Successful EntConnect 2010 is now history, get ready for EntConnect 2011

The EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference is now history, as technical entrepreneurs now look forward to EntConnect 2011. EntConnect 2010 ran from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010. I didn't blog or twitter or wiki about it since my notebook PC screen died as the conference was about to get underway (I bought an external monitor at BestBuy last night when I got back to NYC), but new attendee and presenter Jeff Duntemann, former publisher of PC TECHNIQUES magazine, has posted an outstanding write-up at Report: EntConnect 2010. Old-time attendees and Midnight Engineering writers Matt Trask and Bruce Boyes came back to the conference and recounted their adventures over recent years. Newcomer, keynote speaker, and retireed entrepreneur (that's an oxymoron, by the way) Dave Grenewetzki, former President of game publisher Sierra On-Line, definitely added a lot of adventurous tales to the proceedings.

I don't have an exact attendee count, especially since not everyone was there at all times, but I counted about 26 people on several different occasions. Small, but very focused and very interactive.

Some of us enjoyed getting rides in a Tesla all-electric sports car after the formal conference on Sunday. Others had more fun driving their own go-karts on Friday.

Hotel details for EntConnect 2011 -- the 20th Anniversity of the conference -- are still up in the air, but the anticipated dates are Thursday, March 24, 2011 through Sunday, March 27, 2011.

Oh, I almost forgot, there is a special reduced price for those who register for EntConnect 2011 by the end of this week.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 37-second elevator pitch for the conference:

Whether you are an entrepreneur or thinking about starting your own business or simply need a good excuse to go skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Entrepreneurial Connections conference (EntConnect) may be just the conference you have been waiting for. Targeted primarily at engineers (hardware, software, and other) and others with a strong technical interest, it is more of a loosely-structured "unconference", with plenty of opportunities for a relatively small group of participants (15 to 40) to network or even give their own presentations on a very wide range of topics from technology, business strategy, intellectual property and legal issues, accounting issues, finance, marketing, sales, and even selling your business. With plenty of time to ski or otherwise enjoy the mountains and Denver area (great time to visit Boulder or Colorado Springs as well), the conference is a great opportunity to "learn and share" and otherwise have an "out of box" experience. Participants and speakers range over the full spectrum from wannabes and newcomers to successful young entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. The conference is an excellent opportunity to meet up with former readers (and possibly even the publisher) of Midnight Engineering magazine as well. The conference runs from Thursday, March 24, 2011 through Sunday, March 27, 2011.

I have been attending the conference since it first started in 1992 as ME SKI '92 and then evolved into ENTCON and then Entrepreneurial Connections or EntConnect.

For a little nostalgia, check out the original ME SKI '92 conference announcement.

-- Jack Krupansky

EntConnect 2010 gets underway tomorrow

24 hours from now I will out in Denver for the EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference, which runs this week from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010. The main conference is on the weekend with activities, including skiing on Thursday and Friday. The weather looks fine for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

Here is the current weather forecast:

• Thursday, March 25: Mostly Sunny, high 48F.
• Friday, March 26: Mostly Cloudy, high 52F.
• Saturday, March 27: 40% chance of Rain/Snow Showers, high of 45F.
• Sunday, March 28: Sunny, high of 55F
• Monday, March 29: Mostly Sunny, high of 61F.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 37-second elevator pitch for the conference:

Whether you are an entrepreneur or thinking about starting your own business or simply need a good excuse to go skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Entrepreneurial Connections conference (EntConnect) may be just the conference you have been waiting for. Targeted primarily at engineers (hardware, software, and other) and others with a strong technical interest, it is more of a loosely-structured "unconference", with plenty of opportunities for a relatively small group of participants (15 to 40) to network or even give their own presentations on a very wide range of topics from technology, business strategy, intellectual property and legal issues, accounting issues, finance, marketing, sales, and even selling your business. With plenty of time to ski or otherwise enjoy the mountains and Denver area (great time to visit Boulder or Colorado Springs as well), the conference is a great opportunity to "learn and share" and otherwise have an "out of box" experience. Participants and speakers range over the full spectrum from wannabes and newcomers to successful young entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. The conference is an excellent opportunity to meet up with former readers (and possibly even the publisher) of Midnight Engineering magazine as well. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

I have been attending the conference since it first started in 1992 as ME SKI '92 and then evolved into ENTCON and then Entrepreneurial Connections or EntConnect.

For a little nostalgia, check out the original ME SKI '92 conference announcement.

-- Jack Krupansky

Move over Kiva, MicroPlace helps the working poor and gives an investment return

Microlending is a great concept. Kiva provides a way for average American consumers to participate and fund microloans for the working poor around the world. But, Kiva does not offer any financial return to investors. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nada. Nothing. Sure, as a charity, Kiva is great. But it doesn't fit into any investment strategy. Lending Club and Prosper do provide decent investment returns, but focus on lending to creditworthy consumers in America who are a number of rungs higher on the economic ladder than the working poor in third-world countries. What was missing was something in the middle, offering a modest return for microloans for the working poor. Enter MicroPlace, which does exactly that. I do not know a lot about it yet, but I just got an email from PayPal alerting me to its existence. PayPal is part of eBay and MicroPlace is part of PayPal. So, it is not some fly-by-night operation. I will be checking into them over the next few weeks.

From their web site:

MicroPlace Mission

MicroPlace's mission is to help alleviate global poverty by enabling everyday people to make investments in the world's working poor.

Our idea is simple.

Microfinance institutions around the world have discovered an effective way to help the world's working poor lift themselves out of poverty. These organizations need capital to expand and reach more of the working poor. At the same time, millions of everyday people here in the United States are looking for ways to make investments that yield a financial return while making a positive impact on the world. MicroPlace simply connects investors with microfinance institutions looking for funds.

The result: more microfinance in the world, satisfied investors, and above all, fewer people living in poverty.

Also, this is another GREAT way to thumb your nose at all of those big Wall Street banks with their giga-billion bailouts. You don't need their 1% interest while they use your money to make speculative bets that churn the stock market and push commodities prices higher. Put the same money in MicroPlace, get a higher rate of return, and actually do some good in the world! At least that's the theory. Stay tuned for details.

-- Jack Krupansky

Reinvested ongoing Lending Club cashflow in a new investment loan at 17.19%

Cashflow from my portfolio of Lending Club investment loans ("notes") over the past eleven days has given me enough cash this morning to invest in yet another consumer loan. My current Net Annualized Return is now at 15.02%, which is still a bit short of my goal of 15.5%, so I picked a pre-approved loan at 17.19% that is already 78% funded with nine days left in the two-week funding period. I expect that this loan is likely to reach full funding within a couple of days.

The loan grade for this loan is E3 (on an "A" to "G" scale), which is moderately risky. Lending Club says that the historical default rate for loans such as this one is about 3.74%, so that my projected return is about 12.73%. That includes Lending Club taking 0.72% as a servicing fee. In truth, my goal of 15.5% should factor in a default rate of about 3.5% or so, giving an expected return of about 12%. That is still quite respectable, especially in this economic and financial environment.

My goal is really a 15% return, but I figure I need a little buffer so that repayments (and maybe even defaults) don't push me below my goal too frequently. I may in fact keep pushing upwards with loans in the 16% to 18% range until I get my return up to 16% and then gradually work the average back to 15.5%.

So far, my Lending Club portfolio has been perfect, with no delinquencies or even late payments. I started investing with Lending Club back in June.

This is still just an experiment for me since I have no prior experience with this type of investment, but so far in has been very encouraging. I intend to double the size of the experiment in April (assuming my work income continues.)

-- Jack Krupansky

EntConnect 2010 just a couple of days away - weather update

One of the annoying "traditions" of the EntConnect Entrepreneurial Connections conference in Denver is that somehow the weather has managed to be uncooperative half of the time. Last year there was a major winter storm the Thursday a lot of us were arriving. So, maybe this will be the half of the time when the weather is more cooperative. The EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference is in Denver this week from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010. The main conference is on the weekend with activities, including skiing in the days before. The weather looks fine for Thursday and the weekend, but there is currently a Winter Storm Warning in effect for Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon. I'll be arriving from New York (Newark, actually) on Thursday, so I should be okay, unless there is some major air traffic disruption on Wednesday.

Here is the current weather forecast:

• Wednesday, March 24: 60% chance of Snow Shower, high of 35F.
• Thursday, March 25: Sunny, high 50F.
• Friday, March 26: Partly Cloudy, high 58F.
• Saturday, March 27: 40% chance of Showers, high of 41F.
• Sunday, March 28: Partly Cloudy, high of 52F
• Monday, March 29: Partly Cloudy, high of 56F.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 37-second elevator pitch for the conference:

Whether you are an entrepreneur or thinking about starting your own business or simply need a good excuse to go skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Entrepreneurial Connections conference (EntConnect) may be just the conference you have been waiting for. Targeted primarily at engineers (hardware, software, and other) and others with a strong technical interest, it is more of a loosely-structured "unconference", with plenty of opportunities for a relatively small group of participants (15 to 40) to network or even give their own presentations on a very wide range of topics from technology, business strategy, intellectual property and legal issues, accounting issues, finance, marketing, sales, and even selling your business. With plenty of time to ski or otherwise enjoy the mountains and Denver area (great time to visit Boulder or Colorado Springs as well), the conference is a great opportunity to "learn and share" and otherwise have an "out of box" experience. Participants and speakers range over the full spectrum from wannabes and newcomers to successful young entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. The conference is an excellent opportunity to meet up with former readers (and possibly even the publisher) of Midnight Engineering magazine as well. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

I have been attending the conference since it first started in 1992 as ME SKI '92 and then evolved into ENTCON and then Entrepreneurial Connections or EntConnect.

For a little nostalgia, check out the original ME SKI '92 conference announcement.

-- Jack Krupansky

EntConnect 2010 barely over a week away

I have been so busy on other things that the upcoming EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference in Denver at the end of the month (Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010) has started to sneak up on me and is now barely a week away. I don't have any additional details since my last post. At this stage it is mostly a matter of finalizing preparations for traveling to the conference next week.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 37-second elevator pitch for the conference:

Whether you are an entrepreneur or thinking about starting your own business or simply need a good excuse to go skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Entrepreneurial Connections conference (EntConnect) may be just the conference you have been waiting for. Targeted primarily at engineers (hardware, software, and other) and others with a strong technical interest, it is more of a loosely-structured "unconference", with plenty of opportunities for a relatively small group of participants (15 to 40) to network or even give their own presentations on a very wide range of topics from technology, business strategy, intellectual property and legal issues, accounting issues, finance, marketing, sales, and even selling your business. With plenty of time to ski or otherwise enjoy the mountains and Denver area (great time to visit Boulder or Colorado Springs as well), the conference is a great opportunity to "learn and share" and otherwise have an "out of box" experience. Participants and speakers range over the full spectrum from wannabes and newcomers to successful young entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. The conference is an excellent opportunity to meet up with former readers (and possibly even the publisher) of Midnight Engineering magazine as well. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

I have been attending the conference since it first started in 1992 as ME SKI '92 and then evolved into ENTCON and then Entrepreneurial Connections or EntConnect.

For a little nostalgia, check out the original ME SKI '92 conference announcement.

-- Jack Krupansky

Latest Lending Club investment loan fully funded and issued

Only Friday morning I put in an order to use recent cashflow (and an early repayment) from my portfolio of Lending Club investment loans to invest in a new loan. Over the weekend that loan reaching full funding and early this morning Lending Club issued the loan. Wow, that was fast!

My current Net Annualized Return remains at 14.47%, but it should rise as I start to receive payments from the new batch of loans I made in February. My goal is to hit 15% (or maybe 15.5% to keep the average above 15%.)

So far, my Lending Club portfolio has been perfect, with no delinquencies or even late payments. I started investing with Lending Club back in June.

This is still just an experiment for me since I have no prior experience with this type of investment, but so far in has been very encouraging. I intend to double the size of the experiment in April (assuming my work income continues.)

-- Jack Krupansky

Secret to having happy employees: fire the unhappy ones

There was an insightful blog post on The New York Times by business owner Jay Goltz entitled "The Secret to Having Happy Employees". Thankfully, he provides the answer without forcing to buy a book or read a long-winded essay. Put simply, "I fired the unhappy people." And he's not joking. He offers impeccable reasoning for this harsh approach and I have to agree with him.

Personally, I have not spent much time as a manager and thankfully never had to fire anybody, but I have had plenty of experience as an unhappy worker. Nobody ever fired me, but I can't say they did me any great favor by keeping me on as unhappy as I was. Maybe I have just always had the good sense to move on before my unhappiness interfered with my work. Managers may not like having unhappy workers, but managers really love people who get the job done. Still, I partially feel that managers would have done me a big favor by either outright firing me or at least "counseling" me that if I couldn't find a way to get over my unhappiness then I should move on of my own volition.

I have always remembered from years ago reading about the founder of Marriott encountering a waitress in one of his Hot Shoppes restaurants who was unhappy or providing bad service to a customer and he basically told her that if she could not be happy working there then she shouldn't be working there. That made perfect sense to me. I wish I could have personally taken that advice on many occasions or at least if people could have reminded me of that philosophy, but somehow performance and my desire for income have always trumped happiness, for me.

In any case, I heartily endorse Mr. Goltz' and Marriott's philosophy. Specific implementation details can and should vary from organization to organization and even person to person, but ultimately unhappy employees have to go.

Mr. Goltz has a follow-up post entitled "More on Happy Employees" to clarify that when he refers to unhappy employees he is not simply referring to their level of cheerfulness: "Perhaps I could have been clearer when I said that I fire unhappy people. Instead of unhappy, I probably should have said disrespectful (to others, not me), incompetent, unreasonable, undependable, irresponsible, unproductive, dysfunctional (I did say that one), angry, whiny or mean -- and beyond a manager's ability to repair (actually, I said that, too)."

The real point is that employees need to do their jobs without having a significantly negative emotional impact on those around them, whether they are other workers or customers.

-- Jack Krupansky

Reinvested ongoing Lending Club cashflow in another investment loan

Recent cashflow from my portfolio of Lending Club investment loans coupled with early repayment of one of the loans gave me enough cash this morning to invest in yet another consumer loan. My current Net Annualized Return is only 14.47% (it dropped with that early repayment), below my goal of 15%, so I picked a pre-approved loan at 16.45% that is already 76% funded with five days left in the two-week funding period. I expect that this loan is likely to reach full funding within a couple of days.

Lending Club says that the historical default rate for loans such as this one is about 3.78%, so that my projected return is about 11.94%. That includes Lending Club taking 0.72% as a servicing fee. In truth, my goal of 15% should factor in a default rate of about 3.5% or so, giving an expected return of about 11.5%. That is still quite respectable, especially in this economic and financial environment.

So far, my Lending Club portfolio has been perfect, with no delinquencies or even late payments. I started investing with Lending Club back in June.

This is still just an experiment for me since I have no prior experience with this type of investment, but so far in has been very encouraging. I intend to double the size of the experiment in April (assuming my work income continues.)

-- Jack Krupansky

Dave Grenewetzki to be the keynote speaker at EntConnect 2010 this month

Dave Grenewetzki, former President of game publisher Sierra On-Line and most-recently President of the interactive fitness pioneer Expresso Fitness, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference in Denver at the end of the month (Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.) His talk is titled "Following the fun... career planning through serendipity." As Dave puts it,

I'll walk people through my approach to career planning which boils down to doing no formal planning other than being prepared, nimble and ready to make major diversions at any moment to maximize the fun in your working life.

Check out Dave's LinkedIn profile. In addition to his leadership at Sierra Online, he is a former senior executive of Palladium Interactive, Accolade, and Mindscape.  Dave's current interests, from his bio:

Since retiring from Sierra in 2001, Mr. Grenewetzki has been: an advisor and/or board member to a number of technology-related companies; a board member of public broadcaster KRCB; an expert witness in matters involving software development and industry practices; a speaker at game industry conferences; and a mentor for high school students in robotics. He has also traveled the world SCUBA diving with his family.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 37-second elevator pitch for the conference:

Whether you are an entrepreneur or thinking about starting your own business or simply need a good excuse to go skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Entrepreneurial Connections conference (EntConnect) may be just the conference you have been waiting for. Targeted primarily at engineers (hardware, software, and other) and others with a strong technical interest, it is more of a loosely-structured "unconference", with plenty of opportunities for a relatively small group of participants (15 to 40) to network or even give their own presentations on a very wide range of topics from technology, business strategy, intellectual property and legal issues, accounting issues, finance, marketing, sales, and even selling your business. With plenty of time to ski or otherwise enjoy the mountains and Denver area (great time to visit Boulder or Colorado Springs as well), the conference is a great opportunity to "learn and share" and otherwise have an "out of box" experience. Participants and speakers range over the full spectrum from wannabes and newcomers to successful young entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. The conference is an excellent opportunity to meet up with former readers (and possibly even the publisher) of Midnight Engineering magazine as well. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

I have been attending the conference since it first started in 1992 as ME SKI '92 and then evolved into ENTCON and then Entrepreneurial Connections or EntConnect.

For a little nostalgia, check out the original ME SKI '92 conference announcement.

-- Jack Krupansky