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2010-03-14T20:02:00.001-07:00

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Are tattoos a bad idea for entrepreneurs and raising money?

2010-02-17T17:46:00.000-08:00

I have a tiny tattoo -- it's on my ring finger, as a replacement for my wedding ring, because wearing jewelry has always bothered me (no watches, rings, necklaces... and, for that matter, I don't like wearing headphones while walking around or exercising... just too much 'stuff').

I've thought about getting additional tattoos in the past, but was never motivated enough to pursue them. And I wondered if investors would care. I figured they wouldn't, but never followed up.

Then, this week, a younger entrepreneur asked me the same question, since he's thinking about getting a more visible tattoo. So, I posed the question to 4-5 VCs and angel investors who I trust:

"do you think it's a risk, for entrepreneurs who will invariably be raising money/meeting with investors, to get visible tattoos?

location - inside of left bicep, normally half-hidden by t-shirt, normally not visible as inside bicep is only visible when arm is lifted
tattoo itself - a stanza of a poem, 3 sentences => certainly nothing offensive at all, but not really huge either, I'm imagining 1.5x4.5"

i get the feeling it's not a problem in startup land or even in technology, but can't really imagine how major investors/funders, or professors (if a person ever returned to school) would react or, for that matter, other areas I can't foresee but might want to venture into someday.

i'm asking not just your personal opinion, but what you think your peers think about these sorts of things... and, do their opinions change if the person is a first-time entrepreneur vs. repeat-entrepreneur

this is one of those questions i specifically didn't want to post on an entrepreneur thread, because i specifically wanted the opinions of those on the funding side of the table"

Here are the anonymized replies, in case you're interested:

1) I don�t think getting this type of tattoo would be a problem. I am not a fan of tattoos but I would not factor a tattoo into my investment decision. I was at TED last week, and there was a short presentation on tattoos (NOTE - if anyone finds that video, please share in the comments and I'll add it here!). The presenter mentioned 40% of people age 18-35 have a tattoo, so it is quite commonplace.

2) My view is that the world is increasingly becoming informal as our personal and professional lives blur with social media, facebook, foursquare, etc� As such, I don�t think that a tattoo creates the same issues that it might have 3 or 5 years ago.

I think your question is the right one� If I view my peer group as consumer internet folks, then a tattoo is no big deal. If I include a broader set of folks in other technology sectors (semiconductors/telecom equipment), foundations, professors, etc�they probably would/do react differently to tattoos TODAY.

Sometimes the best advice I get from my lawyer friends is �I�m not the right lawyer for you� instead of giving me an opinion. I think in these other sectors, I can�t really give you great insight as to whether they would care about a tattoo or not.

My sense though is that in another 3-5 years, things will only get more casual�and it will be a non-issue in other sectors outside of consumer web. Look at dress codes as an analog�.and how few industries still wear suits�

3) I think it doesn't matter because in that location you can always chose to hide it with a long sleeve shirt. I can't really speak about most VCs - but no one at our firm would care.

4) It doesn't take a rocket scientist VC to observe that tattoos have increasingly become part of popular culture - a decade or two ago, there was a social stigma/perception around a tat (iconoclast, unorthodox, doesn't care about conventions/conformity/public image, association with bikers/prison gangs/urban culture, etc) which no longer exists for tasteful, discrete tats. Obviously, if it's a Mike Tyson type of facial tat, or a tear drop, or a visible neck marking, there is a different messaging where the conservative investor is going to have questions about personal judgment/impulsivity.

Based on your description of the location of the tat, the size, the imagery and such I'd say "onward" - I don't believe there would be an issue. The bigger issue would be the wearing of a tee shirt while raising venture capital to begin with ! If its only visible with a t-shirt, just remember to "show respect to the money" and dress in a nice shirt.

One final note -- another discussion mentioned that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has a big tattoo on his forearm and that doesn't seem to have stopped him from raising money -- of course, he has a tiny success or two under his belt ;-) I googled it -- very cool tattoo (below):

Want Entrepreneur Advice over coffee? That'll be $1,000

2010-02-14T14:21:00.000-08:00

I've been wrestling with this one for a while, and I think many entrepreneurs have as well. See, as soon as you start a company, raise some money, and launch your business, suddenly people want to 'buy you coffee/lunch' to 'pick your brain' and 'get networking introductions'.

I can appreciate that. I did it too. But, when you're accommodating (as I, Andy Sack, Marcelo Calbucci, Joe Heitzeberg, Roy Leban, and many others try to be), you tend to get overwhelmed with the requests. And, then, my days disappear on me, I end up working nights to catch up, and sit here on the weekend with 5-10 favors in my inbox which take 1-2+ hours to complete (I met with a woman last week, who I really liked... I told her I'd be happy to make some intros... she wrote back with 9 companies in the list... acck!)

So, here's my offer:

I'll meet with you for free, at Hops and Chops (I helped organize it for exactly this purpose... sort of a lightweight office hours... I think Andy Sack created Seattle Open Coffee for the same reason) or another Seattle startup event that I happen to attend (you can find out my schedule via twitter/daveschappell or plancast/daveschappell). I'll be happy to talk with you, give you advice, and make any in-person intros, assuming the other folks are there in person. But, that's it. Don't ask for more, because it comes at the expense of my family, loved ones, and personal sanity.
You pay me $1,000 for up to 3 hours of my time talking with you about entrepreneurship. That will likely be spread over two 1-hour meetings, and another hour of my time making introductions, if I think they're warranted. If I don't, I'll be honest with you, and we'll spend that last hour working on your plans, or whatever. Then, when you've started your company and booked your first $1,000 in revenues, I'll give you $700 back. That's it. I want you to get off your ass and build whatever it is your dreaming up. But, if you don't, I keep your money, because you took up 3 hours that I could have been spending on other tasks. Sound fair? Do I think my advice is worth $100-333/hour? No! But, you seem to think I'll help you somehow, and I likely will -- and, if you don't want to pay, there are tons of other folks around who will surely help you.

I look forward to any feedback about this setup. I'm sure it will upset some, but I'm not sure why -- I'm still out there, and incredibly available. But, there's now a market rate on my "premium services", and it comes with a 70% refund, assuming you deliver the goods!

Clark College (Vancouver, WA / Portland, OR) classes added to TeachStreet

2010-01-14T14:37:00.000-08:00

It's a little off-topic for this blog, but we're pretty excited about the new lifelong learning class selection added in the Portland, OR area as we recently brought Clark College on to TeachStreet. And, it's extra exciting, as we have family in the Portland, OR, Vancouver, WA/Camas, WA Clark College class area, who've told me that Clark College is the place to be for great classes in their area.

What caught my eye was the Knife Skills 101 class in Portland, as I've recently started my New Year's Resolution to finally 'learn to cook', and this is one I'd love to take with Aunt Jeannine the next time I'm down there!

Another wine lovers class in Portland is the 'From the Wine to the Bottle' offering at Clark College -- looks very cool (and only $105!)

Finally, for the dance lovers, there's a Portland, OR Zumba Class at Clark College that looks like a blast -- ahh, never enough time in the day!

topics for future entrepreneur talks

2010-01-12T08:12:00.001-08:00

Unanswerable startup questions
1) bay area or ______ (seattle, boston, new york, austin, topeka...)
2) can you be successful as a part-time entrepreneur (while working at BigCo)?
3) ruby or _____
4) wordpress or _____
5) is _____ good for SEO (this one's a little bit more answerable, but still requires that you do a bit of research, and make quick non-fully-informed decision)
6) lifestyle business or venture capital?
7) when to give up?
8) profitability or growth?
9) is content or design more important?
10) what metrics to track?� best things for dashboard?
11) ad-supported or fee-based/freemium?
12) rackspace, AWS, or _______
13) paypal or ______
14) scrum, waterfall, or chaos?
15) in-house or off-shore devs?
16) PR firm or do it yourself
17) ...

Things Entrepreneurs Say (and what they mean)
1) it's going great
2) the last few months have been awesome
3) we're making great progress
4) the team's really coming together
5) we're still relatively small, but growing quickly
6) we've had x# record revenue months in a row
7) traffic's continuing to grow
8) we're angel funded
9) we pay market rates
10) equity compensation included
11) looking for rock-star developers
12) looking for CTO who's hands-on
13) looking for interns
14) i love my VC/investors/advisors
15) everyone in the company is in marketing
16) everyone helps with CS support
17) ...

Job Description of a Founder/CEO
1) ...

New TeachStreet GMAT and GRE Test Prep site launched

2010-01-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

We continue to explore opportunities in the Test Prep Class and School space, and today launched a new Test Prep Finder blog. It's obviously still in experimental phase, but we're looking forward to launching some other tools specific to the needs of GMAT test takers and GRE practice test searchers.

If you have memories of test taking, please reach out with ideas about how we could improve the experience for students (or their parents!).

Stella the French Bulldog was fixed yesterday

2010-01-01T12:41:00.001-08:00

Her 2010 resolution is no more visits to that vet place

Molly the Dog sporting her TeachStreet t-shirt - hot!

2009-12-21T22:14:00.001-08:00

http://blog.daryn.net/post/285406425/gbb-molly-sports-her-teachstreet-pride

Karen and big waves on the North Shore

2009-12-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

My rules to travel by

2009-12-19T12:41:00.001-08:00

Being in Honolulu's been great but it reminded me of things I like and
don't like when I travel.

1) go places where franchises/chains/brands are discouraged (hanalei
bay vs. Honolulu; marthas vineyard vs. ______; Friday Harbor vs. ______)

2) don't eat at restaurants that you wouldn't dine at, at home (Jimmy
Buffett's Grill - truly awful)

3) ocean views are worth it

4) cool breezes are nice too

5) rental cars can be liberating

Test Prep-focused site now added to TeachStreet (and other life updates)

2009-11-10T07:35:00.000-08:00

I know... my blogging frequency is somewhat (totally) lacking. Well, honestly, I've got a few things going on in my life.

(1) if you haven't noticed in my Facebook feed, we added a new puppy, Stella the French Bulldog -- go check her out in my Facebook photos -- she's awesome

(2) we're in the middle of a mini/major-house renovation, and have been since July/July -- it's nearing completion, but has been for what feels like months

(3) I'm training for a marathon, to be run in Honolulu in mid-December (click if you'd like to donate to fight Leukemia Lymphoma) -- long run of 18 miles last weekend, and will be running 20 miles in ~2 weeks. Then off to the fun in the sun.

(4) finally, TeachStreet's been making amazing progress. We launched our payments/revenue systems in July and September, and have been spending the last several weeks optimizing the site experience -- some major improvements to note:

- We added a focused Test Prep Class and teacher site, featuring premium partners such as Kaplan, PowerScore, Knewton and more. So, if you know students looking for SAT, GMAT, LSAT, GRE test prep classes, have them check it out

- You can now easily find upcoming classes in your area - the selection of teachers, subjects and classes is becoming pretty amazing, all across the country

- We've got another pretty cool 'launch' coming tomorrow, hopefully significantly improving the teacher profile page experience, and a few other little pleasantries

Hope you're lives are going great -- Karen and I are racing around, as usual -- hope to see you all soon!

Stella the dog finishes second in beauty pageant :-(

2009-09-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Stella made her debut on the catwalk -- sadly, she finished a close second -- maybe next time, Stella :-)

Listed for the chants of the crowd for 'Stella! Stella! Stella! at the end':

This was the actual catwalk -- I think there was some handler error here -- made all the difference, to Stella's detriment :-(

Need your help raising money to fight Leukemia Lymphoma

2009-08-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'm incredibly proud to be training to participate in the Honolulu Marathon on December 13, 2009 as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. All of us on Team In Training are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am completing this event in honor of all individuals who are battling blood cancers, including AJ Utter (the son of my friends Brian and Sarah Utter) and and our team honoree, 3-year old Abby Rogers. These people are the real heroes on our team, and we need your support to cross the ultimate finish line - a cure!

Please make a donation to support my participation in Team In Training and help advance LLS's mission.

Janis Machala - you suffering from the heat?

2009-08-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

Janis Machala was quoted the other day saying that "The Northwest lifestyle is so laid-back that it discourages the kind of all-consuming passion and drive found in the leading entrepreneurs of the Bay Area."

I know Janis, and respect all she's done to help me, and other Seattle startups.

But, I respectfully disagree with her on this one -- think maybe she's spending way too much time with the wrong types of startups in town; like the kinds of startups that would hire recruiting and strategy consultants to help them do the work that they should be doing themselves, with their own sweat equity.

I wanted to check out Janis' response to her quote on twitter or her blog (who designed that site/blog, by the way? what kind of effort are you putting forward, Paladin?), but her last update was in 2008. Maybe she'll send a press release. Shame on you, Janis -- you're making me put in a few more minutes on a Saturday responding to a silly quote, when I should be at my massage.

Avoid the Westin Casuarina Hotel in Las Vegas, NV

2009-06-29T13:35:00.001-07:00

I recently had a trip to Las Vegas -- the hotel where I stayed, the Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa, was nice enough during the stay, and the quoted price was reasonable (~$75/night).

However, upon checkout, my bill included a $15/day Hotel Services Fee (plus tax, daily) -- when I asked what it was for, the manager told me it was for the pool, use of phone, and other services. Huh? Those aren't included in the daily rate?!? I asked her if I was able to opt out of these extra services, and she told me "no". So, why do this? Of course, it's so they can quote a lower daily room charge -- really, this is gross. I see a class action lawsuit coming their way. Of course, hotel guests won't benefit from the settlement, but some lawyer will, and Starwood Hotels will just proceed as usual.

Really, it's not about the extra $45 they charged me (3 nights) -- it's just the grossness of this type of idea -- that they said, "let's screw customers over with a fee that they can't do anything about, and then claim that it was in the fine-print on the order form." In the long-term, Starwood, you'll pay for this in customer defection. But, in the short-term, you're just making the world a slightly less nice place.

So... if you remember... try to avoid The Westin, and while you're at it, the rest of the Starwood Family of hotels (Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, Le M�ridien, The Luxury Collection, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, aloft, Element by Westin)

NOTE -- I'm not the only one with this problem -- you can see other unhappy customer complaints and bad customer reviews for the Westin Casuarina in Las Vegas here.

Great presentation on power of microfinance (gotta love Toastmasters!)

2009-05-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

My friend, Gopi, shared this video of his Toastmasters presentation entitled "Ordinary People" -- it talks about how Gopi discovered microfinance through Kiva, and is a really effective presentation on the ways you can help to alleviate poverty around the world, right from your computer.

Gopi was at Wharton in the year ahead of me, and was a Toastmaster way back then -- he's taken it to all new heights, though, as he's one of 25 finalists in the national Toastmaster speaker competition -- go Gopi! (And, for those of you looking to become better public speakers, take a public speaking class!)

One final plug -- if you're energized by the microfinance story, and are passionate about education, I invite you to learn more about a new startup that I'm involved with called Vittana -- they're workign to enable education microfinance lending in developing countries.

TeachStreet expands to Chicago (metro #6) and adds $1.2 million in funding

2009-05-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a tumultuous several months, with emotions running the gamut. But today's a great day, as we announce our launch of metro #6 (Chicago teachers and classes, here we come!) and also an addition $1.2 million of investor funding.

We've been running non-stop for the last year plus, and the launch of New York teachers and classes several weeks ago, plus the upcoming premium services launch (payments and more), has kept our hands very full -- we've recently been able to take a few days to reflect, paint the office, and refocus as a team, and that's been great.

One thing I'll share, that we found very motivating, is these two videos from Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos) -- if you can find 45 minutes, I'd highly recommend that you check them out -- they really highlight the type of company we're TRYING to build, with a mission-driven culture. We've definitely made some missteps along the way, but we're striving to continue to learn.

Walk the Geeky Red Carpet with me tonight

2009-05-07T10:12:00.000-07:00

Seattle 2.0

It's finally here -- the Seattle 2.0 Awards live event is upon us. And, Marcelo's asked me to present the award this evening to the Best Seattle-Area Venture Capitalist.

The finalists?

Of course, as an entrepreneur, I love them all pretty much equally... well, not really... Matt's actually cut TeachStreet checks, so I may call out his name regardless of what's in the envelope ;-) ).

But, the voters have spoken, so 3 will have to leave the island, and 1 will get to spend a weekend with me in Spokane -- it'll be wonderful.

Oh... if you'd like to participate in the event, but can't make it in the door (or, don't live in Seattle), they'll also be streaming the event live.

Dave Schappell is Seattle's Geek of the Week

2009-04-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Oh, I'm so proud -- I have so many people to thank. My computer teachers, Mr. Fisher and Ms. Rothermel, who taught me everything I know about BASIC. Radio Shack, for developing and marketing the wonderful TRS-80 that I pined over. Texas Instruments for making the even more incredible TI-99/4A, that was connected to my tape recorder backup drive. My parents, for getting me my own phone line, to power my bedroom-powered bulletin board, the Magical Tavern. All of the engineers at TeachStreet, who I've taught so much to as we've built the site -- they've learned quickly and have taken well to my guidance and technical wisdom.

Thank you all -- I love you all.

Yes, I'm Seattle's Geek of the Week -- take THAT, Daryn -- who's your daddy now?!?

Awesome night in Seattle tomorrow

2009-04-28T11:10:00.001-07:00

Big goings-on tomorrow, with events at TechFlash (Palace Ballroom) and Ignite Seattle

Yes, I know this post is worthless -- I'm working on Blogger and Site Migration, so phlbbt!

More than 2 years of Twitter -- now what? Is it a Twubble?

2009-04-21T18:33:00.000-07:00

I was talking with @daryn about Twitter today -- I'm perplexed by it. I've been using it for more than two years, and I'm still not sure what I think about it. Why is that? Normally, I'd either be a fan, or be over it. Instead, I'm still somewhat confused. At many times, it seems like another instantiation of my overflowing inbox, much like what happened with RSS readers (which I've stopped reading entirely, because of that very fact).

In fact, I've pretty much stopped trying to read any of my incoming tweets, beyond what appears on the main screen. Instead, I read my @ and D replies. Which, really, is just like having public IM and private e-mail. Or, a lot like having my IM have public and private settings. So, is Twitter just more of an improved IM play, with the advantage that the public IMs bubble up to a really good real-time search engine? If so, that's great, and I'm pretty darn happy about that. And, if people are willing to make their IMs public in many circumstances, then we've got a much more well-connected world. But, if everyone stops following their @ replies (with a service like Tweetlater or a good Web/iPhone app like Tweetie or TweetDeck), then the service is pretty useless as a communications vehicle. Which means that people will stop contributing. Which means that it turns into a bubble that pops.

So, Twacquisition, TwIPO, or Twop -- which will it be?

I'm afraid of my e-mail

2009-04-12T14:57:00.001-07:00

I admit it - I'm afraid of my e-mail. It's a neverending task engine
of sorts, with the horrible characteristic that it increases in
intensity whenever I reply or try to resolve issues. It gets to the
point where I don't want to open it at all, so as to leave it
dormant. Sadly, the beast is stirring, as Monday stealthily
approaches...

How to Invent Everything Important in Science

2009-04-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Just saw this on twitter (from @seanpower and @hnshah) - just in case you get in your time machine and go back a few years, and need to invent a few things -- remember to file for patents :-)

Steven Johnson's book "The Invention of Air" is fantastic

2009-04-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

I'm two-thirds of the way through Steven Johnson's book, The Invention of Air, and it's just fascinating.� It tells the story of Joseph Priestly, a man who prospered during the Enlightenment Age (during the late 18th century, along with contemporaries Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and others) -- and presents a compelling picture of a man who combined passions for Scientific discovery, Political discourse, and deep Religious belief -- that combination is extremely rare, as the author displays.� I hope that I can become more involved with Steven Johnson's work, at Outside.in and in other pursuits -- he seems fascinating, and someone who will inspire me, and others, to previously unexpected goals.

My Advice- Take Startup Advice from folks working in Startups

2009-04-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Flickr Photo (solo_with_others)

For the record, I don't know Eric Ries, but he seems all the rage of late with my twitter-stream flowing glorious with his Web 2.0 Expo wisdom about running a lean startup. He's more than likely earned it, most recently as co-founder and CTO of IMVU. And, I bet that we'd get along wonderfully, and that he's a great guy (given the posse he travels with, and friends of friends).

But, last I checked, he's a Venture Advisor at Kleiner Perkins, and I'm quite sure Kleiner Venture Advisor's aren't working for extra equity right now, firing their own staff to survive the next 6 months, filing and resolvings bugs on weekends, or doing PR outreach late into the night to get a little extra traction from their most recent product launch.

My hunch is that memories are forgetful when it comes to doing whatever it takes to make it to your next milestone.

So, if you have to make binary tradeoffs on who to take your advice from, I'd recommend that you take it from someone who's in the trenches, like Glenn Kelman, Andy Liu, or Ev Williams (and here) as their feedback may be a little more moist, with recent blood, sweat and tears (that is, if they have time to talk with you -- my hunch is that you'll be more likely to get a 4 sentence e-mail, as they won't have the time to prepare for and attend a multi-day conference).