Social Entrepreneurship + Guiness World Record

 In my last semester in the LMU MBA program, I was invited to be in an unique entrepreneurship class taught by the founder of Kinko's, (Paul Orfalea) that is a mixture of MBA students and undergrads (including ridiculously smart freshman) - all committed to becoming entrepreneurs.

3 of the undergrads in the class are stirring up some buzz for a class project in another class, where they had to create a marketable product from an ordinary object (brown paper bag)  What they've done is brilliant, combining social entrepreneurship, creativity, and an unusual guiness world record challenge.  Basically, they are asking people to cut a brown paper bag into a paper doll (using a template from the website) that they can decorate, and mail it in with a dollar (or more) so that 20,000 paper dolls can be held together by a group of students in France.  The dolls and the money will all be donated to Haiti for an orphanage.


"Donors are asked to create a paper doll, and then mail it along with a donation of $1 or more to the Lighthouse Charitable Foundation: 311 N. Robertson Blvd., Suite 151, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. www.linkedforhaiti.com"


Check out more info here - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Linked-For-Haiti/289098967272?ref=ts

The Sex Appeal of Innovation

A study of our European ancestors may propose that ancient cave women couldn't resist the sex appeal of the innovators of their time.

Looking at genetic patterns in Europeans, scientists see evidence that women from hunter/gatherer societies left their men and started procreating with the innovative farmers of their day.  Although it may be difficult to envision farmers as "innovators" amid our current society cluttered with self proclaimed social media guru's, scientists who have technology to clone you, and engineers who can design gadgets that either can make our lives easier or miserable, ancient farmers spread a disruptive technology that changed the way people lived.  They also probably really pissed off the hunters and gathers, who's genes faded throughout the centuries following the loss of their lady friends.

Who are the "farmers" and "hunters and gatherer's" of today's society?

Wet

This week, I have taken up residence in a hotel in Venice because my apartment could not handle the powerful rains in Southern California, and leaked.  I have heard several similar stories, which blows me away that in 2010 houses still can't keep people dry from rain, especially in the entertainment capital of the world.

The leak has since been fixed, and I am moving back home today, however just received this alarming report of the weather that may be in store for us west coasters in the coming 3 weeks.  This is a bit too intense for a midwestern boy who can handle snow and cold weather. 

In one day this week, LA had a tornado warning, snow advisory (mountains) floods, mud slides, strong waves that closed beach piers down, and who knows what else.  Wanted to share this weather report from a US Geological Survey, that says we are going to get a full season of rains in just a few days.

Currently, the strong El Nino is reaching its peak in the Eastern Pacific, and now finally appears to be exerting an influence on our weather. The strong jet has been apparent for quite some time out over the open water, but the persistent block had prevented it from reaching the coast. Now that the block has dissolved completely, a 200+ kt jet is barreling towards us. Multiple large and powerful storm systems are expected to slam into CA from the west and northwest over the coming two weeks, all riding this extremely powerful jet stream directly into the state. The jet will itself provide tremendous dynamic lift, in addition to directing numerous disturbances right at the state and supplying them with an ample oceanic moisture source. The jet will be at quite a low latitude over much of the Pacific, so these storms will be quite cold, at least initially. Very heavy rainfall and strong to potentially very strong winds will impact the lower elevations beginning late Sunday an
d continuing through at least the following Sunday. This will be the case for the entire state, from (and south of) the Mexican border all the way up to Oregon. Above 3000-4000 feet, precipitation will be all snow, and since temperatures will be unusually cold for a precipitation event of this magnitude, a truly prodigious amount of snowfall is likely to occur in the mountains, possibly measured in the tens of feet in the Sierra after it's all said and done.

But there's a big and rather threatening caveat to that (discussed below). Individual storm events are going to be hard to time for at least few more days, since this jet is just about as powerful as they come (on this planet, anyway). Between this Sunday and the following Sunday, I expect categorical statewide rainfall totals in excess of 3-4 inches. That is likely to be a huge underestimate for most areas. Much of NorCal is likely to see 5-10 inches in the lowlands, with 10-20 inches in orographically-favored areas.[Such as these hills - rg]

This is where things get even more interesting, though. The models are virtually unanimous in "reloading" the powerful jet stream and forming an additional persistent kink 2000-3000 miles to our southwest after next Sunday. This is a truly ominous pattern, because it implies the potential for a strong Pineapple-type connection to develop. Indeed, the 12z GFS now shows copious warm rains falling between days 12 and 16 across the entire state. Normally, such as scenario out beyond day seven would be dubious at best. Since the models are in such truly remarkable agreement, however, and because of the extremely high potential impact of such an event, it's worth mentioning now. Since there will be a massive volume of freshly-fallen snow (even at relatively low elevations between 3000-5000 feet), even a moderately warm storm event would cause very serious flooding. This situation will have to monitored closely. Even if the tropical connection does not develop, expected rains in the
coming 7-10 days will likely be sufficient to cause flooding in and of themselves (even in spite of dry antecedent conditions).

In addition to very heavy precipitation, powerful winds may result from very steep pressure gradients associated with the large and deep low pressure centers expect ed to begin approaching the coast by early next week. Though it's not clear at the moment just how powerful these winds may be, there is certainly the potential for a widespread damaging wind event at some point, and the high Sierra peaks are likely to see gusts in the 100-200 mph range (since the 200kt jet at 200-300 mb will essentially run directly into the mountains at some point). The details of this will have to be hashed out as the event(s) draw closer.

In short, the next 2-3 weeks (at least) are likely to be more active across California than any other 2-3 week period in recent memory. The potential exists for a dangerous flood scenario to arise at some point during this interval, especially with the possibility of a heavy rain-on-snow event during late week 2. In some parts of Southern California, a whole season's worth of rain could fall over the course of 5-10 days. This is likely to be a rather memorable event. Stay tuned.

Samuel Y. Johnson
Western Coastal and Marine Geology
U.S. Geological Survey
Pacific Science Center
400 Natural Bridges Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831) 427-4746 voice
(831) 252-0812 cell

Sugar Mama

Times are certainly changing. Recent reports by the Pew Research Center indicate that more women are becoming sugar mama's in our society. In the 60's it was normal for a woman to be fired once they got married. In 2007, it was reported that 22% of women in the US made more money than their husbands. When looking at education of married couples, 53% of the couple had the same level of education, In 28% of the couples, the wives had higher education compared with 19% of the couples with men having more education.

 

Upset at the post office? mail a coconut!

I have never had a problem with the post office, but if I did, I would follow the example of these people in Florida, who had an interesting way of protesting their local post office being shut down.


Apparently, it is acceptable to mail coconuts without any packaging.  It costs a little over $4 to do so, and is a nuisance for mailmen to handle.   Thousands of coconuts were mailed to John Potter, the Postmaster General.

Cyberbums

I knew this was coming....I saw it coming last year when my land lady brought a homeless person into our house, and he spent 12 of the 24 hours of the day facebooking.  I admit, it was a bit embarrassing that he had more facebook friends than I did.  Shortly after finding an exit to Thailand, he released a series of hilarious facebook videos of him singing justin timberlake songs...no joke. 


Sites such as: Begslist, CyberBeg and DonateMoney2me.com all aim to give panhandlers a forum to beg for money.  Some of the sites, ironically charge up to $45 a month to be a member, but according to NPR, some of the appeals are very "heart wrenching."


The problem I have with this is that there are enough of internet scams going on, and these forums just provide a new venue for these crooks.  Living in Venice, I deal with homeless people daily, and fortunately they all realized my modest wealth, and no longer as me for money.  But the truth is, I have a personal bias against giving homeless people money.  One particular homeless man in SF swindled my roommate into helping him out, only to steal my 2 week old laptop.  Either him, or the dozens of people that have bought or sold the laptop since, could be using it for begging on these sites.

However, for the hardworking families that have been hit the hardest by the economic crisis, perhaps some good can come out of this.  It is a bit more private, and less degrading than panhandling on the street.  Personally, I would prefer to donate money (if I had any) to a site more like Kiva, that gives microloans for people trying to start a business, however most of these sites help people in foreign countries. Helping American people keep their houses and buy their childrens books are very noble ideas too.

Just as long as its a scam.  At least they already have computers, and won't try to steal mine again.

-Hyderbadass

Accountants in the supreme court

There is a huge trial going on in the Supreme Court that will drastically impact business in the US.  After the corporate scandals and accounting fraud from the Enron days (2002), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act was passed  to protect investors from being lied to again.  There has been controversy surrounding this law since was passed, The Wall Street Journal estimates the law costs our economy $1 trillion since it was passed, and that 20% of public companies were considering going private because of SOX.

The trial is between Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and an accountant named Brad Beckstead.  Beckstead believes that the governing board should be appointed directly by the President, not the SEC, turning the issue into a separation of powers issue.  If the court rules in Beckstead's favor, than the entire SOX law will be brought down, because it does not have a "severability clause" (law is invalidated if one clause goes down)

It will be interesting to see what happens with this.  It is generally agreed upon that SOX was put together hastily after the scandals in the early 2000's, perhaps to restore investor confidence. None the less, the intention seemed to be for the welfare of the economy and the vital investors that keep it afloat.  Rahm Emmanuel had mentioned taking actions to reform the act, to help small businesses out.  If SOX goes down completely however, there might be a window of opportunity for creative accountants to take advantage of the lack of regulation..  There could be terrible consequences to the recovery of the economy if certain people get greedy again.  I am interested to hear from accountants how they feel about this....I am guessing that there will be mixed feeling, as I understand many jobs were created in auditing from the law, but it has also seemed to be a nuisance to professionals in the industry.

Outside of this accounting issue, I am not convinced that corporate crooks are finished with trying to destroy this country for their personal profit......While flying home for Thanksgiving, I read about what is UBS is doing to Detroit , kicking the city when it is down, cashing in on $400 million break-up fee from an unethical "exotic derivitive" investment it swindled the city into.  Detroit is now spending $4.2 million extra a month to pay this debt, before they can spend a dime in education, city utilities, or any recovery effort to try to fight the 28% unemployement rate.  This is going on all over the place, and I personally am disgusted to hear about it.  Weren't these the same financial institutions that were begging for tax money to bail them all out?  Why am I not getting text messages from CNN at 5am about this kind of stuff, but instead getting constant updates about Tiger Woods love affairs?

A quote from a phenomenal movie NETWORK is appropriate here,
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Dolphin Wars

Russia is still trying to "one up"  America, recently acknowledging that they need to catch up to our Navy when it comes to militarized sea mammals.  The US Navy apparently employs both sea lions and our beloved "Flipper" for two main reasons:
1) look for underwater mines
2) keep a look out for an underwater swimmer terrorist attack.

Dolphins are trained to use strobe lights to point out the bad guys, however sea lions, those smart little buggers, are armed with cuffs to restrain intruders.  As an advocate of swimming in the Pacific Ocean at any opportunity, I was saved from an attack from the SF bay "rogue sea lion" thanks to San Francisco traffic a few years ago.  My respect for this animal has since been restored.  One question, what regulation will oversee these new soldiers for interrogation and torture methods if they actually catch an enemy, we don't need another Guantanamo Bay PR disaster.

So, in the past month, all I have heard about the Russian military is that they are planning on blowing up clouds with their air force, and using their navy to train more dolphins and sea lions.  Very interesting....

Food for thought - via a truck

The social media guru, Mike Prasad behind Kogi BBQ spoke at my campus, and it was a fascinating perspective on how a start-up in a new industry can leverage the power of this communications channel to grow a business, and defend itself from large competitors.

The companies founders had noble intentions - to bring the street food culture from Korea to the streets of Los Angeles.  Once has resulted has been a revolution in the restaurant business, with 30 similar trucks, including a "masala dosa" truck in Santa Monica among other cuisines.  By using social media to have conversations that couldn't take place in any other medium, the businesses can evaluate demand around the crowded city of LA to determine where to send their trucks.  People wait in line for hours for the food, musicians have been known to debut their new songs at the truck locations, and it has turned into a fusion of food and LA culture, while giving people access to a new cuisine of food at a very low price point.  As a driver in this city, I love the idea, considering I avoid driving places at any cost, and having a delivery truck possibly come to my neighborhood from collective demand, it is just a win-win overall. 

In his presentation he mentioned fighting Baja fresh via blogs, tweets, and eventually proper journalism once thousands of people were tweeting about how Baja ripped off Kogi BBQ.  I haven't been too fond of twitter historically, but his presentation definitely shed some new light on the site.  The strategic steps taken to protect a company that couldn't afford lawyers to defend them from an unethical attack from a corporate machine was the highlight of morning.

Also - I am now following Kogi, so that I can catch their truck for lunch, because the food is indeed delicious.


@hyderabadass

Entrepreneurship in Academia

Some of the best classes I have taken in business school have been entrepreneurship classes - Dr. Grossman's Technology Commercialization, Managing New and Growing Businesses that teach comprehensive approaches to both written and "living cases." (living cases involve working directly with a CEO or leaders with notable organizations) Next semester I will be taking a class with the CEO and Founder for Kinkos, Paul Orfalea.  The course is open to a select number of students by invite only, and will be my first MBA class that is not taught by a prof with a Ph.D.  Other classes I plan on taking are Social Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Finance.


I believe that there is a cycle to entrepreneurship, and the ideal cycle in my situation seems to suggest two stages take place in Academia.   The first stage is my current graduate education.  The second is a possible future in teaching and higher educational research  .   Pre-MBA, I believed there should be a experiential stage between these two, so that the second stage serves value to others, at least in Entrepreneurship.  However lately I have found myself challenging this belief, and considering an immediate transition into Academia as a professional, and pursuing a Ph.D.  Of course, a Ph.D is not needed to educate others, (Orfalea is an example of this) however it seems very few other approaches gain the credibility needed to be successful (outside of the irregular $200 million sale of a company).  


The transition from industry to a classroom had a learning curve, and I can only assume that if I delay higher educational pursuits, I will face more of these.  However, I am still weighing the pros and cons of such a decision, more importantly trying to understand the value of entrepreneurial studies in an academic environment to society, and most importantly, whether my skills and passions align with it.


Affiliation with a research-intensive university for 4 years also provides a wealth of resources to explore ideas, and possibly even pursue entrepreneurial ventures within the confines of the curriculum.  Dr. Kiesner from LMU is considered a pioneer in building Entrepreneurship into Business School curriculum, and is known for unorthodox methods.  Further, at the Social Innovation Fast Pitch event at USC, 2 of 6 judges were professors, who have been and continue to be very involved in industry.  Microfinance as we love it today was developed by a professor (Muhammad Yunus), who won the Nobel Peace Prize.  His career is full of entrepreneurial ventures on the side, and is certainly something to be admired.  In his case, however, the majority of his contribution to the industry came after becoming a professor.  


These type of role models have caused me to ponder how long I should wait before becoming an educator.  On one hand, I might lose the entrepreneurial spirit after 4 years of intense study, and several more of research and teaching to secure tenure and never carry out any of my ideas.  On the other hand, the educational experience may be enlightening and an engine of newer, more innovative ideas that can be executed through different channels (educational grants, community involvement, published properties, or ideally for me - film).  Somewhere in the middle is the concern if I will be qualified to be an educator at such a level.  Certainly I am not right now, but I have to imagine that I need to plan ahead somewhat so that I am ready when the time comes - a Ph.D program takes 4 years.  


Perhaps the key element to all of this is timing.  Business ventures can be a careful formula of a brilliant idea and exceptional management yet still result in failure,  Every successful entrepreneur I have spoken with or studied credits timing - which involves a stroke of luck among other things.  Perhaps a person's decision to become a successful educator in entrepreneurship depends on how they time such a venture in the larger schedule of their life experiences.  As inspirational as it is learning from a professor full amazing experiences , it is arguably more discouraging taking a  class with a professor full of experience but with exhausted insights and a jaded attitude.  Sometimes these professors can have the appeal of a former hometown hero quarterback that never moved on past highschool.   


I suspect that if timing is the critical factor for success, then it will be extremely important to surround myself with the right people and environment to be able to hear the calling and respond accordingly.  Possibly I am hearing it now, and I just need to think through some of the beliefs I have established - It may be unnecessary for me to be a successful entrepreneur to be a successful entrepreneurial academic, Maybe I need to ask the following questions -  Will I have time to both explore my ambitions and teach about the journey? Will higher educational studies be the only way for my mind to generate such ideas? Will higher educational studies prevent me from being able to execute any idea at all?  


When asked in 2003 about how he felt about a lawsuit and having ties cut with Clayton Dubilier (Kinkos buyout firm), Paul Orfalea responded - 


"It's been agony, and I won't miss the business or Clayton, Dubilier," says Orfalea, who now devotes his time to building day care centers and teaching a course at the University of California, Santa Barbara, his alma mater. "I'm building day care centers. I like teaching school. I have a life. I've got better things to do." 


There are other quotes that describe his pride in building the company from UCSB's campus in an office so small " the copy machine had to be lugged out onto the sidewalk" to nearly 1800 stores, that sold for billions to FedEx.  I am extremely excited for the class on several levels, as a student, entrepreneur, and aspiring educator.  


-J

NOVICA

This company is awesome!  They took a terrible system of import/export of international art, and opened up the marketplace to give local artisans control over their business, and the result has been a successful online business that brings thousands of remarkable products from around the world to consumers.  Based out of LA, their mission reads:

"We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow......NOVICA. The World is Your Market."

Check out their website, certainly a great spot for holiday shopping.

J

Bombs over Moscow

$6 million will be spent on a Russian air strike.....striking the air to fend off snow clouds. Yes, our friends across the pond estimate that they will save $4 million by blowing up these frozen crystals in the sky before they pile up on the ground and need to be shoveled. The madness is set to start November 15th, the Russian Air Force will spray dry ice, cement, or silver iodine to create immediate precipitation.

Cloud seeding has been tested historically internationally since 1947, and was even used in the 2008 Olympics, as well as on Moscow's two main holidays. It is done at a few ski resorts in the US and Canada, and there seems to be a worry for threats of "cloud stealing" between rival nations desperate for rainfall. India and other Asian countries have used cloud seeding to improve air quality by forcing more rainfall.

Yury Luzkhov, Moscow's mayor, is being met with an obvious protest against this. Could this plan be the future for creating a pre-irrigation strategy to manipulate rainfall, or does this Russian just have his head stuck in the clouds promising a "winter without snow?"

J

Entrepreneurs are easily inspired

I think it's in our nature to be moved after hearing the struggles, failures and successes of others entrepreneurs.


Today I listened to 30 social entrepreneurs in LA pitch their causes to a room full of us coaches and volunteers in preparation of the LA social venture's "fastpitch" contest.

I arrived to the event about ten minutes late, not because of the reputable "Indian standard time" but instead because of traffic jams from driving across LA that reminded me if only two possible places- Bombay and the infamous Hyderabad. Nonetheless I quickly realized that I made the proper decision to involve myself with this event and gained comfort that my idea for filming a documentary around it is very possible. What I witnessed today in the USC library conference room was something magnificent. Seasoned leaders humbled themselves after years of putting their hearts and souls into a cause to convince a room in 3 minutes they were ready for funding. This was a coaching session for an event 3 weeks away - I felt like Simon from American idol a few times with my critiques however the overall vibe was extremely supportive. When a pitcher got nervous and blanked out the room did their best to help them get comfortable so that they could regain composure. It struck me as odd watching so many aspiring civil servants compete against each other. Furthermore the level of class with the people in the room is something unmatched in my limited experience in business. I am just glad that I am not the judge who has to pick one of these many passionate entrepreneurs to fund their selfless cause to make LA a better place. There are some very clever ideas in this sector and my passion for social entrepreneurship was fueled today.

I left the event to drive across town for my MBA class "managing new and
growing ventures". The class has one of my favorite professors of all time but she has absolutley no tolerence for lateness in her classes and therefore I risked several traffic violations to make it in time for class - afterall her brother did fly down from the bay area to speak at our class tonight.

I made it in time for one of the most inspiring/disturbing/strangely familiar story I have heard.

This CEO spoke about a 9 year venture that truly pushed the limits of a new entrepreneur. Mind you, two hours before 30 mother Theresa's were pitching me on startups that were designed to save childrens lives, raise literacy rates, fund the arts, and save our beautiful oceans. Now I was in a classroom listening to a man who left a comfortable job just days before his son was born to start a company with his best friend who he later fired along with firing his father and 100 other employees months during the dotcom bust. Months before he regrettably refused a multi million dollar buyout. As cutthroat as that is, his business decisions - which we were fortunate to hear in a very detailed and logical presentation, were somehow absolutley sound. This was an entrepreneur who initially turned down half a million dollars to keep his best friend and founding partner in the company. (2 years prior to firing) Every decision he made was carefully calculated and although he admits that they are neither right or wrong- given the circumstance I agreed with each one. perhaps the most moving quote he shared was one regarding the autonomy entrepreneurs seek when they choose to start their own company. He stressed that this is a common misconception and in fact we entrepreneurs lack control of our environments and are similar to floating kayaks in a sea of large ocean liners - being pushed back and forth between their waves.

This has defintely been the hardest lesson for me over the past few years and through this mans humble account of a decade of experience, I have come to understand my own struggle in this chosen career. I got into this business thinking I could call the shots but quickly learned the power of financiers, competition, platforms like apple iTunes and other stakeholders.

He exited one venture mildly successful - diluted his and founding partners/investors shares to almost nothing. However after what seemed to be the 20th change in business models, he made a power play, against the initial opinion of the board, and directed a profitable exit for the company.

Perhaps my first venture may someday be looked as a failure. Tonight I gained a tremendous amount of inspiration that I am in the company of very intelligent and successful people who have also had years of hardships. I am comforted however that success is a lifelong challenge. These rolemodels of mine don't define their success by any one successful venture. They in fact prefer thinking about their losses over their wins. Perhaps because they are easier to understand - many succesful entrepreneurs are quick to admit the starring role of luck in their successes I know I've certainly made my share of mistakes however i can look back at this early journey and stomach each loss with the assurance that "it's not for nothing". I don't know if I will ever be successful enough to be able to hire and god forbid fire my own father, but it's going take something major to extinguish the fire in my belly right now. I will continue to embrace the uncertainty of the future of my entrepreneurial pursuits knowing that as a failure I will be in the company of many legends, and by succeeding in survival i will hopefully avoid the comfort of quitters.

J

As previously mentioned - I lack Internet at my house, but wrote this post from my phone. Please excuse any typos.



Sent from my iPhone

Neglected Blog

Here is an explanation of what happened between April - October.

April - August - I worked with the CEO of Ranker.com to launch their website. 2 hour a day commute to Hollywood from West LA, too many hours looking at computer screens, 10 week struggle with Apple to get our iPhone app update accepted for the 3.0 OS, started playing bass guitar for a band in Hollywood.

August - Present - moved to the beach next door to Willie Nelson in a tiny studio with no internet. I have been focusing my writing into music, and am on a bicycle the rest of the time when I am not working on the app or studying. I have consulted 3 other start-ups since the summer, and am figuring out what to do for 2010, and post MBA graduation in May. Currently really into the social entrepreneurship sector, and reading "How to change the world: social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas" By David Bornstein. I will be going to Prague, Munich, Zurich, and Milan from May-June to conclude a 1 year research study in this field by interviewing local entrepreneurs and stakeholders in Europe. The exciting part of this new interest of mine is constantly reading about successful case studies from Indian social entrepreneurs.

Conclusion: The future of this is unknown. I may post in it here and there. Maybe I'll the and write posts for the 180 days I missed. Just maybe...

Recession Inventing

Let's deal with this current pirate crisis and start moving forward again as a civilization. Its amazing that with all the accomplishments humans have had throughout the years, we are so helpless in the ocean. NFL players drowning at sea, shark attacks, hurricanes demolishing cultural landmarks, and Somalian fishermen shaking the planet up by seizing a US ship. I have been upset about the pirate problems for years now, trying to figure out a safe way to film a documentary on the phenomenon. But now it is something everyone is interested in, and there is sure to be a blockbuster movie made about it.

Heres to the future - 3D printing, miniture medical devices, biofuels, smarter phone apps, electric cars, on demand entertainment, nanotechnology, cancer cures, gadgets powered by human bodies,

-Jason

Bollywood Bargaining

Over in India, negotiations and bargaining have always been a part of local culture. Bollywood is no different. Indian movie producers and distributors are playing "hardball" with big theatre chains, refusing to release any new movies unless they get half of ticket sales revenue (during the first month of the release.) The industry has been suffering in recent months, and producers are having a tough time getting financing for new movies. This slum-dog-millionare-badass hasn't seen a good Bollywood movie since I was in Hyderabad, and is very disappointed to hear about the cinematic slump in Bollywood. Hopefully both sides can reach an agreement.

-Jason

Google Ventures

It's no secret that VC funds have been dry in recent months. Last quarter, not a single VC backed business went public with an IPO, and overall its a frustrating time for entrepreneurs trying to raise capital for their start ups.

Google is adding another division of their rapidly growing business, and has a $100 million fund for start-ups.

“At its core, Google Ventures is charged with finding and helping to develop exceptional start-ups. We’ll be focusing on early stage investments across a diverse range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, clean-tech, bio-tech, health care and, no doubt, other areas we haven’t thought of yet."

This is a good move for Google, and a breath of fresh air for the entrepreneurial community. I am interested to see what projects get funded by this.



-Jason

"Hump thru the slump"

A leading dating site has found its match. This recession has helped Match.com realize a 26% growth in membership from last year. Existing users are also using the site more often. It makes sense, online dating is probably cheaper and more efficient than offline. People can screen and filter each other out, avoiding disaster dates and interpersonal encounters that cost money.

Some friends of mine started a dating site in Chicago that is blowing up, called CrushMe.com. They are Michigan entrepreneurs, MSU alumni, and have a fresh approach at online dating. Rather than focusing on the compatibility testing and long profile descriptions, its a site based on pictures. The tagline is "it all starts with a look." Check it out. They are always throwing parties around in the windy city.

If you read part 1 of this blog, you would have certainly heard about my beloved Tata Indica that transported me around the dreadful streets of Hyderabad. Satyam drove it like a champ, and it played an instrumental role in my adventures. If you want a Tata for yourself, you no longer need to go to Hyderabad, or anywhere else in India for that matter. The Tata Nano might start selling in the US in 2011. It is the world's cheapest car, selling for a mere $2500, allowing many Indians to own a car for the first time. Check back in 2 years to see if the imports come with a Satyam-like driver.

-Jason

Badass is back

One year vacation from posting in A Hyderabadass - complete.

It was intentional. I needed to unwind. The adventure was intense, but the intensity is long missed. Thanks for everyone who read the blog, commented or emailed and supported me through the trip. Some people might be wondering what has been going on with The Hyderabadass, TheWedLink, and Satyam. Fear not, answers are on their way.

This is the second chapter of the story

The world has changed so much since my temporary sabbatical from the blog-o-sphere. I don't really know where to begin. TheWedLink just launched an iPhone application on iTunes. 2008 was a challenging year for us just like everyone else. I will recap our outsourcing experience and a true review about Threshold in the times to come.

As a mirror of my own life, this blog may lack focus, direction, structure, or timeliness. It is passionate however, and the writings will continue to be optimistic for the future. Success stories that I hear about during the recession will always be posted, so please email dmelloja@gmail.com every time you hear one. Lets let the failing newspapers talk about bankruptcy, foreclosures, unemployment, and heartbreak for now, and just focus on the good, badass stuff here.

Yours again,

Hyderabadass

Goa + Rajisthan = Returning to Bombay with a mustache and a story

Here is rough recap of the travels that a blog can only touch the surface on trying to summarize...

Travel problems seem to follow me wherever I go, Rome, Leipzig Germany, Hyderabad, and now most recently Bombay. The 10 day vacation planned was all set, flights, hotels and trains all booked through much appreciated help from family and friends all around India. Marie, my American travel accomplice was set to come in on the 11/30 night, and we were off to Goa 5 hours after her arrival to enjoy the country I had made my place of employment. I was ready for a vacation.

But...Maries flight did not reach the 30th. The time difference was overlooked, and although her arrival time on the eticket said 11/30, the plane reached 12/1. Go figure. We managed a last minute flight to Goa the following morning in the end, and barely made it on the plane on time as the security guards and I had an 30 min confrontation about my guitar possibly having a bomb hidden in it....yes, these guys wanted to disassemble my guitar to remove the electronics inside, suspecting I was a terrorist planning on the blowing up their airplane. Apparently, I get that a lot. The funny thing was that not a single person asked me for photo id. We finally made it on the jet and enjoyed 3 days in Goa, a place full of warmth both on the beaches in inside the native people of the land.

My family is from Moira, a village just outside of Mapusa, and it felt damn good to be back there. My grandmother and aunty prepared a huge seafood feast for us, and shared pictures telling stories about our family history. Most of the stories were told about my grandfather, a man I will always strive to be like. I was surprised to hear the actual details of his job as head of affairs for the Palanpoor Newab. (Muslim king) The stories I heard that day from my grandmother will always stay with me, and it was one of the most memorable days I have had in India so far. Since arriving in August, I have constantly wished that both my grandfather and my cousin Nigel were still around to witness my move back to the motherland. My fascination with the Newab and Nazim rulers was only to understand more of my grandfather;s life. This afternoon spent in a small Goan village finally filled that void.

The following day, my auntie took Marie and I north to a remote beach shack that her friend Toffee lived at. Toffee was another character I met in India who I will always remember....By far the coolest woman with a very unique perspective on life, and the most relaxed attitude with absolutely no tension. She was sort of like a female version of the character Johnny Depp plays in Pirates of the Carribeean.

With little no no commercialism, Mandre's beach gave us the ambiance we were looking for in Goa. We sipped on Kingfishers, ate fresh seafood, made friends with crazy Britishers/Argentinians and soaked in the sun without being marketed to by dolphin boat companies, women with beads, or any other members of the tourism industry which unfortunately has taken over the state. The only salesmen I met on this beach pitched me on an ear cleaning service costing only 15 rupees. Awkward...

Later that night we met up with some of my Hyderabad friends also visiting Goa and got a glimpse of the internationally famous nightlife. We started off in a club on Baga beach that looked like identical to the club in the movie "Scarface." I was joined by 4 attractive girls all wanting to dance, and dance we did. Wild night, and I have to modestly admit that I might have owned the dancefloor this crazy night in Baga. In fact, A group of guys came up to me and simply shook my hand, no words spoken. Straight up respect.

We wrapped things up in Goa and made way for Jaipur, the pink city of Rajisthan. We left Jaipur 2 hours after arriving and hopped on a train headed for Udaipur, the city of lakes . Two of my friends from WMU invited me to visit them in their beloved hometown. Accepting their invitation would prove to be the wisest travel decision I made in India.

With a change in transportation mode from planes to trains, I was still not able to avoid confrontation. We started off this trip with a mix up in our tickets, sitting in the wrong train compartment. The rightful owners were very upset about our honest mistake, and apparently called us "dumb white monkeys" in Hindi. I was irate when my cousin translated his words later in the night. I like monkeys tremendously, but I hate racism.

I have been met with similar racist remarks often on this trip to India. My father and mother shared the came citizenship as these people, but that has certainly not earned me any more street cred than any other foreigner with absolutely no Indian heritage. This public humiliation was something I did not expect when I decided to move to India. My father has never experienced anything similar to this in his 25 years in the US. Moreover, I feel embarrassed that this happens to a guests like Marie and other westerners. They are respectful people genuinely interested in learning about Indian culture. This is something that needs to change in India, starting from the tourism industry which blatantly charges white people 10x more for entrance fees into the beautiful attractions in the country. They charged Marie 200 rupees to get into places that darker skinned people and only had to pay 30 rupees to go to.

Back to the train...I let the situation on the train go without retaliation, much to my own regret but for the peace of the travels we had ahead of us. The result was that we had the best 4 days in Rajisthan that anyone could hope for.

Check out the pictures
Album 1
Album 2

Summary of Rajisthan - Stayed in a palace penthouse, beautiful scenery, architecture, boat rides to island palaces, met the Maharana (King) of Udaipur by interrupting an important business meeting to introduce myself as"Jason D'Mello from Kalamazoo" and took a picture with him (see below) riding unstable elephants down over populated streets, watching Rajisthani performers and dancers, eating on lake front palace restaurants next to the 2 British men who I had interrupted to meet the king 2 hours earlier, heavy bargaining and negotiating in fabric stores with my cousin Sonia, and mischief throughout the Palace Penthouse.

The King and I

Got back to Bombay in high spirits, parted ways with my travel friends, and made a last minute trip back to Hyderabad for business. It was a vacation that couldn't have been scripted, it was just simply brilliant. I wish you all will have a trip like this sometime in your own bad ass lives.

-Jason

They Just Won't let me leave!

It seems fitting that my departure from Hyderabad would be an struggle. 4 months ago, I would never have imagined over 30 people coming to see me off. The day itself was chaotic, as the work in the office was not completely finished, but as with any start up endeavor nothing really goes as planned. I said my goodbyes at the Threshold office I had tenured at, went to my house to say goodbye to my new family. I bought a beautiful painting of a famous lord krishna scene to thank them for the generosity the past 120 days. After all, they gave me a wonderful home without charge, and showed me the kind of warmth and hospitality that traditional Indian household's are famous for having.

While we ate dinner, the neighbors stopped over to say goodbye. The young boy, Aditya presented me with a handmade card. He probably had taken a liking to me because my American accent reminded him of the place he was born. The gift was completely unexpected and caught me off guard. Days before he woke me up at 7am to play cricket, pounding on my door with his brand new bat. I only woke up to answer out of fear that the Indian officials were after me for somehow violating my visa. I couldn't refuse to play with him when I saw how excited he was with his new sporting equipment, and went outside to bowl to him.

His gift (below) put to shame the painting I had gifted to my host family *Note that he called me “Jason Uncle” like the kids we had taken to the park for Children’s Day through the AIDS organization....I don’t know if Im ready for that title.


(It was nice meeting you we had a great time and lot of fun. Look forward meeting you again and playing cricket with you again. Have a nice trip around the world. See you again buddy bye bye. It’s a Four4 Dude)

2 hours later I was on my way to the airport, after the third round of goodbyes at Bottles and Chimneys. Satya seemed down all day, but got me to the airport as soon as possible. For the first time, Satya was not able to get me to my destination in time however, as the airlines refused to let me leave Hyderabad. I had arrived just 5 minutes after the check in time, and they closed the gate while I was in line.

Obviously I was pretty upset about the situation. People were still going through security check! Moreover, Goair never mentioned to me anything about a final check-in time. I've flown over 15 flights in India the past 4 months. Only 3 flights have ever left on time, so I assumed the usual 30 min rule I use for air travel really applied. Lesson learned - Indian Standard Time is not something to depend upon with airports.

Since the airlines mishandled the entire situation, refusing to let me talk to anyone in charge until the flight actually took off, I felt the need to vocalize my frustrations. I created a scene worth writing an episode of curb your enthusiasm on. I spent 45 minutes yelling at the man in charge for how his company acted at the check in, for not printing flight details on etickets, and for just being an obnoxious human being. My most trusted friends in the city witness all of this, as they came to the airport immediately after hearing I missed the flight, and stayed with me until 3 AM.

This man, a complete stranger, had been observing my behavior since I arrived at the airport.
He eventually interrupted my monologue damning GoAir to years of soft business. He surprisingly took my side in the argument, telling the GoAir manager that it was completely unreasonable not to put me on the plane saying "come on yaar, this is India."

After I realized that i succeeded in humiliating the manager, I wrote down all of the employees names. I told them that they "handled the situation like a bunch of monkeys" I drafted up a statement, describing all of the incidents that had happened at the airport, and presented it to the manager, who agreed with everything I had written. I asked him to sign the document, and he refused. I called him a coward, and left it at that. It was an ugly scene, I am not proud of my behavior, but I don't regret it... I said all that I needed to say.

I needed to get to Bombay, so I booked a 3am flight with Spice Jet (which was supposed to leave at 9pm the previous evening).

That was my exit from the city I was not ready to leave. I was off for a 10 day adventure through Bombay, Pune, Goa, and the Rajisthan cities of Udaipur and Jaipur. The joke of the whole debacle in the airport was that in two weeks I would return to Hyderabad on an unexpected business accidentally book a flight with the same airlines trying to avoid an airline that I had also had problems with in Goa. I was reunited with the crew I had publicly scolded, and yes, everyone remembered me the second time around. They made it very clear of this at check in time. To their detriment, I arrived to the airport not just 30 minutes early, but an hour and thirty minutes early. Not even GoAir could screw me with that kind of timeliness.

Last night in Hyderabad

I couldn't bring myself to end this blog on a post by Neil Diamond.

My days here have unfortunately run out, and I haven't found the right words to conclude this experience just yet.

The past week has been a mixture of ups and downs, new exciting ventures that are tempting me to come back here not before too long, but at the same time we are overcoming challenges with finishing TheWedLink. It is a stressful time, but I don't wish to share the stress with the badass readership here. While I gather my thoughts in the next few weeks of traveling, I will work on an appropriate final post for this blog. I would not feel right about referring to myself as A Hyderabadass while living in Detroit/Santa Monica, but who knows what will happen.

I am saying goodbye to all my new friends here tomorrow at Bottles and Chimney's, jumping on a flight to Bombay at midnight, meeting up with my friend coming from the US, traveling to Goa, Rajistan, and then finally returning to the USA Dec 14th. I haven't even started packing! This is my 8th time moving in 2 years though, so I have become an expert in confining my life into 2 suitcases and a guitar case within 24 hours of preparation.

Its been a wild ride these past 3 months, and I have a feeling we are just getting started.

-Jason

Happy Thanksgiving from Hyderabad

Happy Thanksgiving to all back home. This morning while walking the streets of India , I spotted a turkey, and chased it. Unlike Lil Bush's friend in picture above, the turkey made a run for it. I didn't have the determination to continue chasing it, however I hope that visual adds to the enjoyment of your day. Don't worry about me, I will be also celebrating my favorite holiday eating turkey at either one of 2 thanksgiving parties. Only regrets are that I will be missing the football, my mom's sweet potato dish and indo-stuffing, and the company of our closest friends and family. Does anyone have the recipe for Turkey Tikka?

6 days left in Hyderabad, a lot to be thankful for.... so to anyone who still reads this, my most sincere thanks to you all.



-Jason

Dancing on the street

Yes. My business is with weddings. I read about weddings, I study them, I pretend to plan them, and some nights I crash them. Today was sort of one of those nights.

Tonight, I didn't really crash a wedding, as it was a friend of a friend's neighbors wedding, and for some reason since I was on a distribution list on an email invitation (probably by accident) I was was drawn to a Telugu wedding.





These weddings go on for days. We were told to show up to the family's house at 8pm for just a small portion of the celebration. We were informed that the wedding party would make their way back there around that time in an outside procession of song and dance, traveling from the venue a few kilometers away to the house. Having waited until nearly midnight, we finally made our way outside when we heard the thumping beats from the drums.

As Hyderabad slept, 60 people gathered around a bridal couple riding in a horse carriage decorated with brilliant flower arrangements. The outfits resembled imagery I have seen in classical paintings of historical India. Ten men were leading the procession, pounding on drums that hung from their shoulders. They played variations of the Bhangra music that my heart beats to. Within minutes of arriving to the scene, our group of foreigners were immediately welcomed and invited to dance next in the middle of the group of young people while the elders and newly weds watched. Only half of our group accepted the generous offer to join the party. I admit that I felt awkward dancing sober with complete strangers at a wedding where I didn't even know the bride and grooms name. However, it would be poor form to turn down an opportunity to display my gracious Bhangra moves to the present company. Instantly, the shoulders started moving back and forth while the fingers went up in the air rotating the wrist in a motion that has to drive the ladies wild. I admit, I am no Shahid Kapur, but this Hyderabadass can hold his own to the Punjabi sounds.

Fireworks were going off, and the drummers played more intensely. I couldn't believe the police had not locked all of us in jail for the noise. It was hours after midnight. When we reached the house, half our group had dispersed and the rest were fatigued so we called it a night. I spotted Satyam enjoying the parade from a distance. He ran up to us and complimented one of the girls who was dancing with us. Keep in mind that Nafessa is a seasoned dancer, and was even in a music video for an Indian band.

I, on the other hand have no official training. I admit that I am usually a horrible dancer- the thumbs go up and the shoulders move way too fast so I normally avoid dancing in public. Bhangra is my specialty, and I was a bit insecure that Satyam only complimented the girl and did not say anything about me. I asked him how my dancing was..... there was an awkward pause followed by a blatant lie "you were...... ok, sir," then looking at Nafessa "You were very good!" That damn Satyam.....had to pull that in front of the girls. Needless to say, my self-esteem would suffer for months. It was an outstanding night, even with Satyam's comment. One of the girls in the group was in euphoria afterwards, having always dreamed to be part of such a wedding that she had grown up watching in movies. It really was a phenomenal way to celebrate a wedding, this a auspicious Wednesday night.

*To my colleagues and friends back home...I may have found a new profession tonight. If I ever suddenly leave the US again, and move to India, you should know that I have left the western world to learn how to master the Dhol drum, and can be found on the streets of India on various other auspicious days playing in these wedding processions. Don't worry Eddie, I will continue to market TheWedLink in between songs if this happens.

Punjabi MC-ly
-Jason

Sunday at the park

Nov 14th is Children's day in India. The universal date is actually Nov 20th, but in honor of Pandit Jawaharial Nehru, India's first prime minister who was very fond of children, the holiday is celebrated on his birthday.

How does a Hyderabadass celebrate this holiday? How about by spending a Sunday afternoon in a park with 30 kids playing cricket, tag, having 3 legged races, learning how to eat rice with my hands south Indian style, being drenched in water from mischievous little girls who teamed up against me in a water fight in the park fountain, carrying kids on my shoulders, letting them play with my mobile phone and getting genuine goodbye hugs after 5 hours of solid fun. Today I spent Children's day playing in a park with these young suffering victims infected or affected with HIV and AIDS.

It is estimated that there are between 2 million to 3.6 million people infected with HIV in India, ranking it third behind Nigeria and South Africa in the list of most infected countries in the world. Less than 15% of these people receive antiretroviral drugs (AVRs), a treatment proven to significantly delay the progression from HIV to AIDS. Ironically, this treatment has been available to rich countries since 1996.

The UN has state the following:

• India's adult HIV prevalence will peak at 1.9% in 2019.
• The number of AIDS deaths in India (which was estimated at 2.7 million for the period 1980-2000) will rise to 12.3 million during 2000-15, and to 49.5 million during 2015-50.
• Economic growth in India will slow by almost a percentage point per year as a result of AIDS by 2019.

Nonetheless this community face tremendous hardships in India. They have faced violent attacks, rejection from families and communities, refusal of medical treatment, and even denial of the last rites before dying. Few are informed how they can prevent other diseases. Volunteers and non profits are also faced with resistance with their efforts to help the victims. I am disgusted to hear that for every four people infected with HIV, at least one will be refused medical treatment in India.

I am thankful that the children I met today are unaware of the politics. Many of them have lost their parents because of this epidemic. A few of them were coughing throughout the day. Some cried, others consoled them, but at the end of the day they were all smiling. I have never seen such a caring group of kids get along so well, enjoying the simple games and toys we brought to the park. I can only imagine what their eyes have seen so far in life, and a day in the park spent with 4 big people with funny accents eliminated any need for misbehaving.



I couldn't talk to most of the kids since they spoke only Telugu, yet we had no problem communicating. One of the kids, Akhil was one of the smartest 11 year old kids I have ever met. He spoke 4 languages including English, and offered to translate for us if our other methods of communication failed. obviously leader of the group, he was responsible for much of the success of the activities. At one point of the day he took one of the volunteers for a walk to the museum, telling him much he loved history. His father had taken him there many times, and had recently died from AIDS. He came back with a ball for the other kids to play with, and began an unorganized game of tag/dodgeball/volleyball/football (or soccer for you Americans) tug-o -war, monkey in the middle, and keep away. I had been nourished earlier by a generous serving of yellow rice. There was no silverware, so I was forced to eat for the first time with my hands. The kids exploded in laughter at my pathetic attempts, but after they taught me how to hold my hands I figured out how to eat rice in the present etiquette.

During the madness of the next 5 hour recess, the kids found their way to the fountain, and started a massive water fight. 4 young girls conspiring against me tricked me into getting close enough to the oasis so that they could mercilessly drench me. One of the other volunteers had also been trapped and tried to make a run for it, but slipped and fell on his ass. Everyone erupted into laughter, as it was slapstick humor you find in a movie. Later in the afternoon, this same character was tied up by the kids and used as a trampoline.

While all this was going on, I secretly sent Satyam to pick up a cricket set from the nearby store. When he returned with the sporting goods, the boys were absolutely thrilled, jumping around all over the place waiting to play the beloved national sport. When language does me no good here in India, cricket never has failed in helping me connect with me. We paused the game to jump in a large tug-o-war contest and other games such as the 3 legged race. At this point Satyam had taken over organizing activities. He was the expert with explaining the rules to the kids and is a surprisingly resourceful guy with an eagle scouts skill with tying knots. At one point he single handedly challenged a dozen kids in a tug-o-war match, but his raw strength could not prevail over the euphoric kids. I have never seen him so happy. He admitted that he wish he had brought his own son to the park that day.

We ended the day sitting in a circle sharing fruit. Akhil quickly offered his fruit to us uncertain that there would be enough for everyone. All of the other kids followed his lead, in a very generous gesture. It turned out that there was, but his offer was something that I will not forget. There was something about this kid that hinted that he had a greater purpose in life. He was the only kid I noticed who wasn't smiling during the playtime. He had a very humbling presence. His maturity was that of a boy much older than him and the confidence he projected made it easy to forget that he was also an HIV AIDS patient. I will never forget this kid, or what he has taught me today. While saying goodbye my heart sank thinking about the reality of these children's lives. Today would probably be a highlight in their years to come, and we will probably never see each other again. I still remember the "big people" I admired when I was a kid to this day, and also remember the sadness I would feel when they left. Today I had the same feeling, even though I was on the other side of the goodbye. I nearly broke down when Akhil came to me to say bye and wrote my number on his hand, saying that he wanted to call me and the other volunteers to his summer camp. Unfortunately I don't have a number to give Akhil to reach me at next summer, as I am leaving Hyderabad in 10 days. I have a feeling that this kid is bound for something great. The fun I had today I now know will be impossible to ever repeat again. I guess sometimes life gifts us with these opportunities to remind ourselves what is important.



Youthfully,
-Jason