The Dangers of Success

Maybe I should title this post: The Dangers of Middle Management, Relative Success and Laziness, but that wouldn't fit in my narrow layout here.

I'm looking back over several years of my career and realizing that I've worked very hard to get where I am today. I'm young and, relatively speaking, I've gone a very long way. This is a good thing, because it means that I'm not only ahead of the curve, but I have much further to go.

This has its benefits. From the satisfaction of belong to, and making an impact on, the shape of new media to the ability to buy a nice seafood dinner when you feel like it without breaking the bank. These are two very different things - I'm proud that I've been able to accomplish them together but, somewhere along the line, this has a make or break point.

It could be argued that if I focused much more of my time on participating in our humble community, volunteering myself to decision-making boards and committees and building the next generation of applications and events with the aim of educating others to do the same that my impact would be greater felt and, in turn, my satisfaction more rewarding.

But then where would I make my money? I like those seafood dinners; if I ate beef I'd probably want to make it a steak. So, the other side of the equation: sell out.

I went to art school where I studied communication and journalism. I have fond memories of wandering campus and seeing painters by the fountain, dancers under the big banyan tree and musicians and actors out by the lake. Today I work in business development and if you ask any current student at my alma mater, they'd likely say that I've sold out.

I'm okay with that, like I said before, I like those seafood dinners.

Now, I'm faced with a dilemma. I don't fundamentally believe that by making yourself an industry expert, or "important" person, that opportunity will follow. I do think it's important to be an industry expert, if you're to be successful, but if your driving reason is business, well then, business is your primary objective.

One needs to make a personal decision on which path to take.

That's where Relative Success and Laziness come in. I'd like to run my own company again and, this time, I'd like to do it successfully. But, in order for that to work, I'm going to have to bust my ass making it reality. Why do that when I can bring home a decent, reliable check each week? Because I have to.

The problem with Relative Success is that it's easy to accept. I suppose that every entrepreneur is faced with this at some point. Taking that leap is a hard thing to do. So my question is, how do you prepare for that?

Is Mint Not Converting Users?

I've been using Mint to manage my finances for a few months now. I first wrote about them here.

Mint is a free services that makes money by making offers, based on your spending trends and existing accounts, that it feels could save you money. For example, if you're tracking a Visa card that giving you a 14% APR, they'll offer a Discover card with 9.9% APR and show you, based on your spending, how much you could save over the period of a year. The idea extends beyond credit cards too - to things like your cable and phone providers.

But, is Mint having trouble converting users over to their 'Ways to Save' page? I got this e-mail this morning:

Hello,

We're excited that you're now managing your money using Mint.com. We hope that you're feeling more in control of your spending and that you're taking advantage of the savings ideas we've found for you.

If you've found a savings idea that intrigues you, the best time to act is now. The sooner you start earning lower interest on your credit cards - or higher interest on your savings - the sooner you'll achieve the financial goals that are important to you, whether it's paying off debt, building a cash reserve, or maybe even starting that "down payment" fund.

If you want to input the interest rate you currently pay/earn on your existing accounts, you can now do that easily on the Ways to Save page. Mint will recalculate the estimated annual savings opportunity for you right then and there. We work quickly, because we want you to start saving now!

Cheers,
The Mint Team
feedback@mint.com

Now, I'm not connected at all with Mint, so I have no idea if this means they're having trouble or if they're simply engaging in some proactive marketing. I have actually participated in the Ways to Save, signing up for a new Discover card.

I wish I could dismiss deals and see others though. They keep suggesting that I change my Time Warner Cable to Verizon FiOS, which I would love to do, but I can't - it's not available to me.

The Ladders is Making Bank

SAI is reporting that The Ladders has switched over to a completely subscription based model. They are sporting 1.6M members, 35,000 recruiters and about 180 employees (and adding about 5 new employees per week). Membership is $30 per month for job seekers and presumably much more for recruiters. So, based on job-seeking members alone:

1.6M members * $30/mo = $48,000,000/mo = $576,000,000 per year

Let's assume the average employee makes $100,000. So, subtract $18,000,000 in payroll, heck, we'll double it just to cover medical and dental and whatnot. Subtract $36,000,000.

Forgetting operating costs, that's $540,000,000 per year. This, for a fairly young company. They just proved that subscription models online do, in fact, work.

Mint Rocks!

I've read about Mint several times, in several places. They recently presented at TechCrunch 40; you can watch the video here. But I wasn't too excited, because really, who wants to track their finances?

I've used both Quicken and Microsoft Money in my sorry attempts to manage my money. What a pain in the ass! They actually expect me to hold on to every receipt and, at some point that never seems to come, to enter all of that information. No way! That just doesn't happen. Maybe if I was running a business, but not for my little Commerce Bank account.

For whatever reason I decided to try out Mint today. Let me tell you: Mint rocks! I had no idea - all you do is enter your bank / credit card login and password and Mint gathers and tracks all of the data for you. It's fantastic and I was hooked in less than 5 minutes.

Mint gives you alerts, via email or SMS, when balances dip too low, unusual spending patters are noticed or when a credit card bill is coming due. They categorize spending and analyze the data, showing you where and how you're spending money. Then, to top it all off, they show you offers for products that can actually save you money based on your recurring spending habits.

Mint is free and you should sign up.