I finally got around to signing up for a new bank account with Simple. A few days later my debit card arrived. It didn't show up glued to a flimsy sheet of paper in the typical boring envelope. It's looking like Simple plans to remind me regularly that they aren't like every other bank. And that's a good thing.
On Saturday afternoon I spent a few hours volunteering for Take Back the Movies, a grassroots effort to respond to the July 20 mass shooting at an Aurora, CO movie theater. It was a small but important effort.
I received an email from Jason Cole a day after the shootings letting me know that he planned to spread a little light in the community by giving people a night at the movies. Not just a few people, but theaters full of them.
He asked me and many others to round up volunteers and donations. On Saturday over 50 volunteers gave out 1,300 tickets at five theaters in Aurora and adjoining cities, all fueled by donations from community businesses and individuals (9NEWS video).
"We're spreading some light in the dark! On July 20, one man crept into a darkened movie theater in Aurora and turned a night of fun into something terrible. He took something from our community, so tonight we're giving it back. We want to give you the gift of a night at the movies. This isn't a fundraiser, it isn't a protest. It's your community's gift to you.Go, enjoy, and after the movie, go spread some light in return."
The note given along with free movie tickets explaining Take Back the Movies
I managed to give away tickets to over 30 pleasantly surprised people at the Regal Continental Stadium 10 & RPX in Denver. There were a lot of smiles. I feel confident that many of those people will find a way to pay it forward.
I got a lot of satisfaction in exchange for just an afternoon of my time. In the grand scheme of things it was a small effort on my part, but it was something that will have a ripple effect for the rest of the community. Thank you Jason and the team you put together for making this all happen.
I've been surrounding myself with smart, caring people for most of my life. It wasn't a conscious effort at first, but after meeting a few people with that rare combination of brainpower and give-a-shit, I now go out of my way to do more of it. I recommend that you do too.
There's something really special about working with somebody with lots of brainpower and give-a-shit rolled into a single package. Feeling like no challenge is too large is a powerful thing. Feeling like you can talk openly about problems that you see so that they can be fixed is equally powerful.
I've already been a part of Quick Left and the MBA program at Babson College, where the concentration of people with ridiculous amounts of brainpower and give-a-shit is through the roof.
Sometimes I feel guilty about how lucky I am to be in this position, to be excited about the work that I do. When I think about it in detail, as I do now in writing this, I remind myself that I had a hand in creating my luck. I want more of it.
Think about doing it for yourself if you aren't already. Anything is possible when you surround yourself with people who have brainpower and give-a-shit.
Lately I've found myself involved in a lot of email introductions, both as an initiator and a recipient. If somebody is nice enough to make an email introduction for you, return the favor by cutting her loose with "I'm moving you to Bcc."
I see tweets from people about struggling to get to inbox zero just about every day. Some even declare email bankruptcy when their inbox is a lost cause. With that in mind, minimizing the email load for somebody who just made an introduction for you is a nice courtesy.
So let's say I introduce you to Zoe because you have a common interest in volunteering in the Boulder startup community. It'd be great if your reply looked something like this:
Thanks for the introduction Bing - I'm moving you to Bcc.
Zoe,
I'm glad to hear that we've got a mutual interest in doing some good for the community. Let's grab coffee. Are you free some time next week?
A nice way to say thanks before cutting me loose from the rest of the email thread.
You get a chance to say thanks and I see that the conversation has begun, which is all I really want. The fact that you've excluded me from the rest of the thread is great (assuming, of course, that you've actually moved me to Bcc). I don't want or need to be a part of the continued conversation.
Consider using "I'm moving you to Bcc" as one way to change our reply all culture. We've got enough email in our lives as it is, don't you think?
More often than not I hear the term entrepreneur applied incorrectly. I'm pretty particular about its use, so I thought I'd make the distinction between entrepreneurs, wantrepreneurs, and businessmen.
Being a businessman doesn't make a person an entrepreneur, even if the person is a founder. Entrepreneurs are characterized by very specific behavior:
The fact is, most businessmen aren't entrepreneurs. It's not a title, role, or set of responsibilities that makes an entrepreneur, it's behavior.
While applying the term entrepreneur to a businessman is often inappropriate, applying the term to yourself isalways inappropriate. The person who introduces himself as "a laid back guy" is never actually laid back.
The person who introduces himself as an entrepreneur? I apply the label wantrepreneur to that guy.
The person who introduces himself to the world as an Entrepreneur on LinkedIn? I apply the label Wantrepreneur to That Guy.
Please don't be a Wantrepreneur. Work on acting like an entrepreneur instead - the world could use more of them.
