Thanks to Ryan for pointing out this YouTube link. Here is last night’s JobLoft segment. And by the way, I am so happy that CBC Dragons’ Den segments are on YouTube and are being watched. (smile)
Kempton – ideas Revolutionary
Kempton calls himself “ideas Revolutionary” and tries to make mistakes faster.
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Friday, 24 November, 2006 at 3:04 PM
If Dr. Chuck Norris [K: correction, Dr. James Norrie, please read accordingly] was such an integral influence on the boys, or on the Board of Directors, then why wasn’t he at the taping of the show?
The taping process may have given the JL boys an impression that they had to follow a specific format on the show, but as the pitcher for the belt dispensed hand sanitizer showed, you can bring in your business advisor in front of the Dragons to discuss the “financial side” of the question if you’d like. It’s imperative that the pitchers do their due diligence on how they chose to pitch.
[K: I don't know if Dr. Norrie was there that day. Even if he was, the JL entrepreneurs seemed to be so well presented that day during their pitch. And IMHO, totally different from their slient Boardroom performance.]
If they thought outside of the box in regards to how they were to pitch properly, the would have realised that regardless of the format of the show, they could have done anything with their time while they were in front of the dragons. Some pitchers brought prototypes, some dressed in costume, others brought displays and charts.
The JL boys should have stood Dr. Norris in front of the dragons as it seemed like the good Dr. is more than just a mentor, but a Director on the Board, and more than a director, but a Master PhD who sees a company moving in a direction out of his influence, and when I say a Master PhD who sees a company moving in a direction out of his influence, I mean a six year old who sulks when you tell him that he’s not going to get his ice cream.
[K: Winston, you used some really strong words that I probably won't use. But they were still fun to read. (smile)]
My opinion of course doesn’t really matter, as the good Dr. can obliterate the worth of any of my statements by pointing out the simple fact that I didn’t get a business degree (no offence taken) ;)
[K: The kind of insult launched by Dr. Norrie was just unacceptable.]
But a couple of unobvious simple facts that I would wish to point out to Dr. Norris is that when one attends a meeting in which the future of company is being discussed and where $200,000 is being thrown around:
DON’T be the only person wearing an unbuttoned short sleeve shirt when everyone else is wearing suits and ties. Also, if you insult a suit in the room, BE SURE not to do it wearing a necklace that looked like it was made of leather and string. (Hip-hop rappers are of course exempt because they wear necklaces made of platinum hanging diamond-encrusted pendants. Gold teeth help too!)
[K: I noticed Dr. Norrie's relax clothing choices too and I think it not be the best choice. Mind you, the way he acted was just too "self-assured" and too much "all-knowing professor" to me.]
It was NOT casual Friday that day. A big deal was going down. Everyone was an equal in that room, so be respectful and dress your best. Suits for men are a great equaliser in the business sector. Why NOT wear one? It’s the easiest no brainer thing to do.
DON’T give a lecture where you teach Kevin Leary, or anyone else for that matter, (although the short sleeved shirt in close proximity to a whiteboard was a dead give-away,) on the complexities of a business strategy then NOT provide an answer. It comes off as smug, pompous, and rude. Again let me point to my example of a six-year-old but with the substitution of the principle of [music] “I-know-something-you-don’t-know”
[K: In a real world, you provide solutions. Not questions at the "here is the money - welcome aboard" meeting.]
DO sit when everyone else is sitting, and stand when everyone else is standing. Camera people aside, it shows a basic level of respect, but if you do stand when everyone else is sitting, FOR GODS SAKE DO NOT LEAN!!!!!! Especially with your arms crossed. It looks smug and pompous, and I feel it is just plain rude.
DON’T grumble after cheque is in your hands, but if you really have to, do it in a different room, but as the Dr. proved, you can back out of a deal any time before actually signing on the dotted legal document.
DO put your money where your mouth is. Conflict of Interest is all relative. In the Dr’s case, if he gave the JL boys $200k for a 5% stake in the company, that would be considered an investment. If the Dr gave the boys $200k for 95% of the company…. That is a conflict of interest.
You can always change your mind, but don’t insult investors on something you both agreed upon. Just politely end the negotiations. Parties can wash their hands of a deal and move on to the next, forgetting what happened, but insults resonate for a long time.
I’d bet that the JL boys could have pulled out of the deal (it’s still only TV isn’t it?) with little to no legal expenses if the Dr. didn’t insult people, but maybe that’s a lesson that needs to be learned the hard way.
[K: I don't think the JobLoft entrepreneurs should go without lawyers. But how much to spend is a different question.]
DO sit down with your team to properly assess your value and what you need and how much you need and who is an asset and who is a detriment. Don’t do that and you end up looking like the popcorn bag lady who backed out of a $$$ deal with Cineplex.
[K: The popcorn bag was another deal that went sour. Not a good idea to have bad blood with Cineplex.]
DO sit down with your board and advisors once you’ve signed your initial MOU (Memoriam of Understanding) and work out the benefits and details before you have the final signing and check writing meeting and DON’T sabotage the meeting at the very last possible second by ranting that you hated the deal from the very beginning. To do so demonstrates that you are not a person that is easy to work in a team with. To rant at the very end is very selfish, egotistical, and counter productive.
And in my humble opinion…..
I believe that the Dragon’s direction at the board meeting was correct. It is better to spend efforts on recruiting employers than employees. Let’s face it, if the jobs have a high turn over rate, the majority of the people applying for those jobs aren’t the type of people that are easy to market to.
[K: Get the big employers first is probably a good approach.]
How are you going to advertise to them? Print? …..Media? …..Banner Ads? Absolutely not! What a waste of $200,000 you don’t have. Realistically the only way people are going to know that they can apply for jobs at Jobloft is from the partner Employers putting stickers on their windows saying “apply here by going to jobloft.com”, or by putting ads in the classifieds. Does being associated to Jobloft drive more applicants to your company? That is the $200,000 question.
This is unfortunately a fatal flaw. People who look for high turn over jobs typically do so while they are pounding the pavement. If I want a job seeker to apply at my store, why would I want a Jobloft sticker in my front window recruiting people away from me? I want them to come into my store and apply face to face, which is where the real applying begins anyways. Having a job close to me is not important. A good paying job is.
[K: I am not sure I completely agree. Here is a case. Lets say the JobLoft sign has a unique id numbers for specific jobs in that store. Then the applicants can text or email that code to get much faster access. There can be many other ideas.]
And that, I believe, is what takes the Jobloft’s competitive advantage away. Location based employment. People will commute an extra hour a day if it means that they will make an extra $1/hr. (In this example the extra money made is still offset by the extra hour lost in commuting, but most people don’t understand that.)
[K: Nice try. But setting up a straw man to be destroyed later is not allowed. (smile)]
Now Jobloft is reduced to just a small startup Monster.com or Craigslist. Companies of which can easily incorporate web 2.0 into their websites.
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Hi Winston,
Thanks a lot for sharing your insights here. I usually reply to feedbacks but yours is so detailed that it will take me hours to reply. (smile) So I will let your words speak for you and skip my reply.
Again, thanks for sharing your insight with us here.
Cheers,
Kempton
****** update 2 **********
Hi Winston,
I will try to comment selectively on a few points. See above comments enclosed in [K: ]
Cheers,
Kempton
Friday, 24 November, 2006 at 9:20 PM
You’re welcome Kempton. It is a bit of a long read. Consider it a theoretical essay.
Still, feel free to rip apart the weakness in the arguments. I welcome the analysis, considering the fact that I’ve never been to business school and am just a simple trades worker.
And sorry about the Chuck Norris reference. I just locked onto the last name and by word association I inadvertantly put the chuck to the norris.
(but if you think about it, he did put a world champion karate chop to the deal)
Winston
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Hi Winston,
I will try to read through some more of your post and comment on a few areas. Just my 2 cents.
Winston, there is no such thing as “a simple trades worker” as we all have things to learn from each others. I for one, never let one’s formal education or lack of affect my view on a person. Ultimately, I try to see everyone’s ideas on their own with the burden of who said it or the person’s qualification.
Sorry, I was slow to recognize your “Chuck Norris” reference as humour. (smile)
Kempton
P.S. As you seems to be quite excited and interested in business, may I make a recommendation and I hope you don’t mind. I love to learn and felt you might felt the same. Charles Handy is a hero of mine as I found him a very insightful business guru. You can find a blog entry I wrote about him. Simply use the search box and search for charles handy I had read those things and heard what Charles said. Great stuff. The other guru is Henry Mintzberg
Have fun
Monday, 27 November, 2006 at 7:04 PM
Thanks for the reply.
I appreciate the comments. One thing that all can agree on is the fact that the Jobloft boys have certainly provided one of the most talked about event in Canadian TV history.
My little monologue was definitely written in a little more of in a tongue-in-cheek style designed to be a bit more readable and enticing for readers. [Notice the cheapy DO/DON'T writing style that is the journalistic version of crack cocaine designed to keep readers reading.]
A couple of more pointed statements, a little condecending and sarcastic, but in my own defence, the doctor did it first.
All in all it makes for good blogging and good TV!
Your comments were all valid, but let me make a suggestion in regards to your comment to me regarding Text messages or job reference numbers:
You can still have text msgs or job reference numbers, but they all still have to point to a website. “www.job123.jobloft.com” or “jobloft.com/job123″ all still point to jobloft.com. Yes you can design the website to block users from looking for other jobs, but then you turn the website from a job searching tool, to a resume accepting tool.
And you don’t need web2.0 to do that. You can send a resume to someone by emailing them.
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Hi Winston,
Yeap, but I don’t know if the JobLoft entrepreneurs planned to be most talked about in this way. Thanks for your continue interest.
Kempton