michael's posterous

I can honestly say you have never met a person like me.

Issues I have with Facebook

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I know this is water under the bridge, for now, but this was my note I left for my friends before I deactivated my Facebook account. I was big Facebook user these past couple of years, always posting pictures, updating my status and recruiting new people to the site. It was a major part of my life as it was one of the best ways to stay in touch with family and friends. Then all of sudden Facebook had to change the rules. I was upset and voiced my opinion to my friends but realized if you are going to still stay on the site what purpose does it serve to still continue to use their product. That’s when I decided it was time to leave. Frankly, I don’t miss it like I thought I would. I know the people over at Facebook reverted back to the old TOS and are implementing new things to gain their users trust but its not enough for me to go back.

Idearc's "Not so Super" Super Guarantee Program

Today I met with an Idearc rep and his manager about our advertisement we have in their yellow pages book (Super Pages). I really do hate these negotiations because it's the same thing every year. They come in ask how business is doing, blah, blah, blah and then say our ad costs are going up 5% just because. They try to get us to spend more money but when you have a two page ad in their Philadelphia Super Pages how much more can you spend? I’m waiting for the day the rep comes in and says we have this new holographic imaging tool that when your customer turns to your ad they will instantly see a brief 15 second video of your company. The biggest thing I don’t like about any yellow pages book is that you are in the same place as your competitor. The homeowner sees you and the other 15 companies offering the same service. But anyways what I’m here to talk about is their new SuperGuarantee Program they mentioned to us today.

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What the program is basically is they (Idearc) will stand behind the work performed by the advertisers in their Super Pages. If a person has a problem with the services performed by a company they got out of their Super Pages book they will come in as an intermediary. Basically they will do what all credit card companies do for their cardholders, act in a way to protect their cardholders from merchants who don't do right. Why Idearc is doing this is to increase the amount of people looking at their Super Pages book. I guess if people know that if they call Company X and if something goes wrong Idearc has their back. The Idearc reps said the company is spending $60M on advertisement to increase awareness about this program. Throughout the hour long meeting this had to be his biggest selling point to keep us from reducing or leaving the Super Pages all together. I am very hesitant to get happy about what somebody is selling me without thinking it through and doing my homework. Shortly after the meeting I concluded this Super Guarantee Program was stupid, a product that is all show with no substance.


First off, in Philadelphia there are two major yellow page books. It is Idearc (formerly Verizon) Super Pages and Yellow Book yellow pages book. Almost all of businesses in the city advertise in both books. This means that the businesses Idearc supposedly “backs” with this program is the same business in the other yellow pages book. So it's not like you get a better product by calling Company X and getting their number out of the Super Pages.

Idearc does no type of background check on the businesses they will back. Any merchant who advertises gets included. As a potential customer to these businesses how would that make you feel?

Idearc limits their liability to $500. Yea I know thats not a lot of money and it's not a lot since that covers only the labor portion. If a problem arises and a person feels they were wronged by a business they got out of the Super Pages Idearc will refund $500 to that person. This where it's gets interesting. Before you call that particular company out to do the work you have to sign up at the Super Guarantee website and put Idearc on notice. Before you contact Idearc if there’s a problem you have to try to work out it with that business. If you cant work it out you have to log on to their site and submit the claim. Idearc will then look it over and determine if it's a worthy claim. If it's a worthy claim Idearc will ask you to provide written estimates of the the work needed to correct your problem (labor costs only) OR elect to have a third party to inspect the problem you are experiencing. If Idearc determines that there’s nothing else they can do they will refund you up to $500 of the labor costs OR the lowest amount of labor costs from the two estimates you received. Essentially they will go with the lesser amount of the two.

Idearc has about six weeks from the time you submit your claim and do all the extra stuff they require to pay you the amount up to $500. BUT, if you correct the problem yourself or hire another company to correct problem before Idearc resolves the problem then you will be denied that amount up to $500. That’s right, you will have to live with the problem while Idearc works it out.

This is why Idearc’s Super Guarantee program is all show and no substance. It makes no sense and for all the work you have to do just to get $500 and to live with the problem for at least a month and half makes no sense. Why would anybody subject themselves to this? I can see this working on small issues and non-essential items but on serious matters like your roof, a leak coming through your ceiling, heat not working and etc you would be a fool to go to Idearc for help. In our meeting the rep did not mention one thing I said above except for the fact Idearc is spending $60M to let the America know! After Facebook’s fiasco last month on their “fine print” I make sure to actually read the Terms and Conditions and read it much more carefully.

It would be better for a person to pay with their credit card than to use this route. With the credit card companies you call them up say you have a problem and tell them you’re not satisfied with services rendered and they will open a claim and in the meantime refund you the money or freeze the purchase so you wont have to pay finance charges while the situation is worked out. Either the company will come back out and fix the problem or refund you the money. Yes, there a slight chance this could not work and you might have to pursue legal action but it's better than this Super Guarantee program. What makes the credit company methods more effective is that they have control over the business you have a problem with. For an example lets use Amex, if Amex feels the merchant is not cooperating with their cardholder they can go into that merchants bank account and refund that money back to their cardholder. I know, it has happened to me a couple times. It's not a good feeling but you always know they have that power. With Idearc what are they going to do? Nothing they have no control over the merchant. 

So when you see this $60M ad campaign by Idearc just remember the points I mentioned above and don’t believe the hype. Idearc knows less people are looking at their Super Pages book and they’re trying to do whatever they can do to gain those eyeballs back. Sadly people will hear this and go to their book and believe businesses advertised in the book are somehow better just because Idearc “backs” them. All they have to do is pay by credit card and they will have a faster course of action is anything goes wrong then to deal with this slow process offered by Idearc that only refunds you $500.

I just want to see a big company not be a big company and offer something that is actually worth something and not have so many bullet points in the terms and conditions that take away from the value of the product. I know this is America and it's how big business work but believe me the company that goes against the grain and offers a killer product is the one that will be embraced by their customers. This kind of stuff always reminds of the store that offers 5% off your next purchase when you spend some absurd amount.

Twittershouldhireme.com

I have to tip my hat to Jamie Varon and the site she created with the sole purpose of getting a job as Executive Admin to the CEO at Twitter. She is hip to the times as she is using all the latest technologies around in hopes of securing this job. I know its kinda weird giving props to an individual who I am possibly competing for the same job position. I can't hate on her, the website was an awesome idea. Its something that never crossed my mind but when I look back at it I probably wouldn't have made a website to promote myself for the job. Thats just me.

May the best person get the job. Kudos again Jamie on your site.

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Twitter Job Openings

This is interesting, Twitter had 2 job openings that I applied for. Founder Associate (FA) and Executive Admin to CEO (EAC). The EAC had been posted last week and now it is gone. I don't know why it was taken down so fast. I find it hard to believe the position was filled that fast as Twitter jobs take months to be filled. I also asked myself what was the difference between the two jobs. The EAC job duties weren't too far off from the FA position.

I am totally enamored by Twitter and the culture that it is creating. I applied for the Founder Associate position at the beginning of the new year and haven't heard anything since then. I stumbled upon the job opening when CNET had a story on their Business Development position that was ultimately filled by Kevin Thau. When I saw the FA position it didn't initially spark my interest just because it was across the country and I knew everybody and their mom would be applying for the job. After a couple days went by I realized I have nothing to lose and went full force ahead in applying for the job. I did make a big mistake. When I overnighted my resume to Twitter I addressed it to Evan Smith instead of Evan Williams. Don't ask me where I got Smith from. This was on the UPS label and on my letter. I didn't notice the error until Monday as I sent the package out on Saturday. Immediately when I noticed my gaffe I drafted another letter and ran down to the nearest post office. I would have preferred UPS/FedEx but it was 4:00 and I was still at work. Yes, Mr. Smith I mean Mr. Williams (a little dry humor for you) received my cover letter/resume and this is what he said here. 

Even though it has been two months since I applied for the position, I am not giving up on it yet. I've sent a few emails to the folks at Twitter and faxed in another letter to Evan Williams. I feel that I have done everything I could do without getting on a flight and heading over to Twitter HQ and demand a sit down. All I can do is leave it in the Lords hands and keep praying. 

The reason why I feel so connected to this job is that the description is everything I am doing in my current job. The only difference is right now I work for a plumbing service firm. Extract what kind of product is being sold or offered to their customers/users it is the same thing. If you read my earlier post below I have high aspirations of starting my own website. I am not looking to strike it rich quick. I want to work with people and be surrounded by like minds. I like where Twitter is, 30 employees, small business feel but no ceiling whatsoever in where they can go. I have never had a full time job in a structured environment. By working in the family business there are no rules or guidelines. You don't have set hours and your job description changes everyday. I feel this is a key ingredient in what kind of person is needed for this job.

When I think about it if you remove names and faces from this equation, thats the place I want to work for. It just so happens that in this particular instance it is Twitter. Wherever I go I know its not my dream job but it is the job that gets to my dream. Right now I know I need a solid foundation on the inner workings of a successful website before I start hunting down angels for seed money. I have the business experience. People always say make sure you are doing something you love not just something that just pays the bills. Honestly, I can say that I know what I want to do. I am ready...no girlfriend, no kids, no distractions besides those pesky credit card statements I receive every month. My time will come and when it does I'll be ready.

 

I've been sitting on this idea for about seven years

I call myself a "techie" but I do not code or program. I do not have a computer science degree because I never went to college. I was using Prodigy back in the day on my 9600/kbps modem on DOS before Windows was around. I remember when I talked my dad into buying Windows 95, it came with 25+ floppy disks. I would consider myself a hacker but I will not discuss what "activities" I used to do. What I am trying to say, is it possible for an individual to start a website but not have all the common characteristics of those who do?

For about the past six months I have been serious about starting my website. Yes, there are a lot of websites around but I've did my research and this idea hasn't been taken yet. I always thought that some big newspaper company will take advantage of this concept but to my surprise they didn't. 

What gets the creative juices flowing through my body is each time I read a company getting funding for their new website. The founder(s) had an idea they were passionate about and took the necessary steps to assemble the team and acquire the funding. Don't get me wrong I know there is a lot of "other" things they had to do to get where they are but I am just pointing out the major steps they had to take.

My dream has been living in my mind for the longest. I see the final product and its something that I think about every single day. The problem is how do I get my dream and turn it into reality that materializes into that final product? I have the experience not necessarily in a tech company but in helping run a company with about 15 employees and close to $1M in sales. I gravitate to two things, business and technology. 

I started to look into Y Combinator and how they help people with tech related ideas get their idea into something more tangible. After reading their Q&A it feels like you have to know how to code to even get looked at. Like I said before I know nothing about coding but does that mean I dont have "it"? Thats not going to prevent me from filling out the application for their upcoming summer program. I know I have an awesome idea that will become big but its just getting the right people to hear it.