New Home

So getting the new site up and running has been more challenging than I expected, particularly given my schedule as of late. I've finally got the new domain running with a template background. In addition, I've transferred my posts from here.

Go check out the new blog at rockytopmba.com.

Unless things change, this will be the last post on this platform.

Hiatus and New Project

Hi, folks. This blog will be on hiatus for the near future. I'm working on a new online project, and I've got a crazy class load for the final semester of my MBA.

Once/If the new project comes online, I'll be sure to post a redirect.

Vacation in Chicago

Just returned to TN after spending some time in Chicago with the Girl. Met her family and spent a few days in downtown Chicago. I must admit, it was a nice city with some good people.

Me and the Girl at Buckingham Fountain:


Wrigley Field during Tuesday, August 15th Reds vs Cubs game:


Me and the Girl at Grant Park for an outdoor concert:


And last but definitely not least, a picture at Legends bar with Buddy Guy. Yeah, I met one of the greatest guitar players alive.

StartupWeekend.Com

StartupWeekend.Com

This is a project from a blog author I follow. The StartupWeekend.com folks come in and facilitate a 3 day weekend, concept to completion, start-up workshop for entrepreneurial communities. Being the conference junkie that I am (I can't help it, I designed and directed leadership conferences for three years!) I am a sucker for this idea.

Now, how can I get this idea off the ground in Knoxville, TN. This place has the money, the ideas, and even pockets of entrepreneurial leadership. Could this be the tool for giving the community the entrepreneurial confidence and publicity needed to take off?

Video: The Call of the Entrepreneur

There is a new video documentary coming out called "The Call of the Entrepreneur." I'm looking forward to checking it out, particularly since I agree with the theme of the trailer that entrepreneurship drives the economy.

I'm sure it has its fair amount of typical elaboration and inflated egos, but it's entrepreneurship. How can you avoid that? Entrepreneurs by their very nature are salesmen and strategists.

LeadAmerica Live Feed Presentation

I was scheduled this afternoon to speak at a LeadAmerica business conference in Boston, MA. Unfortunately, US Airlines (boo, hiss, etc) had other plans for me. After spending my afternoon/evening/night flying to Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, my connection to Boston (as well as every connection for the next 24 hours) was canceled. I got on a plane and flew straight back to Knoxville, TN.

Today, thanks to the technology included in an Apple MacBook, I was able to do the presentation via a live video feed. The students were fantastic, and I really enjoyed my first video feed presentation.

Here is a quick recap of my presentation:

Business Mythbusters (aka 5 Misconceptions of Professional Life)
1. Entrepreneurs don't have bosses.
2. I've got a full social calendar, so I'm out the door at 5pm everyday.
3. Right out of college I'll make 100k, drive a new car, purchase a house and vacation in Europe.
4. If I only had an iPhone/Blackberry/laptop/venture capital/etc I'd be happy and succesful!
5. Life is fair.

Man v. Market (aka How to Separate Yourself from the Pack)
1. Learn to lead through following.
2. There are more important things than salary.
3. Your reputation is your most valuable asset.
4. Think differently.
5. Always put the team first.

Update: A friend and staff member at LeadAmerica placed this little clip of my presentation on YouTube.

Rock-N-Roll Doesn't Care About Your Day Job

I broke the "no going out on a work day" rule last night to catch a show and see some classmates. We started the night watching replays of the Tour de France and ended up at Blue Cats for a Detroit Cobras show.

The Detroit Cobras are kind of punk rock meets girl rock meets rock-a-billy. The first few songs were rough, mostly due to the sounds being very poorly mixed. Once the sound was corrected and the band got comfortable, the audience experienced a rare thing for a Knoxville Wednesday night-- unadulterated rock-n-roll.

At last night's show, the lead singer had an awesome voice, good stage presence and a very sarcastic attitude. You could tell she was a little frustrated by the half-packed venue and horrible sound tech. At times her dry humor worked for her, other times against her. The band as a whole was enjoyable but awkward in a good kind of way. Overall, the band's energy was driven by the female guitarist and drummer.

While I'm having a bit of a slow start this morning, it was definitely worth it. Like my buddy said last night, "Real rock-n-roll doesn't care about your day job."

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

Dunning and Kruger, two academics at Cornell University, developed the Dunning-Kruger effect to study the notion that people with little knowledge tend to think they know more than others with much more knowledge.

They concluded that, based on an individual's level of skill and sensitivity:

1. incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill,
2. incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others,
3. incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy,
4. if they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.

The idea of the Dunning-Kruger effect has been extraordinarily relevant in my experience as a venture capital intern. It's not just me, even the fund partner has stressed the importance of understanding our own limitations. Only once you push yourself to the border of known and unknown (through humility and diligence) can you expand your circle of knowledge.

Confusing, right? Let me simplify. Imagine the knowledge you possess as a circle. Inside the circle is the knowledge you possess, outside of the circle is the infinite unknown, and the circumference of the circle represents those things you've realized you don't know. As you gain more knowledge, the circle expands, thus increasing the circumference of the circle and your knowledge of what you don't know.

So remember this, the next time you know there is value in an investment/project/employee that others can't see, think about the Dunning-Kruger effect. Maybe they lack a critical piece of knowledge to see the value... or maybe you just overestimated your own ability to analyze a situation. :-)

Learn more about the Dunning-Kruger effect here(Wiki) and here (academic journal).

The Swamp of Social Networking, Hugh's Law

Hugh MacLeod, author and artist of Gaping Void, left an incredible profound message on Twitter.

"Hugh's Law": All social networks turn into a swampy mush of spam eventually.

Hugh's law is possibly even prophetic.

Update: Hugh himself payed AW a little visit and posted about Hugh's Law on Gaping Void. Rock on. The Gaping Void is one of the reasons I got involved with blogging.

Update 2: Another favorite blog author, Fred Wilson of AVC, recently wrote about his frustration with Facebook and LinkedIn. This begs the question, how can we drain the swamp?

R&R: Ramsey Cascades Hike

Yesterday I hiked the Ramsey Cascade's trail at the Smokey Mountain National Park. This is my second attempt, after a medical bail 1/2 mile from the cascades. Needless to say, I wanted to conquer the trail this time.

The trail is 8 miles total with a 2000 foot elevation increase. At the top are 75 foot cascades, feeding a steam that the trail criss-crosses. The trail is a moderate level of difficulty, but we decided to add some excitement by setting an aggressive pace. We completed the entire hike in around 4 hours, including 30 minutes to play in the cascades. To top it off, the weather was perfect, ranging from 72-82 degrees Fahrenheit with clear blue skies.

Here are some pictures from the top: