its my sister’s birthday today – October 19 – sitting here at midnight on a sunday thinking about those days w/ my sis and the fam. Being in a foreign country really makes you appreciate your friends and family back home. I can say I’m a bit homesick….and tired of fighting everyone in business….it seems all my projects and interests …
Surrounded by people working to embetter themselves
I realize how important it is to surround yourself with good people…and I can say that I have that in my office in China. I get a good feeling in my gut when I see the work getting done each day. I realize how important it is to motivate others….understand what people think about, what makes them happy, and what …
Financial Crisis & Personal Investments
as we all watch the world “collapse” I sit back and ponder. I guess I feel a bit lucky, personally, because my life savings is currently invested in my own startups rather than a stock portfolio (except my rapidly deteriorating retirement fund which I cannot touch for 40 years anyway) But we all need to sit back….should this say “why …
How to valuate these companies???
the more i study business and finance the more i learn its all a crapshoot….but there are 3 ways to valuate a company 1) book value times a multiple —– assets minus liabilities = book value. Then you get the multiple based on market value for similar companies. 2) cash flow times a multple —– how much free cash is …
Keep Pushing Forward – Leaving People Behind?
(my mom still isn’t up to emailing – and posted me this clipping from the local Florida newspaper….haha, good timing!) Keep pushing forward, but I keep telling myself – no more mister nice guy – should I change and not care as much about how others feel? I feel I’ve gotten more agressive, as I get deeper and deeper into …
Financial Disaster – World Continues to Flatten & Consolidate
I believe this financial disaster, while really is sad, is a wake up call. Where did this money come from? It was a house of cards. But what this means to me is that the US dollar will be less of a dominant force in the future. While this tragedy is worldwide, with the US government financing these bailouts – …
Mid Autumn Festival, Mooncakes, & Lost Potential in the World
Today is mid autumn festival in China, so a public holiday (Monday). Represents the full moon, harvest, families sitting around a table as the moon is symbolic of a circular table for the family. Spent Friday evening at a friend’s factory party. It stil amazes me the life of a factory worker…..lives in a dorm next to the factory, what …
Like a Fish in a Fish Bowl
Sitting here late Sunday night…trying my best as a fish in a fishbowl…..really am centered around this computer….where location doesn’t matter and my mind wanders towards the feeling of being a fish in a fishbowl…especially during my skype video conference calls….amazing world we live in these days….location matters less and less! Some recent photos to share my friend Vicky …
Fighting everyone….banks, factories, landlords, refrigerators
Today was a funny story between my landlord and me – my building had a scheduled power outage on Friday (all day, had to work remotely) – and when I turned the fridge back on it started smelling like someone threw up…..cleaned it out, let it dry out, etc – all weekend was trying to figure out what was wrong. …
Spyble kickoff – a bit of insanity
applied for a trademark on spyble last night directly on uspto.gov Really pushing more for online marketing these days…..have been success and seems to use my knowledge much more. Differentiate myself. Spyble SEO competitive intelligence [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jEnTi6pTFY&hl=en&fs=1]
Am I just a white guy trying to profit off low cost labor?
Guess I can say my time here has been somewhat emotional at times…but its sad that I get used to seeing beggars and dead broke people walking the streets. Visiting factories with workers getting paid such small amounts of money (side note – I have not seen child labor – or conditions not workable). Seeing these things day in and …
Suing a Chinese Factory
Let the games begin….here’s the letter to my Chinese Lawyer ============ Hi Liyan, I want to sue a factory for quality issues, can you help? I have a quality clause in it and I have a strong case they did not meet those requirements Mike =========== man, I can definitely say i’m doing some crazy things in my life
Maybe I Should have gone to MBA school……
Shanghai China Disco MT3 a few nights ago Past week….was a rollercoaster….emergency call from a usa customer…..next day flight to a factory (below) 2 days of negotiation….conference calls, fighting….contracts, legal consul, everyone wants to be a “boss” until shit hits the fan. Maybe MBA school would have been a better way to learn….but then again…..what do you really learn in …
hiring and firing…….in china.
Never easy hiring – choosing one person who is better than another to work in your company….but man it sucks to tell someone they are no longer fit to work here anymore. It was a bit of racism too, a girl I had working here, 31 years old so she thought she was senior to me and could teach me …
China is Proud
Wow, it really has been insane being in china during the olympics. I am on the other side of the country (south) and still the energy is amazing….they’ve hung Chinese flags all over….the opening ceremony was out of control…..I thought Americans were proud of their country…..seems in China they had something to prove to the world…and I would say the …