Month: October 2011

Apparently My Entrepreneurial Roots Go Back a Few Generations

Schumacher Furs 1923, Click to enlarge

My Mom has been looking into our family history over the past year or two and sent me this advertisement from a newspaper in Cedarburg, WI from 1923.  The ad on the right hand side is for my great-grandmother’s fur store, advertising the best furs in the Milwaukee area.  Her brother, my great-uncle, set up trading posts in Alaska to cut out the middle man in the fur trade.  He then shipped his furs back to St. Louis, where he chose some of the best ones for his sister’s, my great grandmother’s, shop.

She shared the other half of the building with her husband, my great grandfather, who ran a painting and decorating business.  As my Mom put it “double entrepreneurs in the same shop!”  Maybe some of my entrepreneurial talents got passed down the generations?  Either way, I think it’s cool to learn about some family history.

An Ode to Jenny

Jenny was an awesome dog.  She loved people, the beach, growling at chipmunks, playing with stuffed animals and eating any type of food she could beg, borrow or steal.  We brought her home in 2004 from the Humane Society when she was about 3 years old and she immediately won us over with her friendly disposition:  as soon as she met people, she was their best friend.  If you stopped petting her, she’d push you with her head to get you to star again.

She loved to play fetch with her duck stuffed animal and then sit right next to you after she got tired.  She loved people and was always there to be the perfect companion.  Whenever I would change rooms when were were home together, she’d follow.  She was always there to greet me at the door whenever I came home, especially after I came home from Chile after being away for six months.  She went absolutely crazy and couldn’t stop jumping around for what seemed like forever.

She stole food with reckless abandon. No amount of disciplin could stop her.  We always had to make sure bread, meat, fruit, anything edible or potentially edible, was high enough up so that she couldn’t find a way to reach it when we went out.  One time, we were defrosting a huge tbone steak in the sink and we left the house.  When we got back, no steak, no paper, nothing.  Jenny got it.  When we took her to the vet for an xray, she’d eaten the entire frozen steak, bone, paper and all.

Her favorites were honey baked ham, chex and chicken.  She literally couldn’t concentrate on anything else if there was ham around until she got some.  She’d catch 100% of the food I’d toss in the air, sometimes jumping with all four paws off the ground.

She loved long walks, going swimming and being in the water.  Sometimes she’d swim out toward us to make sure we were ok.  She’d chase ducks until the ducks decided to fly away and hunt for frogs by the shoreline, but never got one.  She was a happy, fun loving dog who was in her element outside.

Last week, she was playing with my parents in Northern Wisconsin, having the time of her life.  On friday, she was breathing heavily, and our vet Marcy (our next door neighbor for all of my life, and the biggest reason our family ever had a dog in the first place) said everything seemed fine.  On Monday she stopped eating.  On Tuesday, xrays showed she had late stage lung cancer and today she went downstairs and died.  It happened so fast, nobody could believe it.  Even Marcy couldn’t believe how quickly things went.  Everyone commented how healthy she looked and less than a week ago, everything was completely normal, but in reality nothing could be done.  She didn’t suffer much at the end and had an amazing life right up until the very end.

Jenny was everything you could ask for in a dog.  I’m glad I got to know her so well.

Do you need help with your Start-Up Chile application?

The newest Start-Up Chile application period is now open and the deadline is a week from tomorrow, Thursday October 27th.  Start-Up Chile will select the 100 best startups to invite to Chile.  Over 1300 companies have applied for the program in the past year.

It is a great program and I encourage all entrepreneurs who are in the bootstrapping phase or already have developed a product but need more time to figure out the correct business model to apply.

My company, Entrustet, was part of the pilot phase of Start-Up Chile and arrived in Chile in November 2010, just about a year ago.  I blogged extensively about my experiences in the program and in Chile, along with advice on how to get selected for Start-Up Chile.

I’ve written or reviewed five applications for Start-Up Chile teams and four have been selected for the program.  I can help you craft an application that emphasizes the criteria that the judges are looking for.

If you need help with your application, please contact me.  Editing, writing, review, advice.  I charge a small flat fee to review and edit your application, plus a success fee if you are selected for the program after I’ve helped you.

Want help? Got questions?  What a quote?  Email me: nate at nathanlustig dot com or fill out my contact form.

Note: I WILL NOT write letters of recommendation for money.  I reserve these only for people I know well.

Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story

Jay DeMerit grew up in Green Bay, about two hours north of me.  He was a high school star at Bay Port and went to University of Illinois Chicago to play soccer.

After he graduated, MLS didn’t want him, so he left the US with $1800 in his pocket and moved to England, joining a 9th division team, basically a sunday beer league.

After a year, with no money left, he got a trial with a 7th division team.  Watford’s manager, then in the 2nd division, was in attendance to scout two other players, but really liked DeMerit and gave him a 2 week trial.

After the two week trial, he signed a one year deal and played for Watford all season.   He scored the winning goal at Wembly that promoted Watford to the premiership, earning him legendary status with Watford’s fans.

He was a starter in the Premiership, playing with Watford for 6 seasons, scoring 9 goals as a central defender.  He made the US National Team in 2007 and led the US to a 2-0 win against Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup.  He was named to the World Cup 2010 roster and started all four matches in South Africa.  Now there’s a movie about him coming out in November.

DeMerit’s story in unreal.  It shows that determination plus talent equals success.  He wanted something so bad that he was willing to go broke for it, move to another continent and devote his time to it to make sure it was a success.

Be like Jay DeMerit.  If you have a dream, go for it, work hard and give it your very best effort. Don’t make excuses.  He could have easily said “im from a tiny town in the US, Major League Soccer doesn’t want me, im running out of money” but he didn’t.   He didn’t whine, he just was determined to get better each day and found success beyond his wildest dreams.

Give it your best effort.  If it doesnt work, its better to have lived and tried than to have given up without a fight.

DeMerit’s goal to take Watford to the Premiership