99 business ideas to start today!!!

There have been a few interesting articles over the last few months talking about the next wave of business and technology opportunities that are out there. As an idea guy (they pop in my head constantly) I love reading through these to see if they mesh/compliment stuff I think about and opportunities I see.

Years ago I would say that I considered the "idea" to be the golden nugget. If someone had a great idea for a business, that the idea itself was your advantage. I am SO FAR from that today.

Ideas are cheap, ideas are everywhere. If you think you have an unique idea- there is a slight chance that you might. Chances are, though, that someone is noodling on some similar concept.

What really sets a concept apart is having people behind the idea that are willing to dive in and take action. This is what sets an idea person apart from an entrepreneur. You have to be willing to take the risk for something you feel passionate about. I would argue that if a person cannot bring themselves to commit to their concept in some way, that they must not be as passionate about it as they think they are.

Over my three years helping start up Jobster, we have hired countless GREAT people, many who told me during interviews that they too had the idea for Jobster. My response to them was usually something like, "Why didn't you pursue it?"

In general the answers came down to:
- "I did not know how to take the next step"
- "I did not want to quit my job and give up my salary"
- "I was intimidated by the idea of going it alone"
- "I wanted job security"

These are all perfectly fine answers - everyone has their set of priorities for themselves and their families. What sets the entrepreneur apart is they acknowledge these in their analysis, but the drive & experience within powers their decision to go after it.

Map Mashup Mania

This is a fun site to visit if you want to see some of the interesting things being done using maps APIs, specifically Google. I am looking for some examples using Microsoft's API as well.

The post "50 things to do with Google Maps Mashups" is pretty interesting.

I can have an iPhone too!

The moment I saw the iPhone, I thought about how I could get one - but I then was torn because I have been really happy with my new Blackberry.

So here is my middleground. I am downloading right now to see what is what. I will be sure to report back.

iBerry theme from BlackBerryThemeCentral.com

ignition links to yard art blog instead of my blog

Having been with Jobster from the beginning, I was really fortunate to work onsite with the Ignition team from March to July 2004. What an amazingly talented and experienced group. Even more than their experience is the sense of partnership you have as an entrepreneur with them, and their sincere desire to be a catalyst to great ideas.

I have to laugh at this, though. I was happy to see my blog was listed on Ignition's partner blog role. Someone pointed out to me that when you click on "Neil Crist's Blog," you are directed not to my blog, but to a blog about yard art... as opposed to yarddart.

If anyone links from Ignition, they probably wont think much of what I have been up to in my spare time. LOL.

another funny video from our all company event

Employees having fun, referring to the past, present and future of recruiting...

Is your resume really who you are?

This is the question that really describes the basis for Jobster when we started the company 3 years ago. Some folks at Jobster had fun with this notion at a company event last week.

making SMS sexy

Am I impressed with the iPhone? No doubt yes. As a full package, I think it brings a fresh new approach to the mobile arena, differentiated mostly by design.

What stands out to me the most is the SMS experience. I think that phone stands to make SMS as sexy as IM, if not more. This is just the boost that text messaging needs in the 25 to 35 year old segment.

Check out this interface for text messaging... what an improvement from what users have today.

This means a lot to me because in working on the paddlespot project for nearly 2 years, I have become pretty intimate with SMS, MMS, and how this all fits together across phones. This is the first time SMS doesn't feel to me like the lowest common denominator of mobile communications...

Six hour commute home

Last week's storm resulted in my worst commute experience ever. This winter I have heard tall tales on the news of people taking 5 or 10 hours to get home in the storms. Of course I was always skeptical of such stories... until now.

At about 445pm I left the office as I saw snow starting to fall. Just 20 minutes earlier, I had watched frozen rain pelt the street below. The sooner I was on the road, the better. By 5pm I had merged onto Interstate 90 near Seahawks stadium - not bad at all, making good time.

Then traffic stopped immediately at the Mt Baker tunnel, just prior to crossing Lake Washington. That was at 510pm. I would later find out that frozen rain had turned the bridge and stretches of I-90 into a skating rink, leading to a 3 hour crossing of the bridge. By this time, snow accumulattions on the East side and Issaquah were building rapidly. Another 3 hours and countless abandoned cars later, I pulled into my driveway - 11:07pm.

The next morning we woke up to 11 inches of snow.

I am having fun with geojoey

While I miss seeing MarkM on a daily basis here at Jobster, I have been really interested in the what he has been working on since he left several months ago... Geojoey.com.

This site allows users to pin interesting experiences they have had on a map (thanks google!), share it with others, and even post videos. If you have a trail or path you want to record, then use an open pen function to mark your route on the map!

Everyone who knows me knows about paddlespot and my love of anything related to the outdoors... good luck Mark!

Want to check out my experiences posted there? Check out my page!

still here, more focused than ever

By now, it is already known that Jobster has reorganized in 2007. Many of the reasons that I have not sat down to post anything on my blog are related to how "heads down" we have been over these past months.

Since "d-day" as many of the employees called it, I have been working frantically to endorse and recommend those that have moved on - all top notch. Although this process was an extremely painful and personal process (a company built via referrals), those of us still here are starting to heal and get re-focused on 2007.

What do I think about Jobster in 2007? I posted a comment to Jason's blog over the holiday if you're curious. To give you some context for the opening line, the holiday brought us a large volume of very personal attacks on our CEO over rumors...

I suppose if you are surfing for juicy comments slamming Jason, or looking for someone to valiantly defend him from masked stone throwers, then you should skip on to the next comment... I want to talk about Jobster in the New Year.

About this time 3 years ago, I connected with Jason Goldberg, and he pitched me on joining a new venture he called Jobster. Not too long after, I left a job I loved at Microsoft to join as the first team member- for two simple reasons: First, as a hiring manager myself, I felt the pain that drove the inspiration for Jobster. Secondly, some of the smartest folks in the industry were behind Jason's idea. They believed he was onto something- I could not pass up the opportunity to work with people of this caliber.

Now, fast forward to the end of 2006. The very same reasons I joined Jobster remain true today - and we have been busy. We have assembled the highest concentration of talented people I have ever worked with. We have been working hard to begin to fill the demands of employers and jobseekers, who are asking for something new. Our customer & sales numbers continue to prove to me that the demand & need in this industry are VERY REAL. That said, there is still a lot of work to do.

I believe that these past 3 years have given us a huge amount of information & data about our customers, this industry, and the vast opportunities that exist. The more we learn, the more we will likely adjust to meet those opportunities - that is our responsibility.

Someone very wise once told me that if you take a bunch of really smart and passionate people and get them together to work on tough problems, that special things can happen. From my perspective, that is what Jobster is today and will continue to be in 2007.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Recruiting.com adds to Jobster

Ever since helping found Jobster in early 2004, I have been drawn to the industry thought leaders, mostly who I have sought out via the blogosphere. Of course, we have a great industry mind in our own Jason Goldberg and Dave Lefkow. Jason Davis at Recruiting.com was one of the first blogs on recruiting that I started following regularly. It actually got me thinking about a blog for myself.

Not surprisingly, Jason was also one of the first blogs we talked to about job feeds and allowing blogs to create their own feeds to put on their sites. He was full of passion and excitement about how it could work. He also has had a multitude of innovative ideas about projects that we should consider taking on.

As of this month, Recruiting.com is part of Jobster, which is an exciting proposition. Now we have a great industry voice & community that is powered and supported by Jobster, but will largely remain the same force it is today. Our goal is to give Jason more resources, leverage, and reach in his efforts to bring together all of the best recruiting content to his readers on a daily basis.

Welcome Jason, the pleasure is all ours.

the best of intentions

About 3 weeks ago I had a great idea for my project paddlespot. Why not leverage Google RSS feeds on our website and combine it with our river level database?

The experience was simple, when readers came to our website they would see that latest web content about rivers, and next to it they would see the current flow, maybe a chart, and most importantly the SMS code to retrieve the flow on your mobile phone using paddlespot.

So I built a prototype...with the best of intentions.

One flaw in my analysis. Little did I realize that a large % of the news and content that comes up on the web regarding "rivers" unfortunately has to do with drownings and dead bodies being found...

ugh.

welcome Jobby team to Jobster

In classic Jobster fashion, we have found a great addition of people, technology and just plain smarts in an Alaska based company call Jobby.

Welcome to the team, I look forward to working with Tony and Brian both.

Speaking at PLU

I had a great opportunity to speak with business student leaders at Pacific Lutheran University tonight. What a great bunch of kids. I really enjoyed reflecting on the past and pulling out some of what I have learned- hopefully it was helpful to them.

Tonight I realized that I need to get more involved with students. Washington Business Week, here I come.

point...click...bling with Typepad

last week typepad launched blog widgets to their bloggers. widgets are a cool way to add features to your blog. These could be things like games, photoviewers, or - HEY, look at that, Jobs!

Not only can you add a search widget, but also a listing of jobs from the jobster network based on keywords that you specify. This is really powerful for someone to shows jobs that are relevant to the content of their blog or website.

my hobby: paddlespot

It is no secret my excitement about the mobility space. There is so much going on in the industry, however so much misses the mark.

Introducing a project my buddy and I do in our "spare time," that is focused on highly valuable & useful information that outdoor enthusiasts need on the go... Paddlespot is our first stab at it.

A core principle we are committed to (in addition to being free for everyone always) is we will not economically discriminate by requiring people to buy crazy expensive phones to use our services. Just simple text messaging.

congrats to a friend

My former neighbor and good friend, officially launched his company, Retail Entertainment Design yesterday.

With a year of work under their belt, his team has landed some big name, national clients. They are building a smart business.



Read Brian's blog for the inside scoop on what they are up to.

Go Brian!

client innovation...

So as of today I have a new role & title: Director of Client Innovation. I am super excited about the role, because it is made up of all the things I LOVE to do, and do naturally with customers.

Some cool stuff I am working on right now that you'll likely hear about:
- Diversity Connections Website for Starbucks
- Microsoft Talent Outreach (will add link soon)
- Re-engineering Samsung's ERP
- Engaging Nike's Internal Affinity & Diversity Organizations

If I have a moment I will post our current vision for the Jobster powered ERP site...

5-minute Jobbing Event

I am working with 4 local seattle tech start-ups that are banding together to try a new way of recruiting. I will post the RSVP link when it is ready... but this should wet your appetite.

jobster groups launches today

today is a big day for me. today our team will release jobster groups, which will allow the first "professional to professional" networking functionality on jobster. there is definitely more to come in this area, thanks to the addition of a dedicated consumer pm a few weeks ago.

from the beginning of jobster, i have been super passionate about this piece of the networking puzzle.

i am just now completing the creation of a plu alumni jobs group and inviting about 6000 alumns from my directory. this will be a valuable tool for alumns to locate and network their way to positions at leading companies.