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Off to IBI 1204!

Well, it’s IBI time, ladies and gentlemen! That means you won’t see too many updates from me in the next 7 days, as I’m going to be pulling 14-16 hour days at the conference. willfe just called and he’s already there. I’m headed out in a couple hours; I’m on a plane with willfe’s roommate Phil and a guy (Eddie) who just bought a Treo 650 (I think.)

People keep asking me what IBI is. It’s a giant entrepreneur group (12,000+ members) that holds week-long conferences in LA 5 times a year. This month (1204) there should be 400+ people attending the entire week and 1000+ people who will fly in just for next weekend (the weekend part of the conference is free for returning grads.) The conferences are aimed at creating contacts and business opportunities for the members, and there’s a very cool motto in effect: “Cooperation, not competition.” This means that during that 7-day stay, everyone puts their competitive edges aside and works together with everyone else to make all dreams come true. I personally know a guy who has raised some $8 million through IBI, and capital isn’t the only resource there — the true resource is people who are absolute geniuses in their particular fields who offer free consulting with no stipulations as part of IBI. It’s a very powerful atmosphere, and I love the great energy that shows up in LA as everyone realizes that their dreams can come true…and how to make them come true (IBI calls it “sequencing”; it teaches you how to answer the question “What next?”)

There are local IBI groups that meet all over the country if you’re interested. The link in my sidebar will take you to the national IBI home page, where you can find a group that meets close to you. In the Bay Area, there is a Palo Alto group (my home group) and a Marin group, with Pleasanton, San Francisco, and (possibly) San Jose groups opening in 2005. The weekly meetings are always free to attend; the conference in LA costs money, but it’s worth it.

Love all of you, and see ya on the flip side!

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Weight Loss Update

I have so many more things to say, but I have to write quickly since I’m busy. I would like to mention that I have lost 14 pounds in the past 6 months! I can now fit into a size 6!! That means one thing: I’M GOING SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!

Wooooooooo!

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OMG!

Quick update. I just got a phone call. The woman introduced herself as “Sue”, a bankruptcy attorney in Oakland. I had no idea who she was until she said, “I heard you were interested in the office furniture?”

The company whose office we are taking over is in bankruptcy, and Sue is in charge of handing out their possessions. She said that I needed to go in there and take an inventory of all items, then send her a list of everything I wanted (she recommended that we take everything), and she’d give notice to their creditors. The creditors then have 20 days to accept or reject the offer (she said she’s never heard of anyone rejecting a reasonable offer.)

There are laptops, desktop computers, big servers, switches, a conference table, desks, phones, and chairs sitting in that office. I’m going to take Brandon in there this week, scope it out, and submit a ridiculously lowball offer for the entire office (off the top of my head, I’m thinking $5000 or less.) It looks like I may just get the entire shebang.

Wow.

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An Eventful Tuesday.

Wow! A lot of things were checked off the to-do list today. First of all, Valorie called and asked me out to lunch. She is really pregnant and she is due in the next 24 hours! I am so excited for her and Doug. They are having a boy and they’ve decided to name him Cameron. I will post pictures as soon as I have them!

After lunch, I went to look at some office space with Brandon!! If you know me in person, you know that I’ll drag you around to every open house on the block just to look at places. I find real estate fascinating. One of my favorite things is stepping into an empty room and picturing all my stuff in it. (Hey, some people test-drive cars; I enjoy test-driving houses, and the more expensive, the better!)

We checked out two offices. The first one was 1200 square feet (we plan to sublet half of whatever we end up renting in order to subsidize our rent until we’re big enough to occupy all the square footage) and is on the second floor (elevator-accessible). It had one built-out office and the rest of the plan was open space, which the landlord said we could build to suit. The current company (a web design company) has gone out of business and has apparently abandoned the space, so I asked the landlord to tell them we’d just write them one big check for everything they wanted to get rid of. That means we may be able to write a single check for desks, phones, conference tables, chairs, computers, etc. That would certainly save me a lot of cash and a lot of headaches as well.

The second one was 1400 (or so) square feet, next door to the first one, and on the second floor of that building. Neither Brandon or I was as impressed by it, mainly because it was divided really strangely and felt like a maze to get through. They were also asking $1.60/sq.ft. as opposed to $1.26 for the first place. It was a no-brainer to pick the first one.

I came back home from looking at office space and rushed to get the business line paperwork faxed to Wells Fargo. I’ve been approved, but had to sign my life away. (hehe) I also faxed in an application to become a wholesale customer of MA Labs so I can buy PC parts at insanely low prices. We’ll see how that goes tomorrow.

After that, it was off to IBI (I actually grabbed dinner on the way and ate it at IBI since I knew I would be there late.) When I walked in, I was greeted by “ERICA!!” and lots of hugs. It is so cool to be in a place where everyone knows and loves you! Don was there; Don runs a wi-fi startup company and I love him to death. I showed him my new Treo 650, since he is also a Treo person, and it turns out he has one too! We both jumped up and down and said “YAY!” at each other over our new cell phones. LOL! (Treo addicts unite!)

I ended up staying from 7:15 all the way until 10:30. Kevin and I got some good business talks in, since we’re now partners in a new business (more info coming soon on that.) I got to meet the author of a book I’ve been reading (he’s a friend of another 1004 graduate.) Kevin spoke in front of the crowd and we had a blast picking at him from the peanut gallery. Since almost everyone there was a grad, it was like a bunch of old friends getting back together, and it was honestly one of the best local IBI meetings I have been to.

I am now looking forward to…bed. Ah, I might actually get 8 hours of sleep in tonight. Now that would be a miracle!

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My kids will kick ass!

So I went to kung fu again tonight (er, last night as of a few minutes ago.) I do really enjoy kung fu. The best part about learning the moves I’m learning now (the six Chi Kung postures, which is Tai Chi-related) is that when you get them right, you can really feel your body work properly. It’s a unique experience for me (I’m used to rushing all over the place completely scatterbrained.)

Anyway, while I was waiting for our class to begin, I was watching the previous class, which is “belts” (the more typical kung fu with weapons, as opposed to the “sashes” class I am taking that focuses more on meditation.) There was this one adorable little girl there. She couldn’t have been more than 6 or 8 years old. She was standing there with a big grin on her face, totally cute and utterly normal-looking. The instructor was holding up a pad next to the girl. “Kick!” the instructor said, and this little tiny girl totally lashed out and kicked the crap out of the pad with her right foot. I mean, her foot was as high as her head! I was amazed.

Finally, the gong sounded to end class, and the little girl ran off, grinning the whole time. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. When I have kids, they will kick ass just like this little girl did. That was so cool. I only wish I had been introduced to kung fu so early.

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After selling my online business at age 26 for over $1 million, I created this blog to help you grow your own business quickly.

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