I’ve been out here is Northern California, Humboldt County, for 4 weeks now. As you saw from my video, I came up here to help save and protect our Ancient Forests which are currently threatened by greedy corporations who only speak one language: Money.
It’s been fun. Intense. Rough. Exhilarating. And a an immense learning experience thus far. I wish I could name names, but the people I have linked up with are absolutely awesome. We have formed what is known as an Affinity Group, which is essentially a group without any hierarchy… each person being the leader of their own campaigns, but uniting together to make decisions through a consensus process.
I’ve been busy since the moment I arrived — organizing, intense hiking into private land to locate old-growth trees (hundreds to thousands of years old), reaching out to the community of Arcata, and fundraising among other things.
It’s amazing — and shocking — to see how much support we get from the community up here. People seem to truly love and respect Forest Defenders. I hear things such as: “Keep on doing what you’re doing” “Thank you so much for protecting the trees” “You guys rock!” “I really respect what you guys are doing, please don’t stop. We support you” “What can I do to help” etc… These responses fuel what we do on a daily basis and make sure to keep us sharp and motivated.
Wow… there’s such much to say. I’ve been meeting all sorts of people out here. People from all over the world who pass through this area. If I was to define the overall vibe I get from the community out here, it would be: Happy. People do a lot of smiling and saying hello out here. This is such a nice break from the cut-throat mentality of NYC. Just the other day I extended my hand to say hello to someone and they rejected my hand and came in for a huge, long, warm hug. And I said to myself: “wow, this is truly the fundamental difference between places like this and other parts of the US where people aren’t so friendly.” Don’t get me wrong, there will be nasty and unfriendly people wherever you go, no doubt, but I’ve never been to a place where there’s such a high concentration of love and peace such as this. And I’m honored to be a part of that love.
Ok! So…. yup, we’ve been busy. Mostly organizing and getting shit straightened out and in motion — getting the ball rollin’! We’ve had several informational gatherings and are preparing for an action camp where people will learn things such as tree-climbing, backwoods training (how to get through the woods safely, set up camps, shitting in the woods, hiding in the woods, tracking, etc..), how to resupply tree-sitters, et al. things such as that.
I’ve been doing a lot of writing as well. Wow, I’ve had so many new and wonderful thoughts since being here. Inheriting a new spirit of the woods. A new spirit of nature. I’ve seen bears, foxes, snakes, deer, coyote, and just the other day a rare and endangered Spotted Owl granted me the privilege of walking within 3 feet of it without flying away — what an experience!
Well, thanks for tuning in. I’ll try to keep you all posted. Please send your positive energy and love our way. I have full confidence in what were are doing and trees / animals will be saved in our actions. Actions that I can’t go into full detail, but suffice it to say, actions to keep Mother Nature alive and growing. Non-violent, loving actions
The ancient trees that I’m doing all I can to protect out here really need our help. Old-Growth trees range from 200 - 3000 years old. They are the largest living organisms in the world. They offer habitat to millions of various animals, some of which are going extinct: Northern Spotted Owl, Red Vole, Salamanders, and others… My affinity group and I have been building Tree-Sits (for people to live in the trees to get in between the chainsaws and the trees), making flyers and organizing events to spread awareness, and going on recon missions to survey the private timer lands to locate and protect old-growth trees.
A few things that can really help us:
climbing rope
any sort of climbing equipment
wool clothing
synthetic clothing
food (dry)
letters (write us!)
money
love
Unfortunately, all of this costs money. If you would like to help us protect these Ancient Forests and the animals that call those places a home,please make a paypal donation
[payment@mindpetals.org ]. Or head on over to Humboldt County, California and join our movement in the Defense of Mother Earth. Anyone can help in a myriad of ways. You can help by offering your passions to us and doing whatever you love doing in a way that can help protect the trees. Find a way to help — look into your heart and you’ll know what to do.
Last night I called my friend Asa Dodsworth, one of the main organizers of the UC Berkeley Tree-sit, that’s responsible for protecting the grove of Oak trees from being destroyed — unnecessarily and greedily — to build a sports stadium for the school. A stadium that could easily be built somewhere else; somewhere that isn’t over an active fault line. Somewhere where the grove can be protected and the football players can still have a new stadium.
Things are really starting to heat up over there. The sitters have been up there for 565 days and counting! This is the longest urban tree-sit in history, without a doubt.
Just yesterday, UC Police began cutting down the sitter’s safety lines and traverse lines, as well as their gear that ensures their safety up in the trees. Police (”deputized” tree extractors) used extremely excessive force to the sitter “Millipede” yesterday, as they repeatedly rammed into her with a metal lift. Asa said “that she was punched in the face as well.”
Less than an hour ago I received this action alert email:
“Tree-Sitters request supporters come to grove! UC Police are stepping up their assault on Oak Grove Tree-Sit. More cops and a massive 8 story crane have just arrived at the grove.
Meanwhile the decision in the court case is due anytime in the next few hours.
Come to the grove, today is the day!”
So please, if you’re in the Berkeley area and / or have friends in that area, go support the sitters who need all the help that they can receive — now more than ever. Right now, as I write this, police are loading up cranes and terrorizing non-violent sitters who are only trying to protect these ancient trees that have been here long before any of us.
Great business advice isn’t easy to come by on the Internet, so I’m extremely thankful to John Crickett for compiling his list of the “100 Best Blogs about Business“. Also, a BIG thanks to all those bloggers who shared this list with the world by posting it on their blogs and spreading the link love. I hope that everyone reading this list will find some great business advice.
It’s summer, a perfect time to offer entrepreneurs and business owners a Mind Petals special advertising deal. For $50 you can advertise your company logo in a 125 x 125 (site-wide) box for 30 days. Text links will be sold for $20 / month. If you’re interested, please contact us at ads@mindpetals.com to secure a spot and get your campaign rollin’!
We just launched the July issue of Mind Petals. This month’s issue focuses on the wonderful world of the WEB. We get into hosting, domains, hiring developers, and marketing techniques for your websites. And we also spoke about the mind-web — getting into how our minds form intricate webs of all of our experiences as entrepreneurs.
This is our fifth issue and we’re rockin’ hard with the magazine. Thanks for supporting us and reading what we have to say. If you know of any entrepreneurs who may benefit from our content, please direct them to our signup page.
We added a new section to the magazine, the Resource Page. If you’d like to promote your company URL on the page, we are selling slots for $25.
If you haven’t already received your PDF issue, you can download it here.
Mind Petals magazine is now including a resource page that will act as a directory for businesses and services that can help young entrepreneurs in some way. Hosting companies, design / web development, marketing, magazines, etc., are all welcome to advertise on this page — as long as your service is applicable to young entrepreneurs, it’s fine.
The page will list your URL in the appropriate category. With over 1,000 online subscribers and a print publication in New York City, your link will be sure to get in the right hands — plenty of young and hungry entrepreneurs!
If you’d like to advertise your service in the July issue of the magazine, please send your company link / what your service provides to ads@mindpetals.com (asap) and we’ll notify you if it’ll be included in the July issue.
First 50 applicable submissions will be absolutely free, so hurry up and send us your link.
Mind Petals turns 1 today. I can’t believe it’s been a year. Phew… time flies when you’re having a blast. Mind Petals only gets one piece of cake because it still has a long way to go before it’s worthy of an entire cake — maybe next year. Nonetheless, thank you all for your support and continued love for MP. You are Mind Petals! Let’s have another fruitful year of young entrepreneurship!
We’ve done it again and we’re back with another issue of Mind Petals. This is our fourth issue and it’s we’re happy to say that we’ve livened it up with some color sprinkled with a few images to better support the content.
In this issue we dug deep into the world of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. We visited the home of Amie Street and sat down with the founders, Elias, Joshua, and Elliot. We explored the mastermind of Starbucks, Howard Schultz. And we came up with 5 awesome ways to help promote your company — guerrilla style!
Thank you for all your support with the magazine up to this point. Without you, our readers, nothing could be possible. We’re looking forward to growing this magazine and continuing to provide useful information to young entrepreneurs.
If you have any suggestions, ideas, or topics that you’d like to read about in the next issue, please let us know. We’re listening. What you have to say counts and will definitely impact future issues.
If you haven’t already received your issue via email, download it here.
If you can code PHP / MySQL (LAMP) in your sleep, absolutely love developing social networking platforms and… even better…. are a young entrepreneur interested in being a part of something evolutionary, you can be who we are looking for — our long lost coder If you live in the NYC or San Francisco area and are looking for such an opportunity, contact us at:
Hot off the press we just released the May edition of Mind Petals. Last month we did 4 pages, so you can only image how happy were are to have done 8 pages this month.
Started in December 2006, Mind Petals magazine is brand spankin’ new. This is our third issue of the magazine and it’s only getting better and better each time we release a copy.
We created this magazine as a way put the words of various young entrepreneurs in the hands of the world. There isn’t any widespread magazine that really focuses on young entrepreneurs, without all the fluff and blabber.
So what did we do… we created a print magazine that would function with the flexibility of the online Mind Petals site. What do we mean by that?
It means that we encourage young entrepreneurs to unite — yes, you silly — together and contribute to Mind Petals magazine. Forget about all the bureaucracy, just submit an article and we’ll publish it if it’s good. It’s that simple. We want the magazine to work almost like a blog, where different people constantly chip-in and publish articles for each and every issue.
Please feel free to contact us about contributing for the next issue, June 2007. We want to hear from you and share your insights, experiences, and ideas with the world.
Ok, so enough of the pitches and rants. Here’s a rundown on this month’s issue:
The 5 Reasons Why College Isn’t Cutting it for the Entrepreneur And 5 Ways to Maximize Your College Experience
This article is sure to piss of your professors and maybe the entire faculty at your college, so… make sure to print out a copy for your teacher! LOL… Basically, this article deals with the issues that entrepreneurs face while attending college, covering the inadequacies of colleges and how they relate to young entrepreneurs. We also offer 5 ways to help entrepreneurs make the most out of college. Here’s an excerpt: “When was the last time that your professor encouraged you to start a business? For many of you, the answer to that question will be a ‘never’…” (page 1).
An excellent piece offering ways to help get the wheels rolling on your startup. Jason stresses the need to have partners by stating: “A sole proprietor can sink the ship without even trying… if a founder can’t convince one person to join a startup, the business model probably isn’t very good.” Jason also covers, in detail, the various forms of marketing that your business should be taking advantage of (page 2).
Anthony really let loose in this article. He didn’t hold back at all. His first paragraph pretty much sums it up: “Many entrepreneurs just like you are making use of modern technology to help run their businesses… there is a disturbing trend of using the latest and greatest technology just for the sake of staying current…” Anthony provides an army of technologies that will get you off in the right direction without going to the bank
(page 4).
I won’t tell you the secret… you’ll just have to read the article for that. But, what I will tell you that it’s something that you MUST have in order to succeed and make it as an entrepreneur. Adam reminds us that: “ The only time that success comes before work is in the dictionary. All of the great business people in the world persevered because of this secret. They didn’t give up, ever, because of it” (page 6).
For those of you who’ve subscribed for email delivery of Mind Petals, it should already be in your box. If not, download it directly from the “May 2007” link.
We hope that issue makes an impact on your life as an entrepreneur, but with everything in life, improvements are needed. Please let us know what you’d like to see in the next issue. What did we do wrong, how can we improve, what should we add or subtract?
A few months ago I wrote an article discussing my presentation at the New York Technology Meetup, New York University (September 5, 2006). I finally got the video online and am glad that you can all share in my experience speaking to approximately 500 people about Mind Petals.
This month we launched our second issue of Mind Petals. It grew from 2 pages to 4 this month and was distributed all across the city. The distribution has been going great so far. I was able to spread the magazine at the New York Technology Meetup that meets once a month with 200 – 500 entrepreneurs / technologist from all over the city, Stern business school (I was invited to join the entrepreneurship club), Pace University Lubin Business school ( I handed out flyers to the business students), and even a hackers meeting that I attended last night called Hacker 2600.
So as you can see, Mind Petals magazine is definitely a grassroots operation and I plan to update you once a month on the progress of the magazine. How I distribute, the contributors that are involved with the project, and the obstacles that I will surely encounter as I try and grow this 4 page black and white into a full blow magazine such as Business 2.0.
But, I can’t do it alone. I invite every single Mind Petals member, fan, supporter, and contributor to get involved. There are many ways you can help out and I will discuss a few now.
Submit an article:
Each month we’ll publish roughly 6 articles in each issue. You can submit an article to us at anytime and if the content is right for the magazine, we’ll absolutely include it.
We are looking for content that really “speaks to” young entrepreneurs, not “at them.” Such as obstacles that you have faced and how you overcame them, ways and techniques that you have used to improve your business, and ideas that you’d like to share with the world of young entrepreneurs.
Below each article that is published, we will include your full name, email address, and the name of your company.
Become a Mind Petals Distributor [ MPD ]
If you are currently attending a college and think that a good amount (100+) of students would benefit from such a magazine, then you’d make a perfect Mind Petals Distributor.
Each month, we’d send you a package of roughly 100 copies of Mind Petals. It would be your responsibility to hand out the magazines or put them in a place that young entrepreneurs would be able to access them (entrepreneurship clubs, business professors, etc…)
Each month, you’ll send us a brief outline of how you distributed the magazine, the tactics that you used, where you passed them out, and how effective it was. We’ll post each distributor’s story on a follow-up article here on MP. Pictures would also be great.
In return, Mind Petals Magazine will give you a free month of sponsorship in the magazine. You can promote your business, your club, your events, anything that you want to share that is someway related to entrepreneurship.
Your advertisement will be seen by at least 1000 (and growing) other young entrepreneurs across the country attending various colleges, including the students that you distribute to at your college.
If you’d like to become a contributor, distributor, or both, please leave a comment below or contact me directly at editor [at] mindpetals.com
Thank You to April’s Contributors:
Anthony Putignano of Xonatek web development William Quisenberry Jason Drohn of Jdsblog.com
Two nights ago I attended the Problogger.net bash here in NYC, sponsored by the texlinkads.com, or who I like the call the, “TLA team.” It was an amazing turnout.
Bloggers, programmers, hackers, designers, people curious about the Internet, and probably people some who just wanted to get bashed for free (open bar) all showed up and made for the perfect networking environment.
When it comes to networking and linking up with cool people, it’s all about having fun. Without the fun, then forget about networking. That’s what makes a party so great. I don’t care how small or large your company is, you need to throw a party or at least round up a bunch of people (customers, employees, and partners) and hangout for the night.
If you’re like me, you’re online 10+ hours a day and during your time online running your business, making calls, etc… you probably aren’t focusing on networking, per se. You are running your business, making things happen, and expanding your empire.
That’s why it’s so important to devote time and get out and meet new people. You spend most of your day running your business, so make it a requirement to “let go” and party. It’s a win-win-win: meet awesome people, have a blast, and party!
Definitely want to say thanks to Darren Rowse for making it out to NYC having the bash. Glenn for the awesome conversations. And, of course, to their entire TLA Team who showed me an awesome time at the after party – thanks Patrick Gavin, Chris, and Jay.
Ok, so who wants to come to the Mind Petals Bash? Expect one this summer!
In December 2006 Mind Petals officially launched a magazine in New York City. The magazine was distributed at various entrepreneurship events and business schools here in the city.
The purpose of Mind Petals Magazine is to share the stories, insights, and experiences of young entrepreneurs in a diary-entry type format. Like the website, we want the magazine to be a collaborative effort and each month we will post an article requesting submissions for the next release.
These are the type of articles we’d like to publish:
250 - 600 words
Personal experiences / lessons that you’ve gained from running your startup
How-To articles focusing on a particular subject
Profiling a technology, process, or technique that can help entrepreneurs in some way
Interviews of young entrepreneurs (if you’d like to be interviewed for the magazine, let us know)
Motivational and inspirational pieces
*** All articles must be original [never published on blog/website/print]
As a contributing editor
Your name, email address, and company will be printed on the footer of your article
You will receive 25 free copies of the magazine (free shipping)
You’ll have the opportunity to become a full-time writer for Mind Petals Magazine
You’ll have a blast!
If you’d like to contribute, please email editor [at] mindpetals [.] com or leave a comment about a particular article that you’d like to contribute.
Deadline for submissions: Sunday April 1, 2007 (12PM Eastern)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Content Management Systems (CMS), programming, designing, social networking, Web 2.0, Google Page Rank (PR), organic listings, search engines, etc… We, young Internet-savvy entrepreneurs have become very familiar with these terms. In fact, many of us have become self-taught experts in some of these areas and have built entire businesses around them.
Last night when I was told about free magazine that focuses on all areas of the Internet and running websites, my eyes lit up and my heart sped up – I was absolutely stoked to find out that such a magazine existed and, even better, that it was for free!
Sure, I love Business 2.0 – it’s my favorite magazine. But after learning about this new magazine and reading the online version today, I now have two favorite magazines.
This magazine is great, because it really focuses on topics that are relevant to my life as an Internet entrepreneur running a website. Staying on top of the latest Web 2.0 trends, social networks, and the blogoshpere is definitely going to be much easier with this magazine.
As a young entrepreneur, I’m sure that your time is limited and what you read should – in some way – add value to your business. That is why it’s important to read “nichey” and highly focused content that isn’t going to waste your time.
Magazines are perfect for doing just that. They are easy to travel with and read while on the road or taking a break from your hectic schedule.
Take a few minutes to signup for a free subscription of Website Magazine. You’ll not only receive a free magazine in the mail, but you’ll be helping to support Mind Petals when you use the above link.
Imagine a job board that specifically catered to young entrepreneurs. Over the past few years there have been many jobs created, but none really focused on us – the young entrepreneurs looking to hire niche groups of other young entrepreneurs. Today that changes!MP Job Board is now live and open for you to start hiring, outsourcing work, building teams, finding partners, and looking for gigs.
The MP Job Board is absolutely free and will connect you with other young entrepreneurs that may be interested in your project. Register and being posting.
Thousands of young entrepreneurs visit Mind Petals every day to read, share ideas, and take part in our community of entrepreneurship. Amazing things happen when young entrepreneurs unite and interact with one another. This is exactly why we created MP Nation – a place for young entrepreneurs to spark discussions, brainstorm concepts, and share experiences.
We know that most of you are either running a startup or are in the process of creating one. That’s great! There’s no better time in your life to start a company than now, when you’re young.
One of the best ways to help your company grow is to share your story and what your company is all about with the world. When you start talking about your company, many great things happen:
People start thinking about how you can improve your business
You get vital constructive criticism
You catch errors or mistakes that you wouldn’t have otherwise noticed
You become motivated when you receive praise
The world starts to understand your vision
You are able to share your service with people who had no idea you existed
So take 1 minute to register to MP Nation and tell the world who you are and about your company in the Your Company forum. Your post will not only appear on MP Nation, but will also be shown on the homepage of Mind Petals for maximum exposure.
Also, don’t forget to add your company’s website and your contact information on your profile signature – this will help the community members easily access your site. Also, Mind Petals will be writing articles on some of the startups spoken about on MP Nation in the startup section of Mind Petals — this will help get the buzz going for your venture.
The first 30 people to signup and post a valid introduction of themselves and their company in the Your Company forum will receive one free day of sponsorship on Mind Petals.
Why is this new version called “Cheetah”? Simple. The Cheetah is the fastest animal in the world. It’s one of the most opportunistic, innovative, and curious animals in the animal kingdom. Young entrepreneurs have been moving at such a rapid rate with innovative startups, creating new business models, and disrupting the status quo, that we have become the new Cheetahs of the Entrepreneurship Kingdom.
As we continue to carve out niches, create new business environments, and push forward with our dreams, we have become a force that can’t be ignored. In that light, as one of the main upgrades in Cheetah version, we have opened up Mind Petals to the entire community of young entrepreneurs who have stories, insights, lessons, and experiences to share with the world.
You can become a part of the community by submitting an article and if we feel that it can help young entrepreneurs in some capacity or another, then we’ll publish it and include a short one sentence bio (w/ 1 link) on the footer of your article.
Though anyone can contribute an article, it “must” stay true to the spirit of Mind Petals and remain focused on “Young Entrepreneurs.” Young Entrepreneurs, from the beginning, have always been the focus of Mind Petals and it was always remain that way – forever.
We know that many Young Entrepreneurs have been active members of the community by visiting the site everyday to read new content and get new ideas/information to apply to your own business.
Well, with Cheetah version, you can now better connect with the entire Mind Petals community members with our forum, MP Nation. We kept is nice and simple with the forum, focusing on categories that we thought young entrepreneurs are most likely to relate to their ventures – bootstrapping, marketing, funding, questions, startups, life, mp garage (open forum to relax and discuss random ideas/thoughts), and a forum to discuss our first book, “Young and Hungry: The New Entrepreneur.”
We hope that you take the time to register to MP Nation and become more involved with the community. We know Young Entrepreneurs have a lot of ideas, insights, and experiences to share with the world, so head on over to MP Nation and unleash yourself!
And, of course, the book! Over the past couple of months Mind Petals Contributor, William Quisenberry, and I, David Askaripour, have been working on an e-book that dives into many of the issues that we’ve faced as Young Entrepreneurs running startups. The book has been appropriately named, “Young and Hungry: The New Entrepreneur.”
We wanted to deviate from the traditional entrepreneur-focused books out there that have flooded the market with theoretical BS, technical mumbo-jumbo, and all sorts of unnecessary information that really doesn’t relate to Young Entrepreneurs in any way.
The focus of the book was to stay true to real events and experiences that Young Entrepreneurs are likely to face sometime throughout their journey. Things like, talking to your parents about becoming an entrepreneur, building a team, getting your site developed, networking, working with people much older than you, bouncing back from failures, how to manage your time, making time for family and friends, and overcoming your fears. This book will be a great read and we hope that you find it helpful.
So there you have it, Cheetah has been unleashed into the World Wide Web of Young Entrepreneurs and we’d greatly appreciate any feedback on the upgrade. Ideas, found bugs, issues, comments, anything that you’d like to share with us. Indeed, there are some bugs that we’re in the process of squashing (so please be patient). What you have to say is important to the growth of Mind Petals and will help shape the future of our beloved community.
Michael Simmons, a fellow member of Mind Petals and author of the Young Entrepreneur Journey blog, is launching a 50-college entrepreneurship tour in 2007-2008. At each half-day event, one of the country’s top young entrepreneurs will deliver a keynote.
The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, the first ever collegiate entrepreneurship road tour, is launching a 50 school tour during the 2007-2008 academic year. They are looking for the country’s top young entrepreneurs to be keynotes and local entrepreneurs to sit on their panels. This can be a great opportunity for all you Mind Petalers who are interested in sharing your story with the world on stage and in front of plenty of aspiring young entrepreneurs. To learn more about this opportunity, visit here.
Matt Lauzon, another Mind Petals member, has become a finalist in the Campus CEO business plan contest. Matt is the founder of the innovative jewelry startup, Paragon Lake. Please visit the Campus CEO contest page and give your support the entrepreneur that you see the most promising.
Last night I visited my local bookstore and picked up a copy of the newly released “Campus CEO” written by The Apprentice 4 winner, Randal Pinkett.
After reading the first few pages of this book, I already like the direction that Randal is headed in. It looks like it’s going to be a good read for young entrepreneurs across the world. Having gotten a taste of Randall’s new book, I can’t help but remember what it was like running a business while in college.
I can’t think about any other time is your life that would be a better time to start a business than in college. It’s really the perfect environment. With access to tons of resources such as computers, Internet, library, business professors, and a army of business savvy students, you have the world at your fingertips.
I’ve always been a believer that the true benefits from college come from the gained experiences, the parties, the networking, the speeches that you give in classes, the conversations that you have with your professors after class, and the overall great feeling of being a part of a community.
Through those experiences in college, and not necessarily to actually “classes” that you sit in on, your entire life can be shaped, especially if you undertake the challenge of starting a business while in school.
I implore all young entrepreneurs to start building a business while in school. This is the time to set the foundation for your continued growth upon graduating school. This is the time to lay the seeds of your company that will enable you to skip the 9 to 5 job after your 4 years. This is the time to give it all you got, dump your entire heart into something, and make your dreams a reality.
Take advantage of your youth. Embrace your youth. Youth = Power. The earlier you being your entrepreneurial journey, the farther ahead of the pack that you’ll be. Time is your greatest advantage, so don’t waste it.
Now your parents may look at college and say to you “go to class, get good grades, and don’t party too much.” Well, that’s all good and well, but young entrepreneurs needs to think just as much about growing a business in college as getting good grades.
Sure, get good grades (if that’s what you want), but also make sure to get out and have fun, go meet other students, attend events, pick your professors’ brains after class, give presentations on subjects that interest you — do whatever you have to do to leverage your business by meeting as many people as possible.
College is more about socializing and finding out who you are than simply “getting good grades.” In fact, if your grades drop as a result of running a business, then that’s okay. If it’s your plan to push forward with your business after graduating and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make it, then in the larger scheme of things, that C you received on your history exam is inconsequential.
Read Campus CEO and learn about how successful entrepreneurs started their ventures in college and the experiences and lessons that they gained.
Oh, and great news: Mind Petals was mentioned a few times in the book. Our community is starting to get noticed and thanks to all of our members, contributors, and readers, we are becoming the symbol for young entrepreneurs across the globe. Thank you all for your continued support of Mind Petals. We are all going to do big things!
For the next few Mondays Mind Petals will be hosting various contests on different topics each week. The winner for each week will receive a brand new copy of the new book “Kiss Theory Good Bye” by Bob Prosen. The book has been personally signed by Bob, and includes a nice folder filled with information on the book, press releases, and plenty of information on Bob.
I think we’ll kick off this first contest by having Mind Petalers (you) each submit a business “theory” or wacky business saying that you have encountered in school, reading, people, etc… That absolutely makes no sense or is totally weak and provide a counter to it. Show us why is doesn’t make sense are offer real examples to prove what you say.
For example:
Theory: To be a successful entrepreneur or businessperson, you have to get an MBA.
Why that theory is bullshit (counter theory): Most of the worlds most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs never completed college and furthermore, never got an MBA. Bill Gates, Sam Walton, and Howard Hughes are all examples of such entrepreneurs.
The person who can provide us with one of these weak business theories and offer a practical solution or “better way of thinking” to counter such a theory will be this week’s winner.
At the end of the week, Friday morning, we’ll have a vote from the top ten theories/solutions chosen from the Mind Petals Advisory Board members.
This will be an ongoing contest, so I’ll need your help. If you have an idea for a contest, then let me know. Any contest idea used that comes from you, your name/website will be mentioned on each article as a “contest contributor” (some nice free advertising).
Okay guys and gals, young entrepreneurs of the world, let’s get this contest rolling! Please submit your theory and counter in the comment box below and make sure to provide your full name.
Happy New Year, Entrepreneurs. It’s been a great year and we expect even bigger advances with Mind Petals this year – connecting more young entrepreneurs across the world. Mind Petals wishes you, your family, and your business a profitable and promising 2007.
2006 has been a wonderful year for young entrepreneurs. We have continued to penetrate sectors, disrupt preexisting business models, and launch innovative services that have solved problems and made lives easier and more entertaining.
One of the highlights of the year came from the acquisition offer from Yahoo to purchase the notorious facebook for 1 billion dollars. A company founded roughly 3 years ago by a freshman in college is now one of the most popular services on the entire internet.
facebook has revolutionized the way college students communicate with their friends and peers online. They have set the standard for the university-based social networking platform.
Young entrepreneur Kristopher Tate made big moves with his startup Zooomr this year. Zooomr, a direct competitor of flickr is on its way to changing the social photo-sharing presence on the net.
With their innovative geotagging and picture zooming features, Zooomr is truly becoming one of the most – if not the most – innovative photo-sharing sites on the net. Eighteen year-old Tate is making big moves and doesn’t seem to be slowing down whatsoever.
Our marketing presence hasn’t been unnoticed either. Twenty-four year old Darren Herman helped lead a $17 million investment for his in-game advertising company, IGA Worldwide.
IGA Worldwide, an in-game advertising network, is gaining momentum in this hot sector of advertising. Never before has our gaming technology been so powerful. Would you have ever thought that the gaming industry would be bigger than the movie industry?
With the release of the Nintento Wii, Playstation 3, and the latest XBOX, we have seen the gaming industry blowup with an army of avid gamers ready to purchase the latest games that hit the shelves. Any large company not thinking about in-game advertising is going to be dead in the water. IGA Worldwide will surely capitalize on the need for an in-game presence into 2007.
And let’s not forget 28 year-old Steve Chen and 29 year-old Chad Hurley, founders of You Tube. How many entrepreneurs can start a company and sell it for 1.65B 21 months later? Not many, and such a deal highlights the true potential of the young entrepreneur.
This sale of You Tube to Google marked a magnificent accomplishment for young entrepreneurs around the world. Something that helps put us young entrepreneurs on the map and reinforces our strength in the world of innovation and business strategy.
You Tube is the number on video-sharing site in the world and has changed the way that people share videos over the net forever. Google knew that they simply couldn’t attract the type of community that You Tube easily built up, so what did they do? They purchased them and acquired the minds of two brilliant young entrepreneurs who will continue to innovate and bring You Tube to new heights.
Their recent partnership with Verizon shows that You Tube isn’t slowing down by any means. Their scope is broadening and the video sector hasn’t even begun to show it’s true potential yet.
Don’t you see what’s happening? Young entrepreneurs are breaking through industries like never before seen. Our entry into the world of marketing, video, social network, photo-sharing, and beyond has been moving at a rate faster than any other demographic of entrepreneurs on this planet.
We are breaking barriers. We are continuing to defy the odds. We are innovating on a level that’s rendering older business models obsolete. We aren’t the little guys on the sidelines watching the 900 pound gorillas anymore – the roles are changing.
The young entrepreneur’s mind has become one of the most sought after assets in the entire business world. Top corporations are lining up to hire us, enticing us with $25,000 sign-on bonuses. Large internet companies are throwing millions of dollars in our faces to purchase our intellectual property. And prestigious entrepreneurship-focused universities are flaunting full scholarships for us to attend their schools.
The Young Entrepreneur is becoming more than a group of internet buddies in their dorm room hacking away. Young Entrepreneurship has become an ideal. An idea that transcends any stereotypes of our ages, our commitment levels, and our hunger to succeed in the world of business.
What we are doing now as young entrepreneurs will echo throughout society for ages to come. We are becoming the industry leaders, the movers and shakers, the ones who people are seeking advice from.
The students have become the teachers and we are no longer waiting around to get our MBAs to be considered “qualified” entrepreneurs. No longer are we waiting for our parents or professors to give us the green light to start our ventures – we have stopped thinking are started doing.
What’s the outlook for young entrepreneurship? The outlook is magnificent. We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface and 2007 is going to be an even greater year for us.
Keep up the excellent work, fellow Young Entrepreneurs! Whatever you want out of this world, you can have it. As Napoleon Hill says: “Whatever the mind can believe it can conceive.”
To Our Success,
David Askaripour
Mind Petals
founder
Wow, can you believe that it’s been six months since we launch Mind Petals, now here we are and it’s Christmas!
Over the past few months we have all come so far. We have started businesses, met more young entrepreneurs, developed new services, grew our clients, and have contributed a bit more to the world.
It’s been my absolute pleasure to have founded Mind Petals and to be connected to all of the great, smart, entrepreneurial, and motivating people who make Mind Petals what it is – YOU!
This is only the beginning for Mind Petals and the young entrepreneurs of the world. In 2007, things are only going to get better!
Thank you all for being a part of the Mind Petals Community; without you, Mind Petals could not exist. Stick around, we have a lot of great things in store for the community in the upcoming weeks.
Merry Christmas and I wish you and your family happy holidays and a great New Year.
I’m sick and tired of people telling young entrepreneurs that they “aren’t in any position to teach because they haven’t done anything yet.”
Blah..Blah..Rah..Rah..
Who are these people who preach this nonsense? From my experiences, they are usually in their late thirties to early fifties. They are currently working 9 to 5 jobs at companies they have been at for many years, and they are very curious about entrepreneurship but they always seem to get mad when they see a young entrepreneur actually running a business.
I’ve been exposed to these sorts of people every since becoming an entrepreneur. I tell them the same thing every time they try to proselytize me with their upside-down views on entrepreneurship.
I say “Sure, many of us aren’t millionaires and we certainly don’t have all the clients it the world, but that’s not what it’s all about. It’s about learning as we go along. It’s about embracing the unknown and not being scared to take risks. It’s about sharing our insights, experiences, failures, and successes with others in an effort to educate and motivate them to push forward with their business. So what if we don’t have MBAs. So what if we haven’t been running companies for three decades. That’s not what it’s all about.”
I hate to say it, but I think that a lot of the older generation’s animosity and skepticism towards us young entrepreneurs stems from the uncanny advances that we have been making throughout the business world. We have been moving at a rate faster than ever before.
For many, the rise of the young entrepreneur may be an uncomfortable experience. I guess it can be a hard thing to swallow for some when they see a 21 year-old kid who quits college and is offered 1 billion dollars for a company he started two years ago. Or when they see another 18 year-old create a photo-sharing company that disrupts the entire online photo industry.
Well, my friends, we are experiencing a new shift in the way business is done. The young entrepreneur is at the forefront of this new paradigm. No longer is the “young” person only looked upon as a student who is fed information. The roles are changing.
Time and time again students are entering “entrepreneurship” courses in college where they are being taught theoretical bullshit from adjunct professors who have never even started a business in their lifetime. And guess what? The young entrepreneurs sitting in that class who have been running their startups for the past three years are sitting with smirks on their faces because they know that the professor doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.
All joking aside, I am confident that at the rate young entrepreneurship is growing and the experiences we young entrepreneurs are gaining through starting companies, there will be more students in this country who are more qualified to speak about entrepreneurship than there are professors.
Look at what’s happening right now: colleges are in a rat race attempting to create entrepreneurship programs. Most colleges in the country don’t even have entrepreneurship programs, let alone qualified professors with real experiences who can properly educate the students.
The bottom line is this: we aren’t living in a time (was there ever a time?) where entrepreneurship can be taught by keeping our heads glued in books and studying for exams. That teaches little to nothing. Entrepreneurship is learned by actually experiencing it, by actually starting a company and working at it every single day.Practice will always trump theory.
So for all older and purportedly “more experienced” people out there who continue to feel that young entrepreneurs have no right talking about entrepreneurship and/or teaching others about it, you need to snap out of it. You’re in for a rude awakening. To underestimate power and potential of us young entrepreneurs, you are doing yourself a disservice.
And if you still aren’t convinced that us young entrepreneurs are changing the course of business and disrupting sectors left and right, then sit back, relax, and take a nap. When you awake in a few years, I promise, you won’t know what to do with yourself.
Is it just me or do the years seem to speed up as we get older? I’m only 22 but I feel that every since I started a company when I was 19, the subsequent years seemed to have flown by as if it was all blur.
Young entrepreneurs, guess what, we’re not always going to be young. Every year that passes by is extremely crucial. There is no time to waste. Being young and being an entrepreneur is amazing. The combination of the two creates a strong foundation for success.
But in order for that success to come about, we have to go hard! There are a few advantages of being a young entrepreneur, but one of the best is the ability to take more risks at this age.
When you don’t have families, mortgage payments, and all the major responsibilities that come with marriage, you can afford to take more risks than anyone else in the world.
The number one asset for any entrepreneurs is “time.” You have to choose wisely what you do with your time. Don’t let the years pass you by without accomplishing anything, without pushing forward with your plans to become a successful entrepreneur.
When we were younger, a year felt like 10 years. Now that we are a bit older, running a business, or planning to start a business, time isn’t what it used to feel like. The new year now feels like 6 months.
We are living in an age where action and speed is rewarded with success. People aren’t just going to wait around for you to build your service. If you fail to act, there’s going to be that person who does act and that person will be the one with the successful business while you sit on the sidelines with a bag full of ideas. Don’t be that person.
The reality of the matter is: we don’t have all the time in the world. Time is of the essence. Don’t let another year pass you by without pushing forward and acting upon your ideas. Stop considering. Stop thinking. Stop wondering. And start NOW. Jump into 2007 with a plan to act.
If you’re like me you’ve probably studied a second language in high school and college. For many years you had your head stuck in a language book memorizing verbs, taking tests, and learning structure. But let me ask you this: Do you now know how to speak that language? I bet the answer is no.
Now, more than ever, it has become quite an asset to know more than one language. It’s time to step it up a notch and actually learn another language. You’ve already studied a bit in school – probably just for a grade – but now it’s time to really dive in and learn it once and for all.
Being able to speak another language as a young entrepreneur can be a very powerful thing. Being able to speak the same language as the person you are doing business with automatically puts you in good standings with that person. People will be impressed that you actually took the time to learn their language, which will reflect highly upon your business.
I recently decided to learn Spanish. After studying it in school for years I never really got to the point of fluency. The problem with learning it in school is that they don’t really teach you how to actually speak the language.
Yeah it doesn’t make sense, I know. From my experiences, school focuses on memorizing words, reading out of a book, and conjugating verbs – they rarely focus on actually teaching you how to speak conversationally which is pretty sad. Think about it, when was the last time you took a language course and was able to speak fluently?
Nowadays, I have taken a new approach to learning the language and it’s a simple approach called: “just speak it.” Yup, that’s right, the best way to learn a language is to constantly speak it with your friends or associates who know the language.
And let’s not forget about recordings. I have been listening to various Spanish speaking lessons that I downloaded online. Every day I spend around half an hour practicing and practicing. And what really seals the deal is when I put what I have learned into practice with my Spanish speaking friends who gladly converse with me and also correct me when I slip up.
The synergy of immersing yourself in the language by speaking in regularly and taking the time to practice on your own with recordings and books, will truly speed up the learning process and get you speaking faster than any professor could ever teach you.
As entrepreneurs we are constantly investing time learning new things to help our businesses and that’s great. But we shouldn’t forget about the advantages of learning a second language. The time you spend now learning a language will pay off in hefty dividends in the future as your business grows.
For those of you not sure what language that you’d like to explore, I’d recommend Spanish as your first. The Latin American influence throughout the world is becoming extremely wide in scope. At this current rate of immigration, there will be more Spanish speaking people in America than English speakers before we know it.
The savvy entrepreneur won’t wait to learn Spanish when that happens, he’ll start learning now. From California, to Texas, to New York City, Spanish speaking people are increasing and Spanish companies are forming at a rate never before seen. And as economic growth continues to flourish in South and Central America, knowing Spanish becomes even a greater asset.
Let’s hear it….
So tell me, did you actually learn a language solely from school?
Are you planning/currently learning a language? If so, what language and why?
Welcome to the official Auction Page of Noteplates.com. This page will be used for interested buyers to learn about the Noteplates service, ask questions, placing your bids in the comment section, and to contact me directly with private offers to buy.
Ok let’s jump right in!
BACKGROUND INFORMATION >>
Noteplates.com was originally launched in mid-February 2005 under the name Cashcampus.com. I spent exactly $10,715.00 in design and development of the site (not including marketing material and miscellaneous items) Over $12,000 total.
I spent countless hours researching, innovating, and building this site specifically to make the lives of college students much easier. And, of course, as a way to make some cash and become a successful internet entrepreneur.
The original idea of the service was to become the first site that allowed students to be able to sell and purchase study material and class notes to other students in need of the information. Every time another student purchased your uploaded material, you would get paid.
Through the months of February – May 2005 the service expanded to roughly 5 colleges such as New York University (NYU), Columbia, Pace University, Roger Williams, and University of Albany.
The service had roughly 200 members and close to 300 notes/study material/papers uploaded by members.
During the last month of the Spring semester of 2005 the site started to earn money from the transaction of notes and papers on the site. Students were usually pricing their notes and papers anywhere from 5 – 10 dollars and I was taking a 15% commission from each transaction.
During the last 4 weeks of the semester, I began to make a few dollars per day in commission after members were paid via paypal payment system. I was able to get some press coverage from universities and the site started to grow.
However, I decided to take the site down during the summer of 2005 because my business focus changed and didn’t want to get into the “paper selling business.” Since then, the site has been offline and sleeping on my hard drive.
Just this past month, I decided to re-brand the site with the new name of “Noteplates” and invest a few hundred dollars to hire a programmer to squash any bugs that we happened to find and a designer to upgrade the design with a more simplistic approach. Unfortunately, I no longer have the database files with the original notes/papers/members from when launched.
My thinking was: Why should this neat service be sitting around when some motivated entrepreneur can move forward and turn Noteplates into a thriving community of buyers and sellers!
I strongly believe that this service can grow into something HUGE with the right entrepreneur behind it. Students need notes. Students need papers. Students need study material. And they are willing to pay for it! Actually, they are gladly willing to pay. And let’s not forget, students need cash!
The bottom line is that students are lazy and a service that allows them to purchase the notes that they missed is going to be of great value to them.
SITE TECHNOLOGY & FEATURES >>
Notesplates was built with the following technology:
XHTML
CSS
PHP
MySQL
Java Script
Database >>
You can easily view all listed notes/papers. Items can be sorted by price and date. You may also wish to run an advanced search by entering specific price, university, course #, description, title, subject, and by username.
Hottest Deals Section >>
This section will display the lowest priced items cross-referenced with the highest user rating from each member. After each purchase, users can give a feedback rating of a grade (A – F) for each member.
Tell A Friend >>
All users of site can easily tell their friends about Noteplates and send a customized note telling them to visit their page of notes/papers on the site. I found that many students began to use this service because it helped promote their note/paper selling business to their friends and classmates.
Account Center >>
Uploading Section:
Users can easily upload notes/papers into their accounts. The process takes about 20 seconds or less.
Users can edit and “stop selling” their notes and papers:
Sales Section:
Users can keep track of all their sales.
Purchases Section:
Users can keep track and manage all of the notes and papers that they purchased from other students.
Misc Section:
Users can update their photos, personal information, seller information, and password.
Profile Section:
Each user has a profile section with their photo and user information:
** Just an idea: You may want to install a blog and/or forum in this section once your purchase the site. It would make a great addition to the service and help build the community.
In fact, if there was a message board, students could even request certain notes or papers that they may need. It would connect the student in Florida who loves to write history study guides with the student in New York who is in need of history notes on the Civil War.
The possibilities for this section are endless.
Admin Section >>
Add universities
Update FAQ section
Add academic levels
Upadate/Add admin email addresses
Payment System >>
You will be 100% responsible for implementing your own payment system. I was using paypal’s mass payment system at the time. Currently, there is no active payment system on the site.
I suggest that you sign up with a credit card processing company and install a php script on the site that will allow students to purchase notes and send the money directly to the authors. You can, of course, deduct some sort of transaction fee and make cash from every single note/paper sold.
It’s a win-win: the student gets the information they need, the authoring students make some cash, and you (the site owner) make some of the sale.
Picture this situation:
If the site has 1000 transactions in a day with an average transaction price of $5.00, you’ll make $750.00 that day if you charge a 15% transaction fee.
OR…
You may think about making the service 100% free and implementing a sponsorhip/ad-based business model. I’m sure that if you incorporate Google ads on the preview pages of the notes/papers that you would generate some strong click-throughs if implemented nicely.
Last night I called my friend Asa Dodsworth, one of the main organizers of the 
Hot off the press we just released the May edition of Mind Petals. Last month we did 4 pages, so you can only image how happy were are to have done 8 pages this month.
Two nights ago I attended the 
Last night I visited my local bookstore and picked up a copy of the newly released “
If you’re like me you’ve probably studied a second language in high school and college. For many years you had your head stuck in a language book memorizing verbs, taking tests, and learning structure. But let me ask you this: Do you now know how to speak that language? I bet the answer is no.
