48 hours. Build a startup. Launch it. No big deal.

That was exactly what I did last weekend from 6pm Friday to Sunday at 3:30pm. I was one of around 60 people who participated in Startup Weekend LA 2 this year. It was an incredible experience that was full of non-stop work, meeting amazing people and learning a LOT.

Working 19 hour days is never easy. It is draining. Exhausting. Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY. In fact, in a post-event dinner some of us wanted to do it in a more relaxed format once a month. I’ll tell you what though, it’s amazing to think that what we did in a weekend was more than most companies could accomplish in two weeks. Maybe a month. Maybe 3. Meetings. Psh. When you are trying to create a concept and execute it in 48 hours meetings are worthless. Deadlines are worthless. Timelines are worthless. It’s a scrum. That’s it.

Share My Spot

The concept our group came up with was: Parking lot subletting or a Craigslist for parking spaces. We have a lot of ideas of where to go, but in one weekend, there is only so much you can accomplish. You can check out what we have so far at: http://www.sharemyspot.com. Who knows where we will go from here. After a weekend of constant work you need a breather. I do know that I met some amazingly talented people that I hope to keep up with and that it was the final realization that this is the life I want to live after college.

As I sat at a team dinner after the event, I was too tired to say anything. My food tasted to good to say anything either. But I was sitting at a table with four other brilliant people. Our economy is struggling. The DOW is under 7000. Unemployment is growing at an absurd rate. The people I was eating with. The people at the weekend. These are the type of people who save our economy.

Shout out to my team:

Developer Gurus: Eric Hammond, Joe Edmond, Ray Goldberger
Aestheticians: Skot Carruth, Joshua Jabbour
Business Dev: Christine Teng, Chris David
Project Manager: Edmond Wu

Shout out to the rest of the Startup Weekend projects: Fill in the Geek, Sponsor Hub, Cheap Chews, Block Snap, Tech Pantry / YummyWare, Craigee

For more information on the Startup Weekend check out: http://la2.startupweekend.com/

What’s next? Where do we go from here?

“A vote for the Ballaticians is a vote for fun”

Become an official fan of the Ballaticians!

Let me give you a little more information:

The Ballaticians are led by star-candidate, Emerson Taymor running for “The Ambassador of Ridiculousness” in an upcoming special election. The Ballaticians are a political off-shoot of their corporate counterpart, The Ballers Association of America. The Ballaticians goal is to provide representation to all those who are ridiculous. Their constituents include: people who are: ridiculously good looking, ridiculously talented, ridiculously unconcerned with frivolous spending, ridiculously smart, ridiculously athletic, ridiculously clever, but most importantly anyone who loves to participate in ridiculousness of any sort. The Ballaticians are known for popping bottles, dancing crazily, making it rain, flambosting and other ridiculous activities. 

The Ballaticians are intent on having President Obama create a new ambassador position in charge of representing the ridiculous. 

The Ballaticians are committed to preserving the necessity of fun in tough economic times and inspiring those who are down.

Who is a Ballatician?

A Ballatician is a lover of fun and ridiculous activities. They are extremely talented. Ballaticians believe in themselves. They think they are awesome, and they are. They can pop bottles, or live on ramen, but they know when and where to demonstrate exuberance or modesty. 

More information is available on our Facebook fan page and will be posted to this blog and our official campaign website in the near future. Become an official fan of the Ballaticians!

Here are some photos from the HBO We Are One concert on Sunday January, 18th.

I’m heading to DC for the Inauguration and to meet up with some old friends and new business partners. I am sure that I will have plenty of stories and photos to share here when I return. 

Stay tuned, and hope I don’t get Hypothermia!

My good friend Jeff Kashou who shot the photo of me for my business card, was also the photographer on all the header photos. He is an incredibly talented photographer and I have really enjoyed working with him on a number of projects.

My friend, Ernesto Padró-Campos  helped me shoot the photographs for the composite on the homepage.

I’m still trying to work out some of the bugs and handle browser testing, but if you find any errors shoot me an email.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Thanks for stopping by! Look around, drop me a line. This blog will have inspiration, tips and other assorted musings of mine.

Have a WONDERFUL NEW YEAR. Here is to 2009 being the best year of everyone’s lives. I’m excited for a new president, and my design studio.

Thanks for sticking with me in trying to get this done!