Following up my post about Ramen, I came to find out about Dutch photographer Erik Klein Wolterink. It is such a small world. As many of you know, I have a fond place in my heart for both the Netherlands and photography. Rather than turning this article into a name-dropping session only to be rivaled by TMZ, I will keep the “how?” short, and focus on the “so what? “.

If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning, you’ll know that I once started a photography business via a webshow that I created. Episode after episode, I met real entrepreneurs who were doing real things –all of them startups, trying to make it. Meanwhile, I too started a business, walking through the fundamentals of the business on the show –in this case a photography business. Which then turned into an international photography business. In Amsterdam. Using Amsterdam-based photographers. London. Using London-based photographers (I will not list out every major city, don’t worry).

Fast forward to a few years ago, my friend Daphne reached out to me, we caught up on life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, business, and of course kitchens. Kitchens you ask? Yes. Kitchens. So I put her in touch with my friend Sarah, lover all things food, and owner of one of the greatest residential kitchen setups in NYC and their relationship blossomed –introduce Erik.

So as it turns out, Erik is a friend of a friend of a friend. But that’s just the beginning of what makes this story awesome.

Erik is into kitchens. In a real way. He photographs kitchens, carefully and systematically. Every shelf, Every cup. Every Tool. All of it. Layer on some cultural awareness, and BOOM. You have Kitchen Portraits of Amsterdam in 2011. Exhibition + Published Book. Done and Dusted. Truly “we are what we eat”.

But wait.

It gets better.

That’s right, he’s coming to New Amsterdam. Need I remind you, Istanbul was once Constantinople.

Well, if you believe that a kitchen is a metaphor for a complex, multicultural reality AND you want to be involved in his next project, let me know! If you’d like to find out more about him and his project and then decide if you’d like to introduce your kitchen to the life of a working model kitchen  Erik is looking for NYC kitchens to photograph. Equal Opportunity Ethnic Kitchen Photography here my friends (EOEKP). That’s right, I just made that acronym up.

Let me know if you’re interested.

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Erik Klein Wolterink, Kitchens in NYC appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

It’s lunchtime here in casa de ciudadano del mundo. As I was contemplating my lunch dining options, I chuckled, thinking about a memory… something resembling deja vu…

I had been here before. This was a scene I was familiar with.

Opening the packaging of the 39 cent sodium-laden goodness, and placing it in a bowl, I was reminded of the time I launched my first business. Unique Davis Solutions, Take 1 — dreams of building a technology consultancy focused on business intelligence – such hopes of greatness that I imagined all the dust clouds that my competition would be left in. Very shortly followed by feelings of impending doom and gloom as both of the towers fell in NYC. Sad days. Very grim grim days.

The next three months were dismal. No sales. NONE. No income and rising debt. That debt quickly became a MOUNTAIN of debt. What was I going to do?

Amongst other cost cutting measures, I decided to eat ramen. I was going to cut all expenses down to the bone, until I figured out what I was going to do. I learned many years later that it’s called “cash management” and “cash preservation”. But back then, I only knew it as, ramen was the cheapest thing available to eat so I wouldn’t starve.

I eventually grew to hate ramen. It didn’t take long. Opening, what seemed to be the millionth package of ramen, I despised those noodles. I was angry at the ramen.

So I sat down, and thought about what I was going to do — with my sodium levels creeping into the stratosphere, and not being creative enough to film an analogous “super size me” movie — I started scanning Craiglist for freelance jobs. No response. Not a one.

Dinner time, Another package of ramen.

What was I going to do? The panic was setting in. The credit card statements kept coming…. mmm…. another forkful of ramen.

I have to give credit to Sergey – a great Visual Basic developer I was working with then – he said… “Mike, sell some flooring work, my dad owns a tile shop”.

There it was. The glimmer of hope. The “what now” question had been answered. Though, weak, and lacking a lot of fundamentals, it was better than anything else I had cooking at the time, which was NOTHING. So there it was, Unique Davis Solutions, Take 2. I will save this story for a different day — starting out in the flooring trade, then adding kitchen and bathrooms trade, then getting into speculation. But I remember the day I went to the store and bought real protein, using cash, from a real salary, from what shaped out to be a pretty good run as a General Contractor in residential construction.

That night, I made chicken pizziola — though it looked nothing like this one here.

Why am I telling this story? Because Global Citizen Experiment, v2.0. I’m in the thick of it again. Same passion, new thesis, new teams, together with some new skills, let’s see if we can make opportunities happen. Bootstrapping our way to yet another story.

Have a great day beautiful people!

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Ramen. It builds character. appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

Global Citizen here – I was thinking about all of the positive news that usually surrounds entrepreneurs and their lifestyles. I wondered how many times those same entrepreneurs talk about when things that they are trying — read present tense — are not going well for them. There are plenty of articles about entrepreneurs who have failed — again read past tense. This will be one article where I tried something, and am not afraid to share with you — were things are not going well — and I’m working on improving!

Since last we spoke, I had recently started a segment called “Let Me Draw You A Diagram” — where I would create little illustrations to help you “visualize” the points in the article.

Intially, I had created these illustrations using an iPad + Sketchbook Express + my stylus. After a few iterations, and one post with a diagram included, I do have to say that the output was less than awesome. I will be the first to say it. It was miserable — dare I say…a failure.

Base assumptions

But I still believed that pictures are worth 1000 words. Diagrams are useful to visualize concepts. The problem here was that I draw like a 4-year-old. The base assumptions were true. The problem was in the execution. So – I decided to double down. Rather than kill the idea, I decided to double down on passion and double down on skills.

It didn’t matter that I drew like a 4-year-old! I will tape my own drawing to my own fridge!

I watched more tutorials on youtube. I asked friends for advice, and I upgraded my tools. I am now using Adobe Illustrator CS6 + Wacom Bamboo Capture tablet. Don’t worry this is not a review for the Wacom Bamboo Capture. I kept practicing. Command-N, gives you a new canvas in Illustrator. Believe me, I had that keyboard shortcut memorized after a few hours of practice.

Here are the results from 2 days of practicing.

Uploaded to this blog, and taped to my fridge!
I am entrepreneur, here me roar!

This is a work in progress (just like your idea should be) and I hope to make improvements, refining my skills, learning how to use the tools better, until I’m ready to sieze the opportunity.

Let me know what you think!

Passion + Skills = Opportunity.

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Skills Improvement appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

Meet the McLobster.

After some reflection, conversation, <insert other ominous sounding communication mechanisms>, I have decided to take down the original post, and instead replace it with a brief pontification about the nature of experiments. Even THIS VERY blog post was iterative – how’s THAT for practicing what you preach? Why you ask?

All the cool kids are doing it.

1. Rovio got to Angry Birds after 51 other less successful games.
2. Coca-cola came out with Coke II, do you even remember that?
3. Would you like McLobster sauce with that? Yeah. The McLobster.

So what does this mean for this blog? To quote Bob Dylan, “Keep on keepin’ on”. We’re adjusting. We’re moving on.

Here’s how we adjust.

1. Let’s take a product: Anchovies.
2. Let’s take a problem opportunity: The unfortunate halitosis that ensues after consumption of these delicious morsels.
3. Let’s iterate.
4. Let’s have some fun.
5. Let’s see where this gem ends up! Nothing is off limits (let’s at least TRY to keep it clean). Market sizing help. Taglines. Logos. Anything you feel like contributing is fair game.

Much love!

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Collaborative Iteration appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

My life over the last few weeks has been pretty hectic. Starting a new experiment. Articulating a new experiment. Configuring the variables. Getting a flux capacitor. I mean the list goes on and on.

Today I was forwarded an article about a man who outsourced his own job to China. I do not want to spark a controversy here, but I say good on you brother. Conceptually, I agree with you. The execution was poor. But that’s a different conversation for a different time.

I thought about execution. This guy actually traded one problem for a different one. The job of the indian and the job of the chief are both difficult. The indian needs time, skill, and resources to do their job. The chief needs to know how much time, skill, and resources are needed to do the job. How does this work?

Communication.

What needs to be communicated?

Status + Estimates

But it’s a balancing act, but done well, could end you up in Cirque Du Soleil.

I wonder if they are good project managers?

Factors that should be considered as part of the balancing act:

1. How often does status need to be communicated
2. How time-consuming is the status reporting process
3. How does one increase the confidence in estimates without delaying the overall project for the creation of these estimates.

Global Citizen Experiment v2 (GCEv2) will require careful attention to maintaining this balance – as there will be multiple simultaneous work streams to this project. More on this later.

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Now? How about now? Ok, NOW? appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

I said it.

Your idea is not worth anything.

Before you try to tell me that I need to sign an NDA becuase you’re worried I am going to “steal” your idea. I would like to share 3 bits of reality that is my reality.

1. I do not have an army of programmers at my disposal 24-hours a day that have the ability to replicate my understanding of your drunken slurring rendition of a Guy Kawasaki 10-page investor deck that you “aren’t even going to need because your idea is that great!”
2. Your NDA is not air-tight. Neither is mine. Neither are any of them.
3. Execution creates value. Not diagraming out your idea in the air like your Tom Cruise in Minority Report.

Ok, maybe if you’re Tom Cruise, but then I’d like to see you jumping on some sofas as well.

Prototype is the new powerpoint deck.

Most technologies are available for cheap and/or free. If you can not navigate your way to a prototype, I write down in the moleskine in my mind:

“Execution?”.

You know what I don’t write down?

“WOW, this guy is sitting on a 1 BILLION dollar idea, if only he had 500 dollars to build a prototype, THEN, by George, the world would see!”.

Are you kidding me?

• You have an idea on how to sell popsicles with custom graphics? show me a prototype.
• You think you’re going to be the next instagram? show me a prototype.
• Oh really? it’s a mashup of some complex data that your patent-pending algorithm slices and dices through some wizardry? You guessed it. Show me a prototype.

Ideas are good. Ideas are very seldom bad. Ok, some ideas are just wrong. But generally, ideas exist on a spectrum, but no where on that spectrum is “worth” calculated.

Worth = value created.

Value creation is a function of execution.

Therefore, through transitive property, Worth is function of execution.

Here, let me draw you a diagram.

Straight from the project managers guidebook.

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Your idea is not worth anything appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

An entirely off-topic post, but I’m super excited to share this news, so I’m going to do exactly that. On 12/12/12, I asked my girlfriend Wiktoria to marry me — and she said YES!.

How does this alter the experiment? It doesn’t. Because she knows what she’s getting into

All further updates regarding W + I can be found at our personal site : http://www.wiktoriaandmike.com

Wish us well!

Global Citizen. Out.

The post She said YES! appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

Yesterday, this site didn’t have facebook connectivity. Today it does. Please show your love and like the articles.

But perhaps the improvement enhancement I am most happy about (today), can be best summed up as:

let me draw you a diagram

Moving forward, I shall pepper in some diagrams into my articles. Why type when you can draw? And just like the door to my mother’s refrigerator, I shall file all my artistic renderings under “Let Me Draw You A Diagram”.

Isn’t it so much clearer now?

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Continuous Improvement appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

In a previous article I talked about how I was at a New Year’s party in San Francisco where I met some very interesting people. Now, for some the word “interesting” is a loaded adjective, but in this context I mean it in the most innocuous (raise your hand if you got a dictionary for Christmas) way.

Let me start by telling you about the house. Imagine Real World meets a technology incubator. Now, add meal plans for all the house residents. And finally – put this house on Billionaire’s Row. Yes, you heard that right. Larry Ellison lives on the block.

Ok, you got the mental image of the house?

Now. What does this have to do with global citizen experiment? The new experiment.

Passion + Skills = Opportunity.

Meet M

M is a woman. M has an undergraduate degree. M also has a graduate degree. M and I had a conversation that lasted over 30 minutes, during which time she walked me through “What keeps her busy in San Francisco?” with an efficiency I have only seen in Singapore Chani airport. The bulleted list of accomplishments rolled off her tongue until she arrived at the bullet point “I’m also an angel investor”. It was at that point that had to ask her to stop. ALSO an angel investor? In. Addition. To. What?

The story just got interesting. I went to reach for my popcorn (or in this case, champagne). M works at a very large company in SF. During her day job, she works on search engine marketing – and she’s good at it. During her free time, she takes that passion, and applies it to three other startups that she believes in.

These startups are across a variety of industries, but all need one thing — search engine marketing goodness. M gives of her time. M gives of her money. M took passion + skills and created opportunity.

Meet A

A is a man. A has an undergraduate degree. A also has a graduate degree. A and I have known each other for years. During this time, he has started a dating site, a robot incubator, and even investigated bringing the zipcar model to yachts. A has skills. Everyone has that one friend that is able to bring everyone together – no matter how varied the interests. A is that guy. Couple that with the infectious way he tells the story of his next venture, A has skills.

But how does A do it? Consistently, methodically coming up with ideas, getting others excited about his ideas? Simple. Passion + Skills = Opportunity.

And there are so many others…

I want to thank everyone that I met that night – for keeping it simple, for reminding me of the basics. Passion + Skills = Opportunity.

Global Citizen. Out.

The post Ain’t no party like a west coast party appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.

This is where you come in. If there is any cool new-fangled social thing that you think — “you know, globalcitizen needs to do this!” — drop me a line, comment down below, or hell, write an article about it and link back to over here, and I’ll take a looksy.

Globalcitizen. Out.

The post Fancy, but not quite pantsy. appeared first on Global Citizen Experiment.