Proactivity? Or Reactivity in Diguise

Being proactive is a sought after quality

WE ALL APPRECIATE THE SKILL to look into the future, evaluate potential impediments and then spring into action in an effort to resolve/mitigate the likelihood that they will occur. This is what we look for from our leaders.

This way of being is in stark contrast to reactive managers. No one likes working on a reactive team – it’s chaotic at the very best. I think of my time as a “sustaining” engineer, on a team that released monthly bug fix patches. There wasn’t much planning, just fixing the next batch of critical issues as quickly as possible. REACTING to the deficiencies of the product produced by the “Core” team.

Where we run into issues is when the lines between proactive and reactive blur.

Sanger calls this “the illusion of taking charge”. 

                   

What he means is false proactivity                     

As a child of “the Enemy is Out There” syndrome, (where external forces are identified as the cause of all organizational/departmental woe) the illusion of taking charge attempts to remedy the mal-effects ahead of time –> “proactively”. But care must be taken to consider whether these in-advance solutions are changing the company for the better (accelerating learning), or if they are merely REACTIVITY in disguise.

From the example that Sanger cites, I propose a cost benefit analysis as the determining factor. If the solution is proactive (ahead of the issue), then there is time to consider (a heads opposed to true reactivity in the heat of the moment). A back of the envelope CBA is sometimes enough to determine if the solution is beneficial to the organization.

Organizational Learning Disability - I am my position

Peter Senge describes the serious challenges that many organizations face when they learn poorly.

Unfortunately, because of the way we have been taught to think, these disabilities are very common. In his book, The Fifth Discipline, he reviews seven of these challenges that he defines as Organizational Learning Disabilities.

The term "learning" however, is defined differently. Rather than referring to the most common usage, Senge's meaning is more about how an organization achieves its potential - for itself and for its employees. Growing in a meaningful way, better able to face new market challenges, and avoiding the fate of many corporations -> an early extinction.

The first leaning disability 

addressed is named 

"I am my position"

The first leaning disability addressed is named "I am my position".

This is a fairly familiar syndrome and I'm sure that most of us have either said (or been in conversations with people that have said) "I'm a ". We identify with what we do. THIS is the most common symptom of this disability. However, it is not the only manifestation.

In "I am my position" there is also a hyper-focus on a person's individual role and responsibilities. With that singular vision, there is the concern that contributors fail to see how they connect with those around them. As an example of this, Sange gave the example of the Japanese v. US auto makers.

To summarize the example, Japanese engineers secured their engines with the same bolt in all three mountings. Contrasted that with US automakers, who assigned each of the 3 mounts to separate engineers - each responsible for one mounting bolt. Because the US engineers focused on THEIR mount only, and not thinking about how they connect with the other engineers, they each chose unique bolts. Because of that, assembly took longer and was more costly – had to keep multiple bolts in inventory.

Think about how this may be in-play in your organization. Do you produce monthly status reports? Do you have multiple deliveries of these reports in individual formats and decks? Are there multiple meetings? If so, your resources are spending time doing redundant work - just like the engineer with the engine bolt that should have conferred with his fellows. Management team should standardize on status reporting. AND in an agile environment, status report standardization is easy.

This is one of the organizational leaning disabilities that is addressed and remediated by Systems Thinking and the growth of the Learning Organization.

Times, they are a chang'in

One of the toughest things to deal with as an agent for change is how people deal with change.

As any type of manager, we constantly look for efficiencies.
Even leaving "process innovation" and its goal of 10x change out of the equation, there are significant gains to be had by implementing a continuous improvement program. Whatever system we are working with, near the top of our managerial todo list must be improvement. This means process efficiency.

Efficiency comes in many flavors and doing a deep-dive into current processes gives us the insights needed to streamline and make better. However, a mistake is to think that our changes (no matter how nobel) are going to be accepted. We have to understand what we are asking and plan strategically for the implementation.

There are two types of change: technical and adaptive.

Making technical change is about picking up efficiency by shifting process - an example would be moving from sticky notes on a white board to a computerized system like Jira. This requires a change in process and tools and will certainly add the benefit of visibility. It will also make backup and arching easier. It won't however force anyone to think differently.

Making adaptive change requires an underlying shift in what people believe. This may come is the form of relinquishing power over certain functions and changing scope on the way their team contributes to projects.

Lets consider a fictitious sales manager who is used to acting as de facto project manager.

In this capacity, project changes to support sales get weighted heavily.

This most likely will frustrate an efficient project delivery.

Changing project leadership from the sales manager to the project manager will force everyone on the tea to behave differently. We clearly see the benefits of this change with more timely deliveries, clear project scope, less stress on the teams, improved customer satisfaction. The sales manager (and maybe even the team) however may find it difficult to ADAPT.

As champions of change, we have been given a mandate for improvement that we are happy to accept. After all, inspiring program efficiency is a worthwhile task and a satisfying aspect of our career. However, strategic change is prudent. Take the time to demonstrate your value first. Plan your changes over time. Remember, the mandate and promise of senior management support today can go away tomorrow if too many feathers are ruffled in the process.

Good luck!

Emergent Design

Basically this post is to point to a fantastic article at ProjectManagement.com.

There are a lot of agile primers out there that explain the basics of running agile projects, but they lack implementation details that we as experienced software professionals are concerned with.
For instance, when I first started to learn about agile (after many years in waterfall), I wondered about up-front design.

"How can a scalable infrastructure be developed with a focused view of  deliverable slices of functionality?"

Dr. Rico has authored a detailed article that explains the ideas of Just Enough planning and Emergent Design. Interestingly enough, he recommended a book by Mike Cohn that I am currently rereading.

In summary, please read about these techniques and enjoy the references to further reading.

Dr. David Rico

 Read Dr. Rico's article HERE

Brainstorming as a Culture

Brainstorming That Works describes it the following way:

The expression brain storm and the word brainstorming was popularized in Applied Imagination by Alex Osborn. The word is a perfect description of the brain's process. Many synapses start firing and multiple associations stored in the brain get recalled. The point is to get so many thoughts coming up simultaneously and triggering so many other thoughts and ideas that your mind's alter ego that likes to think negative thoughts can't get a word in edge wise. 

The little boat is the problem statement :)

So what does brainstorming require? Well really, it is a very simple list.

1. As stated above, have a clear problem statement. What is the goal of this session? Don't be so focused that you limit the innovation, but still be clear.
2. Everybody participates. I'm highlighting that one because it is the one I feel is most important. I am dedicated to the Learning Organization and this is a big part of that. I don't think you'll get the best ideas if your STORM is limited to a room of architects. 
3. As Tom Kelley states in his book, set a goal for a one hour meeting. He found that 100 ideas in that time equals a good session.
4. Have fun. Consider this a benefit. You are creating a culture that will attract the best talent. Allow the comedic solutions, in fact, encourage them. 

As a Learning Organization we all strive to utilize all brain power to spark innovation. Brainstorming is a must-have in this culture. Not once-in-a-while, but constantly. 

The more it is used, the more influence it will have on your corporate culture.

You'll see creativity sparking here and there on a regular basis because the juices are flowing and everyone feels that it is not only allowed to contribute on this level, but expected.

Once word gets out, you'll enjoy knowing that you've just updated your company's reputation to "a cool place to work"

In summary, by implementing brainstorming into your planning or sprints, you'll generate more innovative ideas, foster a more collaborative environment, strengthen your learning organization, and build a better reputation that'll attract and retain the best talent. .
Oh yeah, and it is practically free  :)

ENJOY

The Lean Startup

The Lean Startup on Amazon

I've been re-reading Eric Ries' amazing book.
It is just as good the second time through - not a skim and jump around read, but good enough as a text to go cover to cover.

What you'll find here is the foundation for building a company. This book wasn't around when I was doing my MBA, and we were given "The New Business Roadtest". I'm sorry for that, because this book belongs in the required reading of any MBA, especially those that focus on entrepreneurship.

This book complements some of my other favorites, The Fifth Discipline and Davenport's Process Innovation.

For companies that strive to build a Learning Organization (and the best ones do), the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop is integral to driving for success.

10X v 10%

The title looks like a horrible math problem.

However, in reality what it comes down to is "Innovation & Improvement: Not the Same Thing"

I've recently decided to go back to basics and re-read the best book on 'Process' ever. I refer to Davenport's HBS edition of Process Innovation. If you can read past the early 90's predictive voice in regards to IT, the rather immutable facts present themselves. Its best to start by just getting the terms defined.

There is a lot of confusion in the terms -to name a few:

• Process Redesign
• Process Improvement
• Continuous Improvement
• Process Innovation

Davenport makes a dramatic distinction between Process Innovation and Improvement.

Process Improvement sets it's goals at 5 to 10%

Process Innovation however has goals of 50 to 100%. That's a 10X change

So does that answer the question as to whether these terms are interchangeable?

Yes, there is a huge difference between them.

Does this mean that we should choose Process Innovation over Process Improvement?

No, they work together.

Buying a new car is a big change, but you need to have a maintenance plan or it'll break down.

Process Innovation effort makes large cultural changes across organizational areas (big risk - big reward). Process Improvement continuously updates the resulting processes to make them more efficient over time.

These two disciplines work together for the health of the business.

Process Innovation handing off to Process Improvement.

Does a Klout score matter

Early last week I was at lunch with some folks that I work with time and again. I was checking my klout score on my phone because I have been monitoring its fluctuations based on what was happening with my social accounts. I'm always curious about impressions that others may have, so I asked how the rest of the group felt about Klout scores. Overwhelmingly, the group was aggressively anti-klout. Now if it stayed there I would have given more weight to their arguments, but then it became an anti-social networking discussion. I want to share with you how it went and what my thoughts are after this give & take.

First off, we're a friendly bunch. Yes, we can be intense at times, but I am very comfortable with the folks that I was eating with and like them very much. They are all bright people and that is why I was soliciting their feedback. It turns out that they didn't know much about Klout and asked me what goes into the score.

Klout's algorithm is proprietary I'm sure, but I know that it takes accounts that I sync up with into consideration (whether it uses them all at this time, I have no idea). But you can sync up Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Instagram...etc.

And here is where the Devil's opinions came out to play

There was a tidal wave of negative feelings towards social media. Some of the comments were: "waste of time", "I don't get it" and "who cares". I reminded the group that it also takes blog sites into account and that lead to a sub-conversation - Is Blogging Social ?

I have the opinion that blogging is not social.
I am happy to entertain arguments that consider it social (because I could see that POV: following blogs, or commenting on posts, even sharing blog posts), but I think there is more to it than that.

As a blogger I feel that I am contributing to the community

Bloggers don't just consume information, we contribute or even curate content for use by others.
Don't we all want to be viewed as Subject Matter Experts? The web gives us the most amazing opportunity that mankind has ever seen to get our opinions, experiences and research out into the world. By contributing, others can benefit and we in turn build our reputations.

By this time, I brought up the now famous story of the marketing exec that lost out on a job because his Klout score was a 35 v. a 65 for the guy that got the job. My point was that other industry professionals are valuing this metric. One response from the table was "I wouldn't want to work for a company that took Klout into consideration."  ---- HERE IS WHY I AM WRITING THIS POST

Why not?
A executive marketing position means that the candidate understands marketing in 2014.
A high Klout score means that the candidate has worked hard to be seen as an influential person on the web. Web marketing is where it's at and where it will continue to go. Therefore, I would rather hire a marketing person with a high Klout score too.

I really get frustrated with people that I work with if they don't cultivate their online presence. Does this mean that they don't understand how business is done now, or they don't have a vision for how business is moving to a global - distributed model? I have a hard time accepting that.

Klout measures how much weight you have on the web.
I don't know it their algorithms will stand the test of time, or if other, better ways of measuring will come up, but the discussion is the same.

Is being influential on the web valuable?

Of course, I say "immensely"

Price Wars in Cloud 1.0 Land

There is not much to say on this that hasn't already been written about in Forbes, TechCrunch and the like. Well, except that it makes me very happy.

It seems that Cloud 1.0 services are perceived as a commodity these days. The innovation in is happening in Cloud 2.0 (and not by the big guys that are slugging it out 1.0 land). So that leaves giant providers like Google, Amazon and Microsoft to create value by slashing their prices. In April, Amazon had their 42 price reduction since 2008. This is great. It is just what we all expected of IaaS. We get great service, security & stability, set-it and forget-it functionality and falling prices. I am happy to benefit.

But what about Cloud 2.0?
I'm happy where I am, but I always want more.
AWS gives us tier pricing and we can pick different specifications, but cloud 2.0 will allow us to build our own. This functionality will allow us to save even more.

Question is, will we see a new innovative company emerge to challenge the giants, or will they be assimilated? I'm sure a little of both. But however it works out, it'll just keep getting better for us.

What's on your To Do List?

It helps when I start the day with a plan of what I want to get done.
This doesn't always happen, but when it does I always feel really productive.
Simple, this isn't brain surgery, it is basic Covey 7 Habits stuff.

What is striking though are the items that show up on my list.
As a startup guy, it could be anything and the kitchen sink.

Looking at my list right now, I have

• 3 separate ppt presentations to work on
• A couple of invoices to deal with
• Creating a post mortem template
• Answering client emails
• Blogging
• Updating my financials
• Going for a run

I think the idea is that working at a startup demands that we all wear many different hats.
Ya, duh - everyone has heard this before, but we have to be great at changing gears and quickly.

This can be a bit overwhelming at times, so take a break now and then I suppose.
Learn to embrace the fluidity of this path.

"Prethink" - Yah, It's a Word

I was a pretty active Toastmaster a couple of years ago.

First off, what a fantastic organization -> I'm not going to do my self-improvement sales pitch right now, but it's coming.

In Toastmasters, members prepare and give speeches in order to further our public speaking skills. A member of the audience is assigned to critique the speech on a number of points, one of them being grammar.

After one of my speeches, the person assigned to giving me feedback mentioned that I had used the word "prethink". Their point was that this was in fact not a word and I should find another way to say what I meant. Let me dispute this.

I believe that "prethink" is a word with a meaning that is applicable and critical to numerous aspects of our lives. Prethink means to plan in response to potential ad-hoc conversations or scenarios. An example would be: "I have a call with so-and-so in 10 minutes. How should I respond if they ask me about that issue they were concerned with?". 

You may argue that "Plan" is the word for this, but I see this as a much more fluid and on-the-fly skill. It's about building a short-term strategy for an important interaction. "Planning" is good, but I want to use it for more brick&mortar style decisions. Just like saying "cloud" instead of "time-sharing", prethink conveys a different energy than plan.

What do you think?
Is this a term that should make it into every-day use?

~Brian

Managing the Flat, Blank Parts

Remember the pieces of vinyl that separated the tracks on an album? They would look like circular borders that gave a pause to the music. They were the easy places to drop the needle before the song you wanted to hear. A startup software company has those flat blank parts too.

There are a few reasons that I can think of that result in a “breath” in development. Hiring, financing, code freeze, perf testing, or any of the many other causes can all result in a flat blank part for the team. It is important to manage these so that you maintain your momentum.

No matter how well you manage to process, or how big your team is (if you’re lucky), there are always items marked as “deferred”, and these are not necessarily just bugs.

commenting code

• post mortems
• reviewing the backlog
• process improvement
• updating estimates
• functionality research
• usability reviews
• producing white papers

We can go on and on here.

A startup cannot afford to misuse their pauses.

They are there, and when you see one coming get ready to make the best use of it. Your team will come out of it stronger then ever and with the feeling of increased stability.

Editorial: Ties Suck (but you knew that)

The WSJ got me all fired up this AM with an article The Tie is Dead (Long Live the Tie).
I'm on the "No Tie" bandwagon and Richard Branson seems to be leading the parade.

Branson is famously anti-tie.
There are stories of him using scissors to cut the tie off of unsuspecting employees that broke his reverse dress code.
I don't think I have ever seen a picture of Branson with a tie.
So, this defeats the idea that a tie is a necessary accessory for
success in business.

But is there other data to more firmly indicate the direction of menswear in the new millennia? Yes
The WSJ article showed that by 2008 tie sales had dropped 92%. This is a key indicator, but it isn't a fun one. I think I have better and more conclusive proof that we can hold farewell party for this antiquated accoutrement. Let me lay out my case.

1.  Bogie looked great in a hat. He was what cool was. To be cool in his era, you wore a hat.
2. Kennedy updated menswear style by breaking the hat tradition. Automakers even lowered car tops, you couldn't wear a Bogie style hat now if you wanted to.

Now lets look at our often tieless current president.

The last G8 Summit and this summer's meeting with President Xi Jinping of China showed world leaders sans tie. Is this the repeat of Kennedy's influence on men's hats? I think so. But there is one trap that needs to be avoided. Don Draper!

Mad Men is super popular. It is a great show and I'm addicted to it. I think Don has an influence on us all. Just like Bogie, he is super cool (yes, lots of bad traits that make me cringe, but still super cool).
Are we strong enough to resist the temptation to revert to this look? I think so.

I've seen my "trying to by hip" friends attempt the hat. Reaction: nope, you can't pull off the Bogie look in 2010. That hat doesn't go well with cargos at all :) LOL. So even though Draper may tempt a few of us to bring back this office formal look the tide is too strong against it. Thanks Mr. President.

As a last word though, is this Invisi-tie trend completely attributable to Mr. Branson and Mr. Obama?
Nah. It started with us tech guys.

Now Zuckerberg is the most well-known example with his statement making hoodie, but he wasn't the first. Lets say that the dotcom bubble was the fuse.

You can't wear a tie with Birkenstock's, and lots of Birks were sold to software engineers in 1999. This type of thing led to casual Friday for the entire business community.

Technology has changed the world and has even influenced our president to solidify the tie-less trend.

AND there is something that you can do to help!
Ahem, change your LinkedIn profile picture.
If you're wearing a tie, get a new shot. You still look great (probably better) just minus the tie.

Sorry Brooks Bros., you'll just have to sell more socks.

Cash is King

The King

"Cash is King", this is always true.

First off, I enjoy Johnny Cash more than Elvis, so that should be enough to prove my statement right there. I do like Elvis, but the Long Black Veil is in its own league.

http://bit.ly/1epfYdg 

"Cash is also King in your startup"

Having a set of linked financials is a must have for us. I've listned to a lot of successful entrepreneurs and investors argue both sides of the 5 year projection battle, but when it comes down to it, planning a startup is facilitated by your linked financials.

What you need

For each of the next 5 years: income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. Also, summary and assumptions worksheets. Everything should be linked so that you (or a potential investor during diligence) can use the data on the assumptions tab as levers that flow through your other worksheets. Think of how incredibly useful this is in working through different scenarios for your business model.

Oh, don't forget another sheet that anchors your assumptions into reality by citing credible resources.

[Back to Cash being King]

Once the hard work of setting these up is complete, you can pull the levers yourself and check out the viability of your plan as it ripples through your worksheets. Where do I spend most of my time? Right, the cashflow statement.

As a business owner, what do I want to know most? Do I have enough cash to continue to take over the world...er, I mean "to execute on my plan"  ;)

The income statement is important to see how we're doing based solely on revenue, but my cashflow helps me to determine how much outside investment I need, and where it is best allocated.

Here is a resource to download a financial templates:

http://www.score.org/resources/business-plans-financial-statements-template-gallery

It may be exciting and anti-establishment to work by your gut, but when planning a sales & marketing effort, it's important to see how your decisions will play out. 

So, sit back, listen to Johnny & June Carter sing Jackson and dig in. 

It'll be fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzhzCF77GDo

Prioritizing the "Get it Done" List

One of the biggest challenges for an early stage company is balancing one-off requests with developing the features that have wider client appeal. 

This is a trap

It seems like a good idea to focus on the features that your current clients want. It seems intuitive to power through the wish list of a potential sale. 

I understand the overwhelming urge to continually bubble client requests to the top of the backlog,          but consider:

Each and every request that comes in needs to be evaluated.

Q: "Will it make my product specific to the needs of this one client, or does everyone want this?"

Customer acquisition is the #1 effort for a startup

More customers proves the business model, gives investors the warm & fuzzies, provides much needed cash flow and provides critical fuel for an early marketing campaign. So, the argument may be made that yes, make this customer happy, BUT our goal is more than just ONE customer. So spending valuable development cycles on features that will only be used by one client should be a hard pill to swallow.

Instead I suggest that every client request gets logged and evaluated. 

If it is specific to only one client, we must figure out how to create the feature in a way that would be valuable to all, or say

                                     ...Wait forrrr iiiitttt...

"No"

Wow, that is a hard thing to do, but congratulations, you're in it for the long haul.

With a todo list that is probably very long, it is up to us to sell our clients on why they need the features that will makes us the number 1 choice of the many, not the few. I can't tell you how to work diplomatically with clients & potential clients, but sharing your vision for the product, showing them how well you turn around solid releases of advanced features and valuing their feedback will go a long way in building your brand goodwill.

So in summary: evaluate & value the requests, if you need them to sell the product to more clients put them on the top of the list, if not, sell what is on the top of your list to your client. Getting them excited about your product direction and thanking them for their continued feedback builds a collaborative environment. I enjoy working in environments like this.

Where to Host

Maybe I'm late to figuring this out, but as an entrepreneur we have so many daily tasks that once a decision is made it is challenging to revisit it. Thats why I wasn't keeping up on our hosting provider.

We had been using a lesser known company and enjoying great customer service.  They were not only responsive, but they were pro-active.  It was a nice feeling of being a valued client. But as a startup, our bottom line is the bottom line.

Recently we made the decision to move back to Amazon (after a 6 month absence) because of their deep knowledge and compliance with all things HIPAA. I held my breath today when I refreshed my memory on their pricing. Wow, what a difference 6 months makes.

Network world had a great article (that apparently I missed) outlining Amazon's AWS price reduction.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/110112-amazon-cloud-prices-263895.html
Their pricing page was my first stop: http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/

Don't take me for a AWS fanboy (yet, at least), I 'm just a startup. While I like the individual service of the smaller provider, I'm busting at the ~5k a year that I'm about to save--I'll sleep so much better tonight.

Just keep it in mind when you plan your infrastructure.

Cheers,

Brian
http://atomictower.com

Entrepreneur of the Week

Good for the US Post Office!
I am now a big fan.

For the longest time, they have been in the news as the poster child for failing to adapt. They have been characterized as a burdon on the tax payer - supporting a government organization that is going out of style but not allowed to fail. Well they have done something about that. They have put our principles of creative, out of the box thinking into place to compete in the market place. And it's not about communication.

The Daily Caller had an article called "Struggling US Postal Service to Launch New Apparel Line: http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/19/struggling-us-postal-service-to-launch-new-apparel-line/ .  Here is what this cash strapped business did - they decided to take stock of what they do well and capitalize on it. They were not doing so good competing with the internet, so what else do they do? They have mail personel out in the elements in all weather and all seasons!!! Those folks are experts at dressing to stay comfortable in all temperatures and precipitation levels - WHY NOT SHARE THAT?! Brilliant, I say.

 With this move, the US Post Office demonstrated their execution of the rules that all of us business owners must play by:

1. They are flexible - something wasn't working that endangered their business, so they developed and marketed a secondary strength. 
2. They did not abuse power. Too often I read about conflict in our government (both sides) regarding government waste. Well instead of taxing more to support a going-out-of -style department, they got creative.
3. They are bold. All of us as entrepreneurs have to take risks on what we believe. 

Will this work? Will the public respond favorably and buy this gear? I don't know. What I do know is that win, loose or draw, I will think differently about our postal service going forward. I'll think about how they tried to solve their fiscal issues the way that we all try to solve ours. I'll look at them as a model for how government agencies should work. 

Congratulations US Post Office - you're my Entrepreneur of the Week!

Convert Your VHS Tapes

I just finished a massive project.

The scope of the project wasn't that big, but the weight of it on my shoulders was heavier than I believed.

Our early family videos were on VHS tape, in a grocery bag, on the top shelf of our pantry. We don't have our player hooked up any longer, so I stored them out of reach for safe keeping. ONE DAY I would get around to converting them to DVD. That was 7 years ago.

This project was combined with all of the pics on my phone or harddrive that I hadn't uploaded to Picasa. I knew I needed to so that they wouldn't get lost, but I had more important things to attend to.

Both of these project by themselves (and most definitely taken together) are a prime example of managing your company.  Let things go long enough, and they build a weight on your mind that is disproportionate to the reality of the task - and this causes stress and degrades your performance. Make time for maintenance.

1. Update your CRM often
2. Write thank you notes promptly
3. Blog on a schedule

In short, organize and make it a habit.

I know this isn't news to anyone, but it was so "in my face" this week as I spent hours converting my precious life memories that I wanted to share. 

Mentor Team

I've been at Mass Challenge for almost a month now. When they said "accelerator" they meant it. Things have been moving quickly.

One of the first things that we were asked to do was to put together a mentor team from the pool of fantastic execs/lawyers/investors that have generously contributed their time and experience to help out. This was an intense process of multiple "get to know you" events where finalists got to meet and connect with these folks.

When the smoke cleared I had a good idea of who connected well with me and my company. Comparing this with mentor backgrounds and areas of my business that I want to spend time strengthening, I came up with a fantastic team. We met last week and came up with top level goals for our effort over the course of the program. It feels really good to know there is a group of experienced professionals that are on-hand to keep me on track. This is a short summer/program, not a moment of energy or time to waste!

So one of the great benefits to Mass Challenge - a superior group of mentors generous with their time.

Password Security

There was a great article in the WSJ last week regarding password security on the internet. I clipped it, brought it to the office and threw it away :(
I meant to use it to illuminate and inform and instead I couldn't find my coffee cup and got distracted. I think I can hit the high-points though. I'll try.

IMPORTANT: use strong passwords.
Coming up with these is easier than you think. They suggested thinking of a song and using the initials of the title in camel case. Ex. "I Dream of Jeanie" would be "IdOj". Then, add your zip code to make it "IdOj02145". You can change song title to favorite saying and add a bible ref number like "6:14". EZ!

Another suggestion was to have one password for all applications in a specific category. So, categorize for "buying stuff", "family", "web storage" etc. That way you'll have the same password for each site in a specific category. I like this idea, however, I use a password safe (free online) and have a different password for each site. But this idea seems manageable.

Finally, the author said to create throw-away passwords for one time access - like you have to create an account to respond to a blog post that interests you.

So, I think I summed it up. What do you think?

Brian
Atomic Tower - We Power the Cloud!