Success

If you struggle with picking yourself up and moving forward after a bad event, the book Bounce by Barry Moltz might be just the book for you. Moltz states:

…this is a book about developing bounce, a kind of true business confidence that brings its own special brand of resiliency…a book about accepting failure as a normal part of the process…when we possess bounce, we are able to move forward from any event - good or bad - to the next place where a decision can be made…above all bounce gets us ready for adventure.

I was expecting a book focused primarily on how to bounce back when you have a business failure, but instead it offered a much more global view. I especially liked that I was able to relate not only on a business level but also on a personal level. Filled with mini stories and examples of how different people have handled adversity and come out stronger, Bounce is a great combination of a business book and a motivational book, but it isn’t traditionally dry or sappy. Moltz has a very relaxed writing style, and one that I think many people can relate to and enjoy while reading this book.

Kristen Langham
Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Posted on June 12th, 2008 | No Comments »

I met Tricia Kandik at the very first SmartUps Pubtalk in Eugene, Oregon a few months ago. From the very start of our conversation I was struck by her enthusiasm and passion concerning her business and entrepreneurship in general. Her business was so new, she’d just picked up her first batch of business cards. 

I’m excited to share Tricia’s story about her business with the BIG blog readers. 

Chelle: So, set-up what it is you do. Is this your first business?

Tricia: I had a dogwalking/petsitting business for five years in Washington D.C. before moving out to Eugene.  So I knew I enjoyed having my own business, and could handle the various ups and downs of self-employment.

Friends had been telling me for years that I should consider cleaning and organizing as a paid endeavor, joking that it was my “hobby”.  It’s true: I spend a lot of my spare time cleaning and organizing my own home, and I truly enjoy it.  Finally, one friend “dared” me to do it, saying she would use my eco-friendly housecleaning services, and had several other friends who would also become clients. 

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Posted on June 12th, 2008 | No Comments »

…can be so confusing.

I was bemused, once again, over the various ways we measure success in our society.

We were watching a movie, Martian Child, with John Cusack and Bobby Coleman. John’s character was trying to teach his adopted son to hit a baseball. As he explained “If you hit 3 out of 10 you’re a star. If you do just a little better, you’re a superstar!” That theme recurs in the film.

It was heartening in the film’s context. If we apply it to our daily lives, the little bit of wisdom can be freeing and encouraging. It gives us lots of room to try, to experiment, (and yes, to fail and try again), to learn, and to grow. We don’t have to be perfect the first time, every time. 3 out of 10 and you can be a star. Heady stuff.

But that idea contrasts with so much else we hear.

“Nobody wants to be a 0, but everybody wants to be a 1, and there’s so little room in between.”
– Laurie Anderson, songwriter/singer.

In school if you were to get only 3 of 10, you’d not only get an F, but never get into college. Today you need to get all those advanced placement credits to get a 5.0 on a 4.0 grading scale. (And what kind of math does that teach, eh?)

And of course, if you’re a figure skating or ice dancing Olympian, you strive to be a 10. (And who can remember that very forgettable movie by the same number?)

We spend our lives searching for and nurturing love….unless you play tennis, in which case “love” is the dreaded lowest score.

And this relates to business how? By being realistic in your measure for success. Write your business plan, set your goals, establish your timelines and milestones.

Then review how you’ve done, run a plan vs. actual analysis. And adjust your plan as necessary, making decisions using real data.

If you converted 100% of your marketing leads into sales you’d be doing fantastically well. If you set your goal and measure of success as converting 100% of your leads you’ll be both deluding yourself, and very very disappointed.

Be honest and set realistic goals for yourself. If you converted 3 out of 10 marketing leads you would be a star, and quite likely have a very successful business.

Steve Lange
Palo Alto Software

Tags: , , 10, 3 of 10, business plan, business planning, marketing leads, measure of success, sales, Success
Posted on June 2nd, 2008 | No Comments »

About a year ago, Kongo Gumi, a Japanese temple building company and the world’s oldest continuously operating family business, closed it’s doors after 14 centuries of prosperity.

I’ve wanted to talk about this company ever since I read the article about it in April 2007. The company history is interesting not just because of its longevity but how the business consistently passed from generation to generation for 1,428 years.

There is a 10-foot 17th century scroll which traces the 40 generations back to the origins of the business, listing the sons, daughters and sons-in-law that worked in the family run business.

In the article, available at the businessweek.com website, the last president of Kongo Gumi, Masakazu Kongo (the 40th member of the family to lead the company) explained some of the keys to the companies success.

…the company’s flexibility in selecting leaders as a key factor in its longevity. Specifically, rather than always handing reins to the oldest son, Kongo Gumi chose the son who best exhibited the health, responsibility, and talent for the job. Furthermore, it wasn’t always a son. The 38th Kongo to lead the company was Masakazu’s grandmother.

The company, now under the managing control of the Takamatsu Corporation, continues to operate, but no longer with the guiding influence of the family who built the empire over 14 centuries.

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Posted on May 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

At this years New Venture Competition, members of the Palo Alto Software team had the pleasure to not only read the business plan for Klymit Technology, but see their management team present to the judges.

Their presentation was energetic and solidly put together and we left the event feeling that their team and the company had very bright futures ahead of them. Palo Alto Software awarded Klymit with the award for Best Written Plan at the NVC.

We asked Nate Alder, the President and CEO of Klymit Technologies, if he would answer a few questions about taking his business to the business planning competition circuit for funding and exposure.

The Klymit technology was invented by Nate, an undergraduate student at BYU with past successful experience in inventing and taking a disruptive technology to market. Alder has now organized a management team of graduate students with the right training and experience to take this new disruptive Klymit technology to market.

PAS: I know you are very busy these days, so I appreciate your time in virtually sitting down with me and talking. I’d like to get right into it and start first with, what exactly is Klymit?

Nate Alder:  The Klymit Technology – hailed as “The Holy Grail of Insulation” by Tom Berry, former President of Salomon – is warmer, thinner, and more adjustable than current products and promises to revolutionize the way the world thinks about insulation. Klymit  replaces fabric insulation in jackets, pants, boots, gloves, sleeping bags, tents, Special Forces gear, body armor, etc. with its revolutionary form of adjustable insulation technology, which utilizes noble gases. This technology is licensed to major brands in the outdoor gear and apparel industry. Klymit’s technology is five times more effective than fabric insulation and the hand-adjustable dial allows the user to determine the amount of gas (the insulating component) in each product, to provide customizable Warmth on Demand. These gases are 100% eco friendly as you will never see them in a landfill because they are extracted from the air we breathe, and released back into it. The gases are safe being non-flammable, non-toxic, colorless, and odorless.  Isn’t it about time you Kontrolled the Elements?

The technology is priced to replace the cost of existing fabric insulation and generate a residual income for both Klymit and its partners through the selling of proprietary refill gas canisters similar to the printer industry. The Klymit technology is just a few months away from finalizing agreements with a number of tier one OEMs and top brands of outdoor gear and apparel.

PAS: I have to admit, when I first read your executive summary, I immediately thought, “who in their right minds would want a jacket full of gas?!” But the idea and the science is sound and you’re getting quite a lot of buzz about it. Which brings me to my next question, you’ve been hitting a lot of business planning competitions; are they terrifying or exciting? How do you get ready to present your idea to the judges? Any kind of “good-luck dance” you do before hand?

Nate Adler: At first we were very concerned going up against such prestigious schools as Harvard, Yale, Duke, MIT, Cambridge, etc. but as we started winning competition after competition, each new one we would arrive to the name Klymit preceded us and many teams started to view Klymit as the Goliath of each competition but with lots of positive support and enthusiasm of all other schools as they would always tell us “this is actually a product I want to buy, not just a sales pitch on biomedical devices”.

In preparation for each event we would spend our nights at the hotel refining our presentation based off of practice round judges feedback and stay up rehearsing our presentation as opposed to going out late drinking with the rest of the students from other schools.

We have always treated this as a serious business from the beginning and not just an extracurricular activity we do for fun on the weekends but we have sacrificed a lot of personal time, social life, entertainment, grades, and even other job opportunities to make this company a success.

We just have so much fun with it that it makes up for all our other sacrifices. Before each event we always made sure we had gotten plenty of sleep, ate a health meal, always avoiding alcohol, tobacco, or any other substance that could impact our minds or bodies. All these things combined really helped us stay relaxed and focused to perform well and have a lot of fun doing so.  

PAS: Your business plan has really been key for starting your business, both in guiding where you’re going and gathering funding via business planning competitions. What would you say was the best decision you made regarding writing your plan?

Nate Adler: Committing the necessary time to get it done well and face the cold hard facts, analyzing every detail, having a complete SWOT and addressing every elephant in the room. From there it was how to make it stand out, the whole “WOW” factor, like a sales document.

PAS: Any advice for someone out there who is teetering on the decision point of writing a business plan vs. not taking the time to?

Nate Adler: Either commit and go big or go home. This is not a job for those of simple mind or weak commitment. You need to be willing to make some of the biggest sacrifices to become successful otherwise you are just wasting yours and everyone else’s time. Part of evaluating a good business idea is analyzing it through from start to finish and that is part of business planning.

My thanks to Nate for taking his time to talk with us about his company and journey so far. Everyone here at Palo Alto Software looks forward to hearing more about Klymit’s successes down the road!

‘Chelle Parmele
Social Media Marketing Manager
Palo Alto Software

Posted on May 9th, 2008 | 2 Comments »