Not all Investment Money is created Equal There’s no two ways about it, we’re in a tech bubble. It has cooled down a little but there is still a lot of dumb money floating around just looking for somewhere to go. What is dumb money? Dumb money is money provided by people who can bring no other value to you other than money itself. Its often the easiest type of money to get in bubbles [...]

Drink More Water Optimize and Streamline Ukulele Underground Start a New SaaS Business and have at least 10 paying customers Have at least one $50k month personal gross earnings Gain 10 lbs Increase bench press to 205lb Increase deadlift to 175lb Start building my house Go on a trip with the wife Start eating healthier again 2011 New Years Goal Have at least one $50k month gross income – FAIL Have at least 10 paying [...]

Ukulele Underground was massively unprofitable for its first 3 years. The funny thing is that we never knew it, so we just kept going. It’s one of those things where I think back on now and just laugh and shake my head, but I can’t get over the fact that if we knew what we were doing, we probably would have quit a long time ago and never got to where we are today. Let [...]

If you want to call yourself an entrepreneur, show me your battle scars. Show me how lonely you’ve become. How the only people you talk to are your team and your immediate family. Less than 10 people a month maybe. Tell me about how your friends don’t even bother calling you anymore. Show me all the things that you’ve missed out on while sacrificing everything for a dream. Tell me  how bad it hurt when [...]

When people ask me what I do, I’m often guilty of not telling them the full story. I usually just say, “Oh my friends and I have a business that we do..” and hope that that answer is good enough for them. If they prod for more I’ll say we teach ukulele on the internet. Which is the what, of what we do. I guess I just don’t want to seem arrogant, or self aggrandizing [...]

I was fortunate to be flown to Oahu to last month to attend a software industry skills development panel. It was a great experience as I got to meet a lot of people who are passionate about the same things as me; entrepreneurship, tech startups, developing a software based industry to transition Hawaii away from its heavy dependence on tourism (which I personally have a long standing beef with).  It sadly was the first time [...]

Take a few seconds to think of the richest people you know. Now take a second to think of the most inspirational people you know. Now as yourself this question; Is their success the direct result of education? Our society has shown us time and time again that what we value as humans (at least in the USA) is innovation, creativity, the ability to create art or solve problems; the creation of things of value. [...]

Something strange happens as we grow older; we become deathly afraid of failure. Though brought into this world fearless, we’re conditioned over time that failure is bad, failure is something to be avoided at all cost, that failure can be avoided if you “just do your homework”. This fear often prevents us from doing the things we always wanted to do. We may get very excited about something yet after spending a little time talking [...]

I have to admit, when I first started hearing all this buzz about Jessica Mah a few years ago, I didn’t really get what all the hype was about. Sure, I guess she’s a girl…who’s really young, who can program and launched a few web startups with very little money… but I didn’t see the difference between her and all the guys who have done the same. Not only that, others have done it and [...]

I’ve been tossing around an idea in my head for a while to create something that will help inspire and guide a new generation of entrepreneurs, artists, and movement leaders. Inspired by the work done by Andrew Warner at Mixergy.com and Jason Calacanis at This Week in Startups, I want to start interviewing entrepreneurs who’s ventures were built on passion. I hope to accomplish a few things by doing these interviews: I want to champion [...]