Angry about the dollar?

Should we launch our next venture in the US? Or should we start in Europe? The venture is targeted at helping small-businesses, a sector that the US has led. Many people think that the dollar is not the place to be, and yes I would rather be paid in Pounds right now, but then again there's nothing like a little macro-level competition between currencies. Yes the US may be living beyond it's means, but that's just going to force us to become even more productive... Let's see if Nostravo / xodpox can help trigger the next wave.

NFTE Project 762 update:

NFTE's project, Project 762, a documentary about youth entrepreneurship coupled with educational materials, has been chosen as one of the Top 50 projects by American Express cardholders! Once the winning project has been selected, American Express will donate between $1 million and $5 million to bring it to life.

If you are an American Express cardholder, please register and vote at http://www.membersproject.com/ for Project 762 by Sunday, July 15. The top 25 project ideas will be announced July 17. You can find it under "Business and Finance" and titled "Inspiring Kids..."

Voting for the Top 5 projects will taking place July 17-22, with those winners being announced July 24. The final round of voting occurs July 24 - August 5. The Winning Idea will be announced on Tuesday, August 7.

You can place one vote for each American Express Card that you have, so if you have a corporate card, please register and vote with that one in addition to your personal card! And encourage your friends, family members and coworkers with American Express Cards to vote as well.

Please vote for Project 762! This documentary will help bring much-needed attention to the importance of entrepreneurship education in the lives of disadvantaged youth.

Reading
I have just ordered a book that claims to cover Art and Democracy.

As far as art is concerned, please look to the right to find a link to the initial site of DaBa Productions.

In 2003, DaBa Productions was founded to support my efforts in and around the art world in New England, the east coast, and now internationally.
So far DaBa has produced and edited one short film for an organization in Boston, met with numerous visual artists, and promoted a few bands visiting town. In 2007, DaBa plans to explore more film projects (at least one documentary), book at least two bands in the first half of the year, and keep the momentum going behind the launch of our literary magazine.

DaBa Productions will be launching its own arts blog in the coming weeks, and I will keep you posted.

UPDATE: Air Guitar is phenomenal. I highly recommend picking up a copy. I will be re-reading it and posting my comments on the DaBa Blog.

National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)

Just as Micro Lending has proven that credit is an inherent human right, NFTE is proving that the knowledge to be economically self-sufficient is a powerful tool with which to rise from economic adversity.
I have seen it with my own eyes, and I continue to help both inside and outside the classroom. And thanks to NFTE, one constant that will be with me for the rest of my life will be my desire to enable others to gain economic freedom through Democracy and Capitalism.

Tomorrow morning at 7:40 I will be in a NFTE classroom continuing to coach a few high-school students. They are working hard to formulate their business plans, and will be gathering courage to present in front of their classmates in hopes of reaching the city-wide business plan competition.

It just so happens that NFTE was selected by the Motley Fool as one of their Foolanthropy 2006 charities. This is a unique opportunity to step up and help NFTE spread empowerment and financial skills to at-risk youth.

Link to Donate via Foolanthropy

Good Timing, No Execution.

Here's an email from the Fall of 2003. About a year after a number of meetings with a friend and fellow engineer/entrepreneur. Facebook.com launched in 2004.

Granted our product was different, it still smarts to hear about valuations approaching $1 Billion... Trust me, it won't happen again.


From: xodpox
Date: September 25, 2003 5:26:19 PM EDT
To: Friend of xodpox
Subject: Emergency Facebook online team

Read: http://www.ventureblog.com/articles/indiv/2003/000186.html

If we build and deploy prototype we can raise $$$ within year.

Want to catch this bubblet? I am busy until Monday, but we might be able to assemble a team. It could just be the two of us for Facebook online. We need to get the structure/ownership issues out of the way first though. in the meantime I will send you an invite to Friendster so you can check it out.

-xodpox


Update: Here's a link to when we used to own our version of the domain: www.facebookonline.com
And, to note, we are not claiming "dibs" on the idea, just highlighting our stupidity.

Custom Flip Flops



A sister of a friend of a friend is starting this venture.

They take any fabric and fabricate custom flops.

Style (as far as it concerns me) has always dictated that one's shoes match one's belt. Does this extend to ties? If so, one would have to buy two ties, and sacrifice one for the flops. If not, then you have to buy two belts, and sacrifice one.

One logical partnership would be with B-line Design. Use some of the extra B-line fabric and sell as a package.

links:
Buoy Flips
B-Line Design

We're going to be looking at both front and back.

Commentary, that is it. We will be humorous.