Friday, January 18th 2008: Here I sit, in my cubicle trying to put off my work to the last possible moment. I've already deliberately ignored two phone calls so I can write this blog. I guess my mind is elsewhere. I'm thinking about the three doctors I sent emails to last night in hopes they'll join the advisor team I'm creating to help get my business idea off the ground.

I work for one of the largest mutual fund firms in the country. I have a secure respectable job creating presentations for our sales team to report to prospects. It's easy, the people are cool, and it has a nice retirement package... but it's not what I want. For the past... oh 10 years I've attempted many sole proprietary positions. When I was 10, I sold lemonade for 25 cents a cup, and while in high school I mowed lawns for my neighbors for $30. For an extra $20 I'd pull some weeds. In college I kept the entrepreneurial spirit alive but learned a few hard lessons. Namely, try to get money up front or at very least get something in writing, otherwise someone might find a way to get out of the deal. All in all, my experiences have been positive and now more than ever I'm itching to start my own business.After college I teamed up with my cousin and his textile design roommate to start a sports apparel company. I designed a backpack for cross training and my cousin and his roommate helped me build it. After a few years we created a corporate identity and found a manufacturer overseas to build us 1,200 packs. Two months later, $17,000 in debt, and 5 local stores selling our pack, I left the team. Why? Because I learned it's impossible to work with family. It was complete power trip override. Not having a well defined operating agreement made it hard to create an environment with trust and respect. We all wanted to be the boss and nobody agreed what to do. Looking back it was the hardest/ best decision I ever made. Five months later I stumbled upon a new opportunity. What can I say, it's in my blood. This time the team is much stronger. My business partner Mike works with a well known space and aeronautical company as a systems engineer. We met playing soccer back in college. Somehow, after loosing touch after our sophomore year, we became reacquainted. We actually met up at a neighboring Starbucks and immediately starting talking about our interests to start a business. It wasn't long before we found a shared interest in healthcare and started bouncing ideas off each other. Mike and I are now building a business plan. He also had a few projects in the past that didn't work out so well, so we both agree that planning is crucial to our success. The idea involves integrating existing technologies to service the human health and performance monitoring market. Mike of course is taking care of the technology and I'm coving the marketing aspects. Together we also building an advisor team made up of seasoned professionals who will play a significant role in fine tuning the concept. So far it's only been 2 months since we first started, but already things are looking promising. In three weeks, we're planning to submit our proposal to the Wharton SBDC to get some help from a few MBA students. We still have a long road ahead, but I feel confident.Well I think I put off my work long enough. Unfortunately this day job pays the bills. I'll check back with this blog to see if it gains any interest. I'd love to share my journey with this new project. Feel free to write me with any thoughts, questions, etc. Cheers for now.- Brad