I had lunch with a good friend today. She was telling me how she was contemplating starting a new company.

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, my current company isnt allowing me to do what I want to do, and there are lots of people telling me that there is opportunity out there.”

“Sounds a lot like the advice so many people got before heading out to California to mine gold.”

We continued to talk, and I began to get a picture of what her current job situation sounded like. Tell me if this sounds familiar:

• In order to get “all your work done” you eat at your desk;
• In order to “finish your work” you take work home, and spend hours at home working;
• You “love” what you do; you just often feel “unappreciated” at work (because they just take for granted “how hard” you work);
• You think that if you quit “they will be in a bind, and realize how valuable you really are”;
• and so on.

On the other hand, so many people that I talk to say to me, “Micah you never work. You are always on IM, twitter, and the like. When do you get stuff done?”

And, I always respond the same way:

“Why are you so interested in how much I work rather than how much I produce?”

Isnt that really what matters?

Being busy doesnt make one more effective. Working constantly doesnt make someone a better employee.

Only production does.

For some, that means extra time on projects. For others, that working in spurts of high productivity.

But, at the end of the day, production is all that matters.

The statement “Time is Money,” is one of my least favorites. Time is not money. Production is.

As a startup or new business owner your focus should be solely on production.

Hire people that produce, not people that work.

Spend your time on efforts that lead to production rather than work.

At the end of the day, investment doesnt come to those that are busy.

Success only comes to those that can produce.

So what did my friend decide? I dunno. I know she will make the right decision, but I am unsure what that decision will be. I am excited to hear though…

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Here is how things work in Boulder. A couple of weeks ago, my friend Eric, CEO of Gnip swung by the Lijit offices to say hi. During that conversation, he said he was talking to Josh, co-founder and CTO of Eventvue about a concept of getting 100 kick-ass developers to Boulder.

The idea? Get 20 companies to each pony up a bit of cash to cover the expenses of bringing all these top notch developers out to Boulder. A job fair if you will.

Now, here it is a couple weeks later, and BAM!

So far, the hiring companies include: Aegis, Eventvue, Filtrbox, Gnip, HiveLive, Me.dium, printfection, Rally Software, ReturnPath and SocialThing (an AOL company), with more to come.

Whats interesting about that list, is that 4 of them didnt exist until recently (with 3 from the TechStars program). Clearly, this is a great example of how the TechStars program is having a direct postitive effect on the Boulder economic scene.

There are several write ups on the event: Boulder.me (which is becoming a great resource about Boulder), ColoradoStartups, Foundry Group and even TechCrunch (Yeah, I was kinda amazed too).

Are you a kickass developer and want to work in Boulder? Click on the image above and apply.

I would love to see some of the developers I have met across the country apply and come live in our town.

And, yes, that is how things seem to happen around here. One great idea is given life by the community.

Yay Boulder.

There is a concept that I subscribe to, that every day, is proven right.

Give without expectation.

Every day, I try to do something where I give something (time, money, expertise, humor, whatever) with no expectation of something in return.

The reactions are interesting.

Some people dont believe it.

Others dont trust it.

Most people appreciate what I have to give.

But, for me, its somewhat of a selfish act. It makes me feel good.

Over the past week, I have researched and written about online ways for people to give. I even asked people in lieu of giving me a gift or wishing me birthday wishes, to check out SocialVibe or DonorsChoose. Two online giving vehicles that I am rather involved with.

The response was amazing. So many people decided to get involved with one of the two sites. I was humbled and amazed.

Many people dont know that I was a fundraiser for 7 years early in my career. I love the act of raising money for causes that I believe in, like education, empowering young people, art, etc.

The last week has rekindled that feeling of doing something that makes a difference.

Doing something that allows me to give without expectation.

Where does social media fit into all of this?

I dont really know. I do know that so much of what we talk about in social media is connections and community.

But, what if we want to mobilize that community? If we want that community to rally behind a cause or a need? Would it rally?

And how does one filter all the requests? In the past month, I have been asked to be involved in no less than 5 causes. Some I believe in, others I dont really.

Am I being part of the community, if I turn down requests for involvement?

Given that so much of what we do (Twitter about blog posts, hype up our friendfeed feeds, tag our flickr feeds, etc.) to about self-promotion, about taking, how does giving without expectation fit in all of this?

I dont know. But I do know that our community should figure it out.

Or else at some point in the near future, social media will have little value outside of self-promotion.