Never Pre-Judge

Never pre-judge. Don't think a person my be too old for a job.

A person's work experience can be more valuable than a college degree. When you interview to fill a job position, do not make the mistake of not considering older people. Many startups believe only young people understand technology. Anyone can learn technology.

Older people with the right work experience can add value to your startup. Older sales people have contacts and know how to open doors. An accountant with many years of experience brings value to a company. Experience can not be learned, it is earned.

Never let age sway you from interviewing someone. It works both ways. Some may think someone is too old for a job while others may think someone is too young for a job.

Sometimes people feel that someone who has many years of work experience will want more money. That is not always true.

I never give my salary requirements when I interview for a job. When asked, I politely state that we can talk salary when we both feel we are interested in developing a working relationship.

What I've made on previous jobs has no bearing on what I want now. The only concern is will I work for the amount the company can offer.

Never pre-judge. You never know which person is the one that will make you a millionaire.

Rule #1 for a Startup - Develop a Sales Strategy

Develop a sales strategy as soon as possible. This is one of the most important things that you can do. I understand that in the beginning startups focus on technology or product development. However, it is never too soon to think about sales.

I was reading the book, Sales Dogs, by Blair Sinclair (www.salesdogs.com). The first thing that I learned is that you can't run a business unless you have some prior sales experience.At first, this caught me off guard; I do not have a sales background. I now do sales for a startup. I quickly understood why this is important. It answers the most important question for any startup - How are you going to make money?

It doesn't matter if your startup develops software, hardware, a new cosmetic, a cleaning service, an electric car, a new pharmaceutical, license your technology, or sell your company. You need to develop and implement a strategy that answers the question - How are you going to make money?

There are many tasks and priorities for a startup. Make sure your sales strategy is one of your top priorities!

About Geometric Informatics

Geometric Informatics is a fun startup to work for. It is the classic startup where you have the opportunity to learn new skills and challenge your abilities.

Our passion is to create innovate 3D graphics solutions. We currently have 3 technologies.

• Avatars


• GeoVideo, and
  


• GeoUV
  

I am excited about our avatar technology. We create 3D avatars that look exactly like the person they represent. The avatar can use prerecorded speech for information that does not change or changes infrequently, and a text-to-speech engine for dynamic information, information that changes constantly. I believe that avatars are great for marketing, advertising, online education, information dissemination and other uses.

GeoVideo is a real-time, high-resolution, digital acquisition system. It provides an easy way to capture motion in digital form. This technology is great for movie studios and game designers.

GeoUV is a texture mapper plugin for Maya and 3ds StudioMax. It is available for Windows and Linux systems. This product automates the texture mapping process. This benefits the game designer or computer artist by saving them time and money.

I believe in the value of these products not because I work for the company, but that I work with the products' creators. I see the hard work they do and the desire they have to succeed.

This is important to me. I'm learning marketing and sales. I'm the type of person that can't market or sell a product that I don't believe in. That is one of the reasons why I've had many jobs.

I'll share more information about my experiences at Geometric Informatics. Please share your thoughts with me. I'd also like to learn about the companies that you work for. I'm also happy to talk to you about our technologies.

Sincerely,
Alan

It's the Little Things That Matter

Why do some people succeed and others don't? Two sports teams with equal talent and the same records. One wins the championship and the other doesn't. Why?

Two animators or texture mappers enter a contest. Both have the same level of talent. One wins the contest the other doesn't. Why?

Being successful or being mediocre is your choice. It is just as easy to be successful as it is to be mediocre.

What is the difference between being successful and being mediocre? It is taking the time to do the little things. It is that simple. Here are some examples.

Star sports figures practice the basics every day. Practice shooting 100 baskets every day and you will be a better basketball player. Take the time to learn the different nuances to using your feet for ball handling or how to hold a golf club and you will be a better soccer player or golfer.

Successful writers take the time to proofread, spell check, and the other small things that many writers forget to do.

Successful animation films use modelers, animators, texture mappers and texture painters that take time to do the little things. All the aspects of making a model are important. All the aspects of rigging and animation are important. All the aspects of texture mapping and texture painting are important.

Too often I hear people say that a particular task is not that important. The texture map is good enough. The texture painting is good enough.

Good enough is not success. Some sports teams feel that being in second place is good enough. Others find that making the playoffs are good enough. Some are happy to play the championship game even if they lose. For them that is good enough.

The team that wins the championship is successful. For them good enough is not good enough!

Avatars and Online Identity

Avatars are important! I believe as online communication increases and as virtual worlds become more commonplace, the avatar we choose to be, becomes part of our online identity.

We buy books at Amazon, music from iTunes; we buy and sell items on eBay. Use a credit card or PayPal and you can buy whatever you want.

Establishing online identity is a vital concern for many forms of online communication and online transactions. This is certainly important in business and financial transactions. It is also important in other areas, for example, online voting and other areas of online activity where verifying who you say you are is who you are.

Certainly, privacy issues are extremely important. However, in many real world transactions, we need to establish identity. When you write a check or use a credit card, often you are asked to display your driver's license. When you apply for a job, you need to present different forms of ID to verify that you can work in the United States legally. When you register to vote you need to verify your identity.

I am a strong privacy rights advocate. However, I do believe that in the online or virtual worlds, there are times that you need to verify your identity.

Avatars are one method to do this. Maybe PayPal can use avatars as an additional method to help verify one's identity. Maybe online customers should establish an avatar to represent their online identity.

Online identity is an important issue. It will definitely grow as online business and virtual worlds continue to grow. It will become more important as online communication grows.

Your online identity is extremely important. Avatars are one way to help define this valuable asset.

What Avatars Say About Ourselves

Avatars and virtual worlds are reflections of ourselves. We may enter a virtual world to escape the pressures of the real world or enter a virtual world to explore creations of one's or an other's imagination. However, they say something about ourselves.

Avatars say a lot about the people they represent. Some people want an avatar that looks exactly like themselves. This is important for online communication for the professional and business worlds. For example, as a writer, I want an avatar that represents me, that looks like me. I do a lot of blogging in addition to this blog. Blogs are my marketing tools. My writing is my brand. I want people to associate my brand with my image and avatar.

Many people want an avatar that does not look like them. They may choose an avatar that represents the person that they want to be. For example, they choose an avatar that represents a football or basketball player. It represents the athlete within themselves.

Some choose an avatar that represents a facet of their personality. For example, a person that always sees the comedy in life may choose a clown avatar.

Avatars are important! I believe as online communication increases and as virtual worlds become more commonplace, the avatar we choose to be, becomes part of our online identity.

Avatars and Technical Support

Avatars are a great way to provide step-by-step instructions to resolve a problem. When you have a technical issue with your computer, sometimes it is just easier to listen to someone show and explain to you how to fix the problem.

Avatars are user-friendly and provide a more human approach to learn how to fix a problem. Some people learn by reading and others learn by watching and doing.

Naturally, this is not an "either or" solution. The tech support site would also provide written instructions. The avatar adds an additional method to resolve the problem.