The last several years have seen the Front Range of Colorado bloom when it comes to a dynamic entrepreneurial community. A client recently asked me about networking and entrepreneurial learning opportunities of which I was aware, and I put together the following list.

For newcomers or those that have been living an insular corporate existence, these are excellent examples of the many Front Range venues available to learn new stuff, meet interesting people, and feel more invigorated.  And, if you are in the midst of a challenging situation for your small business, these may get you connected with folks that can help you close your gaps.

New companies I advise often bring up the prospects of bidding for federal or state contracts. They see Government Contract dollars as a way of bootstrapping themselves to achieve their vision without having to find investors to support their early developments, key demonstrations or growth.  While I understand the interest in such a path, I advise against it for most of my clients. 

Of course, there are times when Government Contracting is the very best way, even the only way, to go for your business or product. So, how do you know when it’s right for your technology or product?


The following are 7 Questions I ask to determine whether or not Government Contracting is a wise path to pursue.  

Christensen: "Hi, Tim. Sorry to hear about the developments in Denver. Of course, I could have easily predicted it if you had only asked."

Tebow: "Professor Christensen, thank you for your concern, sir. It is a pleasure and honor to talk with you. What do you recommend I do next?"

Christensen: "Well, Tim. I have several ideas drawn from my most famous books. Here are my four recommendations:"

1. First, face it, you are bound to lose if you go head to head with the status quo. It will take years, if ever, for you to acquire the skills of a traditional quarterback. The NFL market is built on traditional skills.
   
   But, if you really get down to it, there's not a whole lot of innovation in the NFL. Skill difference within pretty narrow restrictions of offense and defense is what sets one team apart from the other.
   
   You need to embrace your unorthodox you. You should focus on satisfying the needs of a franchise or new segment of customers whose needs you know you can satisfy.
   
   
2. Downselect to teams that have been traditionally under 0.500. Teams that have struggled pretty consistently over recent years are far easier to please. Their expectations are lower.
   
   The Broncos are obviously not that team. They have a winning Super-Bowl tradition. After entertaining your disruptive innovation for a half season, they decided to head down the traditional path. They added a big increment in capability with Peyton Manning in the hopes of leapfrogging their competition.
   
   Tim, think Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills.  And of course, the Jacksonville Jaguars.  No Super Bowls, rare playoff appearances, low expectations.
   
   
3. Only entertain teams that will consider truly unusual offensive schemes. You need to be in an offense that will really change the structure of the game. Full-up wishbone offense? Maybe, but not innovative enough. How about extreme formations with only two guards and a center? What about a super shotgun formation where you're back 10-15 yards to buy more time and introduce more on-the-fly scrambling?  The team will struggle at first, but will then master the new structure and begin winning.
   
   
4. Consider Rugby.  Limited passing skills are not a detriment here. You just need to be able to run with or lateral the ball. You do this in your sleep. I cannot imagine a Rugby team owner that would not love to get you and make money from the untapped US audience.
   
   The rub here is that the US team is currently ranked 17th in the world. Not quite good enough. You will need to consider one of the power countries like England, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. I recommend England to avoid the confusion the general US population has about the Southern Hemisphere.
   
   Dual citizenship will be required and you may need some help to make it happen. The next Rugby World Cup is in 2015, so you'll have plenty of time to hone skills. Rugby is also going to be an Olympic Sport in 2016. I think an Olympic Medal would make you even more marketable if and when you then return to the NFL.

Tebow: "Wow. That's a lot to think about."

Christensen: "Yes it is. But I've seen how these things work in the steel and disk drive industries."

Tebow: "Huh?"

Christensen: "Never mind.  Good luck."

Tebow: "Thank you.  And God Bless You."

March 21, 2012 Update: Tebow was traded to the NY Jets today. Based on the above, this will not go well.

The past few days, I've been thinking about the stark contrast in messages between a recent talk by Christian Vanek, co-founder of Boulder's SurveyGizmo, and Greg Smith's now infamous New York Times Op-Ed piece about his departure from Goldman Sachs. The difference in messages should serve as a lesson in the importance of customer service. The lesson is far from new, but is one that applies just as much today in a world swimming in internet startups as it did when Goldman Sachs was founded in 1869.  

I attended the Boulder Startup Meetup last week where Christian Vanek was the keynote speaker. About six years ago, Christian founded SurveyGizmo with Scott McDaniel. By most measures, SurveyGizmo is a success, now employing ~50 employees and turning a decent profit. Christian gave an entertaining presentation and walked through a series of myths and truths about starting a business. A major point Christian emphasized was the essential and critical role customer service has played in their success. To build their business, SurveyGizmo has relied almost exclusively on word-of-mouth. Customer service is one of their key discriminators. They know it and, most importantly, embrace and nurture it.

Justin Fox's HBR blog essay digs deeper into what might be going on and has the benefit of being a bit more detached in its analysis. The article is worth a read. Fox puts forth several causes for a cultural change at Goldman Sachs including: the transition from partnership to publicly traded corporation in 1999; the excess profits to be made in the over-the-counter derivative markets; and the unintended and toxic consequences of creating a super-expert culture. 

Of course, it is orders of magnitude easier to shape and maintain culture when you are a 50 employee privately-held company than it is when you are a 30,000 employee publicly-traded corporation.

So, here are a couple unsolicited ideas for Goldman Sachs. First, assign a team to work with SurveyGizmo to create a targeted survey that will unlock new insights into how your employees and clients really view the organization. Then, and better yet, send some executives to SurveyGizmo's Boulder offices for a week and simply observe. It will be a refreshing, customer-oriented experience and may help you get back to your roots. 

There have been more than 25 Republican debates so far this election ‘season.’  Some would say that’s way too many.  Given the alternative of voters relying on heavy doses of incredibly negative ads, I’m of the mind the debates are clearly preferred.  As we get beyond the primary madness into the fall campaign’s insanity, the trade between these two will become even starker. 

Ron Paul’s Best Devil’s Advocate Traits

I have been filtering out the politics and admiring Ron Paul as an almost ideal devil’s advocate.  You should consider these traits, which seem to exude from Ron Paul:

• Thoughtful – Right or wrong, Ron Paul has spent time thinking through his positions and, just as importantly, his questions.  You want your devil’s advocate to bring depth of thought to bear on the issue at hand.  It often takes that to ask the best questions, ones that come from a fresh point of view. 
• Willing to speak up – Ron Paul is far from bashful.  You don’t want your devil’s advocate to be timid.  Otherwise, why are they in the room?   
• Unique perspectives – Some of Ron Paul’s opponents would say crazy perspectives!  However, if you want to dislodge ‘group think,’ it is often necessary to plop a very unique perspective on the table. 
• Thick skin – Some of the debates have gotten fairly personal, and it seems Ron Paul is able to maintain a remarkably even keel.  You never want your devil’s advocate to take things personally.  Their role is a valuable one, and they need to continue to be engaged on the issue. 
• Sense of humor – Ron Paul gets some very good laughs out of the audiences, but also out of his opponents.  That indicates a likeability factor that is important.  People tend to receive out-of-the-box thoughts or questions about their position more favorably when it comes from someone with a likable personality. 

Help Your Team Make Better Decisions

When you consider your senior team that typically addresses big issues, make sure you have someone that can effectively serve as devil’s advocate.  Factor the traits above.  Ideally, your senior management team includes one or two individuals that naturally and effectively fit the bill.  If not, invite someone outside the core leadership group to attend the meeting.  I have liked to call these folks ‘thought leaders.’  Even though they are often more junior, they act as informal leaders with a great pulse of the organization, the technology, and/or the market.  

So, look around the room during your next important meeting.  See if you can locate Ron Paul.  You may be surprised to find that your Ron Paul… is you. 

I read an interesting article about Mobile Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Technology on the LiDAR News website today.  It was written by Ted Knaak of Certainty 3D.  It is Ted’s perspective that adoption of mobile LiDAR scanning technology by transportation agencies is driven more by organizational issues rather than the hardware and software.  I share that perspective wholeheartedly.  He draws some valid conclusions and makes instructive recommendations to improve the rate of adoption.  I think Ted’s on the right track here in many respects, but I believe there are a couple fundamental perspectives to bring to bear that would improve understanding and might open the door to additional strategies to gain market traction.   

The article cites the tremendous improvements in efficiency that appear to be enabled by LiDAR surveying technology:  a 10x improvement in the number of scans that can be completed in a day, 80% reduction in required field time, a half-million data points per second at speeds of 45-50 mph for ground-mobile units, and even more staggering numbers for airborne systems.  However, despite these impressive performance numbers, transportation infrastructure projects have been resistant to widespread adoption of the technology. 

Ted had an informative discussion with a state surveyor from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).  The perspectives expressed by the FDOT surveyor were tremendously valuable and drove Ted to consider a much broader view of the customer’s ecosystem.  I will get to Ted’s recommendations in a moment, but first a sidebar.