August 31, 2008
The stars aligned, it was a ‘God thing’, or maybe I just got damn lucky but no matter what way you call it, I have rock stars as a development team. Mark, Dave, and Lisa each work their tails off for our company and each bring their own unique perspectives to make Banktastic and this platform great.
As we began building out Banktastic we began, unintentionally, building towards ideals or principles that we believe in. Those principles are still what guide us today and anytime their is a argument discussion about doing something we lean on them to make the final decision. If I’ve mentioned them to you before, please proceed past but if not here they are with some detail attached to each:
1) People are inherently good
As we build this platform, we assume people are going to use it with good intentions and not to hurt other people. Do we therefore think the world is always smelling rosy? Of course not, but we are willing to trust peoples good nature first and learn from our mistakes along the way. This has already paid off as people with the expertise to hurt have helped make our system more secure. People are inherently good if you are open and trust in them.
2) Openness wins
Nothing frustrates us more than services that require you to register to read the entire article or be behind the ‘walled garden’ to even see what’s going on. So Banktastic wasn’t going to be that way. You would be able to see all sections, without registration, only when you wanted to be apart of the conversation would you have to register. Why? We wanted to make sure your efforts were recorded and you got credited for that. You deserve to be recognized for your expertise!
3) Community is king
Maybe it’s the Gen Y in us but we don’t like to party alone. The more the merrier we say. People are smart and we want to show that off. So if it means friending up, ‘banking’ things, thumbs up, policing the system, etc. We want the community to be considered in every feature we create. The community is greater than the sum of its parts.
These are our principles as we continue to build this platform. They are probably not perfect but its what guides each new addition into our system. I would encourage every new start-up to have a set of principles that they believe in and to let those principles guide them as they build their product.
What are your principles as you build your products? I love to learn about yours. Have a great long Labor Day weekend everybody!
Posted in All things Tech, Banking, Business, Day in the Life, Software, Web Stuff 
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August 22, 2008
I’ve been going to SXSWi for the past three years and it is definitely one of the best conferences I go to every year and was probably one of the biggest influences on me as far as seeing the potential of the Web and this whole social media thing and I’ve always wondered if I would ever make the jump from participants to speaker. So I’m trying my luck for the 1st time this year by suggesting a panel called “Strategies for Establishing Social Media in B2B Relationships“.
My thought for the panel is the past three years you hear a lot (and I mean A LOT) of talk about the consumer space and how to engage with your customers but never much talk about how businesses can use social media to engage with other businesses, clients, or vendors. So I wanted to offer up a panel that would focus on strategies to that idea.
The strategy and approach is different (and maybe a stronger need for a solid business model) than the ‘built it a they will come’ approach of many of the start-ups.
So I’d appreciate the vote for the panel even though I’m going to be freaked out if I get picked. I think it’ll be good and could be a nice change of pace for SXSW in 2009.
Thanks in advance for the votes!
Posted in Banking, Business, Day in the Life, Gastric Bypass, Software, Sports, Thoughts No Comments »
August 12, 2008
I’ve mentioned in a couple of conversations with friends that I feel like I have just thrown a rock in a pond and I’m waiting to see what kind of splash it’s going to make when hitting the water.
You see the rock there? That rock symbolizes something exciting and scary for me. That rock symbolizes what I think/hope/pray is the beginning of something great. That rock is Banktastic, the social knowledge web platform, and we are betting on a big splash as it begins to hit the financial service industry.
Veering in a new direction from our original business is a scary thing because who knows what the outcome may be. Our original reason to do Banktastic was the obvious need to better share information among people in financial services (and that seems to be improving). So that, with a touch of fun/style/community, it allowed us to play in the space that I enjoy so much with the hope that over time traffic would increase to have a place where ‘focused eyes’ would come and we could start offering advertisers a place to sell to a niche audience to offset the cost. But I knew I didn’t want to stop there…
Note: I had a long post here on what my reason was for not stopping at a ‘free’ service but realized that another blog post would probably be more appropriate.
Our company has been fortunate enough, thanks to the tireless efforts of our staff, to be able to bootstrap this new venture in hopes to reap the rewards down the road. We’ve invested around $200K thus far in the development of this product and have yet to accept any VC money (though we’ve been approached). Our rock is about to hit the water and I just hope its splash gets everyone I know drenched.
Posted in All things Tech, Banking, Business, Day in the Life, Fun Stuff, Ideas, Software, Thoughts 2 Comments »
August 5, 2008
Alright, so in the spirit of transparency I’m going to share something with you all that I have been doing for a few years now that could very well get my man-card suspended for good for mentioning but I believe I have justification for my actions (if only partially).
I watch an absurd amount of reality TV. Now, I’m not talking about the game showy reality shows like Survivor or Big Brother (ok, I do watch American Idol) but the other more ‘day in the life’ types of reality shows I really dig. Here’s a list:
Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Flipping Out, TapOuT, Kathy Griffin’s | My Life on the D list, Denise Richards - It’s complicated, Million Dollar Listing, Black Gold and the list goes on.
I just can’t get enough of them. I’ll sometimes watch the reruns even.
Now, why might you ask and how can you justify that? The first show I took to was BlowOut with Jonathan Antin a few years ago and I really liked the show not because of the hair stylists drama (ok, maybe for 2% of the drama) but more for how it showed how he was building his business. It would show how he would open a new store, manage his people (not always well), make big, risky financial decisions and all the while trying to figure how to manage the balance of his work and personal life.
So whether it’s how Gene Simmons continues to build his empire that is KISS with new ventures or how Jeff Lewis commits $1.2 million of his personal cash to flip a house or the yelling/screaming management style of a oil driller in Black Gold. I find it all good little nuggets that can help me be better as a owner/entrepreneur/CEO/manager.
I can honestly say that I think these shows are as helpful to me, in some of the same ways that bloggers have been. To learn about a different world/industry and perspective that I would’ve never encountered in my daily job enables me to learn from their experiences. I get the same insight from bloggers like Ryan Carson, Tara Hunt, or Gary Vaynerchuk. They talk about business, life and their insights make me better.
So despite having probably lost my man card for watching these types of shows over the years. I am also thankful for them for giving me additional ideas into how others run their businesses, deal with coworkers/employees/family, and to make it all entertaining along the way.
Posted in Business, Ideas, Stealing & Dealing, Thoughts, Web Stuff 3 Comments »
August 3, 2008
- I can go without email and be okay.
Limited myself to 5 minutes a day and it worked beautifully. I was able to ‘catch up’ after the week in about an hour. I’m going to start having a set length of email time 2-3 times each day and see if it helps my productivity.
- I suck at really turning it off.
As much as I want to disconnect from everything Internet, I have anxiety when I can’t do even the most mundane of tasks (reading feeds, checking what ppl are up to on Twitter). Suggestions?
- My team are rockstars.
I have been blessed to have a team of people that have the skill set and desire to make my company better everyday. They don’t just cash out when the boss is on vacation. They are always looking to make what we’re trying to do mean something. I’m so lucky to have them.
- I need to keep focused on what makes me happy.
I think a lot of us end up having jobs that we do just to collect the check and that’s fine for the short term but over the long haul it never truly satisfies. This ties into my #2 but I missed working this past week because I enjoy it and the people I work with so much.
- Push to be even more transparent
This isn’t a realization I had just this week but a personal development goal I want to improve even more on. Many say that I’m too transparent and as a CEO you need to be careful on what you say. I disagree. I have gotten more respect and support for being open than if I kept it to myself. I just want to try and be even more transparent even if that means exposing vulnerabilities.
Alrighty, it’s time to turn off the ‘vacation responder’ and get back to work!
Posted in Business, Day in the Life, Thoughts 3 Comments »
July 29, 2008
The past month of my life has been a pretty amazing one. I have spoken to and connected with some of the most amazing people in and out of the financial space. A lot of these people have some pretty impressive resumes and I’m humbled that they would even give me five minutes of their day. One such connection, who was actually a through another new connection (isn’t that how it always works?), was a lovely lady by the name of Nancy Barry. Now Nancy is a rockstar in her field and she does motivational speaking across the country. Our schedules weren’t playing nice with one another so the best first contact we could make was over the phone but it was a pretty great connection in my opinion.
We talked for an hour and half late one afternoon and I think we’ll really be able to help each other out in the very near future. Nancy is also author of a new book called ‘When Reality Hits‘ and she was kind enough to offer to send me a copy. What impressed me most was how she did it.
I received the package a couple of days after we spoke and if it was JUST the book I would’ve been thrilled but check this out. This is what I received.
I received her business card, a personalized HAND-WRITTEN letter in a nice envelope, and the hardback book. How great is that? The fact that she went that extra mile really says something about her to me and the relationship I want to have moving forward with her. A really great gesture that doesn’t get done enough in this ‘email/twitter/AIM’ world.
Just thought her actions were worth publicizing despite that not being her motivation. Hope to talk to you soon Nancy!
Posted in Business, Day in the Life, Thoughts 2 Comments »
July 29, 2008
Should your personal brand come before or after your company brand?
Disclaimer: I’m giving this a shot with fear of trailing off in a variety of directions. You’ve been warned!
I had, coincidentally, a few different conversations this past week in regards to personal branding versus company branding. Let me explain those conversations for you.
One happened on Twitter this week between @bakedlaurabean, @rshevlin, and a little bit of myself. It seems that Laura had accidentally sent off a marketing email to some of her members from her email address versus the credit union address they had setup. She decided not to email her members back about the faux-pau because she didn’t want to interrupt them twice. (This is the part where I stated I didn’t agree with that, but to be continued) She then sent another set of emails later, coming from the correct ‘Credit Union generic’ address, and found that between the two she actually had better read results with the generic over her personal one. Therefore, in her eyes, justifying that the results will be better to send a email from a generic address over one from a person of the CU.
Now, that’s a interesting choice to me.
How is that helping her CU? Yes, people this round open up the emails more often because they know the brand of the CU but over the long term does that still make sense? Wouldn’t it be more pleasant to know, as a member, that its coming from Laura that works at my credit union? There is a more personalized approach there that people can relate with and enjoy IMO. This ties into the same example of why everyone now hates the ’support@techcompany.com’ because they can’t relate to who ’support’ is and they don’t want to engage/send anything to that address unless they have no choice since there is no way of telling the original sender when they’ll be heard. Frustration ensues.
Example 2: I had the pleasure of talking with Matt Davis, otherwise known as the CUWarrior, over the phone this week. (Yes, us Gen Y’ers still use the phone to chat believe it or not) We briefly got into the discussion of the CUWarrior moniker and how that affects Matt’s personal brand. (I’ll be honest, I didn’t even know Matt’s name for a very long time since I only knew him by CUWarrior.) Matt definitely realizes that his brand could be affected if he ever got out of the CU industry. CUWarrior doesn’t have the same zing in education does it? Is Matt in trouble? I know lots of my friends that do this. (Bankwatch, CurrencyTim, Life and Times of a CU employee, Wesabe Marc and bakedlaurabean herself.) How are they affected? What kind of time will it take to rebrand themselves? Do they really even care?
So I wanted to pose some questions and hopefully start some conversation.
- Should Laura’s CU and all of our businesses keep sending newsletter out from generic@email.com? Or is there a better way? I hear some responding ‘no newsletter period’! Are they right?
- I’m curious from those I’ve listed in the post. Are you concerned of your personal brand being affected and having to rebuild it in the future if things change?
Lastly, this talk of personal branding makes me think you might be wanting some tips on how to improve your personal brand? Chris Brogan is one smart cookie and I rely on him alot and in this blog post he gives 100 tips on personal branding through social media. Enjoy!
Posted in Banking, Day in the Life, Ideas, Web Stuff 9 Comments »
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