By jason on 08/05/2013
when you're busy, and you're meeting with the bigs, then you've got a double edged sword of customer relations. On one hand, you have to be totally accessible to everyone, and on the other, you have to be solely focused on the time and attention you pay to your current commitments.
We've had an amazing week. It's hard to believe the good fortunes and opportunities that we're a part of. Not to bore you, but here goes a quick recap of the start of this week:
0 - it all started with some professionalism behind knowing how to get sick as an entrepreneur. Fridays generally work best, giving the weekend to rest and recover.
1 - early Monday business with existing clients and staff. quick list:
consultation with startup regarding a real-time night-life application, and their business model behind it. definitely some good resources being put to take advantage of an opportunity...
email update about a startup focused on watching, reporting, and notifying users about a specific niche. Our best developer is on this, in collaboration with a great team of experienced and well credentialed entrepreneurs and developers.
infrastructure consulting and support, following on our development and design support, for a popular media outlet, with an impressive reach for a specific niche of enthusiast...20TB of data served from their site on some months...wow :)
who doesn't like working on a project for a vineyard?
review some heavy development in image processing and advanced responsive user-interface techniques for a company with a presence in 4 states, and sporting an impressive set of aesthetic enhancements for the spaces we occupy
quick discussion of an international relationship with an emphasis on connecting entrepreneurs with the tools and resources that they may need
can't forget our receptionist venture, a sweet combination of cloud communications capabilities, and enhancements in the efficiency and responsiveness with our mobile communications needs
little discusson on witholding tax
how about some love for teaching our kids the fundamentals of math - multiplication.com
hooking up a company in Dallas/Seattle, with some UI design and jQuery resources
some investigating onto a video asset promotion tool for DTX Creative, for the Idaho Potato Comission
consultation and planning on advancing an existing commerce project with some agency ties and an emphasis in integrating the services offered to a governmental program, to the general public
fly to Reno - it's 11am
some discussion on SEO enhancements for a million+ visitor/day site
preping for an opporunity with one of our ventures, with a strong brand and ideal collaborative effort between our mobile/social/geo-locational application
love an email from the NV Secretary of State, chatting with the bookkeeper, and checking out the video created from a quad copter built by our dear friends at DTX
volunteer to coach a 6th grade soccer team
meet with group behind advancing a 30 year endeavor into the realm of early breast cancer discovery
This part of the day merit's a bit of background. My third client ever, the great Mr. Jim Holmes, back in 2001, was the first person to ever interview me and chew me out at the same time :) I was promoting some computer support services, and he was promoting the challenges and issues faced when dealing with computer issues. The good news, is that he was familiar with the difficulties, and the better news, is that you can't find anyone better than Jim.
Jim is a leader, and we'll look forward to writing much, much more about the contributions that Jim has had.
We are lucky to be participating with a venture backed by tremendous scientific, mathematical, algorithmic, and business achievements. A new company is launching with an emphasis on improving women's health, and we look forward to promoting the venture. Some impressive work is being done by PhD's and other experts in analytics software, computing hardware, marketing, outreach, regulatory matters, and business.
We capped the night, with a dinner at a japanese steakhouse, ijji, which was awesome :) Then, of course, jumped into collaboration with others across the world, immersed in some of our projects.
Staying in a hotel with the thermostat being about 20 degrees off, a late-night trip to the sauna is the perfect preparation for this good nights sleep.
2 - Tuesday:
Up early, knowing the day is full, and there are lots of projects to attend to (over 20, on 4 continents, in 7+ timezones), we start the day at 6am:
some project work - vineyard, car fans, botique, scientific instrument co, siding/windows/doors contractor,do-anyting-not-illegal co, twins research center, sports promotion, breakfast, and then off to an important meeting...
Egeria health - wow, an introduction to some incredible concepts, movement, and insight into one of the most exciting startups I've ever learned of
earned that our server crashed, hosting around 70 sites, the calls/texts/emails come pouring in. We're coordinating with our local sys admins, our hosting companies staff, our staff, and our clients, to rapidly apprise the situation, communicate our progress, and advance the resolution. This is only made better, by the fact that I need to fly home - and can't be in communication during the flight...
paying more attention to the meeting, and not the departure time of my flight, I leave too late, and arrive a the airport 15 minutes prior to the departure time. Luckily, the first time I use the C concourse in Reno, there are very few people going through security. I run in a full sprint, huff and puff in talking with the TSA agents, and sprint to find a closed door at the gate. bummer. Guess I can get back to the great meeting I just left?! well, with good fortune, the agents re-opened the door, and I could board the flight
we fly, with my phone off, to SF, and get stuck on the runway for an extra 30+ min. My schedule is tight, and I'm worried about missing the next flight, however the good news is I can turn on the phone, and deal with the barrage of emails/calls/texts that are pouring in on the down server.
Our sys admin, Mike, my wife - Jessica, and our glue - Kerry, are all calling the hosting company and each other. We don't know what the deal is, but we are disseminating information faster than we've ever been able to before. Unfortunately, we don't know what the issue is, or how long it will take to resolution.
With 11 minutes to go before departure of the next flight, I exit the plane from Reno, and desperately search for the gate with the next flight to Boise. In a panic, and stess mode...somehow, I'm looking for a Reno flight, and spend several minutes wondering why there's no flight to Reno anytime soon...then, ah-ha, I actually am heading to Boise, which is at a nearby gate. In a full sprint, I approach the gate, turn in my ticket, and board the flight...of course, I'm still answering emails/texts/calls, and tracking down the issue on our down-server
Just before I turn off the phone, I learn that it's a down hard drive, and the sys admins at our web host are migrating things to a new server
I turn off my phone, in accordance with law, and the demands of the flight...
Not eating lunch, stressed from thinking our server hd is bad, worrying about our backups, and anxious to turn the phone back on...I toss, turn, flip pages of skymall and horizon magazine, and pass time like a madman...surely irritating those around me...
The plane lands, we're in Boise, and it's time to return calls. The first message "this is [redacted] call me now!!!". I call, there's issues, and we're working on them...doing our best. Next call, "Kerry are we calling everyone with an update that we know the issue and are working on it?". Next call, "This is Faisal"...
Faisal has setup a meeting for us, on a project, and is flying someone in to meet our development team and coordinate on the progress ahead.
He says: "What are you doing?".
I say: "just leaving the airport".
He says: "Your at the airport?"
Me: "Yes, just got in from Reno"
Him: "I'm picking up Chris, what flight were you on?"
Me: "San Francisco"
Him: "United?"
Me: "Yes"
Him: "Chris was on that flight, where you sitting?"
Me: "In the back, row 12"
Him: "Chris was right next to you"
Me: "Was he eating a subway sandwich?"
Him: "Yeah ?!?! no way?!?!"
Me: "No Way?!?! wow?!?!"
How crazy is that?! sitting right next to the guy I'm going to meet with, while undergoing some of the most stressful circumstances that I've been in, since I've been in business. Wow. Love it. Love entrepreneurship. Love Boise.
From there, it was a dash to the office, calling/emailing/texting still troubleshooting and assessing the server situation, and then on to a meeting with another of our startups. An interesting meeting, and a topic for another day...suffice it to say, titles and accountability don't just happen, and are difficult to appoint...
From there, the meeting with Chris, and then on to visit the family, and move on to the development project with the team that are needed before Wed morning.
oh yeah, calling the hosting company every 1-2 hours, and keeping tabs on the progress was fun through the night. At 1:30am, they got the server up, albeit with one major error- the primary ip address with 90% of the sites running on it, was misconfigured. The remainder of the night, was spent calling the hosting company every 1-2 hours...1:30, 3:00, 5:30, 7:30..good times...
That was a cool Monday and Tuesday..and start to Wed.
Can't wait to talk about Wednesday...it involves the meeting with Coach Pete (and his wife, and other top BSU Football Brass)...and, not to forget, DTX Creative, who, we love, big time. David and Jan, at DTX, are as good of people as you can find, and extremely talented, experienced, and connected...we could talk all day about them...
Whew.
Thanks. We love you. And we loved our Tuesday
