Balsamiq

Songs for Entrepreneurs

I've been meaning to write this little post for a long time.

There are a few songs whose lyrics stuck with me and have helped me along my programmer-to-CEO journey.

I want to share them with you in case they might help you too, and to hopefully learn about others songs that inspire other entrepreneurs like me. Post yours in the comments! :)

Keller Williams - More than a Little

Lyrics that stuck with me (at 7:20 in the video above):

Work like you don't need the money
love like you've never been hurt
dance like nobody's watching

The idea is about passion: work on something you love, give it all you've got, don't worry about what others say. Money is a consequence, not a motive.

The lyrics seem to come from an old Irish proverb and they are spoken in an old movie as well.

Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals - Fight Outta You

The lyrics I keep thinking about from this song are these (at 2:44 above):

There's always someone younger,
someone with more hunger,
don't let them take the fight out of you

Helps me remember to stay hungry and fast on my feet even as we become bigger and more successful. You can't let your guard down! :)

Ayo - Life is Real

Lyrics that stuck with me (0:18 above):

Some people say that I'm too open / they say it's not good to let them know everything about me / they say one day they will use every little things against me / but I don't mind / maybe they're right / that's just how it is and I got nothing to hide / I live my life the way I want / I got nothing to hide / nothing at all / life is not a fairy tale / they should know that / life is real.

This reminds me that even if it's hard and embarrassing sometimes, knowledge is for sharing.

Michael Cera and Ellen Page singing Anyone Else But You by the Moldy Peaches

There are no particular lyrics from this song (aside from maybe we sure are cute for two ugly people), but the whole thing resonated with me as I think it teaches a good lesson about marketing. Here's two non-professional singers, with terrible audio, singing a song in which they have to speak really fast sometimes in order to squeeze all the words into it. By all accounts, it's rough, unpolished.

And yet, the whole thing is absolutely, totally endearing. This tells me that a good story, told with passion, trumps beauty/polish/finish every time. We were successful even if our website was SO ugly for the first two years, and even if our product doesn't let you align things properly and makes you create images that look totally unfinished. It's about substance over beauty.

I'll keep adding to this post as I think of more songs. Please contribute in the comments, I'm hungry for more inspirational songs! :)

Onward!
Peldi

"I love to do business with other businesses my size"

I've tweeted about this video a few times in the past. I'm posting it here as well so that I can find it easily every time I'm compelled to watch it again, which is at least once a month.

I love this guy, I want to be just like him when I grow up. :)

The video is part of a series called "Obsessives" from Chow.com. Worth a watch!

Hat tip to Adam Wride who first showed me the link. Thanks so much Adam!

Video of my LessConf 3010 talk

I had the pleasure of giving a talk at Less Conference 3010 last May titled "Guiding Principles for Running a Successful Little Startup".

The conference was one of the best ones I have been to. Very well organized, very interesting talks, GREAT location with super-fast wifi, good food, fun parties...the works! They also limited attendance to 200 people or so, which made it nice and intimate.

If they organize it again this year, you should definitely try to go.

Last night Alan and Steve posted the video of my talk, embedded below. Aside from the obvious awkwardness of watching myself on video, the main feeling I had while watching it was "I can't believe that was me, only 5 months ago". I feel like I've grown a few years since the end of May, and now realize how naive my expectations of keeping the Balsamiq team frozen in time for the next foreseeable future was.

Anyways, the talk is a bit all over the place, full of mumbling and half-finished sentences...but it was very well received by the (very kind) audience, so I thought I'd share it here.

I hope it helps some of you a little, let me know what you think!

Peldi