Life of Joe

"My last piece of advice is this simple… Persevere. Because nothing worthwhile is easy."

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:51:34 -0400

“My last piece of advice is this simple… Persevere. Because nothing worthwhile is easy.”

- President Obama, in his commencement address at Barnard College today (via barackobama)

I Love You, Competitors

Wed, 09 May 2012 06:50:00 -0400

Most people hate seeing competitors. They freak out at the thought of someone else trying to be the best at the exact thing that they’re trying to do.

I… love them. I couldn’t imagine doing anything that no one else is trying to do. In fact, almost everything in my life is motivated by the fact that someone else might be breathing down my neck.

Maybe it’s my crazy competitive outlook, maybe it’s the delusional side of me, but I have no doubt that we can beat anyone head to head given a long enough time frame. If there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s execute.

How Much Equity Should I Get as a Co-Founder?

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 08:34:58 -0400

I was recently asked by a friend my opinion on how much equity they should get as a co-founder of a company. In this particular situation there were a lot of in’s, a lot of out’s, a lot of what have you’s (this is a Big Lebowski reference). In order to keep my friends identity secret I won’t go into the details. However, I think for the most part the answer is pretty straight forward. I think if you’re a ‘true’ co-founder, and your with the company from day 0, everyone should get equal share. It’s fairness that matters most at this point. Fred Wilson has a great post on this about a year ago.

No matter what you’ve done before, no matter what skills you possess, everyone in the company is taking a giant leap of faith on a project that currently means absolutely nothing. An idea is nothing, execution is everything. When people start trying to assign arbitrary numbers to unquantifiable skills you’re just asking for trouble down the road.

When I was involved in my first equity split discussion, we all went in with the adage “It’s not over until everyone feels screwed.” When I look back on how that discussion went I realize how dumb and inexperienced we all were.

The important thing at that stage in the game is that everyone feel comfortable, that they were treated fairly, and that they’re compensated properly for the enormous amount of risk they’re all taking. If people feel unfairly compensated they’re less motivated and whether you want to admit it or not, it breeds a certain level of negativity into your culture from the beginning.

On the same token, stepping up as a founder/CEO of a company and recognizing that all founding members equity should be split equally sets a mature tone, and solidifies for as a leader.

Down the road, as things get more convoluted equity discussions deserve greater thought and splits become harder to figure out. Not everyone is taking the same amount of risk as the original founders. However, if it’s day 0 and all you have is an idea floating around in space, don’t be a baby… split everything equally and move on to making those shares worth something.

Jack White - Love Interruption The new single from Jack...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:26:00 -0400

Jack White - Love Interruption

The new single from Jack White’s amazing new solo album. I highly recommend you pick it up. If I can quote my best friend Nick (whose musical taste is far better than mine), “It’s… It’s what you’d expect”.

Photo

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 18:04:53 -0400

It’s the little things in life that get you by. Like this...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:33:14 -0400

It’s the little things in life that get you by. Like this song by Naughty By Nature…

lulinternet: hold down alt/option while clicking the reblog...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:02:10 -0400

lulinternet:

hold down alt/option while clicking the reblog button on your dashboard to see da supa fly gif i was contracted to make

My ride to training camp…. Yup! (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:53:57 -0400

My ride to training camp…. Yup! (Taken with instagram)

Family Business

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:36:16 -0400

Last night, I finally got a chance to see my little sister play lacrosse this year. I also got a chance to hang out with my two younger brothers.

It’s amazing, we don’t see each other often, but once we get together it’s like nothing’s changes. We hung out like we see each other everyday. I guess that’s just what happens with family. They’re my brothers and sister and there’s nothing that can come between us… Especially not a little bit of time.

Couple of things I noticed: My little sister (Kristin) is not only very good at lacrosse, she’s also hilarious. She had me laughing even though we only talked for a few minutes. My youngest brother (John), is getting really big. He’s tall, and I can’t tell just from talking to him that he’s incredibly smart. (totally got that from me… Right?). My younger brother Nick is a typical Yevoli through and through. He’s playing lacrosse and making his own way doing it… Which I couldn’t be happier about. He’s also just as fast as I am at 13(yes, we raced).

I feel incredible today after seeing then. I hope I get more of these opportunities in the future!

***Forgive typos. Wrote this on my iPhone.

Never a Good Time For Anything

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:16:23 -0400

I guess Dan Spinosa said it best, “There’s never a good time for anything.” As the company continues to grow day by day, I find myself being spread as thin as can be. There are so many things I want to do in a day, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve completed all of them.

This isn’t entirely bad, because the important things are getting done, but it’s the other areas in my life that are falling behind. I’ll be the first to admit that I would definitely have time to do all I wanted to do every single day if I worked nonstop from the time I wake up, 6am, to the time I go to bed, 12am. However, I’m not willing to do that and I believe my work would suffer if I did.

What I think I need to embrace is the idea of working without a schedule. Most ideas that aren’t a priority get written down somewhere, but chances are they never get done because there’s always something more important to do. I want to try and embrace the idea that there’s never a good time for anything. If I have a blog idea, or a tweet, or anything else I want to get done, I need to do as soon as I possibly can. I need to get it out of the way, out of my head, and into the world.

"We’re consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these..."

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:01:33 -0400

“We’re consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra… The things you own, end up owning you.”

- Tyler Durdin

“Individually we are all creators, but together we are...

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:31:02 -0400

“Individually we are all creators, but together we are ‘the creator‘…”

Really inspiring video, sent to me from @ifain

Photo

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:06:56 -0400

fuckyeahmovieposters: The Dark Knight I think I have to reblog...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:35:58 -0400

fuckyeahmovieposters:

The Dark Knight

I think I have to reblog this?? I feel like I have to reblog this…

"Limitless undying love which shines around me like a Million suns, it calls me on and on Across the..."

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:14:35 -0400

“Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
Million suns, it calls me on and on
Across the universe
Jai guru de va om
Nothing’s gonna change my world”

- The Beatles - Across the Universe

Absolutely incredible lyrics.

White Stripes - We are gonna be friends I love this song, and I...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:32:17 -0400

White Stripes - We are gonna be friends

I love this song, and I love this video :)

That’s Dan… Dan Spinosa.. @Spinosa… a guy...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:18:30 -0400

That’s Dan… Dan Spinosa.. @Spinosa… a guy I’ve hated since 2nd grade! Wait.. what did I say?

henrysztul:

“We’re busy trying to get things done” -@spinosa. Go NYC.
“Made in New York” on http://shel.tv/HiYkaY via @ifain

A fellow Cuse alum just gave me this. Senior day, at Cuse. Me,...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:14:15 -0400

A fellow Cuse alum just gave me this. Senior day, at Cuse. Me, my dad, and my bros and sister (Taken with instagram)

Busy Week

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:05:45 -0400

This week has been incredibly busy for me. I feel like I’ve rarely had a few minutes to my self. Thinking back on the week, and how it was structured, I realize I can do a better time of planning and managing my time.

I’ve been trying to get away from the traditional to-do list, as I don’t think they work. However, I’ve been keeping an ongoing list, in no particular order of the things I need to do. Every night before I’ve gone to bed I’ve tried to reorganize, and brush up on the things that I need to do. Through this exercise I’ve realized that it’s not just about accomplishing your tasks, it’s also about keeping track of all the things you actually have accomplished.

It helps a great deal to look back on all the things you’ve done that day. It makes me feel like the day was a productive day, and it gives me the motivation to make tomorrow even better.

Evernote has been phenomenal for this. I keep separate folders for different things I need to do. One for “Doing”, one for the things I’ve prioritized, one list of all the things I randomly think of during the day (which get prioritized later), and then one more list of the things I’ve done that day.

The only knock I have on Evernote is that they don’t allow me to reorder notes as I enter them (much like how Trello works). I understand that Evernote is coming out with a to-do list app soon enough. I’m excited to check that out, and see how it works with this workflow.

My Own Internal Critic

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:47:40 -0400

I need to start blogging everyday. It’s way harder than it sounds. I know that when I blog, my thoughts are more structured in my head. I seem to be able to think more clearly. It gives me the chance to organize my thoughts, and it’ll help me ‘build a personal brand’, but most importantly, I think, it will help me silence the voice in my head.

Pay attention to your thoughts when you’re doing something that other people are going to see. Do you find you’re thinking more about what you think they want, rather than what you’d want? I find that to be the case, and I don’t think it should. Pushing past that internal critic will teach me to ignore it when it’s not necessary.

So, without further adieu, here goes nothing. I’m going to try and blog as often as I possibly can. Not just pictures, or music, or quotes; but my own actual thoughts about whatever happens to be going on in my life at that particular time. Let see where this goes, and if I can actually keep it up :)