Editor’s Note: Jason Payne is a former Wall Street research analyst who recently founded the Groundwar Group – a management consulting firm providing premier corporate advisory services, leadership training solutions, and investment analysis capabilities for business leaders and investors around the world.
Mr. Payne pens this ongoing “Diary of a Startling Startup” series to help our entire Mogul community learn from his new venture’s tech-related successes and failures.
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From Jason Payne, Management Consultant & Leadership Coach …
Although I am delighted that my recent spate of professional success has birthed this new series of Web & Tech lessons for my friends at Real Estate Mogul, I must introduce the series today by confessing no small amount of insecurity regarding my new role as an “expert” within the Web & Tech category.
Brutally Honest Confession: The confidence and clarity I typically enjoy while writing Mogul’s real estate market commentaries does not translate perfectly into this new realm of gigabytes and hyperlinks!
In my well-practiced Market News Update series, I am usually able to draw upon more than a decade of finely tuned analytical skills – including a few very gratifying accomplishments in the area of real estate research. And this familiarity with investment analysis has allowed me to remain calm, cool and collected throughout most (but not all) of my historical writing endeavors for Mogul.
Similarly, I am excited about the new “Mindset Monday” series that Mogul has invited me to provide – in addition to this new series about business technology – because I consider myself to be well-studied in the areas of successful management- and investor-related psychology.
But this “Web & Tech” stuff is different …
Much different …
Whenever I find myself trying to wrap my mind around any complex technological requirements, I feel like the new kid at school… The one who went searching for a playground and somehow found himself hanging-out in the teachers’ lounge!
You see, I have never considered myself to be one who lives on the cutting edge of modern technology. In fact, I have often suspected myself to be somewhat technologically impaired – a suspicion that was only confirmed last year when my neighbor’s 16 year-old son whimsically referred to me as a “techno-tard”.
So what the heck am I doing with this new Web & Tech series at Mogul? And why did I agree to captain an instructional ship that I probably have no business steering?!
Well, the answer to that question lies within a story that began several months ago – one that is still unfolding today …
How This Whole Thing Got Started
After many years of feeling heartbroken by the innumerable economic woes that haunt my impoverished hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, I recently decided to roll-up my sleeves and do something about it.
“I may never be able to hit a homerun out of a major league ballpark,” I thought to myself …
“And I may never be able to speak fluent Japanese, or win American Idol …
“But after more than a decade of successful research on Wall Street, surely I’ve got the skillset to help Memphis’ struggling entrepreneurs and investors enjoy greater satisfaction in their professional careers – and in their personal lives …"
Nurturing this inner monologue throughout the recent holiday season, I eventually found myself thinking out loud:
“The areas in which I am most qualified to help appear to be the areas of greatest need in my hometown …
“In order to get ‘the biggest bang for my buck’ in this life, it seems reasonable that I should start my own management consulting firm, based right here in Memphis ...
"With my own firm, I can provide premier corporate advisory services, leadership training solutions, and investment analysis capabilities for the struggling business owners and investors in my hometown …”
Well, it didn’t take long for this idea to take on a life of its own. (That’s a good sign, according to lots of people!)
Less than a month after I began sharing these thoughts with my closest friends and family members, three wonderfully strange things happened to me, almost simultaneously:
#1. In-Depth Leadership Training. To equip me on this exciting new journey, my personal leadership coaches generously arranged for me to enjoy a free 6-month professional residency at Uruguay’s multinational Geronimo Center for Innovation & Leadership (GCIL).
I have already been enjoying 2-3 weeks of very expensive training each year at GCIL’s educational facilities in South America, but I agreed with the GCIL coaches that this new season of my life is perfectly suited for a few months of “immersive” leadership training. And I wanted to hug them through the telephone when they generously offered to waive all the fees for my new scholarship!
My professional residency is scheduled to begin on April 1st, and I look forward to providing Mogul with many insightful updates from my upcoming leadership studies in Uruguay.
#2. An International Consulting Client. Shortly after I made my arrangements to spend six months studying abroad, GCIL’s founder informed me that he had proactively recruited my new company’s very first consulting client. And it was an international assignment! Specifically, the client is a growing South American construction company (albeit one that is struggling with its investment allocation and financial management capabilities), and this growing company wanted to hire me as its exclusive management consultant!
Of course, I accepted the delightfully surprising honor of my first international gig, and suddenly my original vision to help the investors of Memphis took on a distinctly international flavor.
#3. New Domestic Demand. Without going into too much detail about specific consulting prospects, the news about my international good fortunes has also begun to attract the first signs of local interest during recent weeks – from right here in the good ol’ U.S.A. Even a few business owners in Memphis have been contacting me to schedule a few online dialogues with me during my upcoming travels abroad! As such, it seemed reasonable last month for me to begin moving forward with the official creation of my new management consulting firm.
(Here’s hoping I can explain that unusual name in a later post …)
And yet, despite these encouraging developments during recent weeks, all my firm’s exciting momentum came to a screeching halt in late February when one of my prospective clients asked me the following question:
“Where can I go online to check-out Groundwar Group’s official website?”
-gulp-
I had no official website. In fact, Groundwar Group didn’t even have a presence on social media – or any other sort of technological assets to speak of!
Using every last ounce of charm and salesmanship in my body, I explained the unfortunate situation to my prospective client, and I thought I had bought myself some valuable time to figure-out the whole "website thing".
But then he dropped another atomic bomb:
“Well what about a business card? Do you have a business card that I can take home, in order to follow-up with you next week?”
-double gulp-
I had no business cards either. In fact, during more than a decade on Wall Street, I had never even learned how to create my business cards online (or submit an order for them to be replaced). The secretaries always took care of that stuff for me!
Fortunately for me, I have thus far been able to stay in-touch with Groundwar Group’s various initial stakeholders and clients – including the aforementioned prospect – through a slipshod combination of emails, phone calls and text messages.
But I know this current technological arrangement is far from ideal …
… especially since I will soon spend six months studying and working in South America …
… and I know that I will need to personally master a ton of new technological skills, in order for Groundwar Group to provide the highest level of intellectual property and accessibility to my new consulting clients and prospects.
What to Expect from This New Series
With these things in mind, I agree that it will be good for Mogul’s subscribers to receive a firsthand account of my own personal “trial by fire” as I wholeheartedly seek to become a more technologically savvy business owner.
Even as I write this lesson today, I am simultaneously collaborating with a variety of brilliant technologists – including web developers, Internet marketers, social media gurus, online business card designers, and even the Google helpdesk – most of whom are providing me with invaluable insights about how to create (and maintain) a well-rounded technological infrastructure for my new firm.
And, yes, I am also making a ton of mistakes, most of which seem to derive from (i) naively trusting the advice of unqualified charlatans and/or (ii) tragically ignoring the advice of my truly qualified advisors.
During the upcoming months and years, I look forward to swallowing my pride and providing Mogul with a brutally honest description of exactly what I’m learning about technology – and how this strange new world of gigabytes and terabytes is helping (or hurting?) my new career as a business owner.
We’re calling this series my “Diary of a Startling Startup”, and I think the name really says it all. Like many of you in the Mogul community, I am somewhat startled by the breadth and depth of my own firm's technological inadequacies. And yet, like any business owner worth his salt, I am determined to do whatever is necessary to make this work – for both my clients and myself.
PS. As you read about my personal “trial by fire” in this new series, please don’t hesitate to warn me of any tech-related strategies or decisions that you consider to be unwise (or ill-advised). Although I will always strive to provide Mogul’s readers with the best insights I can possibly provide, some of you may have already learned many helpful lessons from The School of Hard Knocks – and I will appreciate any of your thoughtful efforts to reciprocate by providing me with your own educational insights. Just post a comment in the space below each lesson! And thanks, in advance.
Buckle Up -- Fasten your seatbelts!
Hold On -- Hold on to your hats; it's going to be a bumpy ride!
Be Kind -- Don't let Jason do anything stupid with his new firm's technology!