Archive for August, 2007
Aug26th
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
On August 21, 2007 the Ambassador from China to the US was invited to join in a breakfast at The Benson Hotel. I was also invited and knew that I would be asked to say the concluding remarks. Sitting across from Ambassador Zhou Wenshong I listened intently to his message and what the speakers who spoke on behalf of their company, US Reliant, Inc. had to say. When it was my turn to speak I addressed the entire room by saying that although we had only been in this room for an hour, we are now a family.
The Ambassador’s wife, Xie Shumin returned my statement with an approving acknowledgement that was shown in her nod. I continued to say that the company was going to China and that they would, thanks to the efforts of the Ambassador and my friend, Jin Lan, who organized this breakfast, make acquaintances with a number of large manufacturing companies in China. I had been thinking that US Reliant had only 25 employees, not enough to fill even one small bus. Yet because of the relationships started today they would be able to have these high-level meetings. In turn, I suggested that small Chinese companies should be afforded similar opportunities to meet large US companies.
I finished by making a prediction. I said that one year from this date, if we meet again we will see how far the ripples on the ponds that we are creating today have expanded. Apparently my message struck a cord. When I closed by stating my appreciation for being invited to speak today, I heard a round of applause.
Question: Is there a common ground or a symbol that can bring Chinese and the US companies closer together? I have an idea which is another one of my postings. Have you found it? What are your views on the current business relationship between the US and China?
Posted in Business, China, Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Aug26th
Sunday, August 26th, 2007
While I was the Managing Partner of First Source Capital Fund I mentioned at a meeting of other fund managers that I had fun doing my work. One of them took umbrage at my comment. He asked if I was often still at the office after 7 p.m. I said ‘Yes.’ He then asked if I liked to be on airplanes every week. I said: ‘Yes.’ He then said that there was no room for fun in our profession. I disagreed. I said: If I was not doing what I love to do, I would not do it.” He registered no acknowledgement with what I had said.
Immediately on returning to my office I called Oregon Screen Impressions and ordered T-shirts with the First Source logo and a tagline that read: “The Venture Fund WithThe Silent D.”
I had no difficulty finding persons willing to wear the shirts, and not only from companies that we had funded.
Last week I exchanged email messages with a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal. We had met at a breakfast in Portland for the Ambassador from China. I gave him one of my Savvy, Sage and Wise business cards. It carried the address for this blog site. In his email to me he said he was “. . . looking forward to lots and lots of fun working together.”
Seeing his message brought to mind this story about the tagline. Obviously my new best friend would have no problem appreciating the importance of having fun and working hard.
Question: Do you agree; does keeping ‘fun’ in the business equation, make for greater success?
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Aug7th
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
The Oregonian, on Thursday morning’s edition for July, had a headline in the Sports Section that said: Seattle’s bullpen fails in ninth. Above the headline was a box score that said: Seattle 7, Los Angeles 7 (through 11 innings). Below the headline was a picture of a celebration by the Los Angeles Angels after a two-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning tied the game.
Below the picture a caption said: “. . . the Wednesday night game did not end in time for this edition of The Oregonian.”
We also get the local paper, The Columbian, which was on the porch and I read it first. Apparently the folks who work there stayed up to see the finish of the game. Its headline, also on the front page said: “Mariners salvage win in the 12th”
The article that followed the picture had this for its lead-in sentence: “Yuriensky Betancourt grounded a single through the left side of a five-man infield to score Adrian Beltre with one out in the bottom of the 12th inning and send the Seattle Mariners to a wild 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.”
I love sports, especially for the metaphors they provide. In business many times there are those who give up, whether the score is tied or the game has gone deep into extra innings. Then there are those who stay to the end, but they never give up, and then they are the ones who are rewarded for their commitment and perseverance.
The next time you find yourself believing that a particular company or person is going to fail, remember the way The Oregonian handled the story where they highlighted that Seattle’s bullpen failed in the 9th, and then recall what The Columbian had to say because they stayed to the finish. The other day I saw a bumper sticker on a car that was being towed. It said: FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.
Yesterday I parked in a lot and the car in front of me said: “Something good is going to happen soon.” And the week before when in Salt Lake my fortune cookie said: “Soon you’ll be sitting on top of the world.” That’s the way it works in baseball (sometimes.)
Our dueling newspapers showed that it’s the final score that counts; not an inning by inning box score. “Fail” did not happen during the game. “Win” comes at the end of the game.
The moral to this story is:
Who cares how many innings it takes to win? A win is a win, salvaged or not!
Jacques B. Nichols
August 3, 2007
Posted in Business, Business Coaching, Finance, Law, Marketing, Money, Venture Capital | 1 Comment »
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Aug7th
Tuesday, August 7th, 2007
Was it always there, in plain view?
Of course it was, but I hadn’t seen it before.
But when I did, it struck me
Like a red flag excites a bull,
Like a dropping cross-arm signals a coming train,
Like a sounding car alarm; they get attention
Now it won’t go away
Every time I see it tucked inside the word
‘Business’, it’s in there, in plain view.
The word: Sin
Surely it has been noticed by others,
Comments must have been written
But still the question remains
Why is ‘business’ spelled this way?
Could it be because ‘sin’ always tries to hide,
The way it hides in every deal?
Well, some can say: ‘That’s business.’
But I want to change our way of spelling it,
Just like I want to change the world and have peace.
But how do we take ‘sin’ out of business?
Try transparency
Try full disclosure
Try integrity
Try to avoid what’s an acceptable sin
And spell the word: ‘Busyness’ like in ‘Happyness’
Maybe they’ll make a movie of it too.
Like that red flag in front of a charging bull
Drop the flag! Drop the ‘i’ and use a ‘y.’
Besides, asking ‘Why’ is always a good idea.
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