Kermit's Personal Diary

  Brian Forth was an amazing speaker and person to come in. His ability to show what teams needed to succeed and how he grew his own business through hard work and proper planning. His business relied on one aspect to grow, availability. They were able to meet deadlines, do impossible tasks, and be the lowest bidder. This may have caused stress and additional issues within the early stages of the business, but as Brian mentioned those same tasks allow them a steady contractual flow of income through these big companies that they were able to compromise for. While this is a good strategy for long term success, it introduces a lot of short term stress and issues. Another big part to his success is his employees and specifically how Brian gives them the ability to make their own decisions and lead the company in their directions as he hired subject matter experts and wants them to use their expertise without any constraint. He also emphasizes putting reasons for people to be in the of...

  First and foremost, we are a company who focuses on making the PC building process the easiest for anyone who wants to do it. The way we manage this is by utilizing a performance matrix which matches parts that will work together well into builds. This makes a complex process of research and having known issues into a simple matter of support and documentation. Allows us to streamline our own building business which on the minimum will charge 500$ and build PCs costing 1500$ and more, then we will have an elite tier that starts at 1500$ and have builds that cost over 3000$. These are high end services which will complement our consumer app which will be a subscription or one time license at $10 and $500 respectively. Along with that, we will have a corporate professional version which will provide savings on yearly licenses for other computer boutiques to utilize our product. Through it, we can utilize competitor and ally data to help us streamline our product, make our customer ...

  Erik Hanberg was an amazing speaker and helped us understand the effect of AI on the arts. It opened my eye to how human creativity is at stake to a certain extent, especially when considering the emotional investment artists put into their work, the personal struggles that often fuel their creations. However, he also presented the paradigm with the fact that a non-musician can create their musical idea despite no formal training. Is that valid art if it was done without any pain, without the traditional struggle of mastering an instrument or understanding music theory? He made us think about the evolving definition of art, and whether the process itself holds inherent value. The ability of AI to improve productivity is a topic which I enjoyed, especially in my job, I already employ it to help me sift through large data sets. It's not just about efficiency, but also about freeing up time for more creative and strategic tasks. I believe another great idea is to use AI as translati...

Startup.com felt like a reality tv show, it was so intimately raw, exposing the fragile inner workings of a burgeoning tech venture. It wasn't just a documentary; it was a visceral experience. I felt like I was there, shoulder to shoulder with the founders, living the life and part of the immersive nature was how many dizzying ups and crushing downs there were, a relentless emotional rollercoaster. At no point, did the doc let me feel secure or think the company could last past the new prologue, the narrative constantly hinting at impending doom. Beyond that, I think the 3rd investor, Govind, got out easiest with 700k and keeping his stable job, a seemingly clean escape. He did not seem to sacrifice much in terms of time either, appearing almost detached from the intense daily grind. The additions of gyms as a recurring backdrop was a weird, yet oddly fitting, theme, as a lot of important personal conversations, often fraught with tension, started and ended there, highlighting the ...

1. PCPartPicker PCPartPicker is currently the dominant platform in the PC component selection market. Their website offers compatibility checking, price comparison across multiple retailers, and community build guides. While they've established themselves as the go-to resource for DIY PC builders, they lack several key features that Sherpa Part Picker will offer. Their primary weakness is the absence of a performance-based recommendation system. Users must manually research component benchmarks elsewhere to understand if their selected parts create bottlenecks. Additionally, PCPartPicker generates revenue primarily through affiliate links and advertisements, but doesn't offer direct build services, leaving a significant market gap that Sherpa can fill. 2. NZXT BLD NZXT's BLD service combines component selection with professional assembly services. They offer pre-configured systems and a simplified component selection interface aimed at gamers. Their build quality is respect...

  As a entrepreneur, here are 10 strengths I believe will help me in my journey: Thriving under pressure: as a new small business, pressure is most of what you face through the first year and separating the noise from the situation, getting to the decisions that need to be made and moving forward.  Confident: If I start a business and I believe in it, I have the drive and grit to work through financial, societal, and familial pressures that occur. Along with that, a general do not care of others opinion attitude.  Problem-Solver: I love solving problems, and I believe a new business has a lot of them, and figuring them out myself allows me to create standards and methods defined to our company goals and allows consistent training and documentation Nimble: I am able to pivot from project to project and place to place as needed.  I love helping people work: A perfect day at work involves me leading a team of talented people who I can leave to work and help each as I wa...