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Sitting On An Accountant’s Desk

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Right after I graduated from college, I went to work at a (very small) publicly held company.

Soon after I went to work there, the president of the company basically resigned and the Chairman of the board of directors put me in charge.

Right after I got put in charge, one of the biggest investors came to me and sat down in my office.

He was a 65 year old wise old sage who spoke real soft, but when he spoke, people listened.

The guy sits down with me and he says “okay, I know that your daily life is crazy, but you have to promise me one thing. You have to promise me that you will get your quarterly reports turned into the SEC on time.”

I gave him my word that it would get done.

I told our in-house accountant to tell me if our outside accounting firm wasn’t going to make the deadline a week before it was due.

A week before the deadline our in-house accountant told me he wasn’t sure they were going to make it.

I called our outside accounting firm and got the guy who was doing it on the phone. His name was Boyd.

“Boyd, are you going to have our stuff done?”

“Uh, I think so — it is looking pretty good, yeah, I should have it done I think…”

“Okay Boyd, I will follow up with you in two days.”

Two days later.

“Boyd, do you have our stuff done yet?”

“Not yet, I have been really busy. I am planning on getting to it soon though.”

“Boyd … that is not what I want to hear. You told me that you would have it done!”

“I know, I know, but the partner gave me some extra work and I have been really busy trying to get that done…”

So I hung up the phone and drove 1.5 hours away to his office.

I walked in his office, and asked the receptionist for him.

She buzzed his office.

He came out and thought he could meet me in the lobby and get me to go away.

“Hi Boyd. I came to get you whatever answers you need to get this stuff done. Which way is your office?” He pointed.

I walked right into his office and sat down.

He came in his office, cleared off his desk of the stuff he was working on and worked on our stuff.

For two days STRAIGHT (16 hours straight) I sat in his office with nothing to do but look at him punching numbers into a computer.

Needless to say, we got our quarterly report filed.

Why is this story important here? Boyd the accountant is very similar to vendors that we have — especially appraisers.

You can “hand and hope” (HAND them your deal and HOPE they do it) or you can follow up like crazy.

Call first, if you don’t get what you want, call again and again and again. Yes, do it all in the same day.

If you don’t get what you want, show up at their office. Be nice, but be realistic as to what you need.

No one cares about your deals as much as you — or in other words … never trust your job to someone else.

Never.

Note: this originally went out as an email to a group of sales people in the mid 2000’s.

sitting-on-an-accountant

Off The Grid?

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This week, someone told me that I operated “off the grid”.

Maybe I do.

But according to Steve Jobs, that might not be a bad thing.

When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you’re life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.

That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.

Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.

Thanks Steve.

Just One Of The Reasons I Have Always Freaked My Mom Out

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Hey, check it out – my mom started blogging before she died!

Ok, so maybe not.

But she did start writing stuff down for our family before she dies and sent me something recently that covered many of the stories that I have told here on this very blog from her point of view.

Here is the first excerpt from her writings about stories of what happened when I was young. Sam and Brock – love you, and yes, someday I will print this all out and give it to you.

This first excerpt has to do with playing in traffic. Here is my mom’s account (exactly as she wrote it) of what happens when a 6 year old gets hit by a truck.

Yes, I was the 6 year old.

One day I will never forget …

I sent you and Jason down the country road to get your babysitter. There were no houses between our house and hers and I could see you about half way there. Clinton was asleep and I decided to run upstairs and clean the bathroom. As I was cleaning a thought came to me that I should go downstairs and look out the window. I kept cleaning. I was almost finished I thought and I just saw the boys, they were fine. The thought would not leave me, so I went downstairs.

Just as I looked out the window, I saw a truck hit you.

You rolled and then up you went running toward home. An older man was chasing you and caught you. I was running toward you and heard the man yelling CALL AN AMBULANCE.

I ran inside and could not even think. Shaking so hard I dialed the hospital in Driggs and told them we needed an ambulance.

There were no cell phones then but I knew your dad was in Tetonia finishing a job and called there and told the person to tell Leon his son had been hit by a truck and meet me at the hospital. They said they would try to find him.

I ran back outside just as the old man laid you down on our sidewalk.

Get towels.

Hurry.

Where is the ambulance?

When I returned with the towels and saw what had happened to my Justin, I thought I would faint.

Your forehead was smashed in on one side and your eye was bulged out and there was blood everywhere. The old man said Youll have to drive us to the hospital NOW.

Right, I thought.

I grabbed the keys and got behind the wheel.

The old man held you tight and had pressure on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. I drove fast to town and when we arrived at the hospital they were waiting for you.

Driggs was just a little hospital and you were left on a gurney waiting to be put in the ambulance when your dad arrived. He was full of adrenalin. First thing he did was remind you that you were told never to go in the road. Told you a few other things and then just cried and told you how much he loved you. He gave you a priesthood blessing and they put you and me in the ambulance to go to Idaho Falls Hospital.

Leon said he would catch up with us. He went home to change and get cleaned up. Before we arrived to Idaho Falls which was an hour and a half away your dad had caught up with us. I was so happy to see him.

You were seen by the doctor and by then it was late at night by now and we were so tired and worried about you. After the exam and cat scan the Dr. told us you would need to have surgery. Your forehead bone had been broken and pushed into your brain. A very large blood clot had formed because of the time in traveling. He didnt know what would be effected by the trauma to the brain.

They took you into surgery right away.

Across the river from the hospital was a hotel that we went to. We called Grandma and Grandpa Orvin who lived in Mesa, AZ at the time and told them all that had happened. The Dr. told us to get a good nights rest because after the surgery they would have you intensive care. He was sure it would be mid morning before you even woke up and we could see you then.

I cried, your dad was so tender, too. What a horrible thing to have happened to our little boy. Leon assured me you were a tough little kid and everything would be fine. The phone rang at our hotel room and it was Grandpa Orvin. He asked if we could pick up Grandma at the airport in a few hours – she was on her way!

Grandma was an angel. No matter what ever happened she was our moral support. Grandpa and Grandma Orvin love you as much as I do. We had a king size bed for the 3 of us. I slept in the middle with Leon on one side and Grandma on the other.

It was a funny night for all of us as we lay there talking and crying and assuring each other.

The phone rang about 2am and Leon answered. It was ICU at the hospital. They said that Justin was awake sitting up in bed and wanted to see his daddy. We could not believe it! You did so well thru the surgery.

The next morning when Grandma and I got to the hospital you were wheeling around in a wheel chair. The Dr. told us he thought you were one lucky boy. He didnt think any damage had been done to the brain. The piece of bone on your forehead that was broken was removed. This meant in about 6 months you would have to have another surgery to put an artificial piece of bone in your forehead to protect your brain.

He gave strict instructions not to have you rough house or hit the place where he took out the bone. Leon took Grandma Orvin home with him to Driggs and she tended Jason and Clinton so Leon could work.

I stayed at the hospital with you for a few more days.

When we got home Mrs. Hillman came to visit and brought you a football helmet to wear for protection. She had several boys and knew youd love to wear one of their helmets. Im sure that was a blessing because I just couldnt see you not rough housing with Jason for 6 months. Let me tell you, it was a long 6 months watching over you! Your second surgery was done by a plastic surgeon. It went well and you were all fixed up ready to be normal again.

Mom, thanks for writing all of this stuff down!

Love you — as always.

Justin

Are You A Pirate?

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One of the better articles I have read about being an technology entrepreneur was written last year by Michael Arrington.

If you are thinking about starting a business, I recommend you read it because it is treasure map of what to expect in your future. If you have started a business, I recommend you read it because it is proof that at least one other person in the world understands your insanity.

From Arrington:

Entrepreneurs, though, are all screwed up. They dont need to be rewarded for risk, because they actually get utility out of risk itself. In other words, they like adventure.

The payouts for starting a business are just terrible when you account for risk. A tiny minority of entrepreneurs ever get rich. And the majority of entrepreneurs would probably make far more money, and have more stable personal relationships, if they just worked for someone else.

If you have started a business or are in the process of starting a business, chances are that Arrington’s words are scarred into your soul at such a level that you can actually feel them and not only read them.

I dont care if youre a billionaire. If you havent started a company, really gambled your resume and your money and maybe even your marriage to just go crazy and try something on your own, youre no pirate and you arent in the club.

Are Pirates cool?

I think so.

So You Think You Want To Do A Startup?

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Thinking about doing a startup?

Take the time to read this presentation by Tara Hunt (aka @missrogue).

Chances are if you have never done a startup, you will read this and think “oh, that was nice”.

And if you have done a startup before but are now quietly doing something else, you will remember the terror/pain/exhilaration of the startup (reminds me of the first time you ride a Cannondale F4 mountain bike off a cliff), think it is funny and say “wow, that is so true”.

And if you are in the middle of doing a startup right this very minute?

Grab a tissue. This will stir your soul.

So you want to do a startup, eh?

Second Rule of Management: Fire Fast

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Dear Little Brother,

One of the most difficult situations you will soon be faced with as a new manager has to do with firing people.

When is the best time to fire someone?

The first time it crosses your mind.

Maybe at first glance, this seems a little dramatic — but it isn’t really.

This simple rule of thumb was taught to me by a wise old crusty boss (who was busy getting an online MBA degree at the time) that I once had and having been through more-than-a-few of these situations, I can tell you that this simple rule is a good idea.

Most of the time, it seems that people react to the words “getting fired” in a negative way.

I think this is a little weird that people react this way.

In my experience, most of the situations I have been involved in where someone was fired ended up positive for both parties.

Not all of them — but a vast majority of them.

One of the most common reasons I have seen people stay too long in the wrong job has to do directly with the rule of: in times of crisis, people tend to revert to the familiar.

If you translate this into the behavior of most of the people who are now working for you, it means that even if deep-down-inside they know that they are unhappy in their job for whatever reason, they still don’t quit.

They just keep showing up, day after day doing mediocre work and hoping they just don’t get fired.

So if you develop enough of a managerial sixth-sense that this is happening with someone – sit down with them, learn more about what is really going on and then if it really is a case where they need to move on?

Fire them.

Remember: hire slow, fire fast.

Love,
Justin