Sunday, June 27, 2004
Cashflow Learnings + Doug Heins and Mick Bates Conversation Response
Today I read a book on cashflow management and re-read the chapters on creating cashflow statements in my accounting text. From the book, I took these notes:
Cash never equals profit minus depreciation.
Reasons profit and cash on hand may differ:
1. Cash flow from operations is basically profit before charging depreciation
2. In any year in which capital expenditure is incurred, the total cash flow of the firm could be negative despite having made a profit
3. In any year in which there is no capital expenditure, the total cash flow will be higher than profit by the amount of the depreciation
4. In any accounting period in which inventories increase, there cash outflow will not be reflected in profit, since the cost of inventory is not listed until it is sold.
5. In any accounting period during which the value of unsold inventories decreases, there will be a cash inflow that is not reflected by an increase in profits
6. In any accounting period during which there is an increase in the amount of credit extended to customers, cash flow from operations will be reduced by this amount
7. In any accounting period in which there is a reduction in the amount of credit given to customers, cash flow from operations will be increased by this amount
Inflation’s effect on cash flow:
1. The value of capital expenditures will increase past the set depreciation
2. The value of inventories will increase irrespective of volume
3. The value of credit given to customers will be greater than that taken from suppliers
Some products, such as popular music records, are short lived leaving little time to get cash flow in balance if things begin to go wrong. Including Judas will be able to avoid this problem by offering less expensive recordings priced correctly for the market over a longer period of time. Including Judas will also receive passive income from webcasting concerts that has already occurred.
Cash equivalents are “readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that their market value is relatively insensitive to changes in interest rates.”
Management will always try to do one of the following when planning cash for the short term:
1. Plan the management of future cash inflows and outflows so as to produce the most favorable control period closing balances
2. Ensure adequate financing is available and when it will be required to meet a cash deficit
3. Ensure cash surpluses are anticipated and hence fully utilized
4. Take appropriate control action to maintain financial stability in the on-going situation as the actual cash flow position unfolds
This is in preperration to send Doug Heins a proposal that incorporates Including Judas webcast promotions with Intercommedia's concerts. Since some of the details are proprietary in nature, I will say more on this when the deal is safely completed.
After talking with Mick Bates, the invovation coordinator for Taylor University, I realised the need to create a consolidated pitch that clearly and quickly communicates Including Judas' value. Since Including Judas has more than one type of customer I’ll be pitching to, I’ve prepared more than one pitch. They all say the same thing and contain three main points…
1. Web Receipt and Delivery
2. Digital Content Creation
3. Message of Hope
… but they are written in a language specific to each audience and focus on the attributes of the three points that audience would care about.
Media Industry Managers:
Including Judas is attempting to create a portal to digital streams of both live and archived concerts to produce passive income through hands-off web delivery. In an era of pervasive media, we see this as the best method to work with available technology to deliver a means of production to our artists that allows for the promotion of their message distributed in a universal platform format with built-in rights management control that is unobtrusive and enticing to the consumer.
Artists and Producers:
Including Judas is attempting to form a coalition of artists interested in receiving passive income from their shows after they have been performed. By archiving concerts in a digital format, Including Judas can offer pirate-proof streaming access, selling a digital ticket to a digital concert to anyone, anywhere. We see this as the best way to use existing technology to send a pervasive message of hope to the world without sacrificing profitability.
Consumers:
Including Judas is on its way to becoming the most expansive internet portal for the webcast of concerts. Our artists understand that to bring their message to you, expensive CDs on occasional concerts miles away isn’t enough. Instead of having to drive a long distance or miss a concert, you can access it in real time or anytime from any computer on the internet. And by downloading full songs or accessing previously archived concerts from an artist’s section of our website, you can tell whether it’s worth the money to go see them in person.
I have sent all these pitches to Mick for his review and will continue to perfect and practice them.
Cash never equals profit minus depreciation.
Reasons profit and cash on hand may differ:
1. Cash flow from operations is basically profit before charging depreciation
2. In any year in which capital expenditure is incurred, the total cash flow of the firm could be negative despite having made a profit
3. In any year in which there is no capital expenditure, the total cash flow will be higher than profit by the amount of the depreciation
4. In any accounting period in which inventories increase, there cash outflow will not be reflected in profit, since the cost of inventory is not listed until it is sold.
5. In any accounting period during which the value of unsold inventories decreases, there will be a cash inflow that is not reflected by an increase in profits
6. In any accounting period during which there is an increase in the amount of credit extended to customers, cash flow from operations will be reduced by this amount
7. In any accounting period in which there is a reduction in the amount of credit given to customers, cash flow from operations will be increased by this amount
Inflation’s effect on cash flow:
1. The value of capital expenditures will increase past the set depreciation
2. The value of inventories will increase irrespective of volume
3. The value of credit given to customers will be greater than that taken from suppliers
Some products, such as popular music records, are short lived leaving little time to get cash flow in balance if things begin to go wrong. Including Judas will be able to avoid this problem by offering less expensive recordings priced correctly for the market over a longer period of time. Including Judas will also receive passive income from webcasting concerts that has already occurred.
Cash equivalents are “readily convertible to known amounts of cash and so near their maturity that their market value is relatively insensitive to changes in interest rates.”
Management will always try to do one of the following when planning cash for the short term:
1. Plan the management of future cash inflows and outflows so as to produce the most favorable control period closing balances
2. Ensure adequate financing is available and when it will be required to meet a cash deficit
3. Ensure cash surpluses are anticipated and hence fully utilized
4. Take appropriate control action to maintain financial stability in the on-going situation as the actual cash flow position unfolds
This is in preperration to send Doug Heins a proposal that incorporates Including Judas webcast promotions with Intercommedia's concerts. Since some of the details are proprietary in nature, I will say more on this when the deal is safely completed.
After talking with Mick Bates, the invovation coordinator for Taylor University, I realised the need to create a consolidated pitch that clearly and quickly communicates Including Judas' value. Since Including Judas has more than one type of customer I’ll be pitching to, I’ve prepared more than one pitch. They all say the same thing and contain three main points…
1. Web Receipt and Delivery
2. Digital Content Creation
3. Message of Hope
… but they are written in a language specific to each audience and focus on the attributes of the three points that audience would care about.
Media Industry Managers:
Including Judas is attempting to create a portal to digital streams of both live and archived concerts to produce passive income through hands-off web delivery. In an era of pervasive media, we see this as the best method to work with available technology to deliver a means of production to our artists that allows for the promotion of their message distributed in a universal platform format with built-in rights management control that is unobtrusive and enticing to the consumer.
Artists and Producers:
Including Judas is attempting to form a coalition of artists interested in receiving passive income from their shows after they have been performed. By archiving concerts in a digital format, Including Judas can offer pirate-proof streaming access, selling a digital ticket to a digital concert to anyone, anywhere. We see this as the best way to use existing technology to send a pervasive message of hope to the world without sacrificing profitability.
Consumers:
Including Judas is on its way to becoming the most expansive internet portal for the webcast of concerts. Our artists understand that to bring their message to you, expensive CDs on occasional concerts miles away isn’t enough. Instead of having to drive a long distance or miss a concert, you can access it in real time or anytime from any computer on the internet. And by downloading full songs or accessing previously archived concerts from an artist’s section of our website, you can tell whether it’s worth the money to go see them in person.
I have sent all these pitches to Mick for his review and will continue to perfect and practice them.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Jamin Dunn Conversation
I spoke with Jamin Dunn today. We had a very positive conversation and agreed that Including Judas will pursue the distribution of his music in digital format that is embedded with rights protection. He is working with a producer right now, and will deliver songs as they are completed. We also spoke about the inherent strain in being on the road and separated from your family like he will be. I want everyone in this organization to pray that God carries Jamin as he enters this phase of his career.
I have created a model for the cashflow for using independent contractors that will be able to be incorporated into our cashflow projections next week for feasability analysis.
I have created a model for the cashflow for using independent contractors that will be able to be incorporated into our cashflow projections next week for feasability analysis.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Lawyer Meeting + Timeline + Cashflow Planning + Intercommedia
I met with Holderead today, and he helped us revise some points of the Jamin Dunn contract to provide the most protection in the most reasonable way for both of us. He also took the requirements for the contract to bring in Independent Contractors to do some of the work on a commission basis. He will contact us sometime next week when contracts are ready for us to review.
After speaking with Clint, it was agreed that he would deliever a prospective timeline for the web-site's development. This will help to coordinate with Jamin and also allow me to begin realistic cashflow forecasting.
Having reviewed my accounting texts and 5 or six articles on entreprenourial cash flow problems, I believe I will be able to formulate realistic projections for our cash requirements. If it becomes apparant that Including Judas will need financing, options may be available through a time-limited partnership with Taylor. I have been put in contact with Mick Bates and will be calling him to discuss that possibility Thursday.
I have a time set to talk with Doug Heins, CEO of Intercommedia, about a strategic alliance where Intercommedia might webcast some of Jamin's concerts and assist with promotion. I will prepare for that conversation tomorrow, and call him Thursday.
After speaking with Clint, it was agreed that he would deliever a prospective timeline for the web-site's development. This will help to coordinate with Jamin and also allow me to begin realistic cashflow forecasting.
Having reviewed my accounting texts and 5 or six articles on entreprenourial cash flow problems, I believe I will be able to formulate realistic projections for our cash requirements. If it becomes apparant that Including Judas will need financing, options may be available through a time-limited partnership with Taylor. I have been put in contact with Mick Bates and will be calling him to discuss that possibility Thursday.
I have a time set to talk with Doug Heins, CEO of Intercommedia, about a strategic alliance where Intercommedia might webcast some of Jamin's concerts and assist with promotion. I will prepare for that conversation tomorrow, and call him Thursday.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Bank Account Open + Legal Appointment + Booking Method
Our Wells Fargo Small Business Checking Account is now open. It took 3 weeks, but it's done and we'll have our checks in about 10 days. It has been funded with our credit card, so our online access information is in the mail and will arrive in 3-4 days. At that point we will be able to link it to paypal and use it to start our accounting system using Peachtree.
I have an appointment tomorrow to see Jerry Holderead (a professor of mine who has become our lawyer) and leave Jamin's contract to be re-written. After talking to Clint and agreeing that it is possible to use the tools we have to set up a system of booking agents, I will also have Holderead draw up the contract that can be agreed to online by perspective agents.
Clint and I discussed the creation of a fairly simple program that would track the shows booked for each artist and reject the shows outside of the bounds of the contract, but there are still several questions to answer with this idea of a system of agents:
1. How do we verify their information when they sign up?
2. If they are liable for the minimum revenue for a concert how do we collect?
3. What is the best way to receive and distribute payments (what will our cashflow charts look like)?
4. How can we recruit, train, and monitor people we've never met and may never see?
I have an appointment tomorrow to see Jerry Holderead (a professor of mine who has become our lawyer) and leave Jamin's contract to be re-written. After talking to Clint and agreeing that it is possible to use the tools we have to set up a system of booking agents, I will also have Holderead draw up the contract that can be agreed to online by perspective agents.
Clint and I discussed the creation of a fairly simple program that would track the shows booked for each artist and reject the shows outside of the bounds of the contract, but there are still several questions to answer with this idea of a system of agents:
1. How do we verify their information when they sign up?
2. If they are liable for the minimum revenue for a concert how do we collect?
3. What is the best way to receive and distribute payments (what will our cashflow charts look like)?
4. How can we recruit, train, and monitor people we've never met and may never see?
Friday, June 18, 2004
Songs in the Key of Steve and Sub-Contract Planning
Steve Jobs is the man to watch as the computer industry and music industry join forces. His new distribution company may be the answer to making a singles based record industry profitable. His new format, ACC may replace MP3. I have read and scanned the fortune article "Songs in the Key of Steve" and will send it to Clint as soon as we're on IM together (because of it's very large size).
I begun to put plan out our "hands off" booking methods. It is clear from "IBM on the Future of Media" (see post below) that a successful media company will have to partner with other companies to create scale and have a system that is available for input for content creators and access by customers around the clock with little to no human interaction. Combining those principles means that Clint and I should be looking towards creative ways to bring booking agents into the company on a commission basis and automating many "behind the scenes" functions with our website.
I begun to put plan out our "hands off" booking methods. It is clear from "IBM on the Future of Media" (see post below) that a successful media company will have to partner with other companies to create scale and have a system that is available for input for content creators and access by customers around the clock with little to no human interaction. Combining those principles means that Clint and I should be looking towards creative ways to bring booking agents into the company on a commission basis and automating many "behind the scenes" functions with our website.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Operating Agreement and Massive Fax
With the addition of Clint's signature, we now have an operating agreement to govern Including Judas LLC. Thank goodness for scan to text scanners. We have a digital and hardcopy backup of our business license, operating agreement and articles of organization.
After receiving Clint's signature release form, I sent the 40 pages (mentioned in previous post) by fax to Wells Fargo, and our new account should be active, funded, and linked to paypal in about a week, allowing us to begin setting up Peachtree to automate our bookkeeping.
After receiving Clint's signature release form, I sent the 40 pages (mentioned in previous post) by fax to Wells Fargo, and our new account should be active, funded, and linked to paypal in about a week, allowing us to begin setting up Peachtree to automate our bookkeeping.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Bank account and Professionalism
To verify ourselves to Wells Fargo so they will open our account, they require about 40 pages. Briana was amused when she saw the sheer volume of the stack. I have them gathered (except for a few I need faxed from Clint with his signature) and will fax them in tomorrow.
Jamin Dunn and I have decided to have a lawyer re-write the contact we composed together. We know what we want, and negotiations are basically over, we just need it written in a presentable way. I will work with our lawyer to create a document that can be customized and used for future clients.
Jamin Dunn and I have decided to have a lawyer re-write the contact we composed together. We know what we want, and negotiations are basically over, we just need it written in a presentable way. I will work with our lawyer to create a document that can be customized and used for future clients.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
My response to "IBM on the Future of Media"
After reading "IBM on the Future of Media", I have compiled a list of my key learnings. I have also written the author of the article in hopes that he can point me to more resources. I look forward to hearing Clint's thoughts on the paper and also talking with Dr. Sova.
1. Success for media companies over the next several years will be dependent on the cost effectiveness of gaining and retaining consumer attention.
2. Consumers will want increasingly customizable media. One implication of this for IJ means finding performers with great ability for audience analysis so they can arrange their performance to suit their audience, or bringing artists together with receptive audiences at low cost.
3. Creating a system that allows for protected access based on access rights with little human intervention round the clock will be key for letting consumers access reserves of low cost "deep" media.
4. Digital technology will become more available to every market segment making it a more and more viable means for content delivery.
5. Successful media companies will partner with others to achieve scale.
6. Allowing users to create and then incorporating their creations digitally will garner attention.
7. Using digital distribution will allow companies to track their customers choices with greater intelligence. Creating an automated system that responds to consumer choices without human intervention to identify higher value assets and promote their delivery, creating an "attention loop", will be a definition of competency. This attention loop will correctly match content and access rights with consumer need and demand.
8. Strategic partnerships will combine their "attention loops".
9. Ten Steps to Becoming an Open Media Company of the Future
1. Create to digital formats
2. Manage content for maximum flexibility
3. Be open for distribution round the clock
4. Be open for delivery - With variable pricing and always-on customer service
5. Open the door for consumers to create their own product
6. Think of new products to make
7. Manage open-book and communicate in real-time through digital infrastructure
8. Use digital technology to know more about your business sooner.
9. Use partnerships to drive efficiency and optimize customer attention.
10. Be come and on-demand business (a business whose costs are mostly variable and whose activity lever corresponds with user interaction).
10. Closed and proprietary media companies (currently represented by most record labels) will give way to open media business strategies allowing forward looking companies to exploit opportunities within those trends.
11. Biometric identification will continue to be used to license digital content.
12. Real estate and labor will fall in importance and cost for media companies.
13. The same content could be purchased for more or less depending on age, sales tracking, promotional schemes, rarity, or other variables.
14. In 2010, some performers and producers will be delivering their product completely free, making money instead for tie-ins, product placements, and Webcast concerts and events.
15. Media companies survive not only on creative content but creative intelligence Ö about markets, customers, delivery, and the value of digital content.
16. New legal status and new popular mindsets will influence how content is delivered. Working with the technology to help people store, archive, access, and retrieve the information they want at a reasonable price will be a winning strategy.
17. Pervasive Media: the end result of digital evolution will be omnipresent media, increased consumer creation and feedback, individualized customization of content with continuously fluctuating and variable value based pricing.
18. The new open market for technology development creates opportunities for new killer applications and content, but it demands flexible responsiveness from media businesses.
19. Including Judas will be catering to the rarest group of non-passive consumers who actively participate in their media choices.
20. There will be twice as many broadband users capable of receiving large data streams by 2007.
21. People will spend 15% more money on media that doesn't exist yet between now and 2007.
22. Digital piracy, ad-skipping, and DVD duplication will continue to put certain media companies under duress into the foreseeable future, but will mainly threaten traditional profit models. Creative profit models working with technology innovations will be relatively unaffected.
23. As choices expand and time remains limited, attention will be an even scarcer commodity. Since technology no longer mandates that content be delivered at certain times only and only to certain platforms, customer responsiveness is the killer application in 2010.
24. The more entertainment choices a person has, the more filters they will put in place and the fewer content providers they will utilize. Media companies will have to shift from a product line focus to a customer focus.
25. Successful media companies in 2010 will not “circle the wagons” around their means of media production. Instead, they will open the up the way they create content, Creating reciprocal relationships with customers and suppliers, the way content is stored, distributed, and separated in to product unit will be opened allow more freedom in combining and reinventing each aspect.
26. When video cassette recorders became popular, studios feared that home viewing would damage their businesses. Eventually, home viewing lead to increased overall consumption of filmed entertainment.
27. The more programming choices a person has (such as more channels on a TV or radio) the fewer they will routinely turn to for very specific, specialized content.
28. Non-traditional music retail outlets will continue to boom at the expense of traditional retail stores.
29. Young downloaders may be deterred by prosecution, but the majority of consumers will remain passive about digital piracy. After years of peddling indecent material, most consumers will be deaf the recording industryÃ’s plea for moral behavior.
30. The problem with the recording industry is not the internet and file sharing. The problem is that the paradigm of hard copy music distribution is “dated as a horse and buggy”.
31. Film piracy will soon be as prevalent as MP3 piracy. Films will be able to edited several different ways with all options put on a DVD. Parents buying a film will have a code allowing them to unlock objectionable content, and also a copy of the film that is “family-safe” without fast-forwarding through shower scenes and profanity.
32. Cometa, a joint venture of IBM, AT&T, and Intel has announced plans to put “wireless internet antennas within five minutes of anyone in the 50 largest US cities.” Cometa has also announced (on May 19) that it is shutting down because investors are pulling the plug, but it made progress and others will follow in its footsteps. http://www.cometanetworks.com/index.shtml
33. There will be attempts to switch from selling copies of content but selling rights to access digital archives of content.
34. The same content must be able to play on almost any different platform.
35. BBC is archiving all its content to digital with plans to share it all via P2P networks.
36. After-the-fact reinforcement of copyright in the form of lawsuits (such as the 2003 legal victory allowing copyright holders to demand ISPs reveal the identities of their users) will never help to grow the entertainment industry and point to a need for embeddedgy imbedded safeguards that keep both sides happy.
37. Steps in bringing content to the media market in 2010:
1. Content is digitally created on converted from analog
2. Content is meta-tagged, indexed, and archived
3. Content is stored on a server accessible to individuals and retailers
4. Universal standards will mean the content is formatted for accessible on any platform
5. "Touchless" systems (24 hour a day accessible with little to no human interaction) will control rights management, bookkeeping, variable pricing strategies and distribution
38. Since strategic focus on attention will be the key to profitability, successful businesses will use new technology to store and analyze all transactions with customers allowing the company to deploy new and archive content to a more selective, cultivated group of fans.
39. Media companies will partner with computing companies outside the media industry to hold their massive archives and make them available for access and distribution, and, just like any business currently relying on an external utility company for electricity, cost will vary with usage.
40. All Including Judas produced content should exist in “platform-universal” digital content, so that it can be part of the ever-rolling attention-loop.
41. Develop deeper data analytics to look at each transaction as guidance for price points.
42. Operate as an "On-Demand” business:
a. Consolidate overhead
b. Integrate Operations
c. Optimize business customer and partner offerings
d. Drive direct-to-customer relationships
e. Prepare for the integrated-media era
43. The customer will remain always right and a profitable media company must work with that sense of entitlement.
1. Success for media companies over the next several years will be dependent on the cost effectiveness of gaining and retaining consumer attention.
2. Consumers will want increasingly customizable media. One implication of this for IJ means finding performers with great ability for audience analysis so they can arrange their performance to suit their audience, or bringing artists together with receptive audiences at low cost.
3. Creating a system that allows for protected access based on access rights with little human intervention round the clock will be key for letting consumers access reserves of low cost "deep" media.
4. Digital technology will become more available to every market segment making it a more and more viable means for content delivery.
5. Successful media companies will partner with others to achieve scale.
6. Allowing users to create and then incorporating their creations digitally will garner attention.
7. Using digital distribution will allow companies to track their customers choices with greater intelligence. Creating an automated system that responds to consumer choices without human intervention to identify higher value assets and promote their delivery, creating an "attention loop", will be a definition of competency. This attention loop will correctly match content and access rights with consumer need and demand.
8. Strategic partnerships will combine their "attention loops".
9. Ten Steps to Becoming an Open Media Company of the Future
1. Create to digital formats
2. Manage content for maximum flexibility
3. Be open for distribution round the clock
4. Be open for delivery - With variable pricing and always-on customer service
5. Open the door for consumers to create their own product
6. Think of new products to make
7. Manage open-book and communicate in real-time through digital infrastructure
8. Use digital technology to know more about your business sooner.
9. Use partnerships to drive efficiency and optimize customer attention.
10. Be come and on-demand business (a business whose costs are mostly variable and whose activity lever corresponds with user interaction).
10. Closed and proprietary media companies (currently represented by most record labels) will give way to open media business strategies allowing forward looking companies to exploit opportunities within those trends.
11. Biometric identification will continue to be used to license digital content.
12. Real estate and labor will fall in importance and cost for media companies.
13. The same content could be purchased for more or less depending on age, sales tracking, promotional schemes, rarity, or other variables.
14. In 2010, some performers and producers will be delivering their product completely free, making money instead for tie-ins, product placements, and Webcast concerts and events.
15. Media companies survive not only on creative content but creative intelligence Ö about markets, customers, delivery, and the value of digital content.
16. New legal status and new popular mindsets will influence how content is delivered. Working with the technology to help people store, archive, access, and retrieve the information they want at a reasonable price will be a winning strategy.
17. Pervasive Media: the end result of digital evolution will be omnipresent media, increased consumer creation and feedback, individualized customization of content with continuously fluctuating and variable value based pricing.
18. The new open market for technology development creates opportunities for new killer applications and content, but it demands flexible responsiveness from media businesses.
19. Including Judas will be catering to the rarest group of non-passive consumers who actively participate in their media choices.
20. There will be twice as many broadband users capable of receiving large data streams by 2007.
21. People will spend 15% more money on media that doesn't exist yet between now and 2007.
22. Digital piracy, ad-skipping, and DVD duplication will continue to put certain media companies under duress into the foreseeable future, but will mainly threaten traditional profit models. Creative profit models working with technology innovations will be relatively unaffected.
23. As choices expand and time remains limited, attention will be an even scarcer commodity. Since technology no longer mandates that content be delivered at certain times only and only to certain platforms, customer responsiveness is the killer application in 2010.
24. The more entertainment choices a person has, the more filters they will put in place and the fewer content providers they will utilize. Media companies will have to shift from a product line focus to a customer focus.
25. Successful media companies in 2010 will not “circle the wagons” around their means of media production. Instead, they will open the up the way they create content, Creating reciprocal relationships with customers and suppliers, the way content is stored, distributed, and separated in to product unit will be opened allow more freedom in combining and reinventing each aspect.
26. When video cassette recorders became popular, studios feared that home viewing would damage their businesses. Eventually, home viewing lead to increased overall consumption of filmed entertainment.
27. The more programming choices a person has (such as more channels on a TV or radio) the fewer they will routinely turn to for very specific, specialized content.
28. Non-traditional music retail outlets will continue to boom at the expense of traditional retail stores.
29. Young downloaders may be deterred by prosecution, but the majority of consumers will remain passive about digital piracy. After years of peddling indecent material, most consumers will be deaf the recording industryÃ’s plea for moral behavior.
30. The problem with the recording industry is not the internet and file sharing. The problem is that the paradigm of hard copy music distribution is “dated as a horse and buggy”.
31. Film piracy will soon be as prevalent as MP3 piracy. Films will be able to edited several different ways with all options put on a DVD. Parents buying a film will have a code allowing them to unlock objectionable content, and also a copy of the film that is “family-safe” without fast-forwarding through shower scenes and profanity.
32. Cometa, a joint venture of IBM, AT&T, and Intel has announced plans to put “wireless internet antennas within five minutes of anyone in the 50 largest US cities.” Cometa has also announced (on May 19) that it is shutting down because investors are pulling the plug, but it made progress and others will follow in its footsteps. http://www.cometanetworks.com/index.shtml
33. There will be attempts to switch from selling copies of content but selling rights to access digital archives of content.
34. The same content must be able to play on almost any different platform.
35. BBC is archiving all its content to digital with plans to share it all via P2P networks.
36. After-the-fact reinforcement of copyright in the form of lawsuits (such as the 2003 legal victory allowing copyright holders to demand ISPs reveal the identities of their users) will never help to grow the entertainment industry and point to a need for embeddedgy imbedded safeguards that keep both sides happy.
37. Steps in bringing content to the media market in 2010:
1. Content is digitally created on converted from analog
2. Content is meta-tagged, indexed, and archived
3. Content is stored on a server accessible to individuals and retailers
4. Universal standards will mean the content is formatted for accessible on any platform
5. "Touchless" systems (24 hour a day accessible with little to no human interaction) will control rights management, bookkeeping, variable pricing strategies and distribution
38. Since strategic focus on attention will be the key to profitability, successful businesses will use new technology to store and analyze all transactions with customers allowing the company to deploy new and archive content to a more selective, cultivated group of fans.
39. Media companies will partner with computing companies outside the media industry to hold their massive archives and make them available for access and distribution, and, just like any business currently relying on an external utility company for electricity, cost will vary with usage.
40. All Including Judas produced content should exist in “platform-universal” digital content, so that it can be part of the ever-rolling attention-loop.
41. Develop deeper data analytics to look at each transaction as guidance for price points.
42. Operate as an "On-Demand” business:
a. Consolidate overhead
b. Integrate Operations
c. Optimize business customer and partner offerings
d. Drive direct-to-customer relationships
e. Prepare for the integrated-media era
43. The customer will remain always right and a profitable media company must work with that sense of entitlement.
Monday, June 14, 2004
LSAT
I will be taking the day off from my practicum to take the LSAT.
Friday, June 11, 2004
Business Advice and Music Career Training
Today I assisted Jamin Dunn in acquring several papers to register his buisness entity in Tennessee. An amazing amount of the forms are available online, and using a fax machine, you could have an idea and have the company founded in about 2 weeks (which is not to far off from the Including Judas timeline).
I am exploring various music career training rescources to see what people who want to be professional musicians are currently being told. Most rescources are produced by large record labels or retired professionals, and based soley on legacy paradigms. There is a huge need for a workable, contemporary path to success to be presented to aspiring music professionals. But one truth does hold from previous paradigms: if you have any doubt that you'll make it then you won't.
I am exploring various music career training rescources to see what people who want to be professional musicians are currently being told. Most rescources are produced by large record labels or retired professionals, and based soley on legacy paradigms. There is a huge need for a workable, contemporary path to success to be presented to aspiring music professionals. But one truth does hold from previous paradigms: if you have any doubt that you'll make it then you won't.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Jamin Dunn Contract Revision + Intercommedia + Wells Fargo + Fictitous Name
After speaking with Jamin Dunn today, we have cancelled the shows that were going to be booked for 2004 and changed the number to be booked for 2005 from 200 to 80. As soon as the editing of the contract is done, Including Judas and Jamin Dunn will be ready to sign.
This will allow us to focus on attaining more profitable venues, as well as give us more time to prepare our internal structure. Clint and I are both committed to giving our marriages first priority next year, and will be spending the summer creating a more automated, hands off sales system where concerts are booked by agents of Including Judas with little to no contact from us. Recruiting will begin as soon as the contract with Jamin Dunn is signed.
In an attempt to partner in order to create scale, we will be approaching Intercommedia to see if they would be interested in creating a system to promote shows booked by Including Judas by various traditional and non-traditional means. We have one week to report back to Jamin Dunn on the progresss of our partnering with Intercommedia.
Including Judas is a trademark held by Lee Hildebrand and registered in the state of Florida. After many run-arounds through automated telephone systems, I was able to find that our ownership of the name must be renewed December, 31 2005. I send a letter to the Florida department of commerce to update the address and phone number associated with "Including Judas" to my current address and phone number.
Clint and I both had a conference call with Wells Fargo to rectify a problem with our application. Apparantly, after I applied online, the application became lost in cyber-space. A Wells Fargo agent took down our information and will be working with us to file the remaineder of the paperwork.
This will allow us to focus on attaining more profitable venues, as well as give us more time to prepare our internal structure. Clint and I are both committed to giving our marriages first priority next year, and will be spending the summer creating a more automated, hands off sales system where concerts are booked by agents of Including Judas with little to no contact from us. Recruiting will begin as soon as the contract with Jamin Dunn is signed.
In an attempt to partner in order to create scale, we will be approaching Intercommedia to see if they would be interested in creating a system to promote shows booked by Including Judas by various traditional and non-traditional means. We have one week to report back to Jamin Dunn on the progresss of our partnering with Intercommedia.
Including Judas is a trademark held by Lee Hildebrand and registered in the state of Florida. After many run-arounds through automated telephone systems, I was able to find that our ownership of the name must be renewed December, 31 2005. I send a letter to the Florida department of commerce to update the address and phone number associated with "Including Judas" to my current address and phone number.
Clint and I both had a conference call with Wells Fargo to rectify a problem with our application. Apparantly, after I applied online, the application became lost in cyber-space. A Wells Fargo agent took down our information and will be working with us to file the remaineder of the paperwork.
Saturday, June 05, 2004
New Paypal and Wells Fargo Accounts
After researching all the best places for a small business to bank online, I have applied for an account with Wells Fargo with Clint and I listed as joint owners holding the account at a 50/50 ratio. The fees are the smallest I could find without dealing with suspicously unprofessional looking banks.
I also created a paypal account that new has 3 e-mail addresses linked to it to receive payments:
paypal@includingjudas.com
payment@includingjudas.com
payments@includingjudas.com
Thanks to Clint for his round the clock tech support as he created the addresses moments before they began recieving notices from Paypal. The Wells Fargo account should be able to link to the PayPal account to withdraw payments sent there.
I am still waiting to hear from Wells Fargo on the status of our application and am trying to find the best company credit card solution. Further updates as events warrant.
I also created a paypal account that new has 3 e-mail addresses linked to it to receive payments:
paypal@includingjudas.com
payment@includingjudas.com
payments@includingjudas.com
Thanks to Clint for his round the clock tech support as he created the addresses moments before they began recieving notices from Paypal. The Wells Fargo account should be able to link to the PayPal account to withdraw payments sent there.
I am still waiting to hear from Wells Fargo on the status of our application and am trying to find the best company credit card solution. Further updates as events warrant.
Learnings on taking on large clients
Here is an article I saw in Entrepreneur magazine. I think it is very relevant to our current dealing with Jamin Dunn, and I can see myself making a lot of mistakes that it cautions to avoid. It would have been good to read this 5 weeks ago, but at least after reading it I can see some of my mistakes have been:
1. Not doing the internal legwork before approaching a deal to have the firepower to know exactly how much to bid and how to monitor a big.
2. Not accounting for how much growth a large client will require, and whether or not the contract would be profitable after paying for that growth.
3. If growth is required, making it part of the contract that the client pay for the growth.
Fortunately, I did a few things right and we are still looking at a very profitable contract. But, Clint, if you would read this article also, we will be better preparred next time.
Entrepreneur magazine
On Bended Knee
By: C.J. Prince
Growing businesses have always had to be quick and nimble to compete in the big leagues. The concept of getting the sale now and adapting to fulfill the orders is practically ingrained in the entrepreneurial fast-growth mentality. But when times are tight, you have to be particularly careful about what customers you take on and under what terms. Winning a big client could either fulfill your dreams of steady income for the next six to 18 months and add a big name to your resume or bankrupt you faster than you can say "widget." It all depends on how strategically you plan, experts say. Entrepreneurs tend to manage from the gut and fail to think institutionally, says Jeffrey Bolton, managing partner with accounting firm Daszkal Bolton LLP in Boca Raton, Florida. "So going into a deal, they don't do the legwork," he says. "They don't have the firepower internally to figure out what their bid should be and how to monitor the bid." Before bidding on any project, make sure you do hard cash-flow projections and job costing, taking into account a host of factors. First up: "If the job is big enough, will [you] have the internal capacity to produce it without having to grow [your] company to handle that one contract?" says Bolton. Having to grow to support new business isn't necessarily a negative, he adds, but that client may take up a big part of your business. "And when the client knows that, they can squeeze you," he says. If you do have to increase capacity or buy special equipment to service a large customer, get that cost covered upfront, advises Ray Silverstein of President's Resource Organization, a nationwide network of peer group forums for small-business owners. That means a long-term supply contract and an agreement that the client will buy the equipment if they cancel the contract within a certain period. Next, set the payment schedule in stone so customers won't leave you in the lurch. "If they stretch out [payments], they can cripple you with cash-flow problems," says Silverstein. Even when they don't pay late, the amount a major customer owes you can be so significant, you simply can't afford the risk of taking the project without some payment upfront. "You have to determine the maximum amount of accounts receivable you're willing to have with an account, whether it's delinquent or not," advises Silverstein. If that amount is $100,000, for example, and the customer puts in an order for $175,000, then $75,000 needs to be paid upfront. Price It Right The other big danger for entrepreneurs is underpricing. "It's a widespread problem," says Norman Scarborough, associate professor of business at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. "Entrepreneurs think customers are so price-sensitive that they always have to offer the lowest price, when, in reality, small companies have much more to offer because of their size"-such as personal attention, a customized approach and speed. That's how Mike MacMillan, 47, president and founder of New York City-based MacMillan Communications, positions his company's PR services. "One of the advantages of being a smaller organization is that you're more efficient, so you have lower overhead," he says. Rather than charging less than competitors, he offers clients more bang for the buck. "We're able to put more of the budget directly into account work rather than overhead." Of course, some businesses can't afford not to compete on price, particularly in manufacturing, where cost is a big factor. And often, small businesses will bid dangerously low in order to win business, only to find very little profit in the project. The key is to ask how important that business is to your future growth, whether you can cover the cost of the project, and whether it fits into your strategic plan even if you don't make money on it. When he started his accounting firm in 1991, Bolton kept the income curve high throughout, but once he had work year-round, he began to selectively ask clients to pay more until he was profitable. But that strategy can be a challenge. "You can bury yourself in volume and enjoy the rush of getting the business," Bolton says. "If you're trying to build a reputation, that foot in the door is necessary, but you have to have an institutional mind-set, and not serve an institutional client with a mom-and-pop mind-set." C.J. Prince is executive editor of CEO Magazine. She can be reached at cjprince@chiefexecutive.net.
1. Not doing the internal legwork before approaching a deal to have the firepower to know exactly how much to bid and how to monitor a big.
2. Not accounting for how much growth a large client will require, and whether or not the contract would be profitable after paying for that growth.
3. If growth is required, making it part of the contract that the client pay for the growth.
Fortunately, I did a few things right and we are still looking at a very profitable contract. But, Clint, if you would read this article also, we will be better preparred next time.
Entrepreneur magazine
On Bended Knee
By: C.J. Prince
Growing businesses have always had to be quick and nimble to compete in the big leagues. The concept of getting the sale now and adapting to fulfill the orders is practically ingrained in the entrepreneurial fast-growth mentality. But when times are tight, you have to be particularly careful about what customers you take on and under what terms. Winning a big client could either fulfill your dreams of steady income for the next six to 18 months and add a big name to your resume or bankrupt you faster than you can say "widget." It all depends on how strategically you plan, experts say. Entrepreneurs tend to manage from the gut and fail to think institutionally, says Jeffrey Bolton, managing partner with accounting firm Daszkal Bolton LLP in Boca Raton, Florida. "So going into a deal, they don't do the legwork," he says. "They don't have the firepower internally to figure out what their bid should be and how to monitor the bid." Before bidding on any project, make sure you do hard cash-flow projections and job costing, taking into account a host of factors. First up: "If the job is big enough, will [you] have the internal capacity to produce it without having to grow [your] company to handle that one contract?" says Bolton. Having to grow to support new business isn't necessarily a negative, he adds, but that client may take up a big part of your business. "And when the client knows that, they can squeeze you," he says. If you do have to increase capacity or buy special equipment to service a large customer, get that cost covered upfront, advises Ray Silverstein of President's Resource Organization, a nationwide network of peer group forums for small-business owners. That means a long-term supply contract and an agreement that the client will buy the equipment if they cancel the contract within a certain period. Next, set the payment schedule in stone so customers won't leave you in the lurch. "If they stretch out [payments], they can cripple you with cash-flow problems," says Silverstein. Even when they don't pay late, the amount a major customer owes you can be so significant, you simply can't afford the risk of taking the project without some payment upfront. "You have to determine the maximum amount of accounts receivable you're willing to have with an account, whether it's delinquent or not," advises Silverstein. If that amount is $100,000, for example, and the customer puts in an order for $175,000, then $75,000 needs to be paid upfront. Price It Right The other big danger for entrepreneurs is underpricing. "It's a widespread problem," says Norman Scarborough, associate professor of business at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. "Entrepreneurs think customers are so price-sensitive that they always have to offer the lowest price, when, in reality, small companies have much more to offer because of their size"-such as personal attention, a customized approach and speed. That's how Mike MacMillan, 47, president and founder of New York City-based MacMillan Communications, positions his company's PR services. "One of the advantages of being a smaller organization is that you're more efficient, so you have lower overhead," he says. Rather than charging less than competitors, he offers clients more bang for the buck. "We're able to put more of the budget directly into account work rather than overhead." Of course, some businesses can't afford not to compete on price, particularly in manufacturing, where cost is a big factor. And often, small businesses will bid dangerously low in order to win business, only to find very little profit in the project. The key is to ask how important that business is to your future growth, whether you can cover the cost of the project, and whether it fits into your strategic plan even if you don't make money on it. When he started his accounting firm in 1991, Bolton kept the income curve high throughout, but once he had work year-round, he began to selectively ask clients to pay more until he was profitable. But that strategy can be a challenge. "You can bury yourself in volume and enjoy the rush of getting the business," Bolton says. "If you're trying to build a reputation, that foot in the door is necessary, but you have to have an institutional mind-set, and not serve an institutional client with a mom-and-pop mind-set." C.J. Prince is executive editor of CEO Magazine. She can be reached at cjprince@chiefexecutive.net.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Jamin Dunn Contract Negotiation
After a productive talk with Jamin Dunn, I was pleased to have changed several articles of the proposed contract. In exchange for less liability for financial risk, Including Judas has taken on more booking quality responsibility.
I am confident that a system can be created where agents working for Including Judas will be able to communicate with venues, and report their work online in a way that is accessable to our artists. This will allow artist to see each venue as it is booked without necessarily involving themselves with the details of our work.
I have sent a new, revised draft of our contract (that I will provide to any of our contributers upon request) to Jamin Dunn, and am waiting to hear back from him. I will call him sometime over the weekend if I have not heard back from him before then. Time will definetely be against us as we try to meet our obligations for this year, so it will be important to seal this deal in the next week.
I am confident that a system can be created where agents working for Including Judas will be able to communicate with venues, and report their work online in a way that is accessable to our artists. This will allow artist to see each venue as it is booked without necessarily involving themselves with the details of our work.
I have sent a new, revised draft of our contract (that I will provide to any of our contributers upon request) to Jamin Dunn, and am waiting to hear back from him. I will call him sometime over the weekend if I have not heard back from him before then. Time will definetely be against us as we try to meet our obligations for this year, so it will be important to seal this deal in the next week.
