Last weekend I sat down at Bay Cities Deli in Santa Monica with my friend Justin Brandon for input on my idea for Vverdant. I wanted to meet with him, because I greatly respect his opinion on web related projects. He worked at Google and has developed several great websites, including The Road to Fondwa site for a film he directed and produced. Justin thought the concept for Vverdant seemed pretty solid and told me to go for it. He also turned me on to several great websites including the Four Hour Workweek Blog, and Venture Hacks.
Additionally, he let me borrow a copy of Founders at Work, by Jessica Livingston. So far I’ve read write-ups on: Apple, Gmail, Craigslist, and Flickr. It’s one of those perfectly timed reads and I can’t put it down. It’s amazing to read these narratives of people who succeeded at doing exactly what I’m trying to do: follow their passion, build a company, and create value for people.
I just found the Bloblive video post (below) of my presentation from the event I spoke at in Santa Monica on June 4, 2009. This was totally unrehearsed, so please excuse the ambiguity. This was also before I started blogging here at drewshula.com, and began to think about my idea more seriously. Watching the video makes me want to go back and refine my pitch! Especially now that I have a name for my company (Vverdant), and a more clearly defined concept.
The presentation format at Bloblive is to speak for 90 seconds and then receive 3 minutes of feedback from the audience. There were about 100 people there and the idea was generally well received. One guy thought I might be “late to the game” though. What do you think? Check it out:
I saw Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. in The Soloist last month and was really inspired….Here is a true story of how one person can make an incredible impact in another’s life, simply by investing their time. This resonated with me, in my desire to positively affect people through green building. I think it’s important to invest our limited time in causes that we think will make the world a better place.
Success to me is defined as positively impacting others, or positively impacting as many people as possible. Financial success is a secondary result of this primary goal. But as I noticed with Facebook in a previous post, there appears to be a corollary effect between these definitions of success. The more you dominate on positively impacting people, the more loot you’re likely to rake in. Yet, it’s important to be focused on the order of operations of this philosophy to achieve the win-win.
It’s so easy to grow accustomed to turning away from problems: ignoring the homeless guy asking you for change, or continuing the status quo in our woefully inefficient building industry. And so important to remember that an individual can change the world.
Have you ever had the feeling you were destined to change the world? Not in a conceited way, just that all the talents you embody must have been assembled for some greater purpose? Like there’s something big you’re going to do with your life, you just don’t quite know what it will be? All the latent potential inside waiting to pour out in a focused direction….I feel that way tonight. Maybe Vverdant will be that for me….Gotta keep grinding.
I’m currently reading What Should I Do with My Life by Po Bronson, and thinking about the impact I want to have on the world. The book isn’t extremely well written, but the biographies presented are inspiring. The author interviews people who have made big decisions in their lives to find their calling. It’s interesting to read about people who are in the midst of latching onto a dream, when I find myself attempting to do the same thing.
I want to do work that has a positive impact on people, and make enough money to support my family. I have a triple bottom line goal to work toward social, environmental, and financial success. My entrepreneurial ideas are focused on finding the best way to make this happen.
Have you ever had the feeling you were destined to 
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