Posting Changes

My apologies for the last couple of weeks, but I have felt there was not anything really worth blogging about. With one more classes until graduation, I decided it’s better to blog with friends than to blog alone. icandevents.blogspot.com will be the new landing page for the types of blogs I want to do. Of course, the subjects will range from entertainment business and popular tech trends, but there will be more of fun stuff I want to blog about such as toys, comics, and games.

For now as I finish my program, their will only be blogs in relation to my school. After September 7th 2011, feel free to use this blog as a reference, as the updates will be sparse. And please check out the new blog with my friends @ icandevents.blogspot.com.

Thanks so Much_ Zon

Blog 2 Assignment for BPD

Blog 2 Assignment for BPD

Here’s a link to blog 1…

Full Sail Instructor Steven Burhoe has comprised an great list of investors comparing their like and dislikes when it comes to business plans on his blog http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/.


Questions for this assignment…
1.)Describe how you intend to incorporate what you have learned from your own research on the experts profiled in the first posting into your own plan. What specific changes to your plan have you made based on the information provided by the experts.

2.)Which sections of your plan do you consider to be the most important to the investor reading your plan?


Answer for 1
I think the biggest thing we can learn from the Johnny Cupcakes' story is do not undersell a way to make money (http://shop.johnnycupcakes.com/story/). Of course, he had a band he was touring with, but in any case selling shirts out of a van doesn’t sound like the most common way to break in for aspiring fashion designers.


Moreover when considering Guy Kawasaki’s “focus on making meaning not money” and his related blogs, we can see that what sold Jonny Cupcakes was not simply t-shirts, but the idea that t-shirts meant something. (http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/04/the_art_of_the_.html#ixzz1R6nwHMBi)
For Johnny Cupcake’s that meaning may simply be categorized as form of expression.

“Our society relies on fashion as a form of expression; this is why designer clothing is so popular nowadays.”_Nigel M.

(http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/2/153/designer-clothing-makes-you-look-and-feel-confident1.asp)

In this sense, Johnny Cupcake took advantage of a normal trend, people want to express them selves. This being a need of a large demographic lead to sales. If the focus had been on money instead, I don’t think the brand itself would be as popular as it is today.

Expression is the base for all things related to art. To understand this is to understand why people buy art. Because of the Internet, “Art” is the easiest to disturb and build leads on. The Johnny Cupcake story will always leave me with this moral, “start small go big.




Answer for 2...

Well when I was fortunate to split a Cab with an entrepreneur from www.avantibp.com, I talked to about a month ago, stressed the importance of a SWOT analysis. Interested in what we were doing, he wanted to know more about the business. However, without a solid SWOT, we could not further the relationship. On the other hand, it showed having a SWOT ready at all times is more important than having a business card because it can send a clear message of what your trying to do and get you funding.

If not a SWOT, you should have at least a 3-4 page skeleton showing what your start-up can do and what you have to offer. In this sense, you can show off the idea, but not all the parts of the plan for someone else to just take.

The most important thing for our angel investor is the financials. In our initial talks it’s not how much, but more how will it be spent.

Re: New Copyright laws

I'm so happy. I contacted Adam Warren creator and owner of "Empowered" if I could create fan art on my DeviantArt account.

I am re-blogging, but this is good show to note for myself.

I am re-blogging
"jassomccabecalacanis"
, but this is good show to note.

New Proposed Ittelctual Property Bill

After hearing about this from friends and reading somethings on the net from DeviantArt and Cnet I decided to post what I find from the official white house pdf to be of interest.


I contend, this isn't about just busting Americans at home, but this may have implications with trading partners like China who have a tone of IP and copyright violations.

Increase Intellectual Property Statutory Maxima
Increase the Statutory Maximum for Economic Espionage: Economic espionage is one of the most serious intellectual property crimes. A defendant committing that offense, however, faces a statutory maximum sentence of only 15 years in prison. 18 U.S.C. § 1831(a). We recommend that Congress raise that statutory maximum given the severity of the conduct inherent in the offense. Other non-intellectual property offenses that have higher statutory maxima include mail fraud (20 years; 18 U.S.C. § 1341), bank fraud (30 years; 18 U.S.C. § 1344), smuggling goods into the U.S. (20 years; 18 U.S.C. § 545), and coun- terfeit U.S. currency offenses (20 years; 18 U.S.C. §§ 471, 472, 473). Moreover, under the U.S. Sentencing Guideline that applies to economic espionage, U.S. Sentencing Guideline (USSG) § 2B1.1, an offense with a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years or more in prison triggers a base offense level of seven, as opposed to the base offense level of six triggered by an offense with a statutory maximum sentence of less than 20 years in prison. USSG §§ 2B1.1(a)(1),(a)(2). Increasing the statutory maximum to at least 20 years in prison, thereby triggering the higher base offense level, is appropriate for this serious offense.

Providing Enforcement Agencies the Tools They Need to Discover and Combat Infringement
Ensure Felony Penalties for Infringement By Streaming and by Means of Other New Technology: It is imperative that our laws account for changes in technology used by infringers. One recent technological change is the illegal streaming of content. Existing law provides felony penalties for willful copyright infringement, but felony penalties are predicated on the defendant either illegally reproducing or distributing the copyrighted work.2 Questions have arisen about whether streaming constitutes the distribution of copyrighted works (and thereby is a felony) and/or performance of those works (and thereby is a not a felony). These questions have impaired the criminal enforcement of copyright laws. To ensure that Federal copyright law keeps pace with infringers, and to ensure that DOJ and U.S. law enforcement agencies are able to effectively combat infringement involving new technology, the Administration recommends that Congress clarify that infringement by streaming, or by means of other similar new technology, is a felony in appropriate circumstances.

Give Wiretap Authority for Criminal Copyright and Trademark Offenses: The Joint Strategic Plan committed Federal agencies to identify gaps in current intellectual property laws and ways that the U.S. Government could enhance enforcement. One such gap involves wiretapping authority (that is, authority to intercept wire, electronic, and/or oral communications). Title 18, United States Code, Section 2516 contains an extensive list of offenses for which the U.S. Government is authorized to seek wiretap authority from a court to obtain evidence of those offenses, including for economic espionage (18 U.S.C. § 1831) and theft of trade secrets (18 U.S.C. § 1832). See 18 U.S.C. § 2516(1)(a) (listing offenses under chapter 90). Omitted from this list are criminal copyright (17 U.S.C. § 506(a)(1), 18 U.S.C. § 2319) and criminal trademark offenses (18 U.S.C. § 2320). Wiretap authority for these intellectual property crimes, subject to the existing legal protections that apply to wiretaps for other types of crimes, would assist U.S. law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate those offenses, including targeting organized crime and the leaders and organizers of criminal enterprises.

Enhance Information Sharing About Enforcement Activity
Ordinarily, DHS is able to inform rightholders after infringing goods have been seized, which can help rightholders to enforce their own rights, including bringing a civil suit, if appropriate. The Administration has identified two areas in which DHS is not expressly authorized to share information post-seizure.

Sigh the Unused Art Contest Form...

Sadly my partner and I agree that it was too late implement this wonder form. So I wanted to still show the world my awesome from and kept it in our Google Doc.

Week #1: First Blog Posting/ First LP Assignment

@ All, well getting closer to graduation and this is my Week #1: First Blog Posting/ First LP assignment were I have to find two experts related to business planning and my plan.


Objectives...

Brief biographical information / background on the ‘experts’ you have chosen.

What are the critical & key components that investors are looking for in a plan?

Why are these considered key?

One day in 2001 John Earle aka (Johnny Cupcakes) went to work with one of his own home made T-Shirts. Little did he know that he would hit the designer T-shirt market at the right time.

“Supply and demand! I ordered a couple dozen Johnny Cupcakes shirts and sold out of them the day I took them off the press! One person would tell ten people and ten people would tell one hundred people.”

In 2002, he started touring in a van and selling his t-shirts from a van. In 2004, he decided to do his first tradeshow bringing friends on board to where chief outfits and help him sell more shirts. In 2005, he decided to expand the business from his garage to offices and a warehouse. By 2006 he open his first store "Boston's Rodeo drive"-- 279 Newbury Street. By 2009 he had expended to online orders more store locations and different type of clothes.

“I turned down investors and took countless risks like keeping my shirts out of chain stores.”

from: http://shop.johnnycupcakes.com/story/

Okay, maybe Jonny Cupcakes isn't the best to look at dealing with investors; however, I picked him because his simple business plan of selling T-shirts in a van to millionaire clothes designer seems to be close to my plan (i.e. small to large). Also of course, we can see that his success and art work attracted investors and department store chains; however, he took risks and by not selling out has success and freedom.

However, let me find an expert that is closer to the assignment...

Make a great pitch


Guy Kawasaki was born in Hawaii in 1954. In 1972 he graduated Iolani 1972. After college at Stanford and UC Davis he worked at apple helping develop the products and company unit 1987. Recently, Guy Kawasaki has the co-founded Alltop.com, an virtual “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and is a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures. He is a successful author of many great books about start up companies but is better known for his book series the “Art of Start”.

"The executive summary is often your initial face to a potential investor, so it is critically important that you create the right first impression. Contrary to the advice in articles on the topic, you do not need to explain the entire business plan in 250 words. You need to convey its essence, and its energy. You have about 30 seconds to grab an investor’s interest. You want to be clear and compelling".

the top qoute comes from Guy's 2006 blog "The Art of the Executive Summary". He continues to list ten things investors want...

1. The Grab:
2. The Problem:
3. The Solution:
4. The Opportunity:.
5. Your Competitive Advantage:
6. The Model:
7. The Team:
8. The Promise ($$):
9. The Ask:

In the end, what Kawasaki is saying about investors that is most important to note is that they want to know is... who runs the company, why they can answer a problem, and how they can make money from it. Second to that, Kawasaki seems to focus on investors and companies that seem to have the same morality as the companies founders similar to a social entrepreneurship.

Comparing the Two

If we compare Johnny Cupcakes to Guy Kawasaki we see two business plans. Cupcake's plan seems organic, and planned not in years but moment to moment; moreover, by not bringing on on investors right away, he managed to have more control over the company in developing its brand and infrastructure. On the other hand, Kawaski's planning seems to attract initial investors who will believe in what a start-up company can do and be less likely to impose control over a start-up because the investors would not only understand what the company is doing, but believe in what the company stands for in that initial read of the plan.

Where the two seem very convergent is that they are both "Mensches"; meaning, there are people that seem kind and have the ability to make the right decision at the right time. So another huge part of the business plan after the initial flip thorough will be presentation, and in this, the presenter must be a Mench.


Be a Mensch






Read more: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/04/the_art_of_the_.html#ixzz1R6nwHMBi