chris mcaleenan

The Nuru Project gang and I stopped by the first Young Professionals for Acumen Fund event last night. The theme of the event was “Wines from Around the World”, but the focus was on learning more about Acumen Fund’s mission and meeting others interested in social venture capital. It was a great event and very well attended.

Nuru has been working with Acumen for the past six months. Our proceeds are put to work through distribution to non-profit partners, and we’ve spent substantial time looking at a variety of philanthropic models. Social venture capital is by far the most appealing and Acumen is leading the way in this space. 

In this New York Times article, Thomas Freidman writes about what he calls “patient capital” much more eloquently than I ever could. Acumen summarizes the concept in describing their approach:

We believe that pioneering entrepreneurs will ultimately find the solutions to poverty. The entrepreneurs Acumen Fund supports are focused on offering critical services - water, health, housing, and energy – at affordable prices to people earning less than four dollars a day.

The key is patient capital. We use philanthropic capital to make disciplined investments – loans or equity, not grants – that yield both financial and social returns. Any financial returns we receive are recycled into new investments.

Social venture capital gets at the root of many issues at the base of the pyramid. Empowering individuals to grow businesses creates jobs and real wages, while demanding ROI ensures responsible, sustainable use of capital. The fact that these returns can then be put to use helping other developing entrepreneurs is icing on the cake.

The challenges of global poverty are huge and incredibly daunting, and it would be shortsighted to think that social venture capital is a panacea. I do believe that we are going to see real progress in my lifetime, and I think that innovative approaches that go beyond simply “giving aid” will drive this change.

I’ve always been a huge fan of IDEO and the Really Cool Things they bring to life. The process by which they create these Really Cool Things has shaped much of my thinking about innovation and product development. Luckily for all of us, IDEO is very open about this process – check out these books, the design thinking blog, and the case studies on their site.

Today’s IDEO ah-ha moment comes from Diego Rodriguez’s blog:

…the question of “how can we be more innovative?” is better couched as “how can we be more comfortable acting in innovative ways?” It’s about encouraging a behavior, not a thing. A verb, not a noun.

What a simple but profound statement. If leaders can create a culture where ideas thrive then innovation and the profit that innovation drives will naturally follow. Corporate culture is a tricky thing to be sure, but it’s a much more effective road to innovation than putting a few smart people in a room and hoping they come up with the next big thing.

Besides, a creative culture is a hell of a lot more fun than a stuffy one.

I love Amazon and have been using Amazon Prime since it first came out. We order from them at least once a week, if not more. 99% of the time I have a great experience. When something does go wrong and I have to call customer service, however, it’s another story all together. I understand keeping costs low, and I’m even willing to tolerate crappy service, but I sure wish I didn’t have to.

Case in point:

Me: I’m a bit confused – it appears my Amazon Prime account has been cancelled. Do you know why this happened?

Offshore Amazon Customer Service: Yes, it has been cancelled.

Me: Right, I can see that, but I’d like to place an order. What is the reason it was cancelled?

OACS: It was manually cancelled.

Me: That’s strange, I know that I didn’t cancel it. Can you please reactivate it?

OACS: You will need to reactivate it by reapplying.

Me: Why do I need to reapply? Did it expire?

OACS: Yes.

Me: Oh, alright. Well when did it expire?

OACS: August, 2009.

Me: So it didn’t expire yet. Maybe it was manually cancelled after all? I don’t mind reactivating it if it expired, but I don’t want to pay twice if it was cancelled for some other reason.

OACS: OK, sir, please hold on while I look at your account. [pause 2 minutes] Sir? It was manually cancelled.

Me: So it did not expire?

OACS: Yes. I have reactivated it.

Me: Great, thank you! How do I use Amazon Prime on the order currently in my cart?

OACS: You will need to reapply for Amazon Prime.

Me: But you just told me that my Amazon Prime is reactivated and good until August, 2009.

OACS: It is good until August.

Me: Yes, but August 2009 is 10 months away.

OACS: Sir, I need two more minutes, because I need to talk to my supervisor regarding this.

Me: OK…

OACS: OK, sir, I need you to reapply for Amazon Prime.

Me: And I won’t be charged for this?

OACS: Correct.

Me: OK, I’m on the site now, but it asks for my payment option.

OACS: Yes, please enter your payment option.

Me: But I’m afraid that if I enter my payment option you will use that payment option to charge me.

OACS: OK, sir, please hold while I speak to my supervisor.

Me: OK, sir, your Amazon Prime membership has been reactivated.

[Indeed, Amazon Prime does work now]

Me: Great, thank you.

How strange.

From Greg Mankiw’s blog:

Julie and I went for a nice easy run out to the Red Hook Ikea and back. Our normal Saturday run is in Prospect Park, so it was nice to change things up a bit. Although I generally try to save my shins by running on asphalt, the sidewalk running on this route didn’t bother me much.

Part of our run was along the Brooklyn Greenway, which is going to be AMAZING when it’s done. Right now it’s pretty short (about half a mile), and apparently they are working weekends to finish. We learned this by running through freshly laid asphalt and narrowly avoiding an upcoming steamroller.

I also had another opportunity to try out my new Garmin 405. So far I love it, although there are a few features that annoy me. That said, being able to chart my runs (and bike rides) on Google Maps rocks:

Later that night we made goat cheese ravioli from scratch (took four hours, but it worked out well), along with homemade garlic bread. We also found a bottle of wine from Stellenbosch, South Africa, one of the areas we toured on our honeymoon. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

Freshman Fund had a great segment on ABC last night. I’ll post the details as soon as we have a digital copy. Looks like we’ll have no shortage of sources for the clip thanks to the many emails we’ve received offering to send it to us.

Here’s a clipping service pitch that just landed in our inbox:

Hello:

My name is [retracted] and I represent [retracted] in New York.
There was a segment that aired on the WABC Eyewitness News last night that featured Mr. Jason Olim from your organization.
Please let me know if you would like to order this segment.

Download-$160. Clip is there to you within a few hours or ordering.
DVD is $150 plus messenger and a CD is $150 plus messenger.

I would need a credit card for a first time order.

If you have any questions or would like to order this segment please contact me.

Thanks.

[retracted]

Let me get this straight: Someone took the time to watch our clip and track down our company email address with the hope of making a sale. This is their business. Is the above email really all they could muster? C’mon!

Last week every tech/VC blog in the world chimed in on what the economic downturn would mean for start-ups. This week started with a huge surge in the public markets followed by yesterday’s drop. As I write this post the Dow has fallen back under 9,000. I’m calling it now: yes, this is going to be a long downturn and it’s going to suck. But, it won’t mean much for smart start-ups.

If, like Charlie, you’ve been managing your business conservatively and aren’t worried, keep doing what you’re doing – it’s obviously a prudent way to run things. If you’re reading this while unpacking a shipment of Aeron chairs that just arrived at your 5,000 sq foot Soho headquarters, you should probably keep on doing what you’re doing too – your world is going to come crashing down anyway, so you might as well enjoy the ride.

For everyone else, the hysteria should serve as a reminder to keep your eye on the ball. We all need to:

Show real leadership. Employees and co-workers are scared too. Address it, discuss the company’s current position, set priorities/strategy, and execute.

Focus on revenue. Now’s the time to find a way to make money. If you’re business is advertising-based with no advertisers, come up with a different monetization strategy. Businesses that make money when no one is spending will look pretty good when the purse strings loosen again. Of course, it goes without saying that bringing in revenue facilitates other fun things too – like paying salaries, rent, and the occasional Shack Burger.

Strengthen partnerships. Your vendors, biz dev relationships, and most importantly customers are feeling the pinch with you. Find out how they’re coping. Learn from them. Most importantly (especially when it comes to customers), adapt your business accordingly.

Seize opportunity. Layoffs mean talent is hitting the streets. Scarcity encourages innovation. Customers who used to buy Big Expensive Brand A might now be interested in looking at Start-Up B instead. Take advantage of it!

Deal with funding Issues. A lot of other posts led with this, but I purposely left it for the end. Sure, raising capital is going to get harder and valuations are going to go down. That’s what happens in a downturn. Get over it and get it done. The sooner your raise the money you need the sooner you can go back to creating value. If you’re able to able to get by without raising capital, even better.

The bottom line is that things are going to change. If we’re smart about it we’ll get ahead. Most of us will have to make some tough decisions, but in the end we’ll survive. Things are always changing – those who ultimately find success are the ones who recognize what needs to be done early and do it.

Hard to believe that it’s already time to start thinking about the 2009 race season. I have two A races that I’d like to build the season around:

• 7/12/2009 – Rhode Island Ironman 70.3
• 7/26/2009 – New York City Tri
• 11/1/2009 – New York City Marathon

The Rhode Island 70.3 will be my first half ironman, which is an exciting goal. I love the NYC Tri and can’t wait to tackle it again. The NYC Marathon will mark another first for me, and it’s a race that Julie and I are going to do together. I haven’t made it through the lottery for 3 consecutive years, which means I am guaranteed entry.

Since both tris are within a few weeks of one another I should be able to schedule one peak in July and another for the Marathon in November. I haven’t put together a full annual training plan, but it’s something the analytical side of me is looking forward to completing. In the meantime, what other races should fill out my calendar? Up for consideration:

• 3/21/2009 – National Half Marathon
• 3/29/2009 – March Madness Biathlon (2/12/2)
• 5/30/2009 – Pawling Tri (sprint)
• 5/31/2009 – Mighty Montauk Tri (olympic)
• 9/13/2009 – Nation’s Tri (olympic)

I definitely want a few tune-up races before Rhode Island. The Mighty Montauk looks like a good fit, but there’s not much info online for 2009. I shot the organizer an email and hope to hear back. Nation’s also looks like a ton of fun and will be a good break from marathon training. I’ll sprinkle in a few NYRR races throughout the summer, but those can work around everything else.

Any thoughts on early season races in the northeast?

I’m hooked! The NYC Triathlon was my first attempt at the sport, but it definitely won’t be my last. In retrospect it might have been a good idea to start with a sprint tri or even an olympic in a smaller city, but I’m in it for the challenge anyway, right? So here’s how it went (apologies in advance for the LONG report):

Julie and I woke up bright (well actually pitch black) and early on Sunday morning – 4:00 am. I had a quick breakfast of Kashi waffles with peanut butter and a bit of coffee, then we were out the door. I opted to hire a car service for the 20 minute trip up to 72nd Street rather than add a half hour to the journey by taking the subway. Definitely a smart move.

Nerves chased away most of my tiredness on the way uptown, and once we arrived the bright lights and upbeat music ensured that I was wide awake. I made my way through the other athletes to my slot on the bike rack, set up my transition area, topped off my tires, and then sat back and took in the scene. The energy and excitement in the air was incredible. In no time at all we’d be off!

We had to walk a mile up the Hudson River in order to swim back down. Luckily this area wasn’t closed off, so Julie could walk with me and give me some last minute encouragement. My wave didn’t start for quite a while which meant we got to watch everyone test the waters.

Pretty soon I found myself one wave back and headed out to the start barge. This was it! Since this was my first tri I had decided to wait near the back of the pack and hop in last. Well… somehow that didn’t happen and I found myself in the very front and center of the pack. Yikes!

Swim – 26:27, 133rd place

The gun when off, I jumped into the water, and immediately started to panic a bit. Swimming in a pool does not exactly prepare you for the Hudson River. Pool water is nice and clear. Hudson River water is black. Pool water does not smell (nor taste) like gasoline. Pools are calm, and the Hudson River is anything but calm – flying limbs of other triathletes, the natural chop of the water, and the now incoming tide added to the chaos. One final, but important difference: pools absolutely do not contain jellyfish.

About a minute into the swim (and therefore right in the middle of my minor panic attack), I caught a jellyfish directly in the face. I didn’t see it coming until it was on me in a burst of purple goo and searing pain. The actual sting only lasted a split second, but the pain was a bit like a jolt of electricity and stayed with me well into the bike portion of the race. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who got stung – the local news and other bloggers reported many similar encounters.

Overall I was happy to be out of the water and pleased with my swim time. I was really shooting to go under 20 minutes, but since the current was working against me 26 minutes was a nice surprise. Even more surprising was the fact that the swim turned out to be my best leg.

Bike – 1:23:02, 157th place

My transition from swim to bike was uneventful. It took me just over 5 minutes to strip off my wetsuit and change into my bike gear. That’s pretty slow, but I didn’t practice transitions and didn’t really worry about going too quickly.

The bike course took us along the Henry Hudson Parkway up into the Bronx and back. It was a scenic, rolling course that was a lot of fun. I flew down a few hills (40+ mph), got to bike through a tollbooth, and slogged through several long, but very gradual climbs. I saw Julie just as I started out and that gave me a big boost of energy. My overall average speed was about 18 mph, which was 2 mph under my 20 mph goal pace. Oh well!

After the race I discovered a major mistake on the bike – I only consumed about 50% of one water bottle during the entire hour and twenty three minutes. To say this would come back to hurt me on the run is a bit of an understatement.

Run – 1:06:03, 224th place

Well, my time and place really tell the story here. I averaged 10:37 miles! I was anticipating around 8:30 miles. Things started out really well. I had a pretty smooth transition (about 2 minutes), and felt very good as I headed out of the transition area and up to 72nd Street.

Once I hit 72nd Street the heat became really oppressive; it had warmed up to a balmy 95 degree heat index! Aside from the heat, crossing 72nd Street was super motivating. Fans lined the street, including Julie cheering me on. For about the first 2 miles I was running right around 8:00 min/mile – exactly where I wanted to be.

Just before mile 2, my right quad tied itself into a knot. The kind of knot that you can’t run on. The kind of knot, it turns out, that comes from attempting a triathlon in 95 degree heat and drinking only half a bottle of water. My left quad and calf quickly followed. The rest of the run turned into a pattern of: run a pitifully short distance, have leg give out, slow to walk, try to massage knots, repeat. It was really humbling.

Overall – 3:02:39, 181st place

I forced myself to run the last mile of the race, despite the fact that my legs didn’t want to support a single step. I don’t think I was moving much faster than when I was hobbling along, but that’s really not the point. It was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other and drag myself across the finish line. In the end it wasn’t the performance I was hoping for, but I can definitely say I left it all out there.

Now I can’t wait for the 2009 season. Like I said, I’m hooked!