I started my day bright and early (around 11 am).  Went to lunch at Joe Bologna’s with my friend Ben where we discussed several entrepreneurial and high tech initiatives going on throughout Lexington.

Next, I got to mentor a soccer coach who is starting a business that focuses on training student athletes and helping them with the recruiting process.  That meeting was briefly interrupted to do #3 (shown left) w/ my APAX team, the UK CTO and a UK professor (also a client of APAX).  If you aren’t familiar with #3, just ask anyone at Awesome Inc about it and get ready to feel so cool.

I had a quick rainmaker meeting with a team alpha member who just finished this video .Then I spent the next 3 hours working on a business plan for a touch screen company we are launching called AwesomeTouch.  I, of course, got to do this with my friends Nick, Ryan, and John which made it way more fun than you would expect.  We finished up the business meeting w/ dinner at Hugh Jass Burgers, a new burger joint in Lexington.  While we were there we even secured a meeting w/ the owner next week to talk to him about installing touch screens in his restaurant.

By now it’s 7:00.  I have tickets to a 7:30 play that features homeless (or formerly homeless) people called “Please don’t call us homeless…we don’t call you homed”.  I’m mostly interested in this play because it features Pete the Painter, a formerly homeless man who Awesome Inc has been helping out for the past year.  My friends Luke, Katharine (aka: party), Michelle and I walk down main street to watch the play.  I was super proud of him for playing his part and remembering all 5 of his lines. He did awesome…and even wore an Awesome Inc decal sticker the entire play across his chest :).

Next up, my friend Zabu was throwing a party for his company, Model Sensation.  He hooked us up with VIP passes and threw a legit party at The Loft, a local club in town.  After leaving that party I met some other friends at Saddle Ridge.

I finished off the day cranking through some email and writing this blog post.  Now I’m going to bed because I get to coach my 11 year old soccer team tomorrow…If you know me, I’ve probably said this before, but “I love my life”.

Startup Weekend is coming to Lexington for the 2nd year in a row on Nov 20-22, 2009. Startup Weekend is a 54 hour startup event that provides networking, resources, and incentives for individuals and teams to go from idea to launch. It is all about building community, starting companies and ultimately following rule #22 – “go big or don’t be my friend”. Everyone who attends Startup Weekend goes big in the sense that they commit to making strides towards turning their idea into a company in less than three days. The event is intentionally limited in structure to allow for participants to spend most of their time “doing work”. The primary purpose of Startup Weekend is to DO SOMETHING. Spend very little time talking about your idea and most of the time doing something toward launching your idea.

There are two major benefits to attending Startup Weekend. First, is the networking opportunity - You will meet local developers, innovators, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. Over the course of the three day event, meaningful relationships are built and valuable connections are made. The second benefit is to harness the power of community. We expect about 75 participants to attend Startup Weekend this year. So instead of working on your latest ground-breaking idea in the basement of your house, join a bunch of other like-minded individuals at Startup Weekend. For the same reason that people are more motivated while working out at a gym, participants at Startup Weekend reap the benefits of working among a group of other motivated individuals.

Startup Weekend was started in 2007 by Andrew Hyde. The program has traveled to over 52 cities and 12 countries. The program is now run by Marc Nager and Clint Nelson out of Seattle, WA. This year’s event in Lexington is part of Global Entrepreneurship week. Lexington is one of seven cities hosting a Startup Weekend during the weekend of Nov 20th.

Last year’s event had about 65 attendees and 8 companies were formed. One of those companies is called Uvestor. Led by John Williamson, Uvestor is a real estate communication platform where investors, real estate agents, brokers, and landlords can be connected instantly. Uvestor turned out to be such a success that John now runs the company full time.

Get more info at http://lexington.startupweekend.org

Event Details
Date/Time: Friday, Nov 20 6pm – Sunday, Nov 22 7pm
Location: Awesome Inc – 348 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40507
Cost: $40, includes 7 meals and a t-shirt. Send me an email and I’ll get you a 50% off discount – brian at awesomeinc.org
Register: http://lexington.startupweekend.org/tickets

1. Plan further ahead and on the proper date – Everyone says this all the time, I know.  But we decided to throw this conference just 2 months before the event went off. Certain things such as sponsorship, panels of speakers, and press releases need more time than this to make happen.  For example, we wanted one of our sessions to be a panel of carriers (ATT, Verizon, Sprint, etc).  Every carrier would send us through a maze of contacts to get to someone who could actually help us.  Trying to throw this panel together in the 11^th hour failed miserably.

We also learned that a Saturday in the middle of the summer isn’t the best date for a full day conference.  School is out of session and people are on vacation.  Weekdays are preferred.

2. Necessity of marketing outlets - We relied heavily on viral marketing for our mobile conference.  We used several outlets including regional high tech organizations/communities such as social media club, young entrepreneurs of Lexington, university list serves, etc.  However, having access to a full list of marketing/media outlets would have made our lives tremendously easier considering the ridiculous number of personal invites that are my ‘sent mail’ folder.

3. Make money – This is a novel idea that we aren’t quite sold on yet at Awesome Inc.  Just kidding…but seriously though.  Our keynote speaker, Noah Kagan, made 40K on his first conference.  We barely broke even.  His advice, get to break even by selling tickets at a reduced price far in advance, then jack the price up.  Of course this is only possible if you follow lesson learned number 1 – plan further ahead.

4. Volunteers are nice, paid staff is better – Perhaps our biggest accomplishment and biggest source of sleep deprivation was that we threw the entire conference with a volunteer staff (thanks to everyone who helped by the way, you were amazing).  The volunteers did great, however when a ball gets dropped by a volunteer, you can’t really blame them for dropping the ball or even always ask them to pick it up.  Instead you have to pick up that ball and run with it.  If you have a paid staff, you can expect a lot more of meeting deadlines and consistent communication. 

I’m extremely lucky to have such amazing friends that were willing to help me with this initiative and others. The thank you list is below.

5. People register late – We had over 50% of our registrations come in the last 5 days. This obviously had us worrying about a low turnout, but I guess is to be expected since people don’t want to commit and/or just don’t get around to registering until close to the date of the event.

Thank you list:
Matt Smith – text messaging system / space setup
Ryan Copple – technical stuff
Ryan Bright – web site/technical stuff
Rebecca Fields – food / working the door
Alyssa Thornton – space setup / working the door
Rachel Cunningham – coordinating logistics of event
Chad Engle – pitch contest judge, blog article
Adam Martin – pitch contest judge
Keith Kurzendoerfer – space setup
Nathan Fort –
Scott Johnson – equipment, space setup
Larry Grover – pitch contest judge
Anthony Jones – brochure design
Cliff Ravenscraft – Northern Kentucky recruitment
John Williamson – Louisville recruitment
Jason Falls – Louisville recruitment
Todd Earwood – Louisville recruitment
Andy Cox – space setup, transportation
Josh Fenner – Commerce Lex, space setup, marketing
Gina Greathouse – Commerce Lex, marketing
Kimberly Solsbury – Commerce Lex, marketing
Justin Raney – space setup, iPhone workshop
Tim Savage - recruitment
Jerry Houck – recruitment
Chuck Bryant – Nashville recruitment
Mr. Cunningham – lodging for speakers
Kyle Lake – video
Jaron Jones – photography

Speakers:
Noah Kagan
Brendan Lim
Markus Spiering
Ziv Tarsi
John Soward
Sam Soffes
Nick Holland
Brian Slick
Jake Behrens
Justin Raney

Here is what some of the attendees had to say on twitter:

• heathercw: @awesome_inc, great job with #mobilelex! Thanks!
• luckydog5656: I just had an awesome time at #mobilelex and am pumped to start developing some mobile apps and sites! @APOonline watch out for an upgrade..
• ChadEngle: So far my entire @awesome_inc experience has been amazing. So awesome to be surrounded by so many like minds. #mobileLEX
  

Here are some articles/content published about the conference:

http://www.aceweekly.com/pdfs/uploads/coverstory_090723.pdf
http://fuelyourapps.com/9-reasons-to-attend-an-app-conference-straight-from-the-attendees-mouths/
http://www.youtube.com/AmazingAaronTV#play/uploads/1/X4AuMHN2qUw
http://www.bizlex.com/Articles-c-2009-07-14-88307.113117_Mobile_media_conference_to_help_Web_developers

• wake up late morning.
• work for 7-8 hours.
• go play/coach soccer for 2-3 hours.
• go back to work for 6-7 hours (following the rule of 4)

The rule of 4 states that one out of every 4 nights instead of going back to work I do something fun with my friends/girlfriend/family. The past few weeks this has included activities such as rappelling into a pool, midnight golf, and running through the fountains downtown.

The reason I decided to write this blog post was that I think there is more to the success formula than what I am doing.  No one works harder than me.  However, there are people that are more successful than me…and some are even younger than me.  I think it has to do with how smart they work.  I consider myself a relatively smart person.  I guess I just need to figure out a way to work smarter too.  I’m open to suggestions.

- for the record, I love my work so working 13-15 hours each day, often through the late hours of the night isn’t something I mind at all.  Most days I look forward to 10 pm, which means I get to crank out 6 hours of uninterrupted work.

“I can cut in better than you,” yelled Pete from Main Street one night.  He was standing outside of Awesome Inc while I was on a ladder painting the front wall yellow.  My initial reaction was, “Oh great.  A homeless guy is critiquing my painting abilities.  I hope nobody heard him.  That would be a pretty serious blow to my confidence.”  I ignored him and figured he would go away.  Pete was persistent though and wasn’t going anywhere.  Instead he continued to tell me how bad of a painter I was and that he could do a professional quality job for just a sandwich and a drink.

I opened the door and let him in. He painted alongside Nathan and I for about an hour. He killed it and sure enough he didn’t ask for much. It was 2 am and I didn’t have a sandwich or drink for him so I gave him a $10 bill. I hesitantly gave him my phone number as well to call me and come back and do more work for us. About 3 weeks later, Pete had significantly contributed to painting the entire building and earned about $250.
I had no idea what Pete was doing with this money.  If I had to guess it would have been something irresponsible.  It wasn’t until he came by the Awesome Space one day and asked for a letter stating he had been doing part time work for Awesome Inc that I figured out what he was actually doing with the money.  He had been saving it (along with other income from side jobs, I’m sure) to get into a subsidized housing program and rent an apartment. 

Probably my favorite moment in the last month came when Pete came by not to do work, but to prove to us that he had closed on this apartment.  I’ll always remember driving Pete from the Awesome Space to his apartment the first night he stayed in it.  When we got there, Pete gave Luke, Matt and I the full tour which included his shoe collection in his closet featuring some Nike Jordan’s from the 90’s.

Pete’s off the street and in his new apartment.  And I think Awesome Inc played a role, even if it was only a small role. Pete is a quality guy who fell on some hard times.  He has a long way to go, but I believe in him.  Pete is available for inexpensive freelance painting and does a heck of a job. He is painting my friend Matt’s house this week.

Twenty seven years later I have the greatest friends I could ever ask for. As I browsed through my facebook friends tonight, I looked down the list and said to myself, “quality friend, quality brother, quality business partner, quality teacher, quality mentor…”.  The list goes on. 

Quality – a degree or grade of excellence or worth. Every relationship I invest in I want it to have a degree of worth. Somewhere along the way in my 27 years of life I figured out the key to success in anything is surrounding yourself with awesome people. The best teammates = championship teams, the best friends = having the most fun when you hang out, the best business partners and co-workers = prosperous company.

It’s no secret that the people you’re surrounded by define your character more than anything else. That’s why when we interview a candidate for APAX Software we ask the candidate, “Tell me everything about your best friend”. 

Some of my friends from around the country often ask me why I don’t just leave Lexington, KY and live somewhere with better weather, cooler scenery, a better entrepreneurial community, or a beach. I tell them this every time, “If I could pick 100 of my closest friends and move them with me to a destination of my choice, I would move tomorrow.”  (if you’re reading this blog, you probably make the cut).

While, someday I probably will live somewhere besides Kentucky, up until now it’s not the basketball, the inconsistent climate, or the horses that have kept me here. It’s the billionaire valuation of my relationships.

Before I violate one of the most important rules (rule # 2: intellectual property), I need to give credit where credit is due on the term “relationship billionaire” (Luke, Dec. 2008, derived at the location of this picture).

The project got me thinking about my own dreams and fears.  This is what I came up with.

I don’t think I’m alone in these dreams and fears.  I doubt I’m the only person who wants to be remembered for doing something big.  I also doubt I’m the only person in the world who lays in bed at night thinking – “what if I don’t find that special someone by the time I’m 30, or 35, or what if I’m 45 and I still haven’t found them…scary”.  I’m not alone and neither is everyone else when it comes to their dreams and fears. 

The primary purpose of the dreamfear project is to get people to DO something about their dreams and fears.  Let’s be clear that worrying about not accomplishing your dreams won’t do a bit of good.  Take it from Van Wilder who says, “Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere…write that down.”  Worrying just creates panic and stress, it is a waste of time; constructive thought however, can get you to take action. 

The dreamfear project is an attempt to get people to think about, and ultimately do, the following:

- its ok to be afraid.

- its ok to dream big.

- realize other people have the same dreams/fears.

- dreaming or recognition of fears allows you to take action towards accomplishing those dreams or avoiding those fears.

 Check out the dreamfear project at: www.dreamfearproject.com.