I use Tweetie, and I have about a dozen saved searches for specific people (@lijit is one, @dgcohen23 is another). Among that list is @jeffrey, who at the time I was sitting in the movie, was sitting in the Chicago Red Carpet Club.

Over twitter, he had engaged in a quick discussion with @jenbee (owner of 20×200 [@20x200], my favorite place to find art that is way more valuable than the price you might pay–at least in access and quality. In fact, Jen, if there is anything I could ever do to help you out, lemme know) over failure.

For those that read this blog, failure is something that I deal with, and write about, quite often.

Because of the beauty of Twitter, where you can eavesdrop and join in others conversations, I inserted myself into the discussion. To make sure everyone is up to speed, here are the tweets:

The conversation continued for a bit, but Jordana Brewster came on screen, and I needed to pay attention.

But, my brain was already working.

So many of my friends are involved with startups in some capacity. They seem to sit on one side or another of the failure fence. Those that have had some (or a lot) of success preach about the importance of failure. That somehow failing is almost a badge of honor among those that have succeeded.

For those that have yet to truly succeed, they are almost ok with the concept of failure. Failing, while painful is certainly not distasteful, and will teach valuable lessons for the next, almost guaranteed, success.

But is that true? Is the cycle fail then success then fail then success? We have seen “one trick ponies” that succeed at the first thing they try and then never succeed (or fail) again at equal levels. We have seen people that consistently fail, never quite tasting success. People who hide their overall failures with several minor success.

So, if failure doesnt equal success consistently, then does the type of failure matter or the depth of the failure?

Certainly certainly types of failure can either spurn someone on to great success (say seeing both your parents killed by a common criminal spurs you to become Batman) or a life of consistent failure (I suppose if I had an example, they wouldnt be a huge failure…)

Can people handle professional failure to greater depths than personal failure (there are many cases of very successful business people going through a cycle of great wealth/horrible bankruptcy.)?

The great ones. The folks that truly are able to succeed in  ways that most people cannot have very similar characteristics:

1. They compartmentalize their personal lives from their professional ones. Success in one does not directly effect the sense of success in the other.
2. Small failures are seen as opportunities rather than roadblocks. Large failures are seen as part of the process not the destination.
3. They separate emotion from small successes and failures. Small successes and failures dont exist because of them as people, but because of their actions.
4. Great failures are met with mourning, followed by an intense desire to “make up for the failure.” Great failure is deeply personal and embarrassing.
5. Highly competitive where exact measures of success and failure are determined internally.
6. Complete disregard for other’s measure of success and failure.
7. The ability to get others to help in the success.
8. Complete ownership of all failures.
9. Scientific review of success and failure.
10. Freedom to discuss failure with others. A clear openness about the failures of their past.

People who have succeeded in life are not immune from the devastating effects of failure, they have learned how to turn failure into motivation or education.

People who are successful have learned to do two things: 1) define their own personal success; and 2) come to grips that no failure is final, regardless of how big, or personal it is.

When the Chicago Bulls won 72 games in a single season, and eventually the NBA championship, Phil Jackson, their coach was asked what their formula for success was. Among the things he said, he recounted how for him and his team, winning the third quarter was paramount. “It makes the fourth quarter, easy,” he said.

Successful people are the same way. Its not the failure that defines their success, but rather what the very next thing they do. Its the adjustments they make, and the ferocity that they come back. Successful people are defined by their bounce, not their ball.

Even if they have to do the fourth Fast and the Furious movie…

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I think one of the reasons I love living in Boulder is specifically because of the concentration of true thinkers (which are different that intelligent people). People that ruminate over ideas and thoughts, watch them grow, bounce them off others, absorb the mentee/mentor relationship and then act on the ideas.

Or maybe I just described the startup culture.

I think for most people approaching 30, there is a previous time or era that they wished they were apart of. For me its the Beat Generation of the 1950s, specifically the Beat Poets or Beatniks that were the real genesis of the mentality, growth and counter-culture of San Francisco. [Before the New Yorkers get in a tizzy, yes it has been said that the Beat Poets began at Columbia University, and Burroughs didnt end up in SF.]

They were (primarily): Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, Herbert Huncke, Peter Orlovsky and John Clellon Holmes.

I have spent time with Kerouac’s On The Road, and Burroughs Naked Lunch, but of them, my favorite is Allen Ginsberg with his stylistically shifting poems and intense thinking around subjects ranging from the poetical standards of love and relationships to the darker topics of war and the end of life.

If you dont know about the Beatniks effect on the San Francisco scene that birthed the counter culture of the 1960s that grew into the startup scene of the 1990s and 2000s, you spend some time reading or watch a flick (or two).

“I think it was when I ran into Kerouac and Burroughs — when I was 17 — that I realized I was talking through an empty skull, … I wasn’t thinking my own thoughts or saying my own thoughts.” — Allen Ginsberg

A couple of days ago I was having dinner with Jeffrey where we got to talking about ideas for his latest post, which centered on the concept of how titles in business have potentially served their purpose. That they are the antiquated visage of an early time, where large companies have job requisitions that have titles associated with them to define their level of responsibility, power and salary. That titles in many ways were examples of how the structure in large corporations mirrored that of the military.

It made me think that the Beatniks must have had the same discussions around corporate-military overlap.

It made me think that he and I would write drastically different blog posts about the importance of titles (even if we agreed in the futility of titles in a growing startup).

It made me think about what other people would write about the topic.

And I realized that the one thing we have that the Beatniks didnt: Blogs.

We have a global way to interact with large numbers of people in ways that the Beatniks only dreamed of. I can have a thought, shoot it out over twitter or write a post on my blog and get immediate, vast and intelligent discourse.

I have met really thought provoking people and have spent time with them all over the country.

I have had thoughts and concepts presented to me (the one that is currently sitting in my brain is the idea of a “disorganized mind” and its value in a startup. Thanks Brad!) that push me into uncomfortable self evaluations or exciting realizations.

I have seen us change the world with a word and a shared voice.

No longer do I have to wish I was alive in the 1950s and spent time with the Beat Poets.

Because now the free flow of ideas within our online transparent misunderstood culture is forcing all of us to collectively determine if we are doing good in the world, or just doing.

We are the Blog Poets; the Blogniks.

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’” — Jack Kerouac

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I often recount my experience as ServiceMagic where two things were constant: Value and Failure.

Every day, when you left for home, you asked yourself a simple question: “Did I add value today?” If the answer was anything other than yes, there was a decent likelihood that your job would not exist the next day.

Bring Value Daily.

Every day, we failed. We failed and we failed. But, each failure brought learning and brought us closer to success, and when we succeeded, our successes were exponentially larger.

Fail Intelligently Daily.

Bring Value. Fail Intelligently.

I try to live that ideal consistently. I believe that failing daily does two things, it teaches me what I need to do better; and it reminds me of what failure feels like. Both are awesome outcomes.

Failure is virtuous.

Temperance (Gluttony)

“The downside to this level of ambition is that it’s not complicated to overload yourself. I’ve learned that ambition minus realism often equals failure.”

The truth is that ambition always has a lack of realism. Its impossible to believe you will one day be the best without believing first that you are capable of being the best. You have to be unrealistic in your expectations to truly become successful. Its the lack of realism that creates the potential for failure.

The best failures are measured and tempered with self control. Understand the downside of any potential failure. Keep the failure contained through careful understanding.

Charity (Greed)

“Sacrificing your core business by spending too much time on non-core ideas…It’s important to realize that not all ideas are worth pursuing”

Yet many people eventually fail through anlysis paralysis. I have a standard equation, out of 10 ideas, 8 suck. 1 is decent, and one is fantastic. To understand success through failure, one must be willing to become creative and think uniquely about the problem. By ideating, over time, several solutions are born. Being generous with yourself and allowing the ideation to occur, develops the potential for mass, measured failure.

And, failure always leads to success.

Diligence (Sloth)

“Where it can become mostly problematic is when it keeps you from seeing a project through to the end.”

I get what Jeffrey is saying here. Starting projects is easy. The middle is not that hard, but to finish? Often its a Herculean effort. Why? Because the completion of a project allows you to determine if it was a success or failure. The completion of a project allows OTHERS to say if its a success or failure.

Its often easier to live in the grey area of undone, than it is to live in the world of definition.

With failures its the same way. My favorite saying is “failure is not what you do, but what you do after.”

Persevere. Fail a lot. Fail early. But be amazing once the failures teach you how to succeed.

Chastity (Lust)

“Getting lured away from what you need to do by what you want to do”

Lust is an interesting sin. By definition, Lust involves a lack of thought with a focus on immediate gratification. So how does the virtue, Chasity or Purity work with failure? Failure is pure. There is nothing about failure that can be soiled. Each failure creates the same emotions, usually regret and disappointment, and each failure creates the same reality. Yet, each failure, when learning occurs, also creates the very real case of being one step closer to success.

It is impossible to do nothing but succeed if each failure is coupled with learning. You dont have to lust after success to achieve it.

Humility (Pride)

“Success has this extra-special way of super gluing on the ‘I’m so awesome’ blinders and fooling you into thinking that you’re the smartest person alive.”

The greatest thing about consistent failure, is that it reminds you that you cant solve every problem. That you arent the greatest. That at the end of the day only the outcome matters in the measurement of success, not the process.

Failure teaches us that the real talent is the recovering and learning from failure. Turning that failure (perhaps matching it to a previous failure) into a road map for success is what separates the great from the good.

Allow the emotion of humility to provide you the open-mindedness to review your failures in such a way as to improve incrementally and move towards success.

Patience (Wrath)

“Wrath is energy, and like all energy it can be used to good or evil. I like to think about the ratio of windshield to rear-view mirror and use that idea to focus my energy on what’s next.”

If wrath is energy, then patience is focused energy. Its hard to fail, fail and then fail again. You want to push, you want to accelerate the process. You move into a world of immediate gratification and would rather skip to the success part of the adventure.

Patience is not just a function of waiting, or sitting idly by. Patience is actually a function of perseverance.

If you read Jeffrey’s post, and remove the “Seven Sins” metaphor, every point he makes actually is interwoven. Words like energy, focus, hard work are repeated themes.

Failure becomes a part of the process, removing the need for a perceived failure end point.

Satisfaction/Kindness (Envy)

“Just stay true to your original plans; see them through; and understand that more-often-than-not, these new and exciting concepts are rarely vetted for use beyond their original purpose, thus having the extreme ability to only add layers of complexity to what you already do.”

Envy kills success. Focusing on competitors is a horrible action that causes most companies to lose focus. If you are doing what you need to do, focusing and understanding the market, your competitors dont matter.

Envy creates failure. Simple enough.

But, the key to all of this, is if you understand the importance of failure to the creation of success; you will also experience true satisfaction.

You have succeeded and failed completely.

And, becoming a success at the end of the day is the greatest satisfaction.

——————

By the way, my favorite quote on failure:

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.

– Anais Nin

Didnt know what to call it, so listened to a bunch of folks, and got creative – calling it LearnToDuckTV. (Yeah, I bought the domain).

In my first attempt, I asked people to be harsh in their critique. I ask the same with every post. Tear me apart. Comment on the content. How I look, whatever you think that will make me better.

You see, my skin is like steel. You cant make me cry. I dare you to try.

LearnToDuckTV – Episode 2: Being Creative. Making Unique Decisions.

Like most professions people choose, entrepreneurship isnt all play time and money. Startups arent filled with foosball and Mac Pros.

We read about layoffs and think to ourselves “Well, its a startup. They arent making any money. I have no idea why they employed so many people. Whiles its horrible, its probably for the best.”

Or we read about the latest funding and think to ourselves “What? They got $5million dollars? Its just a <insert something here>. They will never make any money.”

What most people dont understand if they havent been in a startup (even those that cover startups really dont get it), is that a startup’s culture always has a few key components (not success components necessarily, just that they exist).

1. A general belief that what the startup is focused on is unique, interesting or better than current offerings in the market place (the old better, faster, cheaper argument).
2. That startups have an end.
3. And at that end, there will be some sort of reward.
4. That working at a startup gives you a greater ability to have a bigger influence on the product, brand, business direction, whatever.
5. That you, the employee, can do whatever is placed in front of you, better than anyone else.

And while its easy to intellectualize the long hours and hard work to get to the end of the rainbow, most people dont understand how the startup lifestyle truly effects them emotionally and mentally.

You can get fired/laid off at any time.

Often decisions are made based on the money in the bank, or the expected out of case position, rather than on the true needs of the organization. Often, there is little determination of the effect less people have on overall workload.

A mistake can be magnified.

Because each person has a large affect on the outcome of the business, mistakes are magnified. Code something wrong? It could push back the next release. Push back the next release, and lose a big deal. Lose a big deal, and miss the numbers you expected. Miss the numbers and the world turns on you. Because most startups run extremely lean, it is imperative that each person is competent. Extremely competent.

All the best work can be for naught.

Do everything right, get the product out the door on time and under budget, make the greatest thing since sliced bread, and watch it wither on the vine. Sometimes, for no reason, a great idea/product just dies. Its a sad reality of the risk/reward game of startups.

All of this leads to high level of expectation and stress.

Which leads to burnout.

Successful entrepreneurs and long-time startup employees understand that burnout is part of the lifestyle they have chosen. Everyone burns out at some point.

So what do you do when you feel a burnout coming?

Most people dont. They work and work and work until they fizzle. Their production decreases and mistakes increase. Soon, they have been let go, and dont understand why.

Here are some early warning signs of burnout:

• You are tired all the time. No matter how much you sleep, you cant seem to “catch up.”
• You complain more than usual. Everyone is a moron. You are the only person that can get the job done.
• You snap at friends and colleagues. Since they cant understand the workload you are under, or how unfair that workload is, you snap. You withdraw.
• You start thinking about quitting. It has to be the company. There is a better job with less stress out there. I just made a bad choice of jobs.
• You take little “breaks.” Today, I am going to nothing that pertains to my job. I know its Tuesday, and we have a release coming up, but I can catch up tomorrow.
• When do you get home, you dont take care of personal business. Dude, I just worked for 12 hours straight. Why should I pay bills?
• You wish you can, or you start, working from home more. There are less distractions (and people). I can work at my pace and I do a better job!

Often the signs of burnout are subtle, and the important thing to realize is that working at a startup is a continual ebb and flow of “completely burned out,” to “almost burned out” and back.

What do you do to make sure you dont completely burn out?

• Pick a project that is just for you. Work it at your pace. Work it in your space. Dont “re-grout the tile” or “pull the storm windows.” Remember your passion. What got you going in the first place. Do that, but do it for you.
• Take some time every day away from the office. I make sure it always take a lunch. 30-60min where the focus is on anything except work. My first boss told me, “The concept of a job is that there is work. When there is no work, there is no job.” 30-60min a day will not put you so far behind that it causes issue.
• Laugh. A lot. There is nothing wrong about finding humor in your day. If its a quick trip to ICanHasCheezburger or a joke with a co-worker, make sure to laugh everyday.
• Learn. A lot. Often, we get so caught up in our jobs, we forget that there is always a lot to learn. It doesnt have to be big. It just has to be something. Ask a co-worker a question. Look something up on Wikipedia. Try some different code.
• Engage. The great thing about startups, is that the team is small enough that you can engage with most anyone. There is no reason to go at it alone. Ask a co-worker to review your work. Get involved in something outside your job. Find a team that you can add value to, and get on it. You can also engage outside the company via a blog, Twitter or some other social media outlet.

How do you deal with burnout?

When I read about Twitter a year or so ago, it was called a “presence based application.” Meaning it was about what you were doing (where you were present) rather than what you were thinking or about conversation. I was consulting at the time, having just sold my company, and I was working with a company that was focused on hyper-local content.

“Have you heard about presence based applications?” I mentioned to the CEO, trying to sound “with it.”

“No,” he replied.

So, I started to explain the idea of an instant messaging system that allowed one to announce where and what they were doing, and how well that concept worked with local content.

“I think its called Twatter.”

As we pulled it up on the CEO’s 30″ monitor, I chuckled as a loud, blinking male gay porn site loaded.

“I guess thats not it.”

Soon there after, I learned the proper URL and signed up. My early tweets answered the question “What Are You Doing?” as laid out by the site. But soon, that just wasnt enough. I did what I always do: I did what I wanted to do.

And, strangely, Twitter changed with me (not because of me). It became more of a communication medium. Please started putting an @ sign in front of other people’s usernames to directly reply. Twitter soon added support for both direct messages and @replies. And, usage grew.

Even more interestingly, people started added me. I had added 50 or 60 people to start, mostly from the public timeline or people that I had heard of or were friends, but with little thought. I just added people.

After a couple of months, I had a 100 people following me. Wow! I was pretty impressed with myself. 100 people are interested in what I say. Pretty cool.

I started to watch what I tweeted. Tried to make it interesting, and quickly became bored. I went back to what I do in real life, just saying what I am thinking. And my following list grew.

I continued to evolve my Twitter usage. I would tweet out blog posts I had written and had read. I interacted with other people on Twitter. I tweeted random thoughts and things that made me laugh. But, mostly, I participated in what was clearly becoming a community.

In college, I studied philosophy. I did it, because I thought philosophy was easy. Like most things in college, I was disappointed in the difficulty of the course. It was really hard. Like REALLY HARD.

But, I do remember one thing. John Locke spoke about society and laws. His analogy was that society was like a horse corral and that laws were the corral itself. People could do what they wanted within the corral (free will), but were bound by laws (which were decided on by the society itself). Jump the corral, you were outside the law and no longer protected.

Groups define their own laws and characteristics.

I read many blog posts about “Twitter Etiquette” and laughed. The proper way for people to interact within the accidental community that Twitter built was to conform to the laws and rules defined by the community itself. People could relay those rules in a post, but they couldnt create them.

I wondered if there were content laws. Could I say something that would get me booted from the community? Lose followers en masse? I tend to be a person that says anything in real life, so I started to do the same on Twitter.

I swore. I said shocking things. I wrote about things most people dont discuss (bodily functions for example). Yet, my follower list continued to grow.

There was only two rules that I abide by: “First, judge only what I have written. If it made me laugh, it was good enough. If it made me think, it worked. If it felt real and honest to me, it was publicly consumable. Second, be unafraid. People are people. Life is life. If said with honesty and conviction, then no bad could come from my words.”

People began to interact with me more and more. I, sometimes, find the level of interaction overwhelming. I want to talk to everyone, but since its a public forum, dont want to overload those that are not interested in the conversation. But, I try.

And, now, after following hundreds and being followed by thousands, I have finally distilled how and why I use Twitter.

Why?

Its the people stupid. Its also the stupid people. (I always wanted to blog that!)

I like being part of the Twitter community and hearing so many different thoughts and viewpoints. I dont really use Twitter much for work, but I guess the image people have for me trickles over and into the image people have for Lijit.

How?

The people I follow (yes it number in the hundreds) are people I personally know, like and respect. The rest are people I like and respect and would like to get to know. If you fall into one of those two camps, I will follow you (and enjoy it).

Technically, when I am in front of a computer, I have two tabs open: The main Twitter page and a Search page. I read periodically what the front page is doing, but mostly I search on people I know have stuff to say that I will react to. I also check to see if people have @replied to me outside of the standard way (putting the @reply in the beginning of the tweet.)

When I am away from my computer, I use Tweetie on my iPhone, and have a bunch of pre-saved searches, which I check periodically. Because I am not using Lijit for work, I dont feel a need to be up to the minute with it, and will often check it at night or in the mornings.

At the end of the day, Twitter is much like everything we do in life. It is what it is, and will only change or shift based upon the efforts of the individual and collectively the group. Because Twitter is so new, individuals can change the basic ways the community interacts. Check out how Chris Brogan or Laura Fitton or Guy Kawasaki or Fred Wilson use Twitter. Each is very different, and very much the same.

I will continue to be part of the Twitter community as long as I am accepted as a contributing member, even if I occasionally tweet about masturbation. (*snicker* I used the words member and masturbation in the same sentence. *snicker*)

How do you use Twitter?

Here is an easy punchline: It was 4/20. Yes, it was smoke day.

To this, I say the following links are on FIRE!

Video: A Look Inside Lijit Networks: Yes I work there. Yes I am in the video (pre-haircut). And yes, Tara is always that gleeful.

Our Cup of Elijah – For those that know Michael, the snarky pompuous style is real. What he doesnt like people to know is that it covers a good person, who is part of a loving family. Our sedars are similar in my family, but we actually try to read the whole Haggadah, at least until my uncle gets drunk. Then all hell breaks loose, and I, when there, make fun of the whole thing. What? You thought I was pious?

30 Seconds of Sunrise – I was recently introduced to Jeff Pulver through my friends Chris Brogan and Laura Fitton. Jeff is a highly successful guy, who understands that true success comes with 1) taking 30 seconds to watch a sunrise; and 2) to share it with friends.

PodCamp DC Review – Aaron writes not only about the DC Podcamp, but Boston’s and Philly’s as well. If the DC tech community is this involved, it will be fun to go out there this week for TechCocktail and the Lijit sponsored Hangover Breakfast the next day…

Ok, I am paraphrasing Beck, but I havent written this post in a couple of weeks. Yes, I am a slacker. To make up for it, I got several:

Announcing the iWear Fund – Brad is a funny guy. Sometimes.

Frontier Airlines, The Greyhound of the Sky – My friend Matt wrote this long before Frontier declared bankruptcy. It seems that their customer service backruptcy finally met their financial bankruptcy. I hate that airline with a passion. True story: Met a woman at a club and everything was going extrememly well (read: Micah was going to get some!) until she told me she was a flight attendant for Frontier. After a quick diatribe on why I hate that airline, her interest waned. C’mon, like there is any wonder as to why I am still single?

I drink Mahalo’s Milkshake – Christina, who literally disappears, except for her boobs, when she turns sideways, pounds a milkshake in a clear pander to be considered to be the co-host of Mahalo Daily now that Veronica Belmont is leaving. Personally, her intelligence, energy and humor should make it a slam dunk, but we are talking about Jason Calacanis after all…

Tango Blue – I have had the pleasure to get to know Paul, who is a member of Lijit’s board, and a long time friend and collegue of our CEO, Todd Vernon. So much about whats written on startups is in the kumbyah beginning stages, that its often hard to think about what happens if you are flat out wrong. Paul writes a post here about the thought process behind pulling the plug on the Zenie Bottle. Read it. Its that good.

Australia’s Powerhouse Museum Joins the Flickr Commons Project – Justin helped bring all the Library of Congress pictures into the Flickr fold, and they are awesome. I expect these to be equally amazing. Nice catch, Justin.

Venture Files Joins Technosailor – Aaron and Steve Fisher (who I hope to get to know one day) have pulled Venture Files into Aaron’s Technosailor blog. Some great stuff there, and, of course, completely searchable through the Lijit widget Aaron has installed. Yes, that was a double plug. Learn it. Love it. Live it.

On to the posts:

Happy 70th Birthday Dad – There is probably nothing more important to me than family, and nothing more impressive than somoeone who is unfraid to be open and public about the importance of their family. Brad is no exception.

She Said YES! – Congratulations to my good friend Eric. ‘Nuff said.

nine things – The great thing about the social media is the ability to meet people you would never meet otherwise. After reading her blog for awhile, Meg and I have had several conversation around multiple topics, and in each case, she challenges my ability to express myself with the written word. Read this post, its just a good exampl of good, solid writing.

Help a Reporter Out – Ryan is another person I met through social media. Peter Shankman is someone I have become friends with, and who’s ability to generate buzz and personal interaction between many people has always inspired me. Both are really interested in the transition of Old Media to New Media. I introduced them on Twitter, and now Ryan’s project ReportingOn.com and Peter’s project HelpAReporter.com are now connected. How will be fun to watch.

The Power of Personal Leadership – So, this week seems to be the week of calling out people that inspire me. Metal Head Chris Brogan is no exception. What is personal leadership? Read this.

How United  Saved My Air – Ryan, its great that they saved your Air. They did the same with my iphone flip phone…

On to the posts:

Mercury Falling -  Ryan, who I have gotten to know primarily through twitter (follow him at @ryansholin) works in the newspaper space which is a medium and industry that I have always found interesting. In addition, I grew up in San Jose reading the Mercury News. Want an insider view of the changes occuring in the newspaper industry? Read Ryan’s blog.

SXSW Recap -  I still am planning a SXSW recap of my own, but Aaron captured the coolest part of the conference. The people. Plus I get a shout out in the same sentence as Mark Cuban, and there is a HamSwords shirt in one of the pictures.

Why Twitter Was So Successful at SXSW…Geography -  Justin writes about how helpful twitter was at SXSW, but rightly so talks about the importance of geography (while giving a shout out to Boulder).  It seems the issue of geography is growing, as people want to tie the online world to the offline. One of the best sessions I attended at SXSW was on mobile gaming, and talked about the ability (and limitations) of using gps to physically locate people and objects in real life. Very cool, heady stuff.

I Have Met The Enemy. And He Is Us. -  Peter is one of the best PR flacks I know and also probably one of the best self promoters as well (in a good way). He started a facebook group where reporters could be matched with potential sources. I have never submitted to a request yet (I have had nothing to offer), but in this social media, consumable media world, it seems that everyone is trying to be a self promoter of some sort. Peter, rightly so, calls out the posers. Be real. There is nothing else to be.

This past week, there was a series of posts that my friend Tom has begun writing, and if you are interested in TechStars (applications are closing soon), starting a company, or want to get the humor of VCWear, read Tom’s blog posts.

Today there are 3 inches of snow outside. Colorado sucks.

On to the posts:

Wind Flea – My friend Chris tends to post a lot about his online show and the answers to questions he receives. Every once in awhile, a post like this slips in. I like these ones.

The First Rule of Holes – Jay writes about the first rule of holes: “When you find yourself in one, stop digging.” Always reminds me of my dad’s first rule of fixing the broken computer “It is plugged in?” Life is simple; people make it hard.

Why Am I Passing? – When I am approached by an entreprenuer who has a idea, it always makes me a bit sad. I know that they believe the idea is the best idea ever, and cant imagine that anyone would think different. Brad’s post shows how sometimes an investor can believe as the entreprenuer and still pass.

Just Call Me Erin Elizabeth Hussein Kotecki Vest – I met Erin over Twitter, and look forward to bowling with her at SXSW. She is definately a passionate person, and while I tend to opt out of politics, I certainly respect passion. And humor. This video is really funny. “After 8 years of dipshit rule, I am not sure if the country is ready for that much change.” Nice.

Grow Where You’re Planted – Aaron has hit my list twice in two weeks. That means that either I really like the stuff he writes, or I am just kissing ass. Given that douche bags dont kiss ass, I must say that Aaron’s writing is really good. As someone who has never lived anywhere (after college) longer than a couple of years, this 5 year stint in Colorado, is beginning to feel like I am planting. Not something I do readily or comfortably, but it always reminds me of Rakim’s lyric: “Its not where you’re from / Its where you’re at.”

And, its when a person decides, as Aaron puts it “to grow where you’re planted,” that positive change and contribution begin. I just dont agree it has to be where someone was born (I was born in Fort Collins) or spent most of their growing up years (moved to California when I was 2). Sometimes its just “where you’re at.”

On Friday, I get a frantic call from Natalia telling me that the weather in NYC had scuttled their travel plans, and did I mind if they came to Colorado for a couple of days before heading back to California. Without hesitation, I said “hell no!” (Seriously, would I do something like that?) So Friday night at midnight, Natalia and Ted landed at DIA, and have been hanging out all weekend.

It always great to see her, and even though we are 9 years apart in age, she is probably the one person that can 1) handle my “quirks”; 2) and tell me to shut up without fear of reprisal. Two skills that have taken her 27 years to perfect.

Also on Friday, I began my quest to be the #1 douche bag, according to Google. And with the help of a few friends, like Mike Bucks, David Cohen and Jim Halligan I have gone from being below #200 on Google, to now #39. Im getting there, but we need to keep plugging away!

In honor of this effort, I have added a unique icon to any comment I leave. Check it out!

On to the posts:

No, Having a Blog Does NOT Make You A Social Media Guru – I met Erica at StartupWeekend Boulder, and was amazed at her ability to get the word out through social media. I am still often amazed by Erica. This post reminded me of one of the reasons I quit the SEO game. Everyone is an SEO expert now. The noise has drowned out the signal (unless you are one of the major players like Michael Gray or Rand Fishkin). Are they inherently better SEO’s than a newer guy like Dave Winget? Well, except for Rand’s predilection for the fashionable yellow shoes, I would say not at all. So, now I am much happier helping others understand search engine optimization than actually doing it. I hope Erica doesnt follow my lead. She is one of the major Social Media Marketing players, and it would be shame to lose her.

“Say Instead” Part of CSS3 – My friend John spends a lot of time on web standards and access issues. He writes about a new CSS3 property called “say-instead” that can be used to allow screen readers to pronounce words or phrases correctly. Of course, being an SEO guy at heart I think about the potential SEO value of such a property given that most search engines will index and read inline CSS. Could be a much better way of describing images or adding keywords to a keyword less page. Interesting… (yes there is a slight <evil laugh> in there).

Remember, SEO folks, that anything that allows for an easy measure of abuse is easily removed as an important weight. But, given one SEO tactic is to do things that have short term gain with an expected long term reduction in value, I would jump on this now. But you didnt hear from me that there is a potential SEO value to the “say-instead” CSS property.

The power paradox – Seth writes about the perception of power, and that the real paradox is that the truly powerful give away most of their power. Its a bit of a diversion from The 48 Laws of Power whose author, Robert Greene, has a blog which is updated periodically and is extremely interesting.

Thank You, Social Media Club DC – I met Aaron on twitter through a friend, and have enjoyed getting to know Technosailor. Why? well this presentation is just the beginning (really smart, nice dude, and willing to share). His willingness to be on one of our SXSW bowling teams (one is sponsored by VCWear and the other one rocks) even though his company decided at the last minute to have a team as well is certainly awesome, but his interest in history seals it. Even if he lives in Baltimore. Yuck.

Got to get better at this blogging thing – Dave started at Lijit recently, and he and I finally grabbed some time and coffee. Little did we know that we followed much of the same path (I grew up in San Jose, he grew up in San Mateo. I lived in San Diego, so did he. I think he lived in DC as well, as did I), and both ended up in Colorado. Small world.

Strike A Match – Brian is one of the founders of SocialThing, and someone that I have really grown to respect. Ive wanted to include a post of his for awhile, and this one, which has my friend Heather Capri wearing a HamSwords tshirt sealed it. Nice picture Brian, and Happy Birthday!

Whither Entrepreneurship and Visas? – Jenn has written the type of post that I really love. Full of transparency and learnings from successes and mistakes. Yay Jenn! If you havent checked out her project, Yallery, I highly recommend it.

I take this to be the fact that most of them have been busy around Valentines Day and other activities that have taken them away from blogging. I look forward to posting a bunch of new posts next week.

I am also trying to be #1 on Google for “micah is a dick.” More about that later.

When I started blogging, it was like my tattoos: it was for me. I didnt care if people read my stuff so, again like my tattoos, I wrote what I wanted to write.

Blogging has now led to three things that I never thought possible: Money, Love and Respect.

Money: I got to know Tara and Todd at Lijit, and we both decided that working together would be cool. I landed on the front page of my personal digg.com, Feld Thoughts, which isnt “cash” money, but like “so” money I didnt even know it.

Love: Here is what blew me away. The friends that I have met through my blog (some through Twitter, since blogging led to twitter). People I have always wanted to know, like Dave Taylor, Chris Brogan, Jim Turner, Erin Kotecki Vest, and many others (which will soon be listed on the page HamSwords Members, since they are RockStars idea stolen from Chris Brogan.) But, even more so, when I began posting about my decision to treat my ADD, the phone calls, tweets, emails, etc. have be awe inspirin, and frankly, humbling. As often as folks talk about it, good people make good community.

Respect: More important to me than Money and Love is Respect. Because there is no faking Respect, and its easier to lose than Money and Love. Respect is Truth. The Absence of Truth always accompanies the Lack of Respect. After a couple of years of losing the respect of anyone and everyone that mattered, I have slowly been working to regain that respect. Now almost 2 years into that project, the comments and reaction to my blog posts are indicators to me that I am having some modicum of success.

But, this weekly post isnt supposed to be about me. Its supposed to show the wisdom of my friends. And while this week, there are only a couple of posts I am highlighting, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how powerful the community I am lucky to be a part of is, and how important it has become.

Enough of that emotional crap. Must be the Adderall. ;) On to the posts:

Colorado Caucus – Andrew writes about his experience at the Colorado Caucus. For those that know Andrew, most of his posts are short or pictures. To see him write this post is to learn about something he is very passionate about. Which I completely respect since I have no interest in politics at all, and dont vote.

Twitter Daily Ski and Weather Report – One of Lijitinauts (?) Lijitsters (?) Lijit-e-mates (?) um…folks that work at Lijit is Daniel. Besides his dorky, geeky sense of humor (please never dance again, my friend), he has that unique desire to understand. He spends a lot of time doing techy things that end up doing cool things, but he also takes the time to ask questions about the business. Just the type of person you want on your development team.

Bad Ass SXSW Awards Finalist – I guess the theme for this week’s post is “Passion.” My new found passion for blogging, Andrew’s passion for politics, Daniel’s passion for tracking snow, and finally, Brian’s passion about Viget Labs. He clearly loves what he has built with his father and brother.

I had that passion once for Current Wisdom (which like the blog has waned) and for search marketing. In many ways, I think entrepreneurs are like Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. They have seen the white whale, lost the white whale, and will do everything in their power to see the white whale again. And, if we are lucky, that white whale will hook us up with lots of blubber that we can sell at a significant markup.