New Blog Address

If you haven't noticed yet, I've changed my meetjohnsong.com to Wordpress.  Unfortunately, the feedburner did not make the transition smoothly.  So, if you were a suscriber and lost your feed.  Please go back to meetjohnsong.com and subscribe again.  I'm very sorry for the inconvenience.

John 

Josiah Johnson is the BOSS at Job Mob

Meet Josiah Johnson, a man about town y’all!  Josiah is one of those cool persons that everyone wants to befriend.  He knows, so it seems, e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e.  At least, he knows anyone who went to Western Washington University and now lives in the greater Seattle area.

Josiah is the consummate networker, which has made him an effective salesperson in the service sector.  I was once his boss, but it was actually him who recruited me to be the VP of Sales at Endeavor Consulting where we first worked together.  Later, we came up with an automated web analytics concept called “ZeroDash1” that eventually sold to Ascentium.

Now, he has recently left Ascentium to start his own technical consulting and staffing agency with a few of his old colleagues.  He and his partners have the title “Boss” at Job Mob, but all specialize in different areas.  Of course, Josiah will be on the front-end of sales, working his broad and deep network.

Job Mob wants to leverage Web 2.0, Online Community and Social Networking-based platforms to discover and solicit pools of technical talent.  Very kewl… after all, he worked at ZeroDash1, a web analytics and optimization company.

So, how about the timing of starting a new company in the midst of the current economic downturn?  “Well, one, there is never a good time to jump off a cliff,” he says.  “Two, I feel there is still a shortage of technical talent in the Pacific Northwest.    The advantage of starting a company such as ours, with very little overhead and a pretty achievable profitability mark, is that when the market upswings you are in a prime position with a good reputation and the right contacts.”

I will miss working with Josiah, and certainly wish him well.  After all, he was the one who strongly suggested I redo my wardrobe during a “dress for success” intervention.  No matter what clothes you put on me, I will never be as kewl as Josiah -- that’s for sure.

Please comment if you have your own input for Josiah.  

Life is but Series of Experiences

Guest Post by Paul Song

When John asked me to share one of my business experiences as a guest contributor to his blog a few months ago, I started to think which one would be the most interesting and relevant. Should I talk about starting an IT services company in my 20’s and what it was like to learn everything “on the job”? Or maybe the experience of taking a company public and playing with the “big boys” on Wall Street? Or maybe the humbling experience having our stock plummet by over 80% with the bursting of the dot-com bubble? Or starting a new company with millions in VC money?

I decided I want to talk about my little start up in Vietnam. It is not a big company nor even a successful one (yet). But it is has been a very rewarding experience in unexpected ways.

My son Aaron, graduated from Pepperdine University in summer of 2006. During his college years, he had started an Internet company servicing the secondary ticketing market (ticket brokers and resellers also known as “scalpers”). By the time he received his diploma, Aaron was running a number of popular and very profitable web sites. When he asked my advice on what to do next, I encouraged him to explore living abroad to get a more “global” experience. As Thomas Friedman put it, the world is flat. We cannot ignore the growing interdependence of our global economy. Just look at how the US mortgage mess is affecting the credit (and now equity) markets worldwide! The next generation of business leaders must have a global perspective.

Having taken a more flexible role as Chairman of Noetix, I was not involved in day to day operations. So when Aaron suggested that I go with him to Asia and help him better explore business opportunities, I felt this was a unique opportunity for me to do something new and interesting with my son. We initially moved to Shanghai, China where we lived for about 5 months. But after a trip to Vietnam, we decided that we could best find opportunities to build a company together there.

So in April 2007, we moved to Ho Chi Minh City and started an Internet listing service for real estate in Vietnam. We’ve also launched a real estate magazine to compliment our web site (www.metvuong.com). When we started our venture, the real estate market was red hot, with prices nearly doubling from June 2007 to December of 2007. However with inflation and tightening credit world-wide, the market came to a screeching halt in March 2008 with prices declining as much as 40% in many markets (not too dissimilar to what is going on in the US). 

This has created some challenges for our business but it also is providing a great learning opportunity. It doesn’t take great management to grow a business when everything is booming (remember the dot-com bubble?). But when things are challenging, when strategy and execution become a necessity, when resources and money is limited and tough choices have to be made, that’s when management counts.

So even though metvuong is not a public company nor a company with millions in revenue, it has given me one of the most rewarding experiences of my career so far. It has given me the opportunity to start a business with my son. Though I was initially going abroad to help Aaron, actually, I may have gained more than he has from the experience. I’ve had the chance to live in a different country and to broaden my personal experiences. I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for developing countries and their challenges. I’ve come to understand first-hand what outsourcing means to companies both in the US and in the country. I’ve made many new friends including business leaders in other countries. And of course, I’ve had a chance to build some great memories and experiences with my son.

Life is but a series of experiences. These experiences become our memories, prejudices and perspectives. Those become the basis upon which we make judgments and decisions. This is why we value people with experience. And for me, this has been one of my best experiences.  

_______________________________

Paul Song is my younger brother.  He is currently the CEO of Metvuong and Chairman of Noetix.  He is also the former Founder and CEO of ARIS Corporation.  He is a formerly US representative for ABAC and is a member of YPO - Seattle Chapter.  

Who won the first Vice Presidential debate of 2008?

Should the Government Bailout the Banks?

Yesterday, congress rejected the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Consequently, the DOW Jones Industrial Average dropped 777 points (7%)and Wall Street lost $1 trillion in value. Although yesterday was certainly a crummy day, it was no where close to the 22.6% black Monday crash in the summer of 1987. Today, the market is initially rebounding as investors speculate that the US government will eventually pass some form of the rescue package.

So, what would be the continued effect if the government bailout fails? Credit becomes tighter as illiquid banks struggle to sell debt assets to other possible buyers. The increased credit crunch will squeeze companies dependent on bank money to run businesses, including meeting payrolls in many cases. Some small and mid-size companies would have layoffs. Corporate bankruptcies would increase in the immediate term. Innovations and entrepreneurship would most definitely suffer for some time.

For many taxpayers, the impact of the government inaction could be a lot closer to their homes. The housing market will continue to slide and homes will be devalued further with a shortage of qualified buyers with money. With most families' largest asset in houses, the credit crunch will hit everyone's net worth.

However, the financially strong will survive and even take advantage of the discounted value of companies with good businesses but poor cash flow. The struggling banks will eventually sell their debt assets at more market-appropriate rates than the artificially propped-up rates offered by the government rescue plan. The market has a chance, after some time of tremendous turmoil, to correct itself with better financial fundamentals. How long would such a correction and rebound take? That's up to much debate.

If the government comes back with an approved bailout plan, troubled banks would be liquid again and able to support businesses and individuals. Companies would continue to use credit to sustain and grow businesses. Some possible bankruptcies and insolvencies could be potentially avoided. In the short-term, jobs would be saved. The stock market would rebound at least to some degree. The real estate market would be saved from further deterioration.

However, a government bailout would most certainly be setting the economy on an inflation climb by printing so much more money. What will a dollar even be worth by the time the credit market fundamentals are truly back on course? And do we really trust that the government will be able to do something worthwhile with the assets purchased in the bailout? The long-term impact of a government intervention could end up being a more prolonged correction of the capital market fundamentals and a bleak economic forecast with inflation and the possible devaluation of the US dollar.

So, should the government bailout the financial market? Vote your opinion.

Who Won The Presidential Debate?

My good friend and former colleague, Kendall Kunz (CEO at Explore Consulting), decided to put up a poll on his blog, MeetKendall,  after the presidential debate.  The poll asks WHO won the debate?  What a great idea.  Feel like voicing your opinion?  He's allowed me to post the poll as well.

Project 10 to the 100th

Do you have an idea for helping other people?  Google has a nice campaign around helping others, which in turn really helps you (to be fulfilled and happy).  If you have ideas, by all means, share! I love this kind of stuff.

Project 10 to the 100th