Dallas's Druthers

I’m going to price what I deliver by groups or “packages”. What I’m thinking is that as more equipment is added to the fray that the cost to produce will, for the most part, grow linearly. I understand that there will be a whole lot more intricacies to the cost to develop and produce this product than I’m imagining but for the purposes of this blog post I think I shall proceed with some semblance that I know what I’m talking about. The packages will all cover the base fee of the main processing unit (whatever that may be), bulk wire (which will always be a flat rate since it’s relatively cheap), and the cost to physically send guys out there. The variable pricing comes with the added cost of man hours, the amount of devices to be individually powered, and any other add-ons that we deliver such as full home audio, solar power and battery, and automatic blinds. Before anything is started we will need to send people out to the home to see if the job is even possible. This will be free ...

I know the title is abysmal but believe me when I say it (at least sort of) has a good meaning. Considering I missed the second guest lecturer, he was the first entrepreneur I’ve seen that was actively doing something technological. This was extremely comforting since he was the first person I’ve seen in the class who’s been successful based more on technological ability and less on charisma. I don’t doubt that he is very charismatic but when I see Andrew Fry or Erik Hanberg I see business men first and “nerds” second. This started to become defeating for me since I know my strength lies almost entirely in my abilities and significantly less in my ability to be convincing in a sale or a business meeting. That’s the reason that I moved from a business major to a computer science major. The comfort matters because it showed me that my shortcomings don’t prevent me from being able to develop and run a company.  I mean his company doesn’t even have any salesman. They seem to only need ...

I think having Erik Hanberg as a guest lecturer was great. He was a really awesome guy and truthfully, I was worried that our guest lecturers were going to be the CEOs we hear horror stories about. You know, the cliché horror story of the evil Scrooge-like guy who cares more about the bottom line than he does the health and safety of other human beings. I wouldn't be horribly surprised if we had one of those people as a guest lecturer since by sheer odds alone we are more than likely to come across someone not so friendly. As for what he went over, I especially thought his two graphs were really interesting. In the back of my mind I guess most of it made sense but I never really thought about it. As a hired programmer you will only make so much money before somebody won’t want to pay you any more. Also, I've heard the phrase “the higher the risk, the higher the reward” several times in my life but for some reason his explanation of those graphs really spoke to me. Also on t...

I’m not exactly passionate about any of my ideas but they do seem fun and are definitely things that I wouldn't mind spending a lot of time thinking about. My least favorite idea is a military contracted hacking firm. I know this is childish and I know that I don’t know and may never know every aspect of this business but I still think it would be a good idea for someone to develop. Capable employees wouldn't exactly be easy to find but there has got to be some that are reachable. A few could come from lists of known hackers who have been caught and punished. I can imagine at least some of them would be antsy to find an avenue to legally do what they enjoy. The obvious issue would be whether you can control them or not. I haven’t figured that part out yet. My second idea is a tech focused intellectual property firm. I know these already exist with companies like intellectual ventures so there is clearly at least some market for it. Ive talked to a professor at UWT who wa...

What I want out of this class is to have a greater understanding of how I should get any of my ideas off the ground. My brother and I are currently working on a business idea that we want to proceed with but I truthfully have no idea how to go about it. My brother has a bachelor’s degree in business from WSU but he has worked at a tech start up before and he talks about how he was under prepared for what he did there because what they taught in business school was vague and generic. In my limited experience in business school I heard the phrase “business hasn't changed in hundreds of years” but I’m not sure that’s true anymore. As a matter of fact, I have heard a lot of evidence to the contrary. I hear that managing employees is very different. I hear that the order of when things happen (pursuing investments is one example) that is very different. I’m fairly capable with coding and developing the product. My brother is capable with marketing, management, and the other gene...