The PE’s biggest obstacle is that science hasn’t perfected cloning yet and people still need to sleep. You’ve got to hand it to the PE– they have great ideas and if they could just find a way to get more resources without resorting to polygamy,  they would would make money hand over fist.

The last thing you want to hear from your PE spouse is, “Honey, I’ve been thinking…” because you know that you won’t be getting much sleep anytime soon.

If you know a PE, be sure and send them a link to this site.  http://livingideas.com/are-you-a-proxy-entrepreneur

2- I love the power plug
This is one of those things I didn’t realize could be cool but it is. I just get the end of the power cord next to the area it goes on the computer and “Slurp” it sucks it in. It seems to have magnets that keep it in place. But if I pull my macbook away from the cord, it pops right out– no problems! How cool is that?

3- WiFi seems to work really well
It found my wireless network as soon as I turned it on. Not only that but it again seems faster than my PC’s network connection. In fact, I had to turn off a setting in Vista just to make my wireless network more reliable. What’s ironic about that is the feature I turned off was supposed to ensure my network was faster.

4- The Dashboard is really handy
I like having a calculator and calendar at my fingertips. It saves me the time of trying to find it on my PC. But what’s better is the fact that my computer will go from standby to full computer in mere seconds– significantly faster than my PC.

5- Battery Life is Really Good
I’m not sure how long it goes but it seems longer than my PC. And all I have to do is close my lid and it goes to sleep and saves the battery for days and days. Plus the power cord itself is pretty neat– it can be shortened or expanded. Finally, the bottom of the laptop has a button you can push that illuminates a battery meter showing you how much life is left without having to turn your computer on– Gotcha PC– you don’t have anything like that do you

But to be fair to my PC roots, one thing that I have found annoying is the buzzing sound coming from my Mac. It’s like an annoying fluorescent light sound. If this isn’t normal, please tell me so I can take it back to Apple before my warranty expires.

All in all, I wouldn’t tell people that I’m a “Mac” guy yet but I’ve got to admit, being a closet Mac user has made me feel cooler.

Don’t get me wrong, I am really, really, good at using PCs. In fact, I can take them apart and put them back together. I can fix software problems, I can do about anything imaginable on a PC. That is one of the reasons I was reluctant to try a Mac. As strange as it might seem, I’m actually not too worried that I don’t know much about how to use a Mac as well as a PC. A good example of how I’m not as good on a Mac as on a PC is the whole file organization system. I haven’t figured it out on my Mac yet so every time I download a file it ends up on my desktop. If someone has found a short video on how to navigate and organize files using Mac, send me a linke PLEASE!

I’ve got to question the leadership at Microsoft. Why aren’t they running “Training” ads on how to use Vista? If I were them, I would be running ads adnausium showing people why Vista is better than XP. As it is, they’re very likely to have a mutiny on their hands. It seems like the vast majority of PC users haven’t upgraded to Vista and many companies won’t support it either.

My friend provides PC and networking support for small companies. Even he is impressed by Macs– but for different reasons. He says that Macs are just faster. He buys macs and puts Windows on them (go figure).

Maybe another reason I like using my Mac at home is becuase it’s kind of held up as a bit of a “cooler” computer than a PC. I thought it was just a notion perpetuated by snobby designers and writers who wanted to stand out from “normal” people. I’m sure there is some of that but Mac just seems to work. I have a Macbook now. I’m not sure which one but I bought it about six months ago if that helps you figure it out. It’s white and it just works.

 If you are on a computer that does not have the Google Toolbar installed, you can log in to Google.com and access your bookmarks remotely.

2/2/2008

What better way to start a blog about entrepreneurs than to start by interviewing the founder of WordPress (a product by Automattic)– the very blogging platform that I use for LivingIdeas.com. I caught up to Matt Mullenweg at a WordPress Meetup.

One of the biggest questions I have for entrepreneurs is how long it took them from the time they had the idea until they took action. In this case, it took Matt about a year from the time he had the idea until he executed on it.

I would consider Matt a Visionary Entrepreneur. He wanted to start something in the Open Source Software world. This poses unique challenges like “How do you make money when you can’t sell your software?”. But he has found a way. He says that it is due in large part to the law of large numbers– if you charge a little bit to a lot of people you can make some money. In addition, he provides services to large customers– “VIP Customers” like CNN and Fox News. Apparently they pay his company some pretty good money– at least enough to convince investors to put money into the company. But WordPress isn’t his company’s only project. They have other things they’ve been working on.

Here are two of Matt Mullenweg’s favorite websites:

Google Reader– It’s like an Inbox for the web.

Icanhascheezburger.com– because it’s really funny.

Matt’s company is only 2 years old so when I asked him when he realized that he was going to make it, e.g., be successful as an entrepreneur, he said he’s not sure they’ve succeeded yet. And I guess he is right except that if you were to judge his success based on the number of users he has managed to attract then by most standards, he is successful– there are over 3 million blogs on WordPress (as of 5/5/08)!

Matt spends most of his time working. But when he isn’t working he likes to watch movies and go for walks. (Oh and ladies, he’s 24 and single).

Matt didn’t start out with a polished business plan. He had an idea and started working. He wanted to make it as easy to get a blog as it is to get an email address. (It should be noted that WordPress is NOT the first blogging platform. In fact, Matt originally started on MovableType). But the fact that he was single and didn’t have much by way of expenses, made it easier for him to start out.

Matt took a cautious approach, partly due to wanting to ensure a smooth transition when he left CNet (he is also a talented programmer), but he was employee #4– that means he had 3 people working for him before he left his job to work full time at Automattic.

Automattic has no fancy offices or foosball tables. Instead, all employees work from their homes all over the world. Matt says his company transcends boundaries and allows him to hire the best people in the world. “It’s dumb to discriminate based on location. If you do, you don’t get the best people”. He has only had to fire one person.

Interesting fact: 2/3rds of WordPress users are outside the US. Spanish is the 2nd largest language in use by Wordpress users.

A funny story about Matt: One of his first cars was an old used car. It had a sticker on the back that read “You’re a naughty girl, go to my room”. Turns out it belonged to an adult dancer. He found this out as he was driving to Houston and was pulled over and asked where Amber was.

If you’re interested in starting a blog like this one, you have two options.

You can do it by going to Wordpress.com and by signing up for a free account. You will have a web address like “yourblog.wordpress.com”.

You can download the source code of the blogging platform and run it on your own web server. There are pros and cons to each. Feel free to contact me for more information.

1- Compelled
2- Apprentice to Master
3- Visionary
4- Hobbyist
5- Invitee
6- Accidental
7- Franchisee

As I have begun researching companies, I find it interesting and sad that many companies both large and small seek to minimize or conceal their founding history. Perhaps they fear that they risk appearing too “small” or that their beginnings were not grand enough. But the beginnings of companies is what interests me the most and I hope to collect enough stories to make this site worth reading.

See below for a more detailed explanation of the 7 top reasons why people start businesses. As I have observed entrepreneurs, I would say that people who start businesses can trace the reason for having started a business back to 1 or more of the following 7 reasons. Some entrepreneurs, especially serial entrepreneurs may fall in more than one of these categories.

1- The Compelled Entrepreneur

This is someone who started a business because they had to. The reasons people fall in this category are myriad. For example, Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC), needed money and couldn’t find it anywhere else so he went on the road selling his now famous chicken. Other entrepreneurs simply couldn’t get along in a traditional office setting so they started their own enterprises. In other cases, someone who was making a large salary has been fired or decided to leave work for health or family reasons but still needed some income (think Martha Stewart).

2- Apprentice to Master

This group of people is sometimes the most predictable. After someone has been employed at a company long enough for them to realize that they could do as good of or a better job than their employer they leave to start their own. They often suppose that running a business is a very easy thing to do especially given the fact that they have been making the owners of their company money that could easily be going into their own pockets. So with a little planning and sometimes without, they declare their apprenticeship over and start their own related business. Love Wal-Mart or not, Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart falls into this category. Having spent some time at JC Penny as a management trainee, he learned some of the principles of retailing. After a stint in the armed services, Sam was ready to shed his life as an apprentice and started his own company. Like most entrepreneurs, Sam started with modest means. The rest is history.

3- Visionary

This is someone who saw an opportunity and made something happen. They correctly observed market trends and business opportunities and seized the moment. One such entrepreneur is Jack Nadel (founder of Jack Nadel International, one of the US’s largest promotional product distributors). At the end of World War 2, Jack had an opportunity to purchase a surplus of grey wool material. He found a customer that needed blue wool material. Jack found a way to die the wool in China (more than 50 years ago when importing from China was almost unheard of). He went on to found one of the most successful promotional product companies and is considered by many as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the space. He has written several books, visited with the President of the United States, and has been interviewed by numerous reporters. Jack at 84 years of age is active in the blogosphere.

4- Hobbyist

The hobbyist’s work is a labor of love. These often grass root endeavors lay claim to some of the best innovations in product manufacturing. They start of making or doing things to meet their own needs only to be approached by friends and family members with requests to expand. Some notable entrepreneurs in this area include the founders of Todaysmama.com. These founders started by compiling a list of things that could be done in their area for very little or no costs. That has expanded into several publications and a very popular website.

5- Invitee

Someone in this group probably could have started his/her own business without the aide of others. However, this person is usually someone of vital importance to a business plan from any of the other groups of entrepreneurs. This might be someone with specialized skills, knowledge, influence, means, etc. Sometimes these people have money or influence that can be brought to bare for achieving the company’s goals. I would also group those who inherit businesses started by influential or successful family members in this group.

6- Accidental

This is someone who started a business quite by accident. They were trying to do something that hadn’t been done and found a way to do something that nobody expected and then found a way to capitalize on it. These are also those who didn’t set out to be entrepreneurs but somehow found themselves being just that. Or maybe these people just wanted to be able to do something for their own convenience and discovered a new process or a new idea with market merit. Often times these people never expected to be successful in their venture but by pure coincidence, or call it fate, start some of the county’s most successful companies.

7- Franchisees

This group of people is sick of the rat race. Most usually come from high pressure corporate jobs and need to do something else. They often choose a business that they can afford that they feel they would enjoy doing.

If you are one of these entrepreneurs or know of someone who has started a successful business, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you.