Still Alive! 09/14/2011
It has been many months since my last update to you all. Some of you may be new to this journal, which I have been trying to keep since I left Mattel Toys where I worked for almost 13 years to start my own business Ayax Systems Inc. To my surprise, based on the very few “please just delete me from this distribution list” requests, most of you seem to want to keep hearing about this journey I decided to embark on. Hopefully you are still here with me not simply because you don’t want to hurt my feelings by spam-filtering my emails, (believe me, you don’t need to worry about that--I’ve grown a thick skin over the years working in corporate), but because you care or you just want to see how this whole thing unfolds. Some of you have sent me emails recently, asking if I was still alive, still in the US--maybe rolling tacos at a Mexican Restaurant? Well, sorry for the long absence! I’m still here, holding on with all my fingers, nails and every morning-breath to this new path and passion. Last February marked the second anniversary of my departure from Mattel, a great prior life and experience that feels both so distant and so vivid. I feel no regret, I’m not looking back, I’m not second-guessing, and I love what I do. My wife and kids keep on supporting this dream, and that is the most important thing. So far I haven’t looked in the mirror and asked…what the heck have you done? Are you nuts? …As some people tell me with their eyes when they talk to me. What comes to my mind every morning is a cocktail of sensations: a combination of excitement for the day to come and fear about the uncertainty of what comes next, pleasure at the things I’ve learned and accomplished with our newborn company and how much I have enjoyed being closer to my wife and my two daughters, and the anxiety for the many things that haven’t happened and need to happen (like a customer payment), hoping that today is the day we get a new client--and planning what to do if it doesn’t happen. A very good friend and also customer of Ayax told me recently that our company is in what they call the “heroic phase,” the time to sleep inside the delivery truck (he works for one of the biggest bakeries worldwide). The next phases are growth, consolidation, then expansion and finally explosion (in the good sense…I hope). Those phases, except the heroic obviously, feel so distant. But when my friend was telling me this, I had a comforting feeling knowing that someone has already traced and walked this path before us, that I just have to keep walking, not looking back or sideways, doing my best and enjoying every day and knowing that each phase will happen. Maybe that is why I write this journal: to capture and remind me of the path as it unfolds, hoping I will recognize the signals that announce the arrival at the next phase or the absence of it. Our young company keeps moving ahead; we are now six people working full-time, plus several contractors worldwide (the magic of the internet allows anyone to be global). 2011 has definitely been better than last year. Sales are on its way to double last year’s sales total, we are cash flow positive from an operational perspective and we just started paying ourselves just a little bit of a salary. We now have 4 major global companies as our customers, two based in the US and two in Mexico, with several other big and small prospects on the horizon. Also, we just launched a new web based strategic decision tool for assessing uncertainty and recommending the best course of action for strategic decisions such as: acquisitions, investments, purchasing of commodities and raw materials among others. The system is called “Previsor” (Pre-View, in English) and it is a very innovative and robust decision process and tool, which one of our customers is using within their global procurement and risk analysis department to quantitatively compare and select the best strategic alternative when buying commodities (heavy stuff that one of my partners is leading!). We keep promoting our preference based decision system “PathFinder”, which helps consumers find the right product based on the personal needs, an iPhone version is close to launch. We are very happy with our great new customer and latest toy, check this out, give us your feedback because we are testing it, and recommend it to your friends with kids, or no kids: Mattel Toy Finder. Talking about Simon, he has 40 something thousand users and we are working on a new and refined version for businesses called “Choixer”. Take a look at our new website, which gives a better overview of our company and services www.ayaxsystems.com (yes, please go ahead and look…don’t worry, I will wait). We even got a new VoIP phone system. It’s cool, it has the nice elevator music and sexy operator voice (my partner) while it connects you (in case you want to hear my partner’s sexy voice: 310.295.1925). Let me know if you know someone who might be interested in our services. Ayax, plus the consulting on marketing and sales I’m doing for Kantar Retail customers (material for next update), keeps me very busy. I wrote you this letter on a plane, on my way to visit a customer in Canada, cramped in my chicken class 18F seat (Platinum Status was lost many, many months ago), with an un-bitable 10 dollar dry chicken sandwich, but feeling like a hero in my own mind, part of a crusade, on one more trip of our “heroic” company path. Thank you for listening and until the next, Take care, Ricardo Add Comment 18 Months Later 09/06/2010
The eighteen months since that last cozy paycheck and health insurance coverage feels like a short time because of the many things that have happened… I can still remember loading boxes into my wife’s van in Mattel’s parking lot on that last day, February 2nd. I didn’t feel sad; it was just weird to know that I was leaving behind thirteen years of my life and moving onto a new beginning, just like that. Well, here I am, still happy that I made that choice, but it’s too early to claim any kind of life victory. On the contrary, it seems that life has very strict rules when it comes to unplugging from the corporate matrix and making radical changes in your professional path. Like the many entrepreneurs who came before you, you definitely need to pay your dues before having a successful business. Things need to get tough before they get easy (well, easier). Savings need to be almost extinct to kick you into that primal survival mode that brings you out of bed every morning (if not, don’t worry, your wife will!). You need to get a lot of “no’s” before you learn how to get the “yes”. Experience helps you avoid some major mistakes, but regardless of how much you think you know, you will make major mistakes. Just like the path toward many goals in life, this has been an unavoidable, formidable road, but it has been exciting and satisfying. Ok, enough on life philosophy. If you still remember me and are still interested, here is what has been going on recently on this particular road of mine. First and most important, I bought a motorcycle and stopped using my car. Well, not exactly a motorcycle--it’s a scooter, like a Vespa. I say “like” because it’s a Yamaha Vino, which looks like a Vespa, but costs 30% less, and costs even less when you buy it used, with all kinds of legal issues from a French guy who needs to get out of the country because of his Visa. (Here is a photo of my new toy). I love my new toy, but what I love even more is its toyish $2.99 gas tank, which I fill every other week. I have been going to Mexico a lot (not on the scooter, of course) for many reasons: family, business, some consulting on the side, and because I can. This summer I managed to stay there for six weeks straight, with my wife and the girls. My company rented a “virtual” or “temporary” office in LA and Mexico City (sounds kind of cool), which made working in Mexico much easier vs. working from my parents’ living room. Business is going okay. We have some very good and happy customers, like Hewlett-Packard, for whom we are developing a tool to help people and businesses select the right printer based on their personal needs (take a look at it here: english spanish) ; Honda, for whom we are developing a tool to select the right car (englishspanish) ; we are working with the biggest bakery in the world helping their risk analysis group with purchasing decisions. Our friend Simon keeps growing his community, with 35 thousand Simonites publishing thousands of decisions every month. Plus he has an active iPhone usage that draws 200-400 users every day. We were in the top 50 free applications list for 3 months. But things are going more slowly than planned, which is why my partners and I just had one of those “Come to Jesus” strategic meetings (I wonder if Jesus has time for strategic meetings), like the ones big companies hold every six months--the only difference is that we were four people (one of whom was on Skype--that counts right?), a $800.75 meeting budget and a great working lunch at Olive Garden. The objective was to discuss our desired future (=Vision, for all of you corporate humanoids), our purpose (=Mission), and the variables or actions to take us there (=Strategic Plan). It was a great session where we were all honest and straightforward with each other, no hidden agendas, no BS (the office is too small to hide office supplies or bulls) and we came out with a refreshed mission: We simplify choice through easy-to-use online decision systems We also clarified and divided our roles (I’m in charge of Marketing, Sales and Finance, can you imagine that?) and I promise to delegate more to my team (a typical issue of founders) but which I’m adopting rapidly. As the head (neck, body, and arms) of sales, I’m hiring software salespeople in the US and Mexico (if you know someone, please send them to me), who will be calling some of you to present our systems (please be nice to them, now I know how it feels). Also, if you happen to know someone who would be interested in our online decision systems, let me know. I promise we won’t call them more than twenty times! As we closed our strategic hill (“summit” in corporate dimensions) in our virtual office, which by the way, is located just in front of Mattel (like life wants to tell me something?), once again it was clear: I made the right choice and I’m certain of a great future. I just want it to happen a little bit faster. For your interest in this infrequently updated journal (fortunately for you), I salute you and I wish you an exciting second semester of 2010. Remember, you can always opt out of this email! 1 year later 03/09/2010
Hi my dear friends, So it has now been one year, one month a few days and several mortgage payments since my last day at Mattel in February 2nd 2009. When I run into ex-colleagues at restaurants, airports, ex-Mattel-holicsupport groups and social events, the question they usually ask is, “How is the business going?” In their eyes I can see a desire for positive news because I know they wish me the best and also because it means that a good life after a corporate job is actually possible. But I can also see a morbid desire for gruesome descriptions of how tough the world is out there in the entrepreneur jungle, so that they can feel reassured about their cozy benefit packed corporate jobs. Well, yes, feel reassured, it is tough out here. Selling a completely new web application is not easy. When I speak with potential customers which can sometimes take weeks to schedule, I usually start off by explaining that last year we launched a website that helps people make any type of decision. They ask, “Any type?” Yes, any type. I show them that “Should I get a Tattoo” is a top 10 popular decision among our 20 thousand users. After a look of disbelief and intrigue, I tell them that the website is free, and the immediate question is, “But how do you make money?” Followed by, “Is this another funny .com bubble business? Because I lost a lot of money in businesses like yours…” Then I explain to them that Simon is just our online decision making lab and that the real business is Ayax Systems Inc., which develops “Custom Online Decision Systems” for companies. By this point, they start getting it, but many times they don’t even know that they or their customers need help deciding on their products or services. That’s where my creativity and my experience at Mattel help me dig (and build a dazzling power point) and find out how they would benefit from our services. If I can’t imagine how we can help them, then Samuel Holtzman, my partner, who is a professor at Stanford and has devoted his life to decision making, helps me figure it out. So far we are doing pretty well. We are working with Honda on a system to help their potential consumers select cars based on their lifestyles (e.g., family of 4, likes the outdoors, eco-friendly) vs. the technical specifications of the car. We are working with a global technology company on a system to help consumers select a printer based on their printing needs such as: “I need to print my kid’s homework or my family photos.” I just came from a 3-day meeting in San Francisco with the largest bakery in the world, where we are working on a global decision system for buying commodities like wheat. We are presenting projects for talent selection for human resources, financial decisions for banks, academic major decisions for college students and some others. If you think that you or someone you know, may be interested in our services, please let me know. My team and I still have a long way to go to get back to the income levels we had in the not-so-distant past, but at least we now see a clear path ahead of us. We are having fun creating completely new products and services, and every penny we deposit or spend is a penny we have worked hard for. The team is growing: we are snatching great talent that has been let go from big companies, and we are opening a small office somewhere in Silicon Valley and a subsidiary in Mexico. I’m also learning a lot about things I had no idea about just one year ago: software as a service, social media, Facebook advertising, iPhone applications, etc. Speaking of hard earned pennies, Apple just approved our iPhone App, which went live last week. Take a look at it at the link below and let me know what you think. It is just 99 cents. Simon's iPhone App Come on, download it, and support SERF “Solar Entrepreneur Relief Fund”. Until the next one, have a great week! Your friend Ricardo Solar Quick update 12/22/2009
I'm just going to stop apologizing about not blogging! It is lame. I will do my best to keep the writing flowing in 2010. So far things keep rolling, life is good, no regrets about my decisions in 2009, no corporate nostalgia, no post executive depression or pill intakes. Things are going according to plan at Ayax Systems; we now have customers for our Custom Decision Systems which we need to deliver in the first quarter of next year. January will be a critical month for the company, as we are waiting for several project approvals. Man, sales are tough!! I now value more than ever my friends in sales at Mattel and their passionate struggles to get those deals closed. Simon is doing well. He is 6 months old, has close to 16 thousand users, and is growing everyday. We are about to launch a contest on "Your best and worst decision of the decade." Check it out. Just finished my 13 week class on Search Engine Optimization at UCLA--very interesting, I recommend it to all of you. I Also helping my friend John with a very cool event TEDx Manhattan Beach, for all my local friends, go to the site and apply to attend. Ok well, just wanted to wish you all a great Christmas and a 2010 full of good decisions. Thank you all for your support and good wishes in 2009 Yes, I know, I have been a very bad blogger lately. My teacher at UCLA's social media class once told me about the responsibility of having a blog and that once you start there is no turning back. So despite the long pause, I am still here! Okay, so where should I begin? Well, I went to Mexico with the family over the summer. I was planning on staying for only 10 days and ended up staying for 5 weeks. My friends in the US thought I was not coming back, but to their disappointment, I did. How could I leave my big, fat mortgage payment behind? Well, the reason I stayed 5 weeks in DF was that my lovely Mexican friends and family started introducing me to people at multiple companies and institutions that were interested in the services my company (www.ayaxsystems.com) provides. So I spent a lot of time talking, eating, and drinking--and wearing the same suit for 45 days. As a good friend of mine told me, 90% of business deals in Mexico are closed around food and drinks. After 7 years in the US I almost forgot this important cultural fact. But it only took me a couple of days to readjust to this great tradition. I went back to being an expert faster than you can say taco. One day I went to visit a friend for both business and pleasure and end up in a "Cantina" where the "meeting" started at 2:00 pm and ended at 8:00 PM (you can imagine how much strategic thinking came out of that place). In the end, I was very pleased with my trip. I managed to spend 5 weeks with the family (the longest I've been in the last 7 years) and at the same time work from my laptop, while sipping the famous micheladas. The result: 6 new proposals that we are working on with my team and 6 pounds that I can't get rid of. Salud! I'm back ! 07/09/2009
Hi to all, TechCrunch, Mashable, LifeHacker wrote articles on Simon, RedOrbit gave us the "Website of the Day" award , SOCAL Tech and more just published and interview, and more. We have receive tons of great reviews from users. Our PR agency, The Bohle Company has done a fantastic job with the launch!. Our servers crashed already twice, our e-mail system reached it's limit and we are happy for having all these problems.  http://lifehacker.com/5246247/let-simon-decide-makes-tough-decisions-easy SIMON IS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED! 05/06/2009
  Today was an exciting day for the company. We officially launched our geeky friend to the world with an article on the front page of the very prestigious and very cool TechCrunch Weblog. Meet Simon ! 04/30/2009
 I'm excited to finally show you the mysterious website. This is an early beta version of the site and we are still working on it. Top 5 things we are doing to save money 04/30/2009
Yes, I know that some people think that we are creating our own economic crisis by not spending the way we used to. But I believe that what is happening, even though it is tough and we will suffer, is good in both the short and long term. I think that as a society we were living way beyond our means and that an adjustment was long overdue. This is a great wake up call for this amazing country, and I'm sure that we will come out of this one pretty strong. |  Ricardo Solar
corporate refugee and .com entrepreneur Blog CategoriesAll My company:
|
RSS Feed
