A couple weeks ago I was reading a post on SmallBizTrends.com titled “The Keys to Small Business Success” by Rieva Lesonsky. She mentioned a study by the Kauffman Foundation that had interviewed 594 founders of successful businesses. Most of the statistics were not surprising, except for this one.

“68 percent said availability of financing/capital was important, but only 11 percent had received venture capital, and just 9 percent had obtained private/angel financing.”

This statistic stood out to me because it represents a disconnect in what the founders said (availabity of financing/capital was important) and what they actually experienced (only 11% took VC and just 9% took private financing). How can it be that important if so few of them actually needed it?

Financing as a Security Blanket

My opinion (and I welcome your opinions in the comments below) is that financing acts as a security blanket for many entrepreneurs; especially VC and angel financing. They want to spread out the financial risk so that if the ship sinks, at least someone else is keeping them company. They think that initially, but once they start taking steps they realize that it isn’t so bad. They can handle it and so we see 68% who SAY it’s important and then only 20% took VC or private financing. The remaining 48% figured out a way to make do. And that is why entrepreneurs are the key to the economic recovery. They find ways to make good things happen. Some of them just want to feel like they have a safety net.

Monday night I had the opportunity to attend the season opener of the Utah Flash, the NBA D-league affiliate of the Utah Jazz. I’m even a season ticket holder because a friend of mine interns with them and got me a good deal. Leading up to the game and culminating at halftime, the Flash ran a publicity stunt that was supposed to get Michael Jordan to Utah, but went horribly awry.

The Challenge

First, a little background. Back in September Michael Jordan was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Obviously he deserved it, but during his speech he got a little petty and called a lot of people out (watch it here) including Bryon Russell of the Utah Jazz. Well, Bryon Russell wasn’t too happy and together with the owner of the Utah Flash, Brandt Anderson, they hatched a plan to have Bryon Russell play a game of 1-on-1 at halftime of the Utah Flash home opener. Anderson put up $100,000 for the winner’s charity and Bryon Russell went on ESPN to issue MJ the challenge.

The Stunt

Despite talking to Jordan’s agent and going public with the challenge, MJ never confirmed he would show. Basically he ignored the challenge all together. However, that didn’t stop the Flash from hiring a look-alike to be “sighted” in Utah on Monday afternoon with a corresponding report issued on the Daily Herald website. Of course this generated a lot of buzz and hype for the event so that almost 7500 people were in attendance. Halftime came, Bryon Russell came out and then…they marched out the look-alike to a parade of boos from the crowd. Fans even threw back free t-shirts when they realized they had been duped.

Where They Went Wrong

I’m sure there will be plenty of finger-pointing and blame to go around as evidenced by local news articles and the comments on Brandt’s Flash owner blog. However, I think the uproar stems mainly from one decision: hiring the look-alike.

I bought my season tickets weeks before the game knowing that Jordan “might” be at the season opener. I thought it would be a bonus, but knew I would enjoy the tickets regardless. I also liked the idea behind the challenge and thought it got the Flash some publicity because it was a novel idea. However, when the Flash hired a look-alike, put him in the community to “test the strength and effectiveness of viral media” and even paraded him onto the floor at halftime they crossed the line.

Before the look-alike the publicity was natural, arising from the curiosity of fans that something might happen. People could have blamed their friend when MJ didn’t show. However, once the Flash introduced the look-alike they took ownership of the publicity. They actively took steps to hype it up. They even brought the guy to the stadium and introduced him with Jordan-esque fanfare. Fair or not, the Flash then took ownership of the backlash of disappointed fans.

Takeaways

So what can you learn from this? To steal a little from Chris Brogan, it’s all about trust. A lot of fans trusted the Flash and when that trust was violated these same fans were pissed off. You don’t have to read too many blog comments to get that feeling. As for me, I’ll keep attending the games. Lost in the mess was a frantic come-from-behind victory in the final minutes. The Flash are 5-1 and lead their division. It could have been an awesome game for all parties involved.

What would you have done if you had been running the Flash’s marketing department?

If you hadn’t heard, yesterday was Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the Christmas season. Most sites had some type of discount or sale for the occasion and LotusJump was no exception. We were offering a LotusJump Pro account for just $20/month to Cyber Monday signups (cough…the page is still up here if you hurry…cough). As we planned the promotion we set a goal for the number of signups we wanted to achieve.

Some thought the goal was pretty high, but we set out to achieve our goal anyway. We worked the social media channel hard and it worked like a charm – we reached our goal! But this got me to thinking a little about goals.

How Do You Set Goals?

At LotusJump we just picked a nice round number that sounded big and went for it. There wasn’t a whole lot behind it. Perhaps you’ve also done this by choosing some random number of pounds you want to lose. I submit my thoughts on how to set goals.

Investigate, Evaluate and Set a Date

The first step is to investigate what areas you want to improve. Perhaps you want to be more fit or acquire a new talent. Everyone will have different areas they want to work on, but do a little homework so that you know exactly what you want and what it will take to get it.

Second, you need to evaluate how you’ve done with goals in the past. Have you failed in the past because you didn’t break the goal into small enough steps? If you succeeded, what factors contributed to your success. Look for both the good and the bad.

Lastly, you need to set a date. If your goal is to be more fit, register for a marathon. You’ll have a firm date to work toward and you can put a training program in place to achieve your goal. Want to become a better golfer? Schedule a round at your favorite course months in advance and determine the score you want to shoot in that round. Then practice and prepare. The date gives you a benchmark and allows you (and perhaps some friends) to check your progress.

For most people goal-setting is an annual event associated with New Year’s. That’s fine, but I think that people don’t often take enough time to analyze how they did with last year’s goals before worrying about next year’s goals. Hopefully this post will give you a month to really search for areas of improvement, start thinking about how you’ve done with your past goals and set some dates.

Whether you’re going to be watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in a living room with no couch or enjoying the company of your 40 cousins, today is a day to be grateful and optimistic. Therefore, I’m going to pretend I’m on stage at some over-the-top awards ceremony with a trophy in one hand and a microphone right in front of me:

Thank You!

First I’d like to thank my family for raising me the way they did. That includes all 4 of my grandparents who have always supported me, my parents for putting up with me and my siblings for not killing me. I may not have appreciated all you did at the moment (like waking up at 6 am every day of the summer to move sprinkler pipes on our farm) but I now recognize I’m a better person because of it.

I’m grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, my bedrock against adversity and trials.

Thank you to all my friends. Sure we may have gotten into a lot of trouble together, but we also kept each other out of a lot more trouble.

I’m thankful for this free country I live in and the soldiers who defend it. I appreciate my employment and all the people who have influenced my life for good.

What are you thankful for?

This charity came to my attention during the first season of Celebrity Apprentice as it was the charity of choice for Piers Morgan, the eventual winner of the show. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund was established in 2000 and initially was intended to provide financial assistance to families that lost loves ones in the service of their country.

In 2007 the Fund finished a $55 million facility in San Antonio, Texas for the physical rehabilitation of military personnel who have been “catastrophically disabled”. They are also working on construction of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence which will focus on treatment of traumatic brain injuries and research. This project is on track to open in 2010, but needs an additional $3 million in donations. You can contribute here. Please support our fallen heroes by donating to this worthy charity.

Also, a special thanks to Purpose Inc. for giving me a kick in the pants to use my blog for better uses. They are the sponsors of the following event at PubCon 2009: