Finding Talent

Last night's Verge event at the Kessler/Fall Creek mansion (you know the one with Dolphin statues) was epic. Both Mayor Ballard and Melina Kennedy (Dem candidate) were in attendance, 200+ of Indy's best nerds mingled, local SaaS companies demonstrated their wares, Scotty's food and Upland beer was plentiful. A good time was had by all and host Chad Folkening, master domainer,  made us all feel at home in his insanely large estate. 

But what stuck with me the most was something that David Becker said about finding talent during his short but powerful speech. David is a local serial entrepreneur who has had great success across multiple ventures. He told a short story about how he spotted a hostess at a local restaurant that had great people skills. He offered her a job and she rose through his ranks to become a VP. The noisy Verge crowd was surprisingly quiet- it hit home.

David's point is to spot these rough talents and place an early bet. Sure, they might not know much about your industry but knowledge can be gained, talent is something you either have or don't have. If you can develop this person into a valuable resource then the benefits are mutual and the loyalty is deep.

I've seen this in my life as well. Many of the people I have hired came from unusual sources- I met Karl Hofstetter at one of my garage sales when he was still in high school, I met Dan Fahrner when he was playing drums in a band, I met our incredibly bright high school intern John Fernkas through my hair dresser. I have also been on the other side of this- getting hired by Dan Ripley in 1998 based on nothing more than his gut feeling that I had some talent. Within 3 years we were business partners in Indiana's first online auction house, Antique Helper.

In my experience I think you will have more success finding quality talent in your daily interactions than in a stack of resumes. Thank you David for the confirmation and reminder. Talent is all around us, we just need to look for it.

Reconsidering Mayor Ballard

I find myself in an awkward situation. I have been an early Melina Kennedy supporter. I co-sponsored a fundraising event for her at iMOCA a few months back. I think she would be an excellent mayor of Indianapolis. I love her passion for the arts and small businesses. I still plan on voting for her. But lately I have been reconsidering our current mayor. 

Like many Indy residents I was shocked when Greg Ballard beat out Bart Peterson in 2007. He won mostly on the hot topic of property taxes. The voters were all riled up over that for about 2 weeks and misdirected their anger towards Peterson. I think most observers would agree that it was a perfect storm that no-one saw coming. Ballard became the accidental mayor. 

When it comes to national politics I tend to vote Democratic. The current national Republican party scares the shit out of me. The Tea Party has pushed them into a ideological corner where the earth isn't warming, "intellectuals" are mocked, all regulations are worthless and government of any shape or form is intrinsically evil. It's a party that would throw Reagan out on his ass if he walked through the door today. Governing is about compromise and that's a language the Tea, er, I mean, Republican Party doesn't speak. 

But Indiana Republicans are cut from a different cloth. Sure they skew right on social stuff but can often find middle ground. They get that government isn't intrinsically evil- it's a mix of good and bad just like us- maybe because we are government! 

In the 2008 election I was a strong supporter of Obama and Mitch Daniels. I had yard signs for both in my yard which amused, and confused, my new neighbors. "What's up with those youngsters?" I remain a fan of both politicians and was very disappointed to see Daniels not pursue the presidency. I don't think he would have won but I do think he would have elevated the conversation. 

When Ballard took over as Mayor I feared for the worst. He was a complete unknown with almost no experience governing. But he has been surprisingly competent. The police debacle could have been handled better and I'm sure his detractors can put together a long list but (as David Hoppe noted in this week's Nuvo) he has kept the ship running, and running pretty well, during some stormy weather. 

Greg Ballard is a shy, introverted guy. He is not a politician by nature. He is straight forward, speaks his mind and focuses more on action than talking points. It's an approach that resonates with me and others. Could he do better on communicating vision? Sure, but actions speak louder than words.

Ballard has done a great job of building a forward looking team that cares about Indianapolis. I have worked closely with Deputy Mayor Michael Huber on several ideas/ventures. I am consistently impressed by Huber. He is a hard worker with great instincts who knows how to connect the right people to get things done. He also has great taste in music which doesn't hurt.

Melina Kennedy is an excellent politician. She remembers names, makes eye contact, using talking points and has a great vision for this city. But she needs to step up her game to win this one. Ballard is figuring out this Mayor thing and only looks stronger as we head into the last lap.

So I have a hard choice to make but it feels good to know that either way the election goes, Indianapolis wins. 

Overcorrecting

About 2 years ago we took on a project that changed our business. We should not have taken on this highly custom project- we were out of our depth, it was poorly scoped and we didn't have the budget or timeline to do it right.  The client had been patient, understanding and even accommodating on additional funds. This wasn't a case of a client from hell. It was us over-promising and under-delivering. It was a mistake on every level. It was also entirely my mistake. I screwed up big time. 

After burning about 1000 hours and pushing one of our senior team members to brink of sanity we decided we had to walk away from the project even though it was near the finish line. We just couldn't meet the client's expectations. It was devastating emotionally and financially. We had never before, or after, been unable to complete a project. So we did all we could to hand the project off smoothly to the next team.

As I walked away in shock from the wreckage I swore "no more custom work for clients!"

What followed was 6 months of saying no to custom web application work. We refocused the company towards web marketing services and focusing on improvements to our CMS. We were so stunned by our first real failure as a company we didn't know what else to do. 

During this time we ignored the fact that we are really good at executing the right custom web projects. We've been doing these since we started the company. With this one glaring failure blinding me I ignored all our successes and heavily overcorrected. 

Looking back at the experience it was probably the best thing that has happened to me professionally. I learned a lot about managing expectations, laying the right foundation for success, creating a client experience and leading the team. I'm not the same person that took on that project. We aren't the same company. It changed everything.

As we have started taking on custom web projects the past year I've seen the team regain confidence and do great work. I've also seen how this learning experience has been institutionalized across the company. I wish we could have learned it in a less painful way for the client and ourselves- especially the client- but the lesson has been learned and the overcorrection has been corrected. 

Vess and Jan

My first job when I moved to Indy in 1998 was fixing up Vess Ruhtenberg's dad's house. Vess is a well known local musician, producer and overall aesthete with an obsession for architecture. His list of projects is too long to go into here. Google him. 

So how I talked Vess into paying me to do this I'm still not sure. I didn't know much about fixing up houses but I knew something about working on old cars. His father's 1960 MG A was sitting in the garage in a state of disrepair. One of my favorite memories is the eureka moment we had when we hand cranked the MG to life for the first time in decades after a lot of work. Yes, hand cranked.

While working on this project and hanging out with Vess I got to know more about his father and grandfather, Jan. Both were architects and from what Vess was uncovering it sounded like his grandfather might have been special. I hadn't yet begun my career in antiques and auctions so the significance of the fact that my work table at the house was a prototype of Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat Table didn't really register at the time. Tugen-what? 

As Vess discovered more and more about his grandfather- Jan Ruhtenberg- it became clear that Jan was no minor modernist. He had worked close with Mies on the Barcelona collection in the late 1920s. In fact he may have even been an important collaborator on Mies' most famous piece- the Barcelona chair. Vess uncovered 2 early variations on the chair from his grandfather's collection that provides some evidence that Jan could have even originated the design. Jan also worked and lived with Phillip Johnson. Vess uncovered letters from Mies and Phillip Johnson revealing that his grandfather was thick with the most important designers of the time. But until recently history has not been kind to Jan. 

Last month Indianapolis Monthly ran a great story on Jan including a good accounting of Vess' quest to finally give his grandfather the respect he deserves. 

This Friday, September 2nd, Blackline Studios in the Murphy Building in Fountain Square (Indy) will host a exhibit of Jan's work. Here's more info on the event. I highly recommend you attend. 

Details: Reception, 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Blackline Studio for Architecture, 1043 Virginia Ave., Studio 211, free, (317) 803-7900, www.blacklinestudio.net

Idea: Start Up Bowl

Here's an idea I've been working on for the last 6 months. I have decided to "open source" the idea in hopes that in openly sharing this idea it will increase the likelihood of it happening.

In short- I don't have the time to champion this idea but I do believe in it and want to see it happen. I will happily serve on the committee and also dedicate some SmallBox resources to making it happen.

Keep in mind that what I've outlined here is not meant to be carved in stone. It's an idea and whomever picks it up and runs with it should be free to do with it what they want. Also, I own StartUpBowl.com and would be happy to hand that over to a reputable organization or individual. I have a more complete brief as well I can send. Just hit me up at jeb@smallboxweb.com and I will send it over. 

Start Up Bowl:

The Idea

Ten start-up teams will compete over the 10 days leading up to the 2012 Super Bowl to win prizes.

The Objective

To change the brand of Indianapolis- not only a great sports & convention town, but also the perfect place to start a business. To highlight Indianapolis’ growing start-up scene. To attract regional, national, and possibly international, talent to compete in a 10-day start-up contest. To have national, local and industry press take notice of the event. To encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, foster creativity, celebrate risk taking, and have fun. To start new businesses that will attract and retain talent that will add to our local economy and community.

The Rules

Ten teams are selected from a pool of applicants. Each team must meet the following criteria: maximum 6 members, no more than $100K cash invested to date. Goal is to attract bootstrapped start up applicants. Any team can apply regardless of geography. One team will be eliminated per day. Judging could be based on a number of factors, including online/text voting, competing teams (Survivor style) and industry/investor judges. Final 2 teams present to a panel of celebrity investors, including local investors. Team wishing to redeem contest prizes must remain in Indiana for a minimum of one year.

The Prizes

Prizes are still to be determined as it will depend on funds/resources available. Overall objective is to compensate selected teams with an incremental increase over the course of the contest. The more days a team survives, the greater their prize. Prizes will most likely be a mix of cash, investment and resources. Current plan is to announce contest before announcing prizes since we do not expect them to be finalized until later. Some prizes may be contingent on recipient start-up team remaining in Indiana for a yet to be determined period of time (i.e. 1-2 years) after contest.