The Spinosa Factor

One of our guys over at Unleashed Technologies, LLC recently published a blog post about the recent high profile exploits of Internet Explorer 6 in conjunction with Windows XP. Join together and get I.E. 6 off of the market place so people can be freed up to not worry about easily avoidable security issues and also foster in new technology options that are being hindered supporting old legacy browsers such as this.

It’s no secret there is a million web firms out there claiming to be the next big thing. I’m not talking about internet product firms but traditional web design and development firms. The war of plain vanilla is on and the air is polluted with “nothing” words. What are nothing words? Well let me give you some examples:

• We focus on your success
• Our talent is superior to our competitors
• We want to be partners with you for the long term

This is just a few examples but the message is obvious and anybody reading this that’s in a decision making position or a business owner has heard this from someone trying to get their web related business. The irony is I say these things myself as they’ve almost become a standard within our market. So have brutal undercutting and taking projects at a loss for no apparent reason other to say, “you’ve got work”.

What I’m currently battling with is how can a web firm clearly differentiate it’s service offerings over their competitors without boring a perspective client to death. Make no mistake this is a business of “one on one” relationships and while the web might be a driving vessel for small business contracts nobody signs the $50k ++ deal off of a Google search. Websites built for 5k or under, typically serve no other purpose but to provide credibility back to the client in which they inevitably will become displeased with lead generation, search engine placement amongst numerous other items.

I know at my company our culture has changed dramatically over the past two years and has switched gears to only develop web applications and commerical websites that fill a tangible goal whether it be to automate processes, expand lead generation, increase revenues, or offer new value add services to clients. The only way to truly manage and survive in this business where there are an untold number of new entrepeneurs entering the market is to make sure each company you engage has a clear guideline for success and your services/culture is perfect for getting them their goal. You can’t lose when doing this.

Perhaps this in itself is a new standard? Is this a nothing approach as well? Questions to ask myself. I’m pleased to say that our strategy has yielded terrific growth for the 2009 year and Unleashed Technologies, LLC is stronger than ever. This is based on a stable organic growth pattern that we all enjoy, I’m looking for the hockey stick pattern if you know what I mean <wink wink nudge nudge>.

This morning I enjoyed a terrific workshop put on by the Greater Baltimore Technology Council (GBTC) about helping businesses identify new market space and eliminate competition. The workshop is focused around a publication put out by the Harvard Business School Press and is mandatory curriculum at Harvard.

I’ve personally read this book twice and I strongly recommend this to decision makers and people empowered with the responsibility of growing new business opportunities for their companies.

This is a very difficult process and addressing “Blue Oceans” mandates that differentiators have to be substantial and recognized in order to produce tangible results. Examples/Case Studies in this book also highlight very large companies with extensive budgets in being able to tackle new concepts/opportunities. I’d like to whine and say it’s not possible for those without significant investment capital but truth be told it is. Especially in technology related offerings where the majority of costs can be absorbed by variable costs mostly pertaining to labor. With that being said there is a huge price to be paid one way or another and entering a “Blue Ocean” is always inherently at a higher risk then swimming in the “Red Ocean” of traditional services or products.

When you get the chance I highly recommend picking up this book and giving it a read and who knows maybe the GBTC may put on another workshop related to this matter in the near future.

I’ve never in my life written about a charitable cause or played any type of role in the promotion of fund raising. So it’s my genuine hope that when I post this that those reading not shuck this off as the usual nothing and realize the importance of what I’m about to say.

Everyday men and women of this country put their lives in jeapordy to protect the freedom we so richly enjoy without fear. Sometimes they believe in those causes and sometimes they don’t, but in the end they defend the country and upholds it principles/decisions without question.

Sometimes They Die.

In my opinion the only thing worse is when your seriously wounded and don’t die. These men and women that have defended our freedom and carried out the wishes of this country as set forth by our leaders come home crippled, paralyzed, without a body part, or severely mentally damaged. The price they have paid is far greater than anything we could ever imagine and they ask not for our sympathy but only our respect.

I’m part of a team helping to raise money so that these wounded soldiers that go without, that are no longer able to do what they love, who can no longer serve in the military, aren’t thrown away or forgotten for their ultimate sacrifice. Valour-IT is currently sponsoring a fund raiser to provide voice activated laptops to those that are severely physically challenged. There is no donation to small or to big and every penny counts in providing the amenities we take for granted everyday which they can’t enjoy because of the sacrifice they’ve made to make sure it’s available to us.

I’m asking everyone that reads this to make a contribution no matter how small. All you’ve got to do is click on the donation thermometer to the right of this post and it will take you to the Valour-IT donations page. It’s a one page form and takes less than 1 minute to fill out. If you want to know more about the organization please use this link: http://soldiersangels.org/ and read about the program.

Please take a moment, slow down, and open your hearts to the sons and daughters of our great Nation. This money directly contributes to changing their quality of life through technology.

The United States of America is completely swallowed up with a Michael Jackson frenzy following his death. He died on June 25th, 2009 and still more than almost three weeks it’s actually gained more attraction and momentum. People are being pictured in newspapers nationwide with giant excited smiles that they got Memorial tickets. They didn’t even know this man yet everyone wants to go as it’s a circus show. E-bay had bids out as high as $20,000 USD for memorial service tickets.

Everyone in the country is broke but there is money for this nonsense? I also received a link today from a good friend that absolutely through me over the top. RIDICULOUS STORY FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

I love the justification for wasting millions of dollars in Michael Jackson’s unsustainable lifestyle in the hopes of some future profit which TO ALL OF OUR SUPRISE never materialized. Even Congress had a moment of silence for Michael Jackson, a man that was allegedly a child molester (yeah, yeah I know.. never convicted) and certainly outwardly displayed a large amount of mental instability.

Nobody is arguing his genuis as a recording artist but even his home town had a special memorial for him in which he hadn’t returned to since he was a child… not one time. Remember this man’s favorite past times were climbing trees and having water balloon fights with children. I’m all MJ’d out and quite frankly I think I’m just saying what alot of people are thinking and saying to each other behind the privacy of closed doors.

The last time I saw a frenzy like this was when Kurt Kobain killed himself many moons ago. The joy of liberty is that people have the right to express themselves and set their own priorities. That doesn’t make this any less creepy for me and that the priority of our masses is in the death of a recording artists that they’ve never met.

I’m looking forward to this closing out completely and the nation looking towards the future and the restoration of sensible values and priorities.

I had a friend of mine immediately send this over upon discovery. It seems Barrack loves under age booty. In all honesty at least he’s discrete when representing our nation as it pertains to foreign affairs…. oh wait.. well maybe. I’ll let you decide: (Here is a link to a NY Post Article that’s hilarious, MUST READ http://tinyurl.com/ndkesv )

This fourth of July weekend I was able to take a little time and actually unwind. Now it wasn’t much but I did kill two bottles of wine with two good neighbors. I mentioned about running for city council in Baltimore City as a Republican. Needless to say I’m new to Baltimore City and my neighbors are at least 10 years my senior each. The reaction was quite literally “mission impossible”. So I went and did some fact finding to see how truly horrible it was in the City of Baltimore.

FUN FACTS OF GOP IN BALTIMORE CITY

1. The last Republican mayor was elected in 1963.
2. The last Republican council member was before World War II

These aren’t encouraging facts especially with 20% of the population turning out to vote. None the less I believe that representation and party reform is in need. While my hopes of running for a council seat in 2010 are slightly dashed… it’s ok.

I’ve got a couple big plans to re-expose the residents of Baltimore to a traditional and refocused republican party. As soon as I roll some of them out I’ll list them here.

I love Ron Paul because more than any other  politician in the world, he cured my apathy. An avid and participating Republican focused on party reform and the return of traditional founding principles… I’m loving this guy more everyday. He’s restored faith in the original message set forth by our founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson.

His recent success story in creating REAL transparency can be found at the link below:

FEDERAL RESERVE AUDIT

I’m torn as many have said this will further cause a rift in the country but it’s way beyond accountability at this point. This isn’t meant to be a long or drawn out disertation rather a gateway for people to see that a real movement to a light weight federal government, power to the states, and a restoration of libery is in motion.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
- Thomas Jefferson

The founders of this country never meant for the country to be run this way. They always protected the civil liberty of every citizen preferring the risk and headache of it’s existence over the temporary veil of safety behind a “good natured” government. True Story.

I was initially hesitant to post about my feelings on this subject as there as so many points of knowledge that it’s truly impossible to have a perfect grasp on what’s the best path for GM moving forward. Anyone that knows me has a full grasp at the extreme nature in which I resist any type of bailout to private sector whether for a financial institution, insurance company, or vehicle manufacturer. It’s not that I’m unaware how many people these “money moguls” employ, but if the business model wasn’t sustainable (in the case of GM) and ethical actions become the cornerstone for federal investigation… are these really the businesses we want to help continue on?

I think it’s fair that we need to start by resetting what we know back to the truth of the matter.

1. Money Isn’t Free. Never has been and never will be. Those bailout dollars used to stimulate the economy are to be invoiced to… YOU. Everyone usually responds with “Yeah, I know.” but they’re not really seeing it on their paycheck yet. This additional debt will be monetized in the form of increased federal taxes and taken out of your check. Small businesses will also be punished limiting the ability for new opportunities and positions to become available.
2. The Federal Government Has Never Run a Successful Business. During the Nixon Administration Amtrak was nationalized and taken over by the federal government. The official statement went like this, “We only intend to be involved with Amtrak for the next 3 years so we can restore it to a profitable state before turning it back over.” HOLY CRAP, HUGE SURPRISE, TOTAL FAILURE. Here we are and not only is Amtrak not profitable it’s a horrible anchor around the neck of every American citizen.
3. The Federal Government Is You and I. I can tell you what it’s not… This all knowing, all being entity. Think about how many people you know that work for the federal government. Are they motivated and driven individuals? Do they understand if they don’t perform they’ll no longer be employed? The answer is “No”. They’re on average, individuals more concerned about there vacation days if they’ll have to work when a single snowflake falls from the sky. Why? Because it’s an environment not built to encourage excellence. It’s sole purpose is to maintain the mediocre status quo.

GM A federally funded company.

If General Motors becomes owned by our Federal Government they simply can’t maintain or streamline the infrastructure. Successful business isn’t run by adding 400 more positions to address checks/balances along with unenforcable policy and procedure. Amtrak gauges progress by how many people they employ to create the largest administrative structures focused around quality control for a demand that barely exists.

They should have focused to a freight focused or technology driven model long ago creating trains like the ones used everywhere else in the world. How does this relate to GM? GM needs to innovate right now, they need to re-invent the company from the ground up. New ideas, new personnel, and a cultural adjustment on what’s fair compensation for certain roles. In my opinion this industy giant should have failed. I believe that the millions and millions impacted financially would be freed to pursue new opportunities instead of praying to god that GM will mail the check this month. I sincerely believe in personal accountability and the resillience of the American people. If GM is to be fully managed and financed by the federal government we resign a free market and sacrifice our libery for temporary safety. A wise man once wrote…

Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both. – Benjamin Franklin

The thing about a simple quote that presents plain truth is that it can’t be dismantled in details. Easy and Right rarely work in the same sentence especially when your talking about the future of the country, the employment (direct/inderect) of millions, and the management of business. I say let this ship sink so the American people don’t get hung for 30 years…. just like Amtrak.

I’m not exactly how to do the Randy “Macho Man” Savage.. “OH YEAH” in text but it’s been more than a day or two on revisiting this blog. Not from my lack of unfounded opinions but more directly pointed to my time or lack thereof. Still, time needs to be made for the moving memoirs of a self proclaimed genius living in the burbs of Baltimore City (Yes, there is such a thing).

I’m not sure where to begin with where everything is going but I’ll give the full update, in the order that people care about. In my fantasy world I’d like to think business is first but I’ll save that for the second portion:

PERSONAL

1. New Hobby #1: Many of you know I’m very into aquariums and fish as a whole. I moved the mini tank that we replaced at the office back to my home. At first the wife wasn’t excited but we went out and I had her pick new fish which was “cheating” but got her on board. The tiny tank at home has 3 GloFish, 3 Tetraes, and a Chinese Algae Eater that hides in a pirate ship ALL DAY. I’ve got to pick up his home and make him panic once a week to make sure he hasn’t died and isn’t just a pile of bones.
2. New Hobby #2: I’ve started golfing and I’ve got to admit it’s a ton of fun. However, I’m not enjoying how many muscles I’ve pulled learning how to play. I’m told that I’ve got a good natural swing on the back but coming through I tighten up pulling my damn back muscles all the time. Truth be told this is good for me I need to get way more physically active than I already am.
3. Las Vegas Trip: POSTPONED. Luckily, it’s been rescheduled for early in August and I’m ready for that. It’ll probably be the last in what’s been a good run of awesome guy trips.

BUSINESS

1. Growth = Good. Our opportunities for Unleashed Technologies, LLC continues to grow as well as our newly procured work =). We’ve added some old friends and good people to our team such as Ben Thomas who’s spent many a summer with us. Glad to have him back!!
2. Still getting Stuck in getting our own work done such as the new site, and our new branding/marketing. Our clients keep us billable but I’m still convinced that for continuing growth we’ll have to accept the sacrifice of “x” hours a month to focus on internal growth.
3. Our super secret product is approaching serious stages of awesome that’s been long overdue. Totally fired up over here!

PERSONAL/BUSINESS

1. I’m VERY excited to say that my personal and professional network are really beginning to become one and the same. It’s beyond exciting for me to have a great list of friends that share the same interests and passion for life/business that I do.

Things I’m interested to get into are additional advisory boards, new technology groups, and strong referral networks built around larger business. Keep an eye out for me and let me know if you bump anything cool that I can get involved with.