President Obama and Vice President Biden were in Tampa for a town hall meeting and flew into the air base that Dave and his crew were using for missions to Haiti.

President Obama and Col. David Rodberg

No matter what way you lean politically, you must admit that President Obama must have been honored to meet Colonel Rodberg and his team.

Bo Peabody, co-founder of Tripod.com and Village Ventures, was the keynote speaker. Bo’s book, Lucky or Smart?, is available on Amazon.

I am pleased that my new venture, QuoteJuice.com, was chosen to present. For the past couple years, Andrew Lunde, one of Atlanta’s most accomplished technologists, and I have been building the site. We are sticking to the adage that if you aren’t embarrassed by the way the site looks then you launched to slow. We are continuing to make improvements that will make the user’s experience better.

Quotejuice.com allows consumers to easily quote and compare side-by-side competing health plans, and to make application for the insurance product that best fits their needs. The company is a licensed insurance agency in Georgia, California, Colorado, North Carolina and Tennessee. QuoteJuice, founded in March 2007, is a member company of the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Tech.

Paul Stamatiou wrote a comprehensive piece on Startup Riot. Here are some pictures from the event:

Sanjay briefs the presenters.

Andrew Lunde and Sig Mosley.

Angus pitches QuoteJuice!

James Harris pitches Artisanal Influence!

Keith McGreggor oversees the snarkiness on BackNoise; Paul Freet, Jeff McConnell and Sig Mosley.

So, what inspired you to part with your hard-earned dollars and sponsor Russell’s trip? Here’s my reasoning:

I had been following with interest the back and forth twitter of Urvaksh Karkaria, a journalist with the Atlanta Business Chronicle and author of the AtlanTech blog, and Paul Freet, a serial entrepreneur and Commercialization Catalyst at Georgia Tech’s VentureLab. Their conversations basically centered around the future of the dead tree (print) media in relation to “new” media. So, in the end, I viewed the call for sponsorship of Russell’s trip as a way to (i) help the Atlanta start-up community, and (ii) participate in a new media experiment.

What I expect to see from Russell’s reporting is an unabashed level of honesty and candor, a Linus-like level of sincerity, a tenacious dedication to the story, and a good dose of humor that is unique to the man.

Good business reporters like Urvaksh will always have an audience. A niche, however, is being carved out for stories that don’t fit the traditional print model. Pick up a subscription of the ABC – it’s well worth it. But also take the time to follow Russell’s reporting at TechDrawl.

My mom owns some timberland near Millerville Alabama. We were attracted to the property because it has some great views of the Talladega range, it is mainly hardwood as opposed to planted pine, and there are a number of streams running throughout.

The previous owner had built a cabin about 25 years ago aside the Hillabee creek. All the locals had told the guy he was crazy to build there, but he did so anyway. As it turns out, he picked the lowest spot within in several square miles – the junction of three creeks. When Hurricane Opel passed through many years ago the high water mark was about first floor ceiling level. To make a long story short, as pretty as it looks you would not want to spend the night in it (unless you like mice and don’t have any mold allergies).

So, building a new cabin was high on my list of things to do. Learning from the mistakes of my predecessor I picked a site on the highest hilltop. For most weekends throughout the spring and summer of 2007 my mother, son and I would put in six or eight hour days sawing and hammering. The site has no electricity so all the work was done with hand tools.

It is a simple 12 by 12 single room with a vaulted ceiling that holds a small loft. We wrapped it with plenty of porch so you would have room to enjoy the view and to grill up something tasty to eat.

The work I’m sure will never be finished. For example, after waking up a couple months ago with the inside temperature at 30 degrees, I finally put insulation in the ceiling but still have yet to drywall it.

It was a great project – one that brought good friends and family together. And, now we have a cool get-away where we can hunt, shoot, hike, scratch, and spit ’til our hearts content. A nice change of pace from Atlanta…

The Challenge consists of:

swim 500 yards (side or breast stroke). Rest ten minutes.

push-ups; as many as possible in two minutes. Rest two minutes.

sit-ups; as many as possible in two minutes. Rest two minutes.

pull-ups; as many as possible, no time limit. Rest ten minutes.

run 1.5 miles.

Navy SEALs Odie and Otter shepherded our group of about 40 competitors through the exercises. The first event wasn’t bad as we all swim regularly at the Y. Maxing out push-ups is pretty tough though – elbows had to break 90 degrees going down and arms had to be extended when up. As soon as your knees (or face) hit the mat you were done. Any rest you got was done in a plank position. Believe it or not, two minutes is a long time when you are doing push-ups. Brian took the steady approach not stopping at all. I did thirty, then sets of five, resting in between.

By now you must be wondering why would anyone want to be doing this on a nice, chilly Saturday morning. T-shirts, of course. White for competitors who complete the exercises but fail to meet each of the SEAL standards to get into BUD/S, tan for ones that meet the standards, and the coveted blue ones for those who meet the “competitive” standards. These requirements and our scores are outlined in the table below.

After a couple minutes of refreshing rest we were on to sit-ups. To be a successful rep the elbows must touch knees and shoulders must touch ground on return. You can only rest only in the up position. After the sit-ups we went outside for the pull-up portion. Your chin had to go all the way over the bar and on return you had to have your arms all the way extended. Brian excelled with 16 pull-ups.

For me the run was the worst. Besides being dump truck slow I really just don’t like to run. Maybe there’s a correlation – still trying to think through that one. In any event, Brian was his usual fast self, Britt managed tan shirt time, the boys did great, and I was close to dead last in our group.

As I reflect on the event and the 50 or so minutes that it took for us to complete it I am reminded that we are just amateurs, feeling all good about ourselves that we can do x amount of whatever in a certain amount of time. Odie and Otter, and guys like them, are out living very dangerous lives so we can go to work, kiss the wife and kids and think less about reality than we really should. In the end, we said our thank-yous and said that we appreciated the work that they are doing, but those words cannot express the true understanding of the sacrifices that the Navy SEALs make on our behalf. A pretty cool bunch of folks who we can only pretend to stand next to.

More photos will be posted here.

It was an exciting series with the Rangers beating the Fayette Strikers (7-0) on Saturday then losing to a close game (3-2) to the Columbus Titans. Then it was back to the hotel where the boys had a great time at the pool, hot tub, racquetball court (except for Nicky), and workout room.

Sunday morning had the team up against the Kennesaw Sonics. Solid play from everyone assured a win (5-2) – and a rematch against the Titans for the Championship! The game started at 1p.m. and was scoreless going into the second half. Then the Rangers came alive!

The boys played solid ball throughout the game. Blake, Dylan, and Trevor provided the core of the offense and had some phenomenal scores.

Midfielders Evan, Jake K., Alex and Haydon kept the pressure on making the Titans play on their side of the field for much of the game.

Christian, Jake S., Haydon, Nicky and Alex provided the strong legs to anchor the fullback position. Everyone was cheered on by David who was getting over a nasty illness yet still was there to support the team.

McLean had a great game as keeper going against the Titan’s best and winning a penalty kick. Then Trevor then took McLean’s punt and passed to Dylan who had a remarkable kick for a quick score!

The Rangers ended up beating the Titans 5 – 0! Coaches John, Jeff and Art did a fantastic job all season teaching the boys great technique, ball handling skills and game strategy. In the end the lesson was overcoming adversity and knowing that fair play and sportsmanship wins in the end. Hats off to the Rangers, the coaches and the parents!

11/15/08 Pictures
11/16/08 Pictures

Steve Riley, President and CEO of echo11media, came whipping into the Chequer’s parking lot a couple Fridays ago on his R 1100 RT. It was the perfect fall day to enjoy good company and some crab cakes on the patio.

Founded in 1998, echoEleven combines custom eLearning consulting and development with a Adobe Training Partnership to provide the most comprehensive eLearning services. Over the past 3 years Steve has expanded the core business of Adobe authorized training to include two SaaS product offerings and is quickly growing his recurring revenue stream. Steve’s vision of the future for echoEleven is to continue to expand and evolve their online learning products.

When a major Atlanta-based airline found themselves in midst of a merger with a dying online learning technology, they turned to echoEleven for their state of the art online learning technologies and reduced their content creation turn around time from months to days!!

Ten years of bootstrapping – from the rubble of dot bomb, through 9/11 and now into the credit crunch – has left Steve with the thick skin necessary to continue to grow echoEleven through the challenging years to come. Over lunch we discussed the decision de jour. His office lease was up – renew at no real financial change or sign the contract for some slick new space that had been in the works for months – twice the space and twice the monthly expense. Steve recalled that he knew iXL was heading south when he saw their name on the Equifax building. That said, a calculated risk… new office and growth… the decision to move was made!

While he is an entrepreneur, Steve considers himself a business owner first and foremost. He bristles when someone asks his exit strategy though he knows that’s an important part of his business horizon. He is in it for the long haul slowly building recurring revenue and using whatever extra cash is on hand to fund innovation.

So what advice would Steve give a start-up in these tough economic times – what key success factors are necessary to surviving the coming years?

Keep a positive attitude.

Cash flow is king. Keep expenses low and remain flexible.

Position the company as a solution that reduces client costs.

Maintain low to no debt obligation.

Create and grow recurring revenue.

What others would you add to the list?

Please join in honoring Lt. Daniel Luckett, a 2002 Norcross High School graduate who was severely injured serving our country in Iraq, during pre-game ceremonies this Friday, September 12th at 7 pm at the NHS stadium.

LT DANIEL S. LUCKETT
101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION
1-502ND INFANTRY REGIMENT

Daniel grew up in the Norcross cluster of schools attending Peachtree Elementary, Pinckneyville Middle School, and graduated from Norcross High School in 2002. He participated in community and church sport leagues playing baseball, basketball, and football. He attended Norcross First Baptist Church with his family. He was a member of the Norcross High School Football program for all four years of high school.

Looking to enjoy SEC football games and college life in general Daniel entered Auburn University following in his parents’ footsteps to the loveliest village on the plains. As a freshman, Daniel joined the Army ROTC program and earned a position on the Ranger Challenge Team, a position he held his entire career in the ROTC program. During his sophomore year he joined the Alabama National Guard taking a semester off to complete Infantry Boot Camp at Fort Benning graduating December 15, 2004. Upon his return to campus as a junior, Daniel continued as a cadet in the Army ROTC program. The summer after his junior year Daniel attended Leadership School at Fort Lewis followed by Airborne School earning his wings at Fort Benning. He led the ROTC program as its executive Officer fall semester of his senior year. During spring semester he trained the junior cadets in preparation for their completion of Leadership School at Fort Lewis. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Army and graduated from Auburn University December 15, 2006.

Lt. Luckett was deployed to Iraq October 16, 2007. He was assigned to Delta Company as the Fire Support Officer and Intel Cell OIC, where he excelled before being assigned as a Combat Platoon Leader in Alpha Company.

Daniel’s vehicle was struck by an IED on May 11, 2008 only a few weeks after taking charge of his platoon in Alpha Company. The blast from the IED took Daniel’s left foot and the toes of his right foot off. The injuries to his feet were dealt with immediately as his platoon began procedure for a medical helicopter evacuation. His own calmness in the situation gave his platoon the ability to care for him in the manner they were trained to do. The photographer that captured the thumbs-up gesture was not noticeable to the soldiers in a mission to save one of their own. It was a gesture that typified Daniel to all who know him. The gesture portrayed confidence in the midst of a horrifying situation. It offered strength and exemplifies the attitude of an American soldier.

Many readers were actually surprised that a small business owner would expect his tax costs to increase though Obama has said, and said, and said, and said, and said some more that he would raise taxes.

A well-respected techie who is a huge Obama supporter DM’ed me: “interesting post, I don’t know your bracket, but the cuts work pretty much across the board. Obama specifically mentioned startup.” Cuts? Across the board? Mentioned startup? Dude, Obama has explicitly told us that he will increase taxes on the biz owner who buys your ninja dev skills. I’d throw my hands up in the air but then couldn’t type!

One reader made the point that though taxes will increase they would do so slowly and therefore the small business owner won’t feel the impact of those higher costs. Using the same logic one shouldn’t mind being raped as long as the act is gentle.

A somewhat loquacious commenter thought my tax planning needs improvement – pay myself dividend income instead of payroll income. Smart by half. With dividends the business owner gets slapped once on the corporate return and then again on his personal return. The employer still pays its half of FICA. The reader’s logic is further eroded as Obama promises to increase the dividend tax rate from 15% to 20%. On top of that capital gains taxes will go from 15% to 25%. There is no escape!

One person contended that Obama’s free health care for small businesses will offset the higher taxes – problem solved! My thoughts on national healthcare. If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until it is free.

The bottom line

In the end only Lance Weatherby gave an answer: fire the developer. His advice is sound, rooted in years of business experience – stick to my core business of helping companies with their employee benefits; the one that has proven to earn a paycheck. He suggests that I should abandon my glorious vision of becoming a high-powered dot com success and close down my start-up.

I’m not necessarily smart enough to take Lance’s advice (Andrew Lunde can relax for now), but know that I have to keep that arrow in my quiver.

To pay for the additional tens of thousands of tax dollars I will owe under an Obama presidency which of the following changes should I make?

Reduce my take-home pay.

Reduce time with my family / work harder to satisfy additional tax burden.

Hire only one new employee this next year, not the two as planned.

Eliminate the discretionary sponsorships I make to groups such as TAG, TiE, Startup Lounge / Riot / Weekend, etc.

Shut down my second software venture and not pay the programmer the $40,000 or so I had budgeted.

There are a number of other reasons I like McCain over Obama, but what I have outlined above is a true representation of how an Obama presidency will negatively impact the Atlanta start up community.

I do not mind paying my fair share of taxes (and I do), but my definition of “fair” differs greatly from Obama’s. And, a capitalist market delivers prosperity more efficiently than does government. As the saying goes, “When have you every gotten a job from a poor person?”

What do you think? Any options I have not considered?