First Impressions Part 3: Have a Plan, for Planning's Sake

Five weeks ago, I took the plunge. I left the job I love and became a quitter. This is the last part of a series on my first impressions working for myself. If you haven't already, check out part 1 on working at home with kids and part 2 on managing your time.

This post is about having a plan. You do have a plan, right? Quitting your job and going on your own requires a plan. The thing is... it's not the plan that's important. As Eisenhower famously said, "I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable." Corinne and I went over the budget over and over again. Our income was about to be cut in half and we had to know what that would be like. So we maintained two budgets for a few months, running the numbers "as if."

Now that we're on the other side, it's been interesting. For one, I didn't plan on having so many lunch meetings (they rock!). Though a lot of great people have actually bought me lunch (you know who you are, thanks!), I had to adjust things a bit. Having spent more time recently in the budget, I was more familiar with it and knew what changes could be made (such as dropping our wine club... still a bit sad about that one).

Along with the finances, expectations have to be planned out. For example, my business partner knew I'd still be working in the mornings for Dave Ramsey. My wife expected me to spend Saturdays with the family. My son wanted more play time. My teammates needed more communication and feedback on development. Knowing in advance what expectations would exist has helped me adjust to meet them.

Finally, plan your calendar. I never had to use Google Calendar much because my calendar was pretty basic... come home, spend time with the family and get to work. If something else was going on, it was the exception, not the rule. Over the past five weeks I've jumped into all kinds of great events around this city and it's been incredible. I've started to build some new friendships and make some great connections. I had to convince my wife to ditch the day planner and go digital (hooray!), but I wish I had done that sooner. I wish I had planned out some events beforehand and let my wife know which nights she'd have to put the kids to bed by herself.

All in all, it's been fabulous. Probably one of the greatest things I've come to realize is that each night I can plan a different alarm clock time for the next day. I can adjust based on how I feel, how late it is and what my goals are for the next day. I have flexibility, a form of freedom you don't really appreciate until you have it. I'm so very blessed and I can't wait to see what else I have in front of me to learn.

In summary, make sure you have a plan for:

• Your finances
• Your expectations
• Your calendar

Feel free to leave a comment below even if it's just to say hi. It always makes me smile.

If you have any questions about this or any other post here, please feel free to contact me on Twitter or at luke.stokes at gmail.com

First Impressions Part 2: Where Did All My Time Go?

Four weeks ago, I took the plunge. I left the job I love and became a quitter. This is part 2 of a series on my first impressions working for myself. If you have kids, you'll probably enjoy part 1.

Go ahead and read it. I'll wait.

Cute, huh? I really like the video. Speaking of getting distracted by videos... this post is about figuring out what the hell happened to all that "extra" time I was supposed to gain by working for myself at home. After all, I was commuting a half hour each way, leading a team of developers, acting as a technical lead and the only store developer. And that was just my day job. After dinner and on Saturdays I'd work my tail off building FoxyCart and put in another 15-25 hours adding up to a 55-65 hour work week.

I should have plenty of extra time now, right? The answer isn't surprising... I still have 24 hours each day, just like I did before. Luckily I started early on tracking every minute of my time working. I use Harvest and I love their "time is money, track it wisely" tag line. This is so, so important. It helps you track progress and understand your strengths, weaknesses and areas where you should hire more help.

Track your time.

It only takes a second to tab over, click a button and move on. Here are some of the categories I use most:

• Communication, INTERNAL: IM, Email, Project Management, etc.
• Communication, EXTERNAL: Clients, existing partners, VIPs, emails, IMs, phone, etc.
• Billing
• Support: Email
• Support: Forum
• Programming
• Product Management
• Personal Development

Did you notice that last one? I track that as "non-billable" and found some of my time going there. When I'm being paid by someone else to get things done, I'm working. It's as simple as that. My time spent doing anything else is stealing. If that seems extreme to you, read Dave Ramsey's new book EntreLeadership and you might understand where I'm coming from. Working for myself has changed things, though. I feel liberated to stay connected to Twitter (probably too much) and read a few blogs here and there. I'm loving it!

It didn't take long to realize that my time clock often didn't hit 8 hours by the time I was ready to eat dinner. This confused me until I started taking stock of what really happened that day. Here are some things I learned:

• Lunch meetings always take at least 2 hours. They take even longer if you're meeting with another entrepreneur who also isn't "on the clock" with a boss. I hadn't planned for that. I didn't factor in the drive time either. I've come out of my shell a bit more and been privileged to attend some great meetups like the Nashville PHP User Group, Geek Breakfast, NashBurger, NashCocktail, 1010, BarCamp's SpeakerUp, etc. not to mention some fantastic one-on-one meetings.
• Sometimes I'm doing the really important things that I never allowed myself to do. For example, last week after a great lunch meeting downtown, I was able to visit some friends at Vanderbilt hospital whose brand new baby was sick. He's home now and doing much better, but that was an appointment that I was so, so blessed to make. Meetings like that not only build deeper friendships, but they improve my whole quality of life.
• I was spending more quality time with my family. As I mentioned in part 1, wanting more time with family is probably the number one desire we'll have on our deathbed. Knowing that, let's make up for it now. Eating lunch with my family and putting my 2-year-old son down for his nap (after stories, lying down together, etc) was actually taking 1.5 to 2 hours on some days. As long as I'm willing to get up a little earlier to make up that time, it's well worth it. We also reclaimed our Saturdays and enjoyed a day at Cheeckwood, the zoo and a bunch of other free Mrs. Cheap events.
• Sometimes life just happens. I've learned to embrace the craziness. For example, Monday and Tuesday of this week I was out with a head cold and my wife had a crazy muscle spasm in her neck (turned out to be something called torticollis). After a few meetings with the chiropractor, Corinne's doing much better but the result was two days of no work because I had to drive her around and take care of the kids (while blowing my nose non-stop). The team took up the slack and life goes on, but it's good to keep in mind these things happen.

So that's where my time went. If you're preparing to make the jump to being self-employed, don't assume you'll have a bunch of free time, you'll just choose to spend your time differently. Be prepared, have a plan and track your time.

Speaking of having a plan, that's what Part 3 is about. As Eisenhower famously said, "I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable." I hope you come back to check it out and leave your thoughts.

Where does your time go? Do you track it or am I a little crazy for doing so?

First Impressions Part 1: Working from Home with Kids

Devon and Aria (July 2011)

Four weeks ago, I took the plunge. I left the job I love and became a quitter. Instead of giving advice as a tried-and-true work-from-home expert, I thought it would be fun to post my first impressions. What surprised me? What did I learn before I had a system in place? How stressful was the transition?

Hopefully this short "First Impressions" series will help others who are about to dive into full-time entrepreneurship and give them a raw perspective on what it's really like.

Devon (December 2010)

Part 1: What's it like working from home with kids?

I've heard different theories on this one. Some say if you have young ones you absolutely have to get an office outside of the house. Others told me to try and make it work for as long as possible. For myself, I grew up with my dad working from home since I was three, so I knew it could be done, I just didn't know what to expect.

Right now, I'm working out of a little desk set up in Aria's room. She's with mommy all day, so that works rather well. This past week, I even tried working in my "normal" place on the recliner in the living room. There's just something about "working" with my feet up that I totally love.

At first Devon couldn't understand why dad was home and not playing with him. Previously, though I was working two jobs, when I was home and he was awake, we were hanging out. Now he was throwing fits on his bad days and on his good days sticking his fingers under the door while saying "fingers? fingers?" over and over again to get my attention.

Someone suggested I get a sign to let him know when I'm in "work mode" and put it on the door. Great advice! I soon realized he already made up his own sign because he would often ask, "Glasses off?" Every time I'd stop working and roughhouse with him, I'd first take my glasses off. That's now his sign.

I could tell more stories, but listing out the things I've learned from my first four weeks may be more helpful to you:

Aria (September 2011)

Devon and Aria (September 2011)

1. Have a sign to let your kids know when you're working and when you're available to play. This helps with expectations and creates a simple reason why daddy can't play: it's because his glasses are on.
2. If possible, occasionally take a few minutes, clock out and give them some attention. They will be way happier (which means mom is happier) and you'll have an extra dose of joy to power you through the afternoon. At first they'll be really upset when it's time to go back to work, but that's where #1 can help.
3. If your wife asks for help with something, take a break and help her. Corinne pretty much never needs any help, so this one is easy for me, but the few times I've pitched in have been well worth the interruption in my flow.
4. Enjoy yourself! Don't ever feel guilty about taking a few minutes off to spend time with your family. This is why you are living the dream! On your deathbed, no matter what you accomplish, your family will be the only thing you wish you spent more time with.
5. Keeping #4 in mind... Get to work! Your customers need you to be productive. You have to have a system that keeps you focused. Good headphones are a must, especially when the babies are crying. Sometimes this means you just have to be an ogre and tell your kids you can't play right now. Earlier I mentioned clocking in and out. I'm serious about that. I'll share more in part 2 of this series. If you didn't clock enough hours or reach your goals for the day, consider putting in a bit of time after the kids are down, and you've spent time with your wife. You can also get up earlier the next day and work while everyone is asleep.

I hope this gives you some ideas. Above all, have some fun! One of my great joys is eating lunch with my family and putting my son down for his nap. We read stories, lie down together for a few minutes and it's absolutely wonderful. Lunches take an hour and a half now, but I was losing an hour a day commuting, right? I quickly learned to be careful with that math because the time simply disappears.

Check out Part 2: Where did all my time go?

I'm only four weeks into this and I have a lot to learn. I may come to find some of the ideas above don't work in the long run. What has your experience been? If you know someone who works from home or if you've had the privilege to do so, what advice would you give?

5 Keys to Preventing Marketers and Developers from Pissing Each Other Off.

For almost three years, I was privileged to lead the web marketing development team (or WMD's as we liked to be called) at the Lampo Group. That provided a unique opportunity to better understand what often trips up communication between development and marketing teams. More often than not, I was the one doing the tripping, so I learned a lot. I shared a few things with some marketing folks over burgers recently and figured it might be helpful to others as well.

Without further ado, here are 5 reminders to keep your marketing and development teams working together smoothly:

Marketers:

1. Don't let your lack of knowledge for the technology details come across as not valuing them.
   
   If you say things like "nerd stuff", "geek stuff" and "code magic" with a roll of the eyes or a hint of condescension, it will be picked up on and it will hurt your credibility with the developer team. They may have spent years in school and countless hours researching and learning online to understand the "tech stuff" while others were out doing more socially interesting things. Respect that investment and be sure to communicate how much you value their abilities and the complexity involved.
2. Don't say things like, "It's just copy/paste, right?"
   80% the same can be very different than 100% the same. It can be like saying, "Remember that Ferrari we had you build last month? We'd like to use it to transport about 40 people at once. What's that you say? A Bus? No, we can just use the Ferrari. It has wheels, an engine and a steering wheel and you already built it. That should be fine." If you ever need a reminder of what's really going on "under the hood" have them show you a few thousands lines of code every once in a while. Just for fun, have them show you how if they mistype even one character the entire thing will no longer compile.
3. Include the developers when planning out the project.
   
   Developers are often like artists with a wide range of brush types and paints to work with. Involve them in the process, communicate what your ultimate goals are (not just your immediate ideas for reaching them) and let them work as partners, not order takers. The timelines, the budget, the objectives... those all need to include the development's point of view. For example, if you didn't schedule time for testing and remediation in the project plan, you're probably going to miss the deadline.
4. Learn what is expected of you and treat it seriously.
   If you're given an admin interface that is confusing or you're having trouble figuring the system out, make sure you let the developers know and ask them to help you learn it. Take notes, write procedures or ask them to make changes but no matter what, don't simply abandon it. Few things frustrate a developer more than building something and then finding out later no one is using it. In my experience, developers love helping people and solving problems. If it doesn't get used, the problem hasn't really been solved which makes them feel like their work wasn't valued.  Or worse, that those making the priority decisions didn't think things through.
5. Developers are usually very specific.
   
   If you ask them to do X, Y and Z and assume they will understand that (obviously) 1, 2 and 3 are also needed to complete the project, don't be surprised if you only get the last few letters of the alphabet. Be specific. What you may see as skipping a few annoying, unimportant details a developer may see as a critical lack of planning.

In a nutshell: Respect is the currency of knowledge-workers. Pay well.

Developers:

1. Don't assume you're the only one who cares about the user (and, thus, the user experience).
   Most developers like to be arm-chair marketers, but notice how few marketers try to tell you how to optimize that recursive method you've been working on? Bring your opinions and experience but keep in mind there is probably a lot to a marketing campaign that you know nothing about. There may be 20 different plates spinning all at once and, if you happen to see one crash to the floor, give the benefit of the doubt and assume the other 19 plates were more important.  
2. Develop a deep, genuine respect for your marketing team and communicate it often.
   The marketing team's ability to promote your work pretty much pays for your salary. Don't ever assume they are ignorant or unintelligent. Chances are, they know more than you, just in different areas. For example, they probably understand people better than you. You work with code all day, they work with people all day, that's just the way it is. That means every gesture or comment you make, subconscious though it may be, communicates to them how you really feel. If you don't completely respect what they do or if you don't know how to communicate that respect, it will seriously hinder your ability to work well together.
3. If you get invited to a brainstorming meeting, GO!
   Yes, you'd rather be coding, but meetings are important. When invited, participate, but don't say things like "can't", "won't", or "not possible". Remember, you're the miracle worker so just about anything is possible given the right budget of time and money. It's your job to let the marketing team know what's reasonable given all the parameters. More often than not you have a solution that is not only faster and cheaper, but it also better meets the needs of the campaign. Also, don't get frustrated if they are bouncing around 10 different ideas before landing on something and needing your input, that's just how they work.
4. Don't go into the details unless you have to.
   Even then, have some metaphors to explain what you're talking about. I honestly suck at this. It's not uncommon for me to go way overboard with technical details either to stroke my own pride or to say, "see how hard that was?" Usually it's best to have the details on hand and ready, but just communicate the summary in a way that fits the audience: not too watered down so they feel patronized and not too technical so they feel stupid.
5. You are employed to help generate profit or further the cause, not just write code.
   It's very frustrating for a marketer to hear you missed the deadline because you rewrote the application 3 more times just because the code "didn't feel right" the first time. I'm all about refactoring when it improves performance, security or maintainabilty for constantly changing components, but keep in mind that even 1.0 code released to serve your customers is far better than perfect code no one ever uses.

In a nutshell: Good marketers work their asses off. Give them a break and serve them well. 

---

Want more on this topic? When thinking about this stuff, I stumbled upon a similar post from 2009 written by Jon Samsel.

This post is already too long and there are way more than 5 things to keep in mind. Got some great ones of your own? Please include a comment!

Meeting incredible people, building real friendships: how BarCamp Nashville got me out of my shell

Hello and welcome to my addition to BarCamp Nashville's Blog Tour. Hopefully you've already read Kasey Lawrence's great post followed by Nashville Scooter's recent addition.

It's no secret I'm a geek. I was a geek before it was cool to be a geek (as in, before they were making all the money). After moving to Nashville in 2006, one of my biggest challenges wasn't my anti-social geekdom—it was my split focus. I worked for a ministry organization, followed by the Lampo Group (Dave Ramsey's organization), all the while building my own company with my business partner, Brett Florio.

I worked really hard to stay "under the radar" about having a company. I couldn't let everyone know because I was unavailable to help our customers during the day. I chose not to connect with my peers which put me in a self-created shell, locked up tight.

That split focus has recently improved as I've become what Jon Acuff calls a Quitter (but you can read about that story later). What I want to blog about here is how last year's BarCamp brought me out of my shell and into some great relationships.

My BarCamp experience started with a regular meeting of entrepreneurs including Joel Widmer, Kenny Silva and others. Last year Kenny was in charge of obtaining sponsors and, as the master influencer he is, he not only convinced our company to sponsor, but also convinced me to speak. I could already feel my shell starting to crack. With barely enough courage to attend the SpeakerUp, I was honestly feeling way out of my league. How could I consider speaking at an event I've never attended? What about the fact I've never spoken anywhere else?

That night at SpeakerUp I took a big step and wore my FoxyCart t-shirt. Mitch Canter was one of the first people to greet me at the bar and he was not only super friendly, he was actually a fan of our company! Right away, I started feeling more comfortable. The SpeakerUp team was convincing. BarCamp is perfect for people like me. I just needed to get out there and speak.

So day of, who do I see outside? Mitch is again there to greet me with a firm handshake and a big, friendly smile. I'm now thinking, "I know one person here. I might be ok." My session was in the first slot of the day, some of my Dave Ramsey developer team members were there, and I somehow stumbled through my first try at public speaking. Afterwards, I started meeting all kinds of really cool people who had more ecommerce questions. As the day progressed, I met up with Bill Butler who took me under his wing like a little lost puppy and started introducing me to just about everyone. Later I connected with Billy White via his awesome Arduino presentation. I saw Travis Robertson, Justin Davis, Mitch Canter and Joel Widmer throw underwear at the crowd while giving incredible advice about being entrepreneurs. By now, my shell was in pieces on the floor.

I met even more people at the after party including Travis and Justin who, it turns out, were not only FoxyCart fans, but also huge Dave Ramsey fans. That gave me an excuse to set up lunches with them and others over the next few months. Keeping up via Twitter, LAN parties and face-to-face meetings, I started building real relationships that I value so much today. BarCamp was the catalyst for building those relationships and bringing me out of my shell.

This year I'm looking forward to seeing people I've had the privledge to hang out with and learn from like Kacy Maxwell, Joey Strawn, Laura Click, Tyler Clark, Tim Moses, Nathan Hubbard and others. I also hope to build some new relationships with people like Chuck Bryant (who convinced me to write this post), Cal Evans, Kate O'Neill, Ben Ramsey, Jacques Woodcock... I could go on and on. If you're reading this, come find me and say hello on October 15th.

"All this and more!" can be yours too... if you're willing to show up with a smile and a handshake. Life's too short to stay in a shell. Come to BarCamp on October 15th and meet some wicked awesome people who are crazy smart and fun to hang out with. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to hit up Laurie Kalmanson's blog tomorrow for the next stop on the blog tour.

Sunkmanitu Tanka Owaci!

If you've seen the movie Dances with Wolves, hopefully you're familiar with the emotional scene I'm about to refer to:

EXT. CANYON TRAIL - DAY

Dances With Wolves and Stands With A Fist have reached the head of the trail leading out of the winter camp. They have just begun to ascend when a voice, calling from afar, brings them to a halt. The sound echoes through the canyons, through the village.

WIND IN HIS HAIR (O.S.)

(calling)
Dances With Wolves...

EXT. CANYON - DAY

His pony is jacked up and, as always, Wind In His Hair looks the perfect warrior. But now his face is full of stress as he screams out the message he could not deliver in person.

WIND IN HIS HAIR

I am Wind In His Hair...

EXT. WINTER CAMP - DAY

Everyone in the camp has stopped to listen.

WIND IN HIS HAIR (O.S.)

Can you not see that I am your friend?

EXT. CANYON TRAIL - DAY

Dances With Wolves looks ready to crack.

WIND IN HIS HAIR (O.S.)

Can you not see that you will always be my friend?

Dances With Wolves lets the unhappy echo of these words fade away before he starts his pony again. We follow for a few yards. Then the call comes a second time. If anything, more urgent than before.

WIND IN HIS HAIR (O.S.)

Dances With Wolves...

Dances With Wolves stops. He drops his head painfully as the sound of his own name booms through his head.

I love this scene. It makes me feel something deep in my gut every time. It reminds me that true friendships are the most valuable thing in the world, that they are rare and they are worth fighting for. Professional relationships and acquaintances are great, and I truly cherrish them as well, but true, deep friendships are life-giving. Unfortunately, we often wait until we're in a crisis to discover who our true friends are.

Hopefully you have examples in your life that come to mind. I know I do. Times when my friends have carried me and times when I've done all I can to carry others.

With all our Facebook and Twitter "friends", it's easy for that word to lose meaning. Don't let it. Fight for your friendships. Let those in your life who are important to you know how much you value them. Let them know you are there for them in their moments of crisis. Let others be there for you. The deep richness of life is fully known by sharing it with others.

There's more I could say on this topic, but honestly Simon Sinek said it better. Check out his post on True Friendship.

If you have any thoughts on friendships, please share them below. I'd love to hear them.

Be Human, It's Good Business

If you've listened to Chris Brogan, Derek Sivers or Gary Vaynerchuk for more than a month, you already know what I'm about to say (but probably could use the reminder). Today, successful businesses have to be human. They have to be approachable.

I snapped the screen grab to the right because it's a great example. Some guy on Twitter wanted to get in touch with THE Gary Vaynerchuk. Like most of us, he safely assumed unless you're someone important or you know someone important, you have to be introduced to get noticed. Gary's response shows this is no longer the case. The CEO's email address is no longer a company trade secret.

Derek Sivers is another great example. If you haven't read his book, Anything You Want, go buy it. You can read it in an hour and a half. He talks a lot about business being human (funny non-corporate emails, asking customers to buy pizzas for change requests and even including sticks of gum or a squid (?!) in the outgoing package if necessary).

Derek ends his book with this:

"The coolest people I meet are the ones who find me through something I've written. So if you made it this far, please go to http://sivers.org/a and email me to say hello. I get really inspired by people's questions, so feel free to ask me anything, or just tell me what you're working on. I'm glad to help."

"I'm glad to help." He really means it. A couple of those 4,469 emails were to me and I'm nobody important. I get encouraged every time I remember his first reply:

Hi Luke -
Thanks for the GREAT email!  Wow!  Very cool to get to know you more. Sounds like we're kindreds! :-)
You didn't ask for a response, but just wanted to let you know how much I loved your email.
I'll definitely keep in touch. By the way, is this (luke.stokes@gmail.com) also you?
What's your twitter url?

Like Gary and many others, he generally cares and is interested in the people he connects with. He understands how people want to feel validated and important. If Derek Sivers, a man who some say changed the music industry forever, calls me a kindred then maybe I really can be successful. Even the nobodies want to feel like somebody.

Businesses and CEOs have an incredible platform to do exactly that—whether that means delivering a steak to someone at the airport or just replying to an email to tell them you enjoyed reading their story. It sounds so simple, but it's actually very difficult to do consistently.

When FoxyCart first started, I used to get frustrated with my business partner, Brett Florio, because he spent hours and hours responding to customer support emails and forum posts. I used to think, "Dude, we can't scale that. We have to focus on marketing and sales and the website and, and, and..." Instead of firing off a quick answer to someone's pre-sales question, Brett took a look at the company's website, got an understanding for their product and his responses were usually personal and specific. He not only answered their questions, but he also asked some of his own and often included advice on how to improve their online presence.

He knew long before I did that what he was doing is marketing. A brand is the perception of your service in the mind of the customer and he was willing to build that perception one human at a time.

As we continue to grow and bootstrap this business, I never want to lose that human focus. I know there are only so many hours in the day, but our fans love us and rave about us because, hopefully, they understand how much Luke and Brett care about them. We care about their success. They are not just another cog in someone's profit wheel. They are humans and they want to work with a business made up of other humans caring for their users, validating them and making it known that they are somebody important.

What are you doing to make others feel important? How are you making your business more human?

Leaving the best job I'll ever have

Today is a memory I'll cherrish for a very long time. Jon Shearer stood up after our weekly company devotional to let everyone know I'd be transitioning to work on my company full time, starting next week. After a round of applause, Dave Ramsey also honored me with his congratulations and I must say, it felt really good. I have a very deep respect for Jon and Dave.

People talk about changing the nation, but Dave Ramsey and the Lampo Group are actually doing it. Over 4.5 million listeners tune in to his radio show, calling often to let him know how much his input has impacted their lives, saved their marriages and brought hope to their families. Dave reads their letters at staff meeting and I've met some of them face to face working live events. With Town Hall for Hope in 2009 and The Great Recovery in 2011, Dave Ramsey and the Lampo Group are engaging culture, bringing positive change to the nation.

So how could I possibly consider leaving? Working at Lampo since November 2007 has been like getting a master's degree in business and leadership. Great men and women have poured into my life, demonstrating passionate servant leadership on a daily basis. I've learned how to lead a team and be a team member, how to work with other departments, serve others and get it done. The friendships I've made have been with some of the most passionate, hard-working, excellent people I'll ever know. I couldn't imagine finding a better job because Dave has built a missional culture with a shared purpose. It's not a "J-O-B", it's work that matters.

I'm not just leaving Lampo for another job. I'm leaving out of obedience. I'm not the author of my story and the next chapter has been opened in front of me, requiring my engagement.

In 2005 a friend and I started working on the idea of FoxyCart, an easy to use shopping cart developers could quickly add to their websites. At the time there were few tools available to give web professionals complete control of their checkout experience while not duplicating data or efforts. In June 2007, FoxyCart.com LLC was born and we started meeting a real need in the marketplace. With a handful of customers paying us a monthly fee, it was financially just a hobby. Today we provide ecommerce for over 1,650 businesses in 20 countries, processing $5M+ in transactions monthly.  We have a team of 8 people with members from Russia, Australia, Pakistan and across the US. It's a real business that needs more from me than Saturdays and 2-5 hours most weeknights. Now with two little ones, my family needs more as well.

My wife, Corinne, is amazing. Literally, she amazes me. She has been so patient with the hours I work, sacrificing right along with me to run every aspect of the household. Weeknights from 6pm to 8pm and Sunday's together as a family are great, but we'd like more. Last year the money was there to make the switch... I had arrived, ready to live every entrepreneur’s dream and be a quitter. But I couldn't pull myself away. God started whispering to me, preparing me. I was listening, praying and waiting. Over the last 18 months, I knew something was brewing inside. I never asked to start FoxyCart, it's just part of my story. I now have a responsibility to the families relying on FoxyCart's success and to my story to give it my full attention, working normal hours and living the dream of spending quality time at any time with my family and friends.

I'm proud to leave a legacy at Lampo having fulfilled three roles at once including team lead, technical lead and ecommerce developer. Being the technical contact responsible for our store and many of our major marketing campaigns has been a great challenge and rewarding blessing. One of the greatest honors of my life to date has been leading the Web Marketing Developer team made up of Jeremy Shearer, Andrew Kallemeyn and Ron Coffman, or more affactionately known as the WMD's.

It also hasn't been easy. Building our God-given dreams rarely is. Working 55-65 hours a week (40 at Lampo, the rest at home), working through lunches, going to bed at 1am and waking up before 7am day after day catches up to you. There isn't much time left for exercise, sleep, deep friendships and non-work-related fun. I'd keep the marathon going if that's what I was called to do, but I truly believe the timing is right to move on. Over the past few months, it's become clear that we're ready to start living like no one else. A part of me will never leave Lampo and I look forward to having more time to nurture the friendships I have there.

In the school of life, it's time to start my next semester.

Who knows, in ten or so years FoxyCart might be an overnight success.

How to Take our Country Back

I originally posted this on Facebook as a note November 26, 2009. I was kind of fed up with all the election stuff. With Dave Ramsey leading The Great Recovery, it reminded me to post it here as well. Hopefully the church out of debt will be a church that serves.
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I've heard a lot of people say we need to vote them all home. That's true, but will that really change anything? What about the lobbyists, the Washington machine, the attitude? Republicans, Democrats, what's the difference these days?

There's a better idea. Let's put them out of business.

Here's how: the church needs to get back to being the church. True religion is about caring for orphans and widows. Conservatives across the nation are yelling about how the liberals are destroying our country with their socialist agenda, but what if the liberals are just trying to do a job we've been ignoring? Churches used to build orphanages, hospitals and universities. They used to take care of those in our society that couldn't take care of themselves. When did that become the government's business?

I think we can do better.

If each and every believing American will step up to the plate and be the children of God we're called to be, we can change this nation. If there are people in our neighborhoods turning to the government for health care, why don't we help them? If there are people in our city turning to food stamps and welfare, why don't we help them? The help we can give, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will truly change lives, not just cover the symptoms. We can start businesses, create jobs, provide healing and education. We can make a difference.

The next time you get angry about where this country is going, the next time you yell at the nightly news or your radio, think about what you can do to take back these jobs from the government. According to Barna and Viola (authors of Pagan Christianity) 50 to 85% of the $50 to $60 billion in annual giving goes to church overhead. Talk to your friends and your pastor and change that statistic. If your church isn't doing the job of the church, go find one that is or start a new one with a couple friends in your home. If that's too challenging, think of it this way: if Jesus were to come back today, would He hang out at your church? If the answer is no, why are you there?

Be the church. Take the jobs we're responsible for back from the government. If we do this and vote for leaders who will actually live up to the oath they take to protect our Constitution, we can take this country back. It won't be easy and we probably won't see the full results in our lifetime, but what other options do we have?

The Power of Expectations

My two year old son knows how to use my iPad. The internet and technology are norms. The speed at which the world moves today is commonplace. Watching my son navigate the touch screen, I began to wonder, what drives each generation? Why do things continue to advance at such an incredible pace?

I'm wondering if it's as simple as our expectations. I've long believed that expectations not communicated or not met can powerfully influence marriages and relationships. But how do they impact culture?

My son expects things to move quickly. We expect instant success. Instead of working our whole lives to buy a home, we want to match our parents right out of college. So we work two jobs. Our moms don't stay home. We work that much harder so we can have everything that much sooner so we can move on to the next breakthrough today instead of tomorrow. If we didn't expect so much, would anything change?

In third world countries where generations live just as the previous ones did, could new expectations change everything? What if children expected clean water? Would they learn from other communities and dig their own wells? What happens when cultures start expecting Blue Jeans and Big Macs? What's the proper day to day balance between no expectations, realistic down-to-earth expectations and those that got us to the moon?

How can we learn to control our expectations instead of them controlling us? Once we have that healthy control, how can we give it to peoples and cultures that are in such desperate need?

The answers aren't clear, but the next generation is certainly watching. They will have the results of our expectations in their hands to use as they see fit. They will shape the world according to what they envision and they are looking to us for a model that works.

Town Hall for Hope

What an incredible whirlwind the last 6 weeks have been. From an idea to reality, Town Hall for Hope was last night and it was incredible. I'm so proud of the team at Lampo. We killed it.

I can't believe how quickly we built the original registration site and then launched version 2 of the site exactly one hour into the event. If you haven't already, check it out:

http://www.townhallforhope.com/

This morning, on the way to work, I heard a song on the radio that my dad used to play along with on his flute. It brought tears to my eyes and a huge smile. I know he would have been so proud of me and the work the Lord has enabled me to do through Lampo.

I hope you got to see the event, pop. I hope you smiled with me and got all excited like the kid-at-heart you were.

So Thankful

Well, it's been a while. Man, I need to dust around here. Guys don't dust though. Once in a while they'll pick things up and call it "cleaning", but I've learned that's not the same thing. :)

Being Thanksgiving morning, I just thought I'd stop by and post about how thankful I am. I am truly, truly thankful. I am so blessed. My wife is amazing, we have a baby due in April (I forgot to mention that, didn't I?) and we're making great progress towards getting out of debt.

Next Tuesday we'll have "the appointment" to find out if we have a son or a daughter on the way. Very exciting. Our little debt thermometer image on the fridge is great and should hopefully be filled up by the end of the Summer, 2009. My little side company is doing well and continuing to grow. Work has been awesome. We had a one day off-site retreat last week which was a blast. I was a little too proud of being the first to make it to the opposing team's base during capture the flag. It was a great time and I really enjoyed getting to know more of the crew in the broadcast department.

God is awesome. I've had such a great morning, starting with Corinne's Lasgna for breakfast, checking the FC forums and then starting to reread The Shack which is a book you really need to check out. Right now I'm watching the Titans blow out Detroit. It's a good day.

I am super blessed.