The Unknown Studio

Working for oneself is an incredible, exhausting, and rewarding experience. And it’s little gems like the one below, courtesy one of my partners, that makes the experience often gut-busting. Just when levity is needed, it arrives:

Unless a huge show-stopper crops up, I want [the software] to be released by the end of the day. It’s going to suck, so we’ll have to really stress the alphaness of the software, and tell them that they’re seeing software when most people shouldn’t.

I’m still working on retrieving contacts so it doesn’t hammer the server. That’ll be done shortly, then I need to really lock down the sign up process to avoid confusion.

Also, I just took a fantastic poo. It was magnificent.

Thanks for that, Jeffu.

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I was referred to this site today. Man, there are some interesting profiles on VC firms here. If you’re looking for venture capital, you might want to have a peek at www.theFunded.com first.

An excerpt:

Allen Frazier brought Jon Gilbert from Arthur Anderson with him when he formed Frazier Securities. Jon is a former cop, who despite getting an MBA is better suited eating donuts and drinking bad coffee. Allen puts Jon on the boards of his companies, even if the CEO’s [sic] have never met Jon before. Jon destroyed our $150 MM company, just by his actions on our board. His constant whining and squealing at board meetings eventually worked, as he undermined the CEO, and forced the company to be liquidated for $15 MM.

(Thanks CDiddy!)

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I came across The Office Newb blog today, and have thoroughly enjoyed the posts I’ve read. An excerpt:

After all, who would you rather trust to get your important project done? The person with the great hair and coordinating accessories (shoes, necklace and purse) who was thoughtful enough to detail to make it all match or the person who shows up to work in sweatpants and their college sweatshirt who couldn’t get it together long enough to put on a decent pair of pants before leaving the house?

- From “To Dress or Not to Dress“

I have to admit to sharing some (most?) of her views on dress code. Incidentally, she’s now on the blogroll.

About six months ago, I worked for another subsidiary of the parent company I currently work for. Call it GasCo. I’m now at ElectricCo.

While at GasCo, I would frequently whinge about the dress code: the expectation was that you would always wear a tie (for the men, anyhow), and there was no such thing as casual Friday. When I started at ElectricCo, I lauded their relaxed dress code… until I saw some people wearing crew-cut sweatshirts with stains on them and dirty jeans. It occurred to me that this simply wasn’t right.

I had a conversation with my boss about this. She reminded me that people are judged by how they dress, and she suggested people should dress “how they want to be paid.” You want to be paid a six-figure income? Dress the part, buddy-boy (or buddy-lady).

I actually enjoy wearing nice business attire to work, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch for me. But for the first week, everyone kept asking me if I had a job interview, which speaks volumes of the corporate culture at ElectricCo. Still, one day when I’m running my own company full-time, I’ll dress relaxed: jeans and a sport coat, Hank Scorpio-style!

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