Thanks for giving construction

I spent Thanksgiving with my sister in Frederick, Maryland. Then I went up to Havre De Grace to hang out with my friend Andy and work on website stuff. While I toiled on Dreamweaver, he helped his folks with light construction duties as they hurried to finish their basement in time for the Christmas party.

I came, I saw
There's something tangible and gratifying about construction. Unlike building websites and software, when you are done you have something solid for your labor. When I was in college, I used to do work on historic properties in North Carolina. They called it historic restoration, I called it construction, but it was gratifying work nonetheless.

That being said, I didn't really do any construction this weekend; I just worked on websites and business plans. I did make this video of the basement construction, and that is almost construction work. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Latest High Tech Startup? Fish!

The Cornell MBA Entrepreneurship Club and I recently visited Finger Lakes Aquaculture. They grow fish. Believe it or not, this is an extremely high-tech operation.

I'm going in!
CEO Andrew Scirri gave us the deluxe tour, and explained how they are able to grow large, delicious tilapia while recycling almost all of the water. The secret to this operation is in the unique and patented way in which they clean and reuse the water. The process is so refined that their next facility will be able to operate using over 99% recycled water. With that sort of success, you could grow these fish anywhere.

Funny, I don't feel high tech
The best thing about this high tech business is that it's profitable - and it scales! (insert rimshot sound here)

Sean Neville Rockstar

Fellow alumnus and entrepreneur Sean Neville recently visited Ithaca as the keynote speaker for the recent Cornell High Tech Symposium.


Yeah, but is it a great idea?

Here's a breakdown of his visit:

• Attend opening keynote by Chet Fuller of GE Aviation
• Dinner in the Statler with other guest speakers
• Drinks at Pixel
• Panelist for "Technopreneur: The Technology Entrepreneur Panel"
• Keynote speech "The Genesis of a Great Idea"
• Dinner with Cornell Johnson School Entrepreneurship Club
• Hockey game: Cornell beats Harvard. Go Big Red!
• Brunch with MBA 2008 entrepreneurship students

The student entrepreneurs and I truly appreciated hearing your stories first hand. Thanks for coming to Ithaca!

It's Your Russian Birthday Somewhere

By popular demand, Russian poetress Vera is back for another demonstration of Russian language culture. This time she brought along her friend Alexandra.

Go ahead, sing along with us
Once again, I don't understand a word of this video of Vera and Alexandra singing in Russian. I am told it is a birthday song. They could be singing "It's 5 O'clock Somewhere". I wouldn't know. But it looks and sounds great.

Thanks ladies!

The Cornell High Tech Symposium is Open to Everyone

Coming November 10, 2006 is the Cornell MBA High Tech symposium. Don't let the descriptor send you away - it is open and to everyone. You don't need to be Cornell. You don't need to be an MBA. You don't even need to be High Tech. Just plan to come and hear some great speakers.

One of the speaker's is Canada's own award winning speaker Sean Neville, founder of Simply Audiobooks and the Ernst & Young Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year for 2005. Sean is an interesting and dynamic personality and a must-see speaker.

Click here to register. I look forward to seeing you there!