So I was up in the gym this morning, just working on my fitness, when I came across an article in Inc. Magazine about a "serial entreprenuer."  The star of the article, a guy named Cramer, is basically one of those guys who takes over the CEO position of a company when venture capitalists decide to fund them.  As I was reading the article, I noticed that I started to get upset.  I was remembering (and re-living) the sh** that I went through over the last couple of months. 

As some of you may recall, I have been seeking additional funding for The Blue District for some time now.  Well, over the last couple of months, a good friend of mine (or so I thought) for many years now stepped into the picture and offered to help me finance the company.  What were once tears of joy quickly turned into tears of depression and then rage as the following weeks and months were fraught with drives back-and-forth to the Bay Area, discussions over-and-over again about my business model, proofs and arguments about the profitability of the company, and meetings with...wait for it...venture capitalists.

Ah venture capitalists.  A fancy title for a bunch of glorifed bankers.  Nothing can shoot down your hopes, your dreams, your aspirations, your sense of goodwill like them.  What once was an excited and optomistic entreprenuer quickly turns into a depressed and failed being...in less than an hour.  This is how I felt, anyway, when dealing with them. 

Now, everyone knows that I am extremely excited for the potential of The Blue District.  And I know, in my heart of hearts, in my deepest gut, that this company could quickly and easily turn into a multi-billion dollar one.  But more importantly, I feel that we are doing something that this world NEEDS right now...we need to come together as actual people once again and remember that we all live together, and that we all support each other, and that one person cannot do it without the other.  Sure the company can make a lot of money...but the reason that it can is because it provides something so precious to everyone.

Oh, but try explaining that to a venture capitalist.  All he cares about are the numbers.  Where are the numbers?  I don't have any numbers.  This is a brand new concept...something that has never been done before.  Did YouTube have numbers when they started?  Or Myspace?  Or Thomas Edison when he started General Electric?  I doubt it.  And yet these are the companies that have shaped and defined a generation - or generations.  But it seems that venture capitalists only care about proven business concepts that can provide x% of return within y months with a n% probability of achieving this.  And so, when pitching The Blue District to them, they have always left me with:  "Well that's a great idea, but we are not going to be able to fund it."

Now, this may be a blessing in disguise, for I shudder to think what would happen if we actually got the funding.  Enter Cramer, from the Inc. article.  Basically, the venture capitalists would probably have decided that I have no real business experience, and offer to fund the company with the stipulation that another CEO - i.e. Cramer-esque - take over the top position.  Stewart would be out too, as an "expert" marketer would take over the CMO position.  With these new people on-board, Stewart and I would be bannished to the Board room, with honorary yet useless titles.  And the company that we started would be left to run by these so-called experts.

You may be thinking...well that makes sense - maybe these experts would do a better job at running things.  But I bring up the Friendster case.  We all remember Friendster - that little website that pretty much started the online social networking craze.  When Jay Abrams realized that the company was expanding rapidely, he called in the venture capitalists to help fund the inevitable growth.  Of course, they offered to do so, and then auf-ed him as the CEO.  Next thing you know, he is sitting on the sidelines, watching the company that he created and built crumble to the ground.  Why did this happen?  Because the "experts" didn't know what they were doing!  They had not come up with the concept.  They had not spent their days and nights thinking about it, obsessing about it.  They were not in touch with the "little people" that actually used the service.  The founder was, though, because that's how he came up with the idea in the first place and grew it to where it was.  Ironically, the experts were really the novices...and the novice was the expert. 

So if the venture capitalists were interested in funding this company, I would only do it on the condition that Stewart and I remain in our positions.  I would never allow a firm to bring in an outside CEO to run The Blue District, because I feel that it would be a disaster.  No one knows, nor will no one ever know, more about our company than ourselves.  It's like bringing in a nanny to replace the mother. 

Nor would I ever want to put the profitability of the company ahead of its mission.  Ironically, by focusing on the mission instead of the bottom-line, the company will undoubtedly make even more money...because it is staying true to itself.  So I guess I can't get funding right now from the VC's because we don't have the "numbers."  But don't worry...we'll get them soon enough!         

Yesterday started out as every other day these past couple of weeks have:  cold and wet.  Apparently old man winter is upon us...and he is not in a good mood!  I don't know what it is about this weather, but it makes me want to sleep like a bear in hibernation.  Lord knows I try to get up at a decent hour - i.e. 7am - but end up jumping out of bed when I open my eyes and realize that it's already 10am!  Of course, it could be the fact that I work till the wee hours of the morning that I am oversleeping...somehow I've switched from a morning person to a night person.  Go figure.  *shrug*

So yeah, I get to the office at about noon (because I finally got up at 10, showered, got ready, and then had to take my friend to work)...and Stewart's already here - ready to go to lunch!  So I quickly check a few emails, and we are out the door to Chipotle.  Now, normally I would feel guilty about spending so little time in the office in the morning, but as it happens to turn out, yesterday was Martin Luther King Day - which to any normal person would have been a holiday.  So I didn't feel so guilty (though the pound of sour cream and guacamole I asked for on my taco says otherwise).

After taking our leisurly time at Chipotle, we stroll back into the office at around 2pm.  Stewart goes back to working on his marketing plan, but is slightly stuck on a few key points (boy is he going to be mad when he reads this).  So we decide to go over the plan.  Well, knowing us, we of course end up having a 3-hour discussion on the thing.  Yeah, we are long-winded.  By the end of our talk, my brain was completely fried.  Stewart realizes that he needs to finish his laundry, so he leaves.  And I'm about to do the same, when I realize that I completely forgot to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter for this week.  So I reluctenly sit back down at my desk and crack open the book.  So much for calling it quits early.

"Under certain circumstances, profanity provides a relief denied even to prayer."

   - Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)

I read this quote recently, and thought it really summed up what I have been feeling over the past year as we've been starting up The Blue District.  Enjoy!

Entrepreneurism can exist just about anywhere, at any time.  All it takes (all it takes!) is an ability to look at a product, a system, an industry in a new way, with a vision unfettered by convention.  Inc.'s founder, Bernie Goldhirsh, used to refer to entrepreneurs as the artists of the business world.
   -  Jane Berentson, Editor of Inc. Magazine

Oooookay, so I've been really bad and haven't wrote a blog for over 2 weeks now!  I know, I know, I'm a slacker sometimes.  But I'm back baby...and with a vengence!  These past few weeks have been insane!!!  Let's see what we've been up to...

So a little over 2 weeks ago, we had to go to court.  Yes, as in Judge Judy and People's Court...small claims to be exact.  Luckily, we were the one's suing, and not being sued.  Turns out we had to postpone the trial due to a fact discovered while talking to the other party outside the courtroom.  So I can't discuss too many details about it...until after the trial that is.  But in any case, it was sort of exciting to be in a real courthouse.  The cases were real, the people were real, this was our courtroom...this was Sacramento Justice!  Can't wait to go back (in January) and get this thing settled once and for all.

Well, in the midst of all that legal b.s., we somehow managed to create a whole new event.  I went over to Parlare one fine Monday evening.  And after several tequilla shots, managed to muster up enough nerve to ask them if we could host an event there.  Turns out, they loved the idea, and ended up asking us to host a Happy Hour event there permanently!  Stewart and I decided that we wanted to do something fun and different, something that would really put our "Blue District Stamp" on the event.  And so, after racking our brains, we came up with the idea of incorporating our Health & Beauty Events into the Happy Hour.  And again, after thinking of several things that we could do under the H&B umbrella (massages, facials, pedicures, etc.), we finally settled on having manicurists come out and give everyone in attendance manicures.  So we went out and found an awesome nair salon here in Sacramento to supply the manicure services - Blush Nail Bar (check them out in the directory). 

And thus was born the Martini & Manicure Mondays!  We are now doing them every Monday evening, 5pm to 9pm, at Parlare Euro Lounge, featuring manicures by Blush.  We did our first event last night, and it was awesome!  Everyone loved it.  The manicures were great, the food was scrumptious, and the drinks were delicious.  What more could you ask for?   

We are now getting ready for our big investor's presentation, scheduled for December 1.  Hard to believe, but sometimes it costs a lot of money to start a new company!  Our biggest expense is definately marketing.  Getting people's attention is seriously the hardest thing to do.  How do you convey the greatness of The Blue District in a flyer?  Or a magazine ad?  Or a radio announcement?  Stewart has been busy trying to figure this one out...as well as come up with new, innovative ways to "cut through the clutter," so-to-speak.  Fortunately, he's come up with some great ideas, which we will put to the test over the next few weeks. 

But yeah, in order to pay for all this marketing, our salaries, rent, equipment, etc., we need cash!  It sucks in the beginning of a new business, because we are not earning any revenue.  There is no cash flow in...just cash flow out.  Now eventually this trend reverses (and then cash seriously starts to flow in), but it takes awhile.  In business, they call this point the "tipping point."  So up till then, we need enough cash to ensure that we get there.  That's why we are having a presentation to potential investors...to raise this cash.  So admist all of the other things we've been doing, Stewart and I have also been working on this event. 

So yeah, that's been my crazy couple of weeks.  But I do have to admit that I have loved every second of it!  I love being busy.  And we've been doing such fun, innovative work, that I can't help but have enjoyed myself.  I am definately looking forward to the next few weeks (and months)...as we really develop the concept of The Blue District into its full self!!!

Last week was a dynamic week.  Stewart and I once again decided to take the company in a slightly different direction.  It's funny how companies are always evolving - especially a start-up company.  Stewart and I have constantly been re-inventing the concept of The Blue District.  Who are we?  What do we do?  

When Stewart and I were first discussing the business, we thought that we would first JUST offer dinner events, then 3 months later start some "health and beauty" events, then 3 months later start book discussions, and so on.  But last week, we took a step back and realized that we couldn't "step" our way to a full calendar like this...that we, instead, needed to offer a full array of events from the beginning.  And so, we made the decision to begin offering book discussions and health/beauty events right away.

Then, we started to discuss what health/beauty events would be, and realized that these would not be good events to start with for several reasons:  they are really narrow in scope, can cost a lot of money to do, and attract a limited market.  So we decided to postpone the health/beauty events in favor of something that would be much more open.  But what would replace them?  That was the question that plagued us as we walked down J Street and stumbled across a yoga studio.  And then the lightbulb went off...we would offer Yoga events.

And so, we are now planning our first book discussion and yoga events.  I'm really excited, because I love discussing books and I love doing yoga.  We are now currently speaking to several cafe's and yoga studios to get these events up-and-running soon. 

Oh, and besides all of this, we also had our first dinner event last Wednesday at Roxy.  It was great!  Good food, good company, and good atmosphere.  I posted a review about the dinner under our Directory, and Stewart posted the pictures of the event under the Media.  Check them out!

I'm feeling great right now.  We are going to host our very first event on Wednesday!  Wow this has been a long time in the making.  I can't believe that Stewart and I have been building The Blue District for 12 months now.  Twelve looooooong months.  But all of our hard work is beginning to pay off.  If you haven't signed up for the events, please do!!!   

Last week was a fairly quiet week (for once).  I mentioned in my previous blog that I was going to have dinner with a potential investor last Monday.  We did, and it went well.  He was very interested in what The Blue District is, and has since told several others about it - all whom also had interest.  So we are off to a good start on that end.

I went to the Mercantile Saloon this weekend with some friends (1928 L Street).  It was their 30th Anniversary celebration, and they threw a nice party out in their parking lot.  There was a live DJ, lots of booze, and some great food.  Much to my delight, Refer-A-Chef catered it.  Their food is amazing!  For those of you who don't know, they have recently opened an actual restaurant out on Arden (4235 Arden Way).  They named the restaurant Chefferys.  The food is seriously great.  If you haven't been, I suggest you drop everything and immediately run there right now!!!  We are definately going to be hosting some dinner events there in the near future.

Oh, and apparently today is Columbus Day??!  Why am I in the office then......

Hello fellow Blue District members!  Welcome to my first blog.  Unfortunately, this one has to be cut somewhat short, as I am currently running around our office like a chicken with its head cut off.  So many things to do!  But I promise that my next blog will be much more interesting, which, by the way, I will try to do on a weekly basis. 

So why am I so busy right now?  Well, several important things are going on:  1) We just launched our website (after several months of development!), so we are currently working on fixing any errors that we made during development,  2) We are working on getting the word out about our exciting new company to both members and businesses alike, and 3) We are trying to raise some additional capital to fund all of this.  So there is plenty of interesting work going on.

Well I'm off to go meet with a potential investor.  He's a good friend of mine that I have known for several years.  He is a fellow entreprenuer, and owns several companies including a coffee plantation based in Africa, a global mediation firm based in San Francisco, and a traffic planning consultancy based in the East Bay (CA).  Quite an interesting fellow to say the least.  Wish me luck!