If you want to work with some of the smartest people on the planet and you live in Ferndale, WA (we may accept hampsters too) you need to submit your resume.  Email it to me if you can figure out my email address.  HINT, my name is David and I own the domain name, cranberry.com.

I am looking for LAMP developers and graphic designers.  Your skills must be approaching that of a ninja or at a minimum your average Castle Monkey.  Editorial and customer service staff will be ramped up shortly soon too.

Here are your new environmentalists.

Overweight people. See, I do care about the environment.
Smokers.
Alcoholics.
Gangs; think drive by shootings.
Anyone who puts their life in jeopardy.

Join our green movement today!  It is easier that jogging everyday.  Or join your local chapter, fatbastards.com

Read more about this plight.

I am reminded how my town of Ferndale passed a ban on big-box stores a week after Bellingham passed their ban.  Worse, Ferndale did it without much, if any, input from residents.  They just rubber stamped the action taken by Bellingham, WA.  Well, this post is not about Bellingham.

I have nothing against saving the environment or using compact florescent bulbs (I have a house full of them).   I do resent congress mandating what type of bulbs I can use in my home ostensibly to save electricity, especially when they are funding research into alternative fuels that produce electricity so that we can consume more–to fuel our electric or hybrid cars.  Is anybody thinking about this stuff?

In the midst of the non-sense, here is one Congressman that has a sense of humor about the subject.

http://www.youtube.com/v/e-LOtKIIKcg

It is late and I have been driving my gas powered car for about 11 hours (12.5mpg highway).  Going to bed now.

DandyId makes it easy for me to manage all of my online social identities in one place. Check out the links to the right in the sidebar. I need to add more to my profile, but I am in the middle of a move back to Washington so that will have to wait.

dandyid.org

This is Obama’s biggest challenge going forward.  His spreads his message   of “change” and “hope” without providing any real specifics beyond populist rhetoric.   Threatening the retirement plans of his constituency who are invested in the very companies that he threatens to penalize is a brilliant move.

The message of “change” is so ambiguous that is worth of mocking. Preaching about change without specifics is like preaching the merits of food.  Yes we want change.  But, America, just what kind of change do we really want.

I was saddened to see Hillary lose to Obama.  Her appearance on the Fox Network was stellar.  I believe she would have made a decent candidate, adding substance to the debate of where the country should go.  Instead we have selected a liberal fascist that speaks to the intellectually challenged in our society.  If this were not the case he would provide viable solutions without the constant barrage of populist pandering.

Best Peruvian Food
WINNER Fresca, San Francisco, CA. Their ceviche takes top place in my book. Main entrees are good. They also win in the tres leches cake category.

Limon, San Francisco, CA. Ceviche is very good, but I still pronounce Fresca of San Fransisco the winner in the ceviche category. Great entrees.

Andina, Portland, OR. My new eat spot when I visit Mark Effinger in Portland. Ceviche in the northwest. What can I say, but very nice.

Best Spanish Food
WINNER Cafe Madrid, Salt Lake City, UT. This was a surprise to me because I didn’t think there was any food in SLC worthy of praise. Their Gazpacho, best in the nation, hands down. Killer entrees and ambience.

Best Seafood Food
Todd English’s Fish Club, Seattle, WA. You MUST try the Paella Verde. I have hosted several business diners here with parties as large as 35. Always a hit.

Best Steaks
Anthony’s Hearthfire Grill, Bellingham, WA. Actually they have locations throughout the Puget Sound area. Killer menu items? The blue cheese salad and the filet. Diner fit for David.

Daily Grill, San Francisco, CA & various other locations around the country. Great meat and an even better gazpacho (seasonal). Thanks to CastleMonkey for reminding me about this one.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, NYC, Vegas, Dallas. For an experience that beats Ruth’s Chris.

Best Asian Grill
E&O Trading Company, San Francisco, CA. I owe a shout-out to my friends at BusinessWire (Monika and Cathy) for this find. Best corn fritters in the country. Everything there is great. Except I don’t much care for pato so I have no idea what that is like there.

Tags: fish club,, limon,, fresca,, ceviche,, gazpacho,, eo trading Company,, businesswire,, hearthfire grill

Gabe,

Thank you for thinking about me in preparing for your assignment. This is certainly not the first time I have been asked such questions so I thought I would post my response to you on my blog. This will allow others to contribute their insights which may be of help to you as you prepare your assignment.

Before I can answer your questions individually I need to provide you with my definition of wealth. Wealth is the result of responsible stewardship. We have all been given different gifts and talents. These gifts and talents are our stewardships. Our gifts and talents are increased as we demonstrate our careful and thoughtful stewardship. This increase is wealth. Money and entrepreneurial talents are gifts, yet they are not the only gifts one can have. In actuality, the principle of responsible stewardship touches all aspects of our lives. I would go deeper but I think there is more value in having you think about what I have already laid out. Having loosely established what wealth means to me, I can answer your questions.

Q: When and how did you acquire your wealth?

A: I have had an entrepreneurial drive since I was a child. Over the years I made some money from employers. While I made much more money from my entrepreneurial endeavors, I received of value from my employers in the careful observation of how they ran their businesses.

Most of my current wealth came from my the operation and eventual sale of PRWeb. PRWeb required a lot of work and patience. I did not seek venture money or financing of any type to grow the site. This meant that I had to fund the company from my own pocket making many sacrifices along the way. I nursed it along for about 4 years. I don’t think the site took in more than $500 from 1997 until 2001. In early 2001 I stopped trying to sell advertising on the site and started asking users to voluntarily support the site financially. This is the point where I really began to understand the entire stewardship concept. The more financial contributions PRWeb received the more I tried to add value to the site. Accepting voluntary contributions helped me orient my thinking. I knew that the service would only continue to grow and prosper as I demonstrated to our users that PRWeb was using their money to build more value in the service. By about 2002 I was able to dedicate all of my efforts to PRWeb. Several years later we had nearly 30 employees. PRWeb had zero debt when I finally sold the company in late 2006.

Q: What steps did you take to achieve your success?

A: The following list is not in order since all are pretty much equally important.

1. Continually add value. This is important in all aspects of life but it seemed to be my constant concern at PRWeb. As long as you provide more value than your competition, you win.
2. Observation. I continually read and tracked different technologies in an effort to lead the industry. It is easy to follow others, but trying to determine where everyone is headed and getting their first is a skill that requires a ton of effort in listening to employees and customers.
3. Providing the best stewardship possible. I took everything seriously. As a business owner my primary job was to be defender of the castle. I had to make sure that everything we did was in the best interest of our customers, our employees and the future of the company. Every decision has an impact. My job is to make sure that they are positive ones.
4. Doing what is right. I tried (and continue to try) to make every decision based on what is the right thing to do for the customer rather than worrying myself with what the return on my investment is going to be for each activity.
5. Giving wisely and giving well.

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of having material wealth?

A: I really have not experienced any disadvantages of wealth. It takes a lot of time and organization to manage wealth, but I hire most of that out so I can focus on my new endeavors.

Apart from living debt free, the major advantage to wealth is my ability to look for ways to help others. One of my favorite ways to help others is to create good jobs for people. Wealth also affords me an opportunity to seek out and support organizations that are making a difference. I am currently working with and looking for organizations focused on alleviating poverty in developing countries.

Q: If someone aspires to do what you have done, what advice would you give to him or her?

A: Here is my list.

• First, find a great wife. I was really blessed to find someone that is willing to put up with the life of an entrepreneur. The road to wealth through entrepreneurship is a roller-coster of a lifestyle both financially and emotionally. In reality I got lucky, but this is far too important to leave to chance. Seek out someone that shares your values and you should be okay.
• Secondly, pay attention. Really participate in the world. Read, watch and learn from others. There is great power in careful observation and study.
• Keep personal and company debt to a minimum. Debt can really complicate your life.
• Master principles of economics and finance. Understanding basic economic principles of supply and demand, scarcity, marginal utility and opportunity costs will give you an insight as to why people make decisions they do. Learn the difference between a debit and credit.
• Next, create value. Even if you are not on the revenue side of the balance sheet you can create value for any organization.
• Look for solutions where nobody else is looking. If everyone is looking right, look left. If they are all looking up, look down.
• Finally, goals are important. Just do not forget to enjoy the journey along the way. Enjoy the friendships and people you meet along the way. The friendships that I forged while at PRWeb with people like Mark Effinger, Al Castle, Alex Linde, Mick Jolly, Michael Drew and Mark Williman, to name just a few, are in many ways of greater value than the financial wealth I accumulated. I am certain that these friendships will outlast my material wealth.

Q: What are you doing with your wealth now?

A: I really try to put my money into things that create jobs for others or add value in some other way. For example, it is no secret that I purchased a couple of airplanes when I sold PRWeb. I did so primarily because it is a passion that I have but it is also a business opportunity that is providing jobs for others. I am building businesses around my passions in several other areas as well. I also work with organizations that devote their efforts to helping others to help themselves.

Best Wishes,

David McInnis

Cheers,

David

I read your post about Oprah. She is probably the most dangerous personality in America (well, there is Rosie O, but she is more stupid than dangerous). I am going to resist the temptation to gloat right now as I now see hope for you. I will therefore hold off on my “told you so’s” until you come to a full realization of how brilliant I am in all my obversations and thought.

Your Brother,

David

Tags: rosie, oprah

I have actually composed several blog posts in my head and will get them to blog format when I arrive in Utah. Here’s a short list of what you can look for in the coming days/weeks.

1. The power of brute force marketing. Why is Quiznos still in business when they have the serve the worst crap in their category?
2. Chrysler 300 Hemi meets MacBook. The story about how I ran over my Mac Pro — TWICE. I am typing the entry on that very MacBook Pro. Thanks Brenthaven…
3. Hooked on iTunes Store
4. Ride your MP3

If you need to reach me, call Poem or Sue at PRWeb and they will give you my digits. Or email me. If you don’t know my email address I probably don’t want to hear from you anyway…

Tags: bubble boy, bubble, toddler, miles mcinnis