milliondare.com

Currently working for a start-up in the retail/consumer goods environment. It’s an exciting time in my life and I’m learning a lot. And, quite honestly, it’s not a bad place to be for a 26 year old!

In addition, I’m working on a new site which will use a simple technology (wiki) to solve for a common question I get in the industry. My last two experiments failed before take off, but I learned a lot. Here are some things I learned:

1. Simplicity is key. Keep your start-up project as simple as possible, especially if you are a one-man show who has a daytime job in addition to your secondary project.

2. Don’t let anybody let you down. Ask for advice, and listen carefully. Most people will be right, some will be wrong. Sometimes, however, you just have to go with your gut. If you don’t have much to loose, why not give it a try? Be realistic, be enthusiastic, moderate your energy, and follow through the execution of your project.

3. Execution is key. Ideas are great. Here is one: Let’s build a car that uses solar energy as fuel. Great idea, but how will you execute it? The simpler you keep it, the easier it will be to execute.

4. Wrap it up. You have the idea; great. Can you execute it? Great! Now, wrap it up. Package it, sell it, do whatever it takes to evaluate whether or not it will be a success.

Every point above feeds of each other - great ideas need execution, execution is easier when the idea is simple and you have the energy and passion to do it.

Why can’t Anna’s Taqueria accept credit cards? (Those of you in the Boston area know what I’m talking about… rest of the world, bare with me)

I live within walking distance of Anna’s Taqueria, a very famous burrito place here in Boston. Yet, I usually walk for more than 7 minutes to go to Boca Grande (Anna’s competitor)

Anna’s doesn’t take credit cards. Why can’t they just provide the service and charge me a fee every time I use a card? Instead, I have to go across the street to an ATM, pay a $1.75 fee to withdraw money, and then go back to Anna’s.

Here’s a news flash for all you business out there who don’t put customers first: We have a choice, and we’re not stupid. We will drop your business if you don’t put our needs first.

Reading an article today on the WSJ about the so-called ‘success’ of Coke Zero (a diet-soda that more closely replicates the flavor of the original Coca Cola) I had a flashback to a few years back when the company launched a product called C2 (which basically was hybrid of Diet and regular Coke – half the carbs and calories of a regular soda, remember?)

Back then I was still in college and highly addicted to regular soda (still am, but it’s Diet this time) I thought it would be a good compromise to test the new C2 (more taste, half the calories, I thought)

Well, soon enough I realized that even though I had plenty of soda at home, whenever I went out to a restaurant I couldn’t get a C2 for the life of me.

“Do you want Coke, or Diet Coke? Uhm, can you make that half and half, like the C2 I buy at the supermarket store but I can’t get anywhere else?”

Many brands don’t follow through.  A brand is a promise that needs to be fulfilled in three ways:

• Prior to purchase: advertising, internet, TV, magazines – you name it
• During purchase:  The in-store experience when you realize your supermarket is out of your favorite cereal
• Post purchase:  When you get home and unwrap your newly purchased $5,000 plasma TV and realize it doesn’t come with a $20 cable that you need to plug in your DVD.

How could I have become a loyal customer to the C2 brand if they didn’t offer an in-store (during purchase) experience?

There is a simple lesson to be learned from that for everyone out there.  It doesn’t matter what your product is  (a  multi-billion dollar brand  or a blog that gets read  by a few people) If you want your brand to fulfill a promise, please, just make sure you follow through.

So, WDYDT? Here is what I did yesterday:

• Wake up 7.20ish. Stay in bed until 7.30AM. Check mail on Blackberry – waiting to hear back from the programmer I hired in Nepal: No news.
• 8AM to ~9AM, commute on the bus to work, get some coffee.
• 9AM to 11AM, read the news, catch up on blogs, squeeze some projections for work.
• 12AM to 1PM, eat lunch (Campbell’s soup and a Diet Coke) Read more blogs, read more newspapers.
• 1PM to 3PM, do some work, read more blogs, begin writing this post.
• 3PM to 5PM, finish up with work, go home.
• 6.30PM to 8PM, hit the gym.
• 8PM to midnight, dinner, watch TV, play guitar, spend quality time with my girlfriend, shower, watch more TV, go to bed.
• Midnight to 7.15ish: Sleep

Not a very productive day when you put it all in paper, isn’t? Give it a try and share it here!

And a lot of times it doesn’t have to be perfect execution. Often times, good execution will do. Actually, at least some execution is probably the best – especially when you are an entrepreneur (be it of a product, a project, a website, a business – you name it)

But why would I want only some execution? Don’t I want to execute my plans perfectly? Well, yes and no.

• Yes because if you love what you do, you’ll put in more than 100% of all your energy.
• No because sometimes the option above overwhelms you to the point where you don’t get ANYTHING done – and trust me, I have been there more than a few times.

This is why at least some execution can get you a long ways. Think about it. When was the last time you followed through your great idea? I know I’ve had many ideas in the past, but lack of any execution meant they vanished.

Don’t get overwhelmed. Taking baby steps (as cliché as it might sound) is the way to go.

Go get something done.

Get some execution – oftentimes that’s more than enough to get you going.