperate...
 
The final 15 miles that stretched in front of us was relatively flat with a brisk tail wind at our back whisking us to our final destination of the day...
 
A final turn into camp competed our "two turn Tuesday" odyssey... with a sense of accomplishment but with still a little remorse that our journey was now over...
 
As I rode my bike that day... I couldn’t help but think about the multiple parallels between our ride that day and the way many of us live our lives...
 
When we are born... we turn onto our highway of life...
 
For the first several years of our life we feel as though we are an immediate uphill climb... this is the time we spend learning and developing... it is slow and methodical... while some of us are slower or faster than others we all plod along at our own pace trying to scale the challenges laid in front of us...
 
Along our way... we have people to help and assist us... giving us nourishment and encouragement ... they teach us... motivate us... and often remind us that we can all work together for common goals...
 
Yet out there we find others, who for whatever reason, try to sabotage our efforts by forcing us off the road and crash us into the rocks... yet we persevere and go on...
 
Often we take time to detour off the road for periods of time to recharge our batteries and/or to prepare us for the road ahead.
 
In our lives, we find people who want to share a few moments with us... some for long periods and others for a brief moment of time.  Each of these people brings us memories and rich experiences if only for a fleeting moment.
 
Life brings us the challenges of uphill battles as well as opportunities for downhill coasts... still in the end we continue forward putting one foot in front of the other until we reach the top of whatever hill that we’re attempting to climb...
 
Sometimes you think that you’ve conquered one hill just to find another giant hill waiting for you on the other side (as in the twin sisters)... and so you take those challenges on as well...
 
As we grow older... it often seems like the wind is pushing us faster and faster toward our final destination... truth be told... faster than we’d really like to go.
 
At the end of our journey, we’ll make one final turn that removes us from the road... at that point there will be people who remember us not for the speed in which we crossed the finish line but rather for who we met, helped and encouraged along the way...
 
The memories that I am left with after this week will stay with me the rest of my life...
 
I will forever hold Tuesdays in reverence as I remember those afflicted with arthritis and how they continue their struggles to overcome the hills that are in front of them...  
 
Thank you very  much for your support of OptiFuse where we ride to help find a cure...

Friday, September 12, 2014

Putting People First...

"Before you become a leader, success is measured by how much you improve yourself... after you become a leader, success is measured by how much you improve others"
                                           ~ Jack Welsh
 
My friend Rick is the father of a very gifted and skilled volleyball player, Megan.
 
Megan was heavily recruited out of high school and chose to join one of the best college programs in America, to play for one of the most successful coaches.
 
I had the opportunity to have lunch with Rick the other day and during our "life updates", he mentioned to me that Megan was really having a hard time, this being her senior year.  According to Rick, she is really in a mental funk at the moment and he is really worried about her.
 
Like most children of my long-time friends, I’ve known Megan for most of her life.  I’ve followed her multitude of successes (and even a few failures) throughout middle-school, high school and now college.  Without any of my own bias, Megan is one of the best volleyball players in America who has the ambition, talent and skills to be a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 2020.
 
I have always found her to be a positive and motivated person... so what was it that caused this shift in attitude?
 
After talking some more with Rick, I discovered that the coach of this highly successful program was lured away by some big money (well... big money for college volleyball coaches) to become the coach at another university.  Unfortunately, due to NCAA rules, whereas the coaches are free to change schools on a whim, the student-athletes are pretty much tied to their respective school for the duration.
 
A new coach was hired by Megan’s school, who decided to bring in a new system and style of play... one that doesn’t necessarily befit Megan’s personality or her skill set.
 
This transition has been particularly hard because the team, which last year was one of the top 5 in the country, is no longer even counted in the top 30 due to several disappointing losses.
 
A great team is built around the talents of its people... not a system...
 
In the classic business book, Good to Great, author Jim Collins writes about a great leader (Level 5 Leader) as being akin to being the bus driver of a company.
 
As the leader, the bus driver must decide the destination, the route, and which people will be on the bus.
 
Popular opinion is that the leader of a great company is one who creates a grand vision (destination) and then devises a plan of action in which to arrive at that destination.  Once the plan is created, then people are brought on board to implement the plan.  
 
First the vision... then the plan... then the people...
 
However what Collins and his research staff found was that the most very successful companies first determine who at the company possesses the highest degree of talent and skills, and only then does it attempt to try and create a plan based on those people.
 
At most really successful organizations, the destination and the route are secondary to the people.  It is the bus driver’s primary job to select the right people to put on the bus, the wrong people to take off the bus, and ensure that the right people are occupying the right seats.
 
Leaders at successful organization have the discipline to select people first... then direction.
 
This point was driven home last Sunday when I listened to an assistant coach with the San Diego State men’s basketball team speak about the great success that the program has achieved over the past 15 years.
 
In 1999, Steve Fisher was hired by San Diego State, to turn around a program that had won only 4 games the season before his arrival.
 
The following year, the team managed to achieve a .500 record and the year after that the team would play in the NCAA tournament for the first time in 20 years.
 
In the last 9 years, the team has complied an astounding 228-77 (74.8%) record going to the NCAA tournament 6 times (including 5 straight).
 
During this time, there have been nearly 100 different players, each with own unique skills and talents that have played under Coach Fisher.
 
According to the assistant coach, each season, the coaching staff spends a great deal of time evaluating the players, their talents and skills, and only then devises a new system in which to play that given season.
 
The players change each year... and so must the plan...
 
But it always begins with the people first... then the plan.
 
A good friend of mine recently left his company that he had worked at for the last 10 years. 
 
About 3 years ago, the owner of the company decided to retire and consequently sold the company. 
 
Prior to the sale, the company had been recognized as one of the best places to work as well as being highly profitable, however the new owners had their own vision about the direction of the company.
 
They started with a vision... then created a plan... and then realized that they didn’t have the proper people in place to implement the plan.
 
Within one year, most of the original upper-level management team was replaced with cronies and friends of the new ownership.
 
Soon thereafter, many of the mid-level managers left on their own accord as they no longer felt that their contributions were appreciated by the new upper-level management.
 
These mid-level managers were then replaced with other new personnel eliminating all of the continuity and experience that once existed. 
 
The once healthy environment, with the free exchange of ideas and thoughts had now become a toxic haven of mistrust and office politics with the new ownership leading the charge.
 
Organizations are about people and the relationships that exist between... customers... vendors... employees...
 
Contrary to what some on Wall Street believe, business is not simply about profits and share holder returns... although if you do the right things with the right people... profits will come...
 
Unfortunately, I often see organizational leaders trying to lead with a top-down approach (my way or the highway)... rather than trying to encouraging and soliciting ideas from within the organization. 
 
Whereas in the past, organizational success may have come from efficiency and productivity... today most success comes from innovation and creativity...  
 
Leaders who continue to lead their organizations from the top down are in danger of failing or at the least being short-sighted and potentially missing a great opportunity to improve the entire organization... from the bottom up all the way to the top...
 
Thank you very  much for your support of OptiFuse where we believe that people come first...

Friday, September 5, 2014

How to Make a Million Dollars...

"The question isn’t who is going to let me... the question is who is going to stop me."  
                                            - Ayn Rand
 
There is an old joke told by former stand-up comedian (and now movie star, writer, and musician), Steve Martin.
 
Steve MartinThe joke went something like this:
 
"I am going to tell you how you can make a million dollars in two easy steps...
 
First step... get a million dollars... "
 
Now this might seem funny to most people... but in reality... this is truly how the wealthy got wealthy in the first place...
 
Simply put... it takes money to make money!
 
Now you might have a great idea or opportunity... an idea that could change the world... an opportunity that is a sure-fire way to create a significant profit... but if you are unable to act upon the idea due to a lack of capital... then the idea is dead.
 
This is exactly what happened to me a few years ago...
 
In 2004, I needed a new home for my growing business.  I wanted to purchase a commercial building instead of paying rent to a landlord.
 
Unfortunately, this was a period of time when virtually no commercial buildings were available to purchase in the area I wanted to be. 
 
Now there were plenty of empty buildings to lease... so many in fact that there was a real glut of space available in the market and landlords were hungry to find tenets for their empty spaces.
 
It was because of the market circumstances that I was able to find an owner willing to lease me space and give me a two-year purchase option at a price about 15% higher than the current market pricing (that is if you could even find a building for sale)... the only caveat was that the option exercise window was only for a 30-day period at the end of the 2-year option.  
 
As it so happens, because of a bubble, at the end of the 2 years, the building had appreciated some 40%. 
 
The building was worth significantly more than my option price... which was a windfall for me...
 
Except...
 
I didn’t have the money to buy the building... and I only had 30 days in which to raise the money before the option expired... here was a great opportunity... but I didn’t have the capital to make it a reality...

With hat-in-hand, I approached every bank in town to help me with my plight... but my business was still fledgling... and I had used all my available personal credit resources to sustain my growing business... so I was unable to secure a bank loan... even for this no-lose proposition.
 
Finally in the 11th hour, I managed to scrape together a consortium of "friends and family" to lend me the needed sum to purchase the building... albeit at a hefty borrowing cost in terms of money and loss of pride.
 
The moral of the story is this...
 
There are plenty of opportunities out there... but It truly takes money to make money... and that’s why those who have money (or access to get it) get richer... while the rest of us try to scrape by...
 
This is the way it’s always been...
 
Well... that is until most recently...
 
Today there are two different movements afoot that have the potential to help fund entrepreneurial activities.
 
The first is called micro-financing.
 
Micro-financing is the practice of institutions and individuals making small loans and providing financial services to a small group of people with an idea and the skills to start a business enterprise.
 
This could be for a family in Southeast Asia to purchase a small plot of land to raise additional crops that they can sell in the marketplace... to allow a village in East Africa purchase raw materials to make hand-made tribal jewelry or baskets... or to allow saffron farmers in Morocco to create a cooperative, bypassing the spice traders who keep up to 85% of the profits for themselves.
 
One component of microfinance is small loans (typically $50 to $5,000) that are made to a group of borrowers who have no credit or source of collateral.  The borrowers use this seed money to start their enterprises and often work hard to repay the loans within the term.  Repayment rate of these micro-loans is as high as 98% and has changed the lives of some of the poorest people on the planet.
 
The second component of microfinance is the ability of people to keep their money in a safe place without the worry of others who might misappropriate their new-found "wealth". 
 
We take for granted the security of the banking system available to most people of developed countries.  To those living in undeveloped nations, there are little or no provisions for the safe-keeping of assets.  Micro-financing gives the poor and "near-poor" access to financial services such as safe savings, insurance, and fund-transfers.
 
Micro-financing has helped thousands of poor people raise their standard of living and create opportunities for those where opportunity was simply not available to them.
 
While micro-finance if good for the world’s poorest, there is a different source of capital for those with larger opportunities. 
 
"Crowd-sourcing" is a relatively new technique for individuals and companies to raise capital needed to fund a new company, project or venture or to assist an on-going concern with providing growth capital for their existing business. 
 
With the advent of the Internet and social media, the vehicle now exists to reach out to millions of potential investors or lenders who are willing to risk a small amount of money in a potential project or company.
 
There are now several different crowd-sourcing websites, such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and Crowdfunder, which allow the entrepreneur to describe their project in great detail to a community of investors who may be willing to make a small investment (or in some cases... a donation) to a worthy project or cause.
 
The idea behind crowd-sourcing is that it is much easier to find a million people to invest / lend / donate $1 than it is to find one person or company to invest / lend / donate $1 million. 
 
Many times the individual investor has no intention of ever seeing a profit for their investment but rather would like to use their money as a donation to a worthy cause or art-related creative project.  
 
The world of finance is rapidly changing...
 
The ability to access capital is now readily available to most people... those people with great ideas... those people who are willing to work hard... those people who simply need a hand-up rather than a hand-out...
 
It is still a matter of fact that the world is the place where the rich will continue to get richer... but it is also the place where the "not-so-rich" can find opportunities to better themselves and enrich their lives as well...
 
Thank you very  much for your support of OptiFuse where we believe that you’re always worth a million...