Welcome to our Blog

Ok, ok...so I still don't have a MySpace page, or Facebook, or Friendster. I'm not even "linked in" yet.....but at least I now have a blog. ~~Update...I am now LinkedIn :) ~~

I'm here for two reasons:
1) I love Google and the products they make. I love that they get other people to pay for them, so I can enjoy them free of charge
2) I think blogging, from my computer and camera phone - may be the easiest way for me to keep other's informed, and to document my life

I hope you are as blessed in life as I am. Here's hoping the snow won't be as bad this year.

Thanks,
Alex

Choose a month to the right under "Previous Posts"

I want down!!

Kendall on New Year's Eve 2007

Kendall's favorite commercial

Come'on man....it's the holidays!

Thanksgiving '07

November 22, 2007

Here is one side of the crew.  We ate at my mom's house at 2pm and then went to Chanpheng's mom's house to eat again at 5pm.  Yikes!  Black was supposed to be here but he wasn't feeling well and we changed his ticket to Christmas.

Invesco Field at Mile High

Kendall and Avery Update

Here is Lo and Ty's new house. They bought the model - complete with furishings.

My new car

This is my new company car, a 2008 Ford Taurus X. I enjoyed my previous company car - a 2006 Ford Explorer, but this car rides nicer and has a much bigger engine. Thanks HP!

HP Djammer - 2004

Purpose: To develop a musical instrument that allows a manipulation of digital music files through hand movements

VenueJet.com concept is mentioned in BusinessWeek!

Family and friends,

 

While I'm still behind about 30 votes in the $10,000 'best idea' contest that ends on Oct 31st, I did discover that the VenueJet.com concept (in the form of our entry in the ideablob.com contest) was mentioned at the end of this Business Week article.  Very Cool!

 

Planning for a Crush of Startups
by David E. Gumpert

Category: In the News | Posted: 10/19/2007

A Venture Capitalist's Outlook

The cost of starting a business is declining so expect an explosion of startups, says venture capitalist Paul Graham of Y Combinator ( BusinessWeek.com, 9/26/07), a backer of startup companies, in an essay on his Web site. "When starting a business was expensive, you had to get the permission of investors to do it. Now the only threshold is courage." Among the implications:

• Standardization of investment terms, especially for initial "angel rounds." This speeds up the investment process and reduces legal fees, Graham says. Y Combinator is "using the same paperwork for every deal we do" and has "commissioned generic paperwork that all the startups we fund can use for future rounds."

• More acquisitions of young companies by corporations, as they "develop standardized procedures that make acquisitions little more work than hiring someone." According to Graham, Google (GOOG) is setting the pace. "They buy a lot of startups—more than most people realize" and "they're figuring out how to do it efficiently."

• "Younger, nerdier founders." Graham argues that because less effort will need to go into convincing investors, and more into actually launching the business using a few tens of thousands of dollars raised from relatives, "younger and more technical founders will be able to start startups than could before."

• More competition. While "that doesn't erase the advantage of increased cheapness," he says, "you won't be able to sit on a good idea. Other people have your idea, and they'll be increasingly likely to do something about it."

One requirement that won't change is the importance of "startup hubs" like Silicon Valley. That's because face-to-face meetings with investors and other backers will remain central to all startups. Y Combinator feels such contact is so important that "we make people move for Y Combinator, and it doesn't seem to be a problem. The advantage of being able to work together face-to-face for three months outweighs the inconvenience of moving."

How About Disposable Prepacked Lunch Boxes?

Advanta Bank's Ideablob.com invites visitors to submit their business ideas for feedback and enter a monthly contest to win $10,000. Prepacked lunch boxes is one of the most popular recent ideas. Two others: a real estate Web site "that finally rids the world of real estate brokers" and a Web site to search for available wedding or business meeting event space.

Read full article at www.businessweek.com

Remembering Harry Botham

My Grandpa passed away on Oct 27th, 2007. We set up the following websites to honor him:
http://harrybotham.com
http://harrybotham.blogspot.com

Rockies Win '07 NLCS

Game 4 NLCS 2007
Rockies Win!

Phil's Band Oct 2007

Douglas County Statium
October 13, 2007
Bear Creek High School

Mom & Dad in Hawaii

TV while you pump....

Maybe flatscreen TVs are the reason that gas is so expensive

Bison in Daniel's Gate

These bison live behind our CPN house in the preserve.

Phil - Working

Phil working at King Soopers
Aug 2007

Rap Snacks - Get Crunk

Found these in a discount store. YoungBloodz...

Hmm...on sale for $0.80

VenueJet full presentation

[note, this video did not convert from SWF to MP4 correctly]

Below are the 3 parts of the business plan competition presentation for VenueJet

VenueJet - Business Plan Competition

In June 2007, Chanpheng and I participated in a business plan competition. Our written plan was selected as one of the top 6 submitted. This gave us the honor of competing for the top spot. This involved creating and delivering a verbal presentation of our plan.

June 14th was the day of the presentations. We felt that we did great, but it wasn't good enough to win first place. We did however get a giant novelty check, a plaque and $1,000.

Our plan was for the VenueJet.com business. You can see more @ http://venuejet.com

Phil's birthday 2007

OMG...I can't believe that Phil sat in the saddle while they sang. I
wish I was there.....

June 10, 2007

Baby's last day with '04 Accord

CXB turned in her Gray 2004 Accord for a Blue 2007 version

Crazy Horse Memorial

Kevin Hutchison and I visited Crazy Horse on May 20, 2007 during a
trip to visit stores in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is home of the world's largest mountain
sculpture in progress, is in the Black Hills of South Dakota on U.S.
Highway 16/385 just 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore.

http://www.crazyhorse.org/

Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. The Memorial's mission is to honor the
culture, tradition and living heritage of North American Indians.

Mt. Rushmore

Also in May 2007, Kevin and I visited Mt. Rushmore. It is MUCH
smaller than the Crazy Horse Memorial...but we saw Crazy Horse first
and its size caused me to not appreciate Mt. Rushmore as much.

Baby Joey Bowman

Big Brother loves Joseph Alexander Bowman - Born May 7, 2007