“Hi, It’s Vince from Slap Chop. You’re going to be in a great mood all day.”

“Watch this, you’re gonna love my nuts.”

Damn this is good stuff.

And I also immediately thought of trying to get my good friend, we’ll call him ’standes,’ to do this, as he’s also the smartest guy I know, and a “I’m getting my PhD in history” kind of guy.

Alas, that hasn’t happened yet, but I just love the hiccups in this so much I had to post it for you all.

Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.

Check out their trailer and other info about them at their YouTube page.

First off, let’s examine the “industry professional” aspect. If I, or anyone else, is really as good at this stuff as we say; charging clients thousands of dollars for our time while we build them something slick, shouldn’t we be able to build ourselves something even more slick? Shouldn’t we be realizing that if we hold the keys to the marketing decisions and goals of global brands, how can we say with a straight face that we don’t have anything to offer on our own?

Second, I would never hire an “internet/web/tech/developer professional” who isn’t working on something himself. Right now the entire global landscape is still wide open. What each one of us is capable of producing is un-fathomable. But if someone doesn’t have the drive, the gutzpa to get off their butt and do some personal exploring, I don’t want them on my team. Now, that may sound harsh, but I want someone who spends their evenings and weekends completely enamored with what is possible right now in the online arena, and constantly pushing their own boundaries of what’s possible. Those are the types of people who will return after an assignment has been given to them with solutions that are new and groundbreaking. You don’t get there just solving problems at work, you get there spending your evenings exploring and learning and trying things for yourself.

Third, I want someone who loves the internet enough to put their ass on the line for it. I really don’t care if they’re doing it for fame, money, or the altruistic goals of an open-source developer. Really, even someone who edits Wikipedia every night is enough. I just want someone who lives, eats, breathes the web. They’ll be clued into what’s going on, and know what hasn’t already worked.

I really could go on forever. And I’d probably repeat myself more than I already have. But the essence is, this whole internet thing is still so young, so open, so untame. If we’re not part of the Wild West, excited and running out to claim our stake in this, we’re really not worth hiring.

One last point: I’m also not afraid of losing employees to startups. If they turn out to be the kind of person who is clever enough to build a successful business, than they were probably clever enough to help my business while they were here. And with that, there will be lots of other motivated, excited, and young workers behind them, just looking for a place to pay their bills while they build what may become the next million dollar acquisition.

So, Scott Kveton, Michael Richardson, and myself all decided to take our passion and love of bacon and do something about it. And the Bac’n website was born.

Bac’n is an ecommerce site selling real bacon to the country. We find the absolute best bacon we can get our hands on, from tiny little farmers in the East Coast, to Fletcher’s, who just makes fantastic bacon. When we find something we think everyone should try, we stock it and sell it.

The most exciting part of the site was we built the entire thing in exactly three weeks from conception, in the evenings of our full-time jobs. It’s a great product, and a great experience.

Who I work with:
Scott Kveton, Michael Richardson, Holly Glaspey, Darin Richardson

What I did:
I am responsible for most of the non-coding and non-business development activities. I work on marketing, advertising, SEO, content, and general direction of all creative. Since there are really only three of us in the company, we all wear a lot of hats.

Who I Work With:
Matt King and Geoffrey Lorenzen

What I Did:
I managed feature sets, production, marketing, and SEO related tasks, while working with a designer and programmer with zero budget. This site represents what can be built with passion and love of the industry, even when no money is available.

Who I worked with:
Instrument, Peet Kegler, Burton

What I did:
Worked with illustrators, videographers, design agency, corporate client, and in-house production team to make an immersive Flash-based experience in two languages to celebrate Burton Snowboards branded snowboard runs at mountains around the world.

Who I worked with:
Instrument, Leopold Ketel & Partners, Tillamook Cheese

What I did:
For this project, I worked with the Art Director and Designer to come up with a cheese-lovers website. Helping to craft the experience, the flow of the site, and then project managing it to its completed form.

Who I worked with:
Instrument, Big Giant, Converse, and EastBay

What I did:
Worked as Project Manager to pull together content, designs, and guide usability while working with two corporations and a third-party design agency.