Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[EngineerThis]

I am targeting sales reps, freelancers and entrepreneurs. LinkedIn was the best pick to start as most of them come to it regularly.

But Twitter has a larger user base and everything is more fast paced. I wanted to give it a try.

I think my target is on both sides, but LinkedIn is way more suited for my marketing strategy.

Think you found your answer. I’d double down on Linked In

 

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[KiwiEC]

Thanks mate!

I don't hear very often about LinkedIn here, but I really enjoy using it (and I'm not made for social medias at all, but eh, we are not on this forum to share what we like to do).

It can really be a nice showroom of your work and an acquisition channel to drive your niche's people to your product.

If some folks have some feedback about it, I'm happy to hear what you guys experienced on your side.

 

[piano]

MJ's new website is amazing!




Jokes aside, this website is really nice. How long did it take? Because it looks pretty polished to me!

Grade My Business Idea: Business Ideas and Opportunities Rated Fast

Grade My Business Idea: Rate your business idea and discover its potential for massive marketplace success. Is your business idea worth pursuing? Or should it be forgotten? Based on the CENTS Framework authored by entrepreneur and best selling author, MJ DeMarco.

www.grademybusinessidea.com

 

[BizyDad]

Why would you hire people in a country where employees get a high salary, you pay 50% of their salary in taxes, they go on strike as soon as you change something, and the laws make it really hard for you to fire them?

Easy. Because you can make money. If your business model supports these challenges, you'll hire employees. If not, you'll go out of business or you'll never get into business.

Every business in every location faces challenges. This is no different.

Not sure if this business can recover from the damage, since it was one of their driving instructors.

There has GOT to be some kind of great marketing spin they can put on this...

Challenge Accepted. How about:

NOT a graduate of our course. And we are MORE MOTIVATED THAN EVER to continue our mission of producing safe drivers.

 

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[ZackerySprague]

I love this guy, I think he might be pretty biased towards software.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16U-ukZE4Yg&ab_channel=MichiaRohrssen

 

[BizyDad]

Do we have Fastlane Fam in Hawaii?

Man the pictures I'm seeing are just brutal.

 

[loop101]

If you have a free web-app that is monetized by Google Ads, does Google care if you give users an option to Register on the website in exchange for eliminating the ads? Or maybe Registering eliminates all but one ad? I'm guessing this makes Google Ads look bad, and Google would object.

 

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[WillHurtDontCare]

this is a cool tool for getting marketing content inspiration from newsletters

https://milled.com/

 

[mikecarlooch]

#Frustrated - is craigslist's payment system messed up? They won't accept ANY of my cards for ads.

Anyone ever had this problem?

 

[RicardoGrande]

I know how we talk about the C in CENTS in terms of business control over manufacturing/delivering/providing service for a product, but the one hair-raising thing that keeps popping into mind is liability and employees. Sure, plenty of people may complain about people that are just there for a paycheck, and I've talked to plenty of local contractors/companies that talk about a tough time finding employees.

...But then I saw this:

Cleaner accidentally ruins decades of US college’s research by turning off freezer

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York sues cleaner’s employer after freezer turned off to mute ‘annoying alarm’

www.theguardian.com

You hire someone that isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, and they turned out to be someone who doesn't even bother to read a warning sign- they take some "initiative" for a piece of equipment they don't operate in a building they don't own and then BAM!- 20 years of research gone and your humble commercial cleaning company is getting the pants sued off of it.

Sometimes I'm glad I actually don't run a big, successful, responsible business yet, I can't even begin to fathom what that situation they're in is like and pray I never have to find out.

 

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[BizyDad]

Sometimes I'm glad I actually don't run a big, successful, responsible business yet, I can't even begin to fathom what that situation they're in is like and pray I never have to find out.

Fear fear fear fear fear.

I'm afraid of what big success might look like Fam.

Hey, I've been there. This kind of thinking intentionally held me back too.

But this is like reading a story about a tesla auto-driving fatality and deciding to never get in a car again. Or maybe you'll get in a car, but you definitely won't go farther than 5 minutes. Imagine the dangers that the 10 mile a day driver face! And the truckers? How do they handle it?

Anyways, it's your life and you can free to live it however you choose. As someone who chose exactly this kind of thinking, I would suggest that you are capable of so much more than you are giving youreself credit for. And the only way to build up that kind of grit is not to avoid the threat of danger, it is to dream big, go for it, and handle the challenges as they come.

And that's really not much different than what you are doing now, it just means a few more people in your life and a few more zeroes in your bank account.

Just as an example...

Imagine a world where you can build a $500k business in a year. Would you be so scared of losing your company then? What if I told you the owner already owns a bunch of cash flowing real estate and had $500k sitting in a bank account in addition to several other investments? Does that change the perspective of the article?

Why can't that be your story?

Anyways, hope this helps.

 

[RicardoGrande]

Fear fear fear fear fear.

I'm afraid of what big success might look like Fam.

Hey, I've been there. This kind of thinking intentionally held me back too.

But this is like reading a story about a tesla auto-driving fatality and deciding to never get in a car again. Or maybe you'll get in a car, but you definitely won't go farther than 5 minutes. Imagine the dangers that the 10 mile a day driver face! And the truckers? How do they handle it?

Why can't that be your story?

Anyways, hope this helps.

You're right, and fear of things going sideways shouldn't hold anyone back- but this did seem entirely preventable if the owner had a better focus on hiring and working with contractors (which the janitor was). I posted on a gut feeling that that business would probably go under due to
- Paying lawsuit damages
- Irreversible damage to their reputation (I am aware most of those businesses operate under DBAs and can sink and roll back up, which is what they will probably do).
For a mid-scale local business.

Did some additional googling, they're a local Commercial cleaning biz in Albany NY (over 70 reviews!), appearing to do only 2.5+mil a year with about 25 employees and contractors. I can definitely imagine the owners have cash socked away and lawsuit insurance; was more focused that one bad/uninformed decision wiped out a good half of their yearly revenue and could potentially sink their brand. Again, not everyone should expect it, but it's definitely the other side of the C commandment I don't see brought up enough imo.
I did see they have a recruiter/staff manager on payroll, assuming they had a fun couple months talking to the company lawyers and the owner since the subpoena was delivered

 

[MattR82]

I know how we talk about the C in CENTS in terms of business control over manufacturing/delivering/providing service for a product, but the one hair-raising thing that keeps popping into mind is liability and employees. Sure, plenty of people may complain about people that are just there for a paycheck, and I've talked to plenty of local contractors/companies that talk about a tough time finding employees.

...But then I saw this:

Cleaner accidentally ruins decades of US college’s research by turning off freezer

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York sues cleaner’s employer after freezer turned off to mute ‘annoying alarm’

www.theguardian.com

You hire someone that isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch, and they turned out to be someone who doesn't even bother to read a warning sign- they take some "initiative" for a piece of equipment they don't operate in a building they don't own and then BAM!- 20 years of research gone and your humble commercial cleaning company is getting the pants sued off of it.

Sometimes I'm glad I actually don't run a big, successful, responsible business yet, I can't even begin to fathom what that situation they're in is like and pray I never have to find out.

I feel like there's more behind this story.
So the cleaner flipped a circuit breaker?
What happens is there was a power outage any other time?
Was this issue not important enough to have a face to face chat, or emergency phone call, email, all of the above, with the cleaner and the cleaning company?

The cleaner also said he thought he was turning the breaker ON to help fix the alarm, not that he was turning it off because he was annoyed.
So to recap, Professor Lakshmi posted a NOTE somewhere (where?) explaining how to not destroy 25 years of work. Reminds me of that meme with someone using a cheeto as a door lock lol. Good job Professor. Not sure that lawsuit will hold up though.

Sounds like negligence on behalf of the lab to me, and Professor Lakshmi trying to cover his own incompetent a$$. And a commercial cleaning company doing a university would have all the different types of required insurance.

I have a small commercial cleaning biz. Some clients have a brain and communicate really, really well. Because you know, these days we have phones, email, communication books.
Some are complete buttheads that are extremely arrogant and refuse to communicate properly. I've got a suspicion of what may have happened here lol.

 

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[biophase]

Overstock.com rebranded to bedbathandbeyond.com. Feels like a step in the wrong direction to me. I thought overstock was a way better brand. Is it just me? Thoughts?

 

[becks22]

Overstock.com rebranded to bedbathandbeyond.com. Feels like a step in the wrong direction to me. I thought overstock was a way better brand. Is it just me? Thoughts?

Yes. Definitely. I knew they bought Bed Bath and Beyond but I assumed it was for the name recognition and branding. I had thought they were going to spin it into a product line or something. Maybe they think Overstock lessens the quality of their products and Bed Bath and Beyond feels more expensive. Seems like an odd choice.

 

[Consolation]

Is it me or the developers on PlayStore that stopped producing games that prompt me to touch the 'Install' button?

The last time I played video games was while waiting for a client, a month ago. It's 2023 and I still picked Call of Duty released on 2010s. And it was a nostalgic purpose. I remember the 15 years old me screaming and shouting with my friends in an Internet cafe playing Call of Duty. This was probably 2009-2010 (?).

My favourite video game was still GTA San Andreas. Didn't play it for more than 5 years. It was a shocked when I saw my younger cousin played it on Android. The streets, the missions, the characters; what a nostalgia.

I wonder how would my view towards PC game would be were it not for my father. Papa had a side hustle shooting and editing wedding videos. He was so selfish not allowing us to use the HDD storage for PC games.

So, when I had my first laptop in college 10 years ago, I installed the Linux OS because I was too curious about it (instead of downloading PC games).

*Remember it's faster to switch your weapon instead of reloading. - Capt. Price (was it he who said it?)

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

You're right, and fear of things going sideways shouldn't hold anyone back- but this did seem entirely preventable if the owner had a better focus on hiring and working with contractors (which the janitor was). I posted on a gut feeling that that business would probably go under due to
- Paying lawsuit damages
- Irreversible damage to their reputation (I am aware most of those businesses operate under DBAs and can sink and roll back up, which is what they will probably do).
For a mid-scale local business.

Did some additional googling, they're a local Commercial cleaning biz in Albany NY (over 70 reviews!), appearing to do only 2.5+mil a year with about 25 employees and contractors. I can definitely imagine the owners have cash socked away and lawsuit insurance; was more focused that one bad/uninformed decision wiped out a good half of their yearly revenue and could potentially sink their brand. Again, not everyone should expect it, but it's definitely the other side of the C commandment I don't see brought up enough imo.
I did see they have a recruiter/staff manager on payroll, assuming they had a fun couple months talking to the company lawyers and the owner since the subpoena was delivered

Yes all of these things suck. The world is messed up in many ways because it's not the business owners fault. But what are you gonna do? You just have to deal with it. You have to be pretty stoic to be in business. We once had something go wrong on our site that got two guys badly injured - who didn't work for us - and it was completely the fault of their employer. But who did they sue? Every single company on the list, including us, when we did exactly what we were supposed to do. It happens. People suck. Your sympathy and kindness will not prevent you from getting sued and justice is not always served.

 

[rjdgreat]

Fear God and keep his commandments, find the right terrain, take notes on how to win or lose at your selected terrain, help other people, assess the outcome, adjust, repeat.

 

[Xeon]

Researchers from Stanford and Google have made an entire AI village. The 25 bots that live there gossip, work, and plan Valentine's Day parties.

In the virtual village, AI agents plan parties and discuss elections as part of an experiment to create more human-like bots.

www.businessinsider.com

F*ck YES!!!!

 

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[Guest-5ty5s4]

Researchers from Stanford and Google have made an entire AI village. The 25 bots that live there gossip, work, and plan Valentine's Day parties.

In the virtual village, AI agents plan parties and discuss elections as part of an experiment to create more human-like bots.

www.businessinsider.com

F*ck YES!!!!

This is so weird; it's like the whole world is suddenly aware of video games. I guess nerd culture is upstream of mainstream culture.

Nerds rule the world. Really.

 

[ZackerySprague]

The company I have an initial interview for next week Monday is called EPIC Systems. Their business model is Software, and their one product is medical records. A self-made billionaire woman named Judy Faulkner created the software back in 1979 where she learned how to code. Never intended to create such a company.

The company is like a college campus for adults. The shock is, it's medical records. I guess in the simplest of products or things could turn into a huge opportunity if you find one. Also knowing that the market for medical records is huge if you consider the fact the total population size of the United States.

Absolutely mind-blowing. She seems like she's got some good values to:

 

[monnffffiiiiiii]

One of the things that helped me the most was the following conversation I had with a CEO once:

"What if you're going bankrupt?", I asked
- Then I'll just build another company, he answered as if it was a given.

Something shifted in me that day.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

New App Lets Users Text With Jesus

A new AI-powered cell phone app lets users text with Jesus and a whole host of other biblical figures. Is this a gimmick, or the future of faith?

www.themonastery.org

 

[EngineerThis]

New App Lets Users Text With Jesus

A new AI-powered cell phone app lets users text with Jesus and a whole host of other biblical figures. Is this a gimmick, or the future of faith?

www.themonastery.org

Yikes

 

[Antifragile]

For anyone wondering … me:

 

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[OMDA]

Funny how I'll be exhausted and irritable thinking about my normal job and as soon as I start working on my side project I get energized again.

 

[EngineerThis]

For anyone wondering … me:

View attachment 50697

It’s nice on the other side!

 

[Xeon]

This is so weird; it's like the whole world is suddenly aware of video games

Except that video games are pre-programmed while these bots are interacting among themselves with much, much lesser human control. The humans setup the initial part, give them some instructions and they run everything themselves lol

 

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[RicardoGrande]

MJ's new website is amazing!

Dude whoa this is incredible!
... Does anyone know of any good courses on how to buy a ski mask and drill into a 7056 steel vault without tripping the alarm sensors? -Or maybe if I read enough books I could just talk my way through the tellers and get in that way...

 

[RicardoGrande]

Funny how I'll be exhausted and irritable thinking about my normal job and as soon as I start working on my side project I get energized again.

Nah dude, you're fighting for your dream.
I have a rough time with tedious crap every day at my dayjob, it used to be really toxic for my mindset in general, I would walk around with my brow furrowed and cursing to myself that I wasn't getting ahead or moving my business forward.
I still remember the day I finally broke through my fear barrier and made cold calls, having never made any before. Didn't win any business straight off the bat but knowing that I didn't just know, but COULD make calls, win business and ditch the job to making a living filled me with this incredible sense of peace. That giant hurdle crumbled to dust and I went from "guy who did one website for his friend" to "web designer that works with local businesses and is getting paid".
I was meditating that night and instead of being balled in up a little pile of resentment and torment, I felt completely relaxed, I had a dumb smile file on my face, and I couldn't stop dreaming about the future that was so much closer than it was just 12 hours beforehand.

Granted, it's still been an uphill battle since then, but it feels like creating diamonds out of thin air and I've had so much exposure to different business owners and businesses in the past year and half- positive experience all around. It's mentioned elsewhere across the countless posts on this forum but creating and maintaining positive momentum is the best way to get out of a rut and keep yourself moving- especially when you're fighting for your own dream around a soul-crushing dayjob, commute, and whatever else life is throwing at you.