My Life | Brenton Gieser

CONVOSPARK BLOG

Better Than an Energy Drink

Monday, June 21st, 2010

For the past couple weeks I have been traveling, building business, ideating…all requiring alot of mental and physical energy.

Realizing that coffee is a short term fix for eye droopiness…I found a high powered recharge over the weekend.

At GenJuice San Francisco I was able to connect and collaborate with an incredible group of passionate innovators who loved to help others and share ideas. Emerging yourself in an environment like that does something for your mind, body and soul. You feel the positive wave of possibilities and can’t help but to ride it.

Getting together with amazing people that empower others is my new energy source of choice.

Tags: connecting, GenJuice, innovation
Posted in My Life, Projects | 1 Comment »

A Journey of Uncertainty is Certain

Friday, April 9th, 2010

jumping off

Last Wednesday: I Left my job at a social media agency.

Today: I write my own paychecks (assuming that I can)

And I feel more alive then ever.

There is something thrilling about uncertainty. Ask my two partners at ConvoSpark and myself about it. We are now moving full force into a dualistic world of well known work (social media marketing) followed by the unknown self-employment arena. An uncertain future is sparking an invigorating present.

Not knowing if I can pay rent or buy food makes me hustle harder, conjure up some deep seeded creative juices and value my clients more. Sometimes you have to make yourself uncomfortable to grow…and now is the time break through the threshold.

Becoming a full time entrepreneur is a whole different ball game than the part time gig. Of course, entrepreneurship is a state of mind therefore being a full timer doesn’t entitle you to a state of superiority. However, it does pose a whole new set of circumstances that you have to take into account.

Making a living

You know when people ask you “How do you make a living?”. Typically, you reluctantly give them a templated version of your day to day. Nowadays, I can literally say: “anything”. To most that may sound snarky or overtly existential…however, today, I do “anything” I can (within the confines of the law and the positioning of our business) to make a living. It’s kinda fun to respond to that question by saying…”anything I want”.

More time=Different time management

When you are an entrepreneur that works a 9 to 5 you also have a 8 to 1. It takes incredible discipline, preparation, task management and delegation to make that schedule work effectively. When you jump ship and start working full time on your own business you automatically assume that you’re freed up time will lead to greater productivity. That usually is the case, but for me it took a while. It took schedule adjustments and equally focusing on a “work life balance” (I live more of a homogeneous model). Most importantly…focusing on what is most important.

The supporters, the envious and the non-believers

In the minds of many spectators, your entrepreneurial efforts will go from “aww that’s cute” to “what’s this guy got up his sleeve”. You should be prepared to handle all types of commentary. Some are going to love what you do and will do anything to support you, others will want to be in the position you’re in and some will think you’re doomed to fail. You’re mom’s going to want to make sure you can eat from month to month. Your dad will want to know if you’re making the right career decision. It’s always of the utmost importance to surround yourself with positive people that believe in your cause but will give you the harsh realities when needed.

Well everybody…here’s to ramen noodle and 14 hours days (I am being a bit dramatic). Really…here’s to freedom of choice, possibilities and making good things happen.

Check out ConvoSpark.com to see a bit more about what I am doing.

Posted in My Life, Nu Media, Projects | 4 Comments »

What I Learned Today…

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

I have learned alot in the past month! It seems like my January 2010 = the sum of my UCSB college years from an educational standpoint (it’s not you UCSB, it’s me). I think I have already made my point, but just to reiterate…I am committed to learning this year.

I have committed 2010 to being my breakthrough year. I have been pursuing new and worthwhile opportunities, establishing myself in my industry and trying to soak as much as I can in between.

The good thing is that the “stuff in between” is not slipping through the cracks as I have been “flippin” new videos of myself letting anyone who cares know “What I Learned Today“. Most of the videos are indirectly related to my life as an entrepreneur in the social media space. However, I am hoping that there are takeaways for anyone trying to learn something new, helpful and insightful every day. Here are a few videos on what I have learned last month:

Go to Bed Before 2:30am (Jan 5th)

How to Get Featured on the Tim Ferriss Blog (Jan 6th)

Creativity is Paramount! (Jan 12th)

Leaders are Direct (Jan 15th)

FindingWood.com Has Launched! (Jan 25th)

Partnerships: Leave Everything on the Table (Jan 27th)

For more of “What I Learned Today”, check out my Posterous blog Brenton’s QuikFix

Tags: learning, videos
Posted in Light Bulb, My Life | 2 Comments »

Having Foolish Friends is a Great Thing!

Monday, January 25th, 2010

friends daniel gibson brenton gieser

Most likely this post will come off as a shameless plug for my good friends’ websites, startups and projects…so be it…they deserve it!

After spending a little time with one of my best friends and checking out his ridiculously hilarious, well written and random website Finding Wood (launches today might I add) something struck me as it sometimes does. I thought to myself: my friends group of friends are like no other group! I am proud to say that many of us bypassed the young professional martini sipping lifestyle for the young entrepreneur 12am tea drinking culture. I am excited to say that amongst my friends, unordinary has become ordinary.

I have grown through my 20’s along side the best friends a person my age could wish for. Yes we show each other nothing but support and love but far beyond that we never allow each other to settle. Each of us has sacrificed comfort and conventional success for our dreams (or at the very least what makes us happy). I am proud to have the friends I do and owe much of my current and future achievements to them.

Daniel: My best friend and constant supporter. This guy has backed me since the 2nd grade. I’ve never met a person more capable when he puts his finger on what he wants. I’ll always look up to Gip.

Kyle Rutty: His creativity scares me…literally. Someday you will see him on SNL, but for now you can find him at FindingWood.com. He has lived the classic story of becoming a special government agent only become a coffee shop literary samurai (but I’m sure you have heard that before).

Wafi: Waf is a friend that will never leave your side, even if you want him to. His knack for business and his ability to get things done impresses the hell out of me. He always seems to be doing something big…next month is is launching MyCollegeSpot.com.

D Man: Derek taught all my friends that education must be pursued far beyond school. Even better, real life education comes from investing in yourself and your business. He is responsible for teaching me about system based businesses.

Killa Cam: Cameron never settles. He lives life the way it is ought to be lived…whatever way he wants to. He has built CampusBooze.com up to be the main resource for thousands of college students trying to get drunk for cheap.

Austin- Every group of friends needs their Tim Ferriss. You know the guy that travels the world while building his startups? Ya that guy. He teaches the world how to do it at FullFoundation.com.

Sam- Sam will change the face of preventative health care. He better, I’ve listened to him talk about it for too long for him not to.

Cath- I have never met a college student with so much drive and vision. When I was her age I couldn’t see past Thursday nights in Downtown Santa Barbara. I am so proud to be her boyfriend!

Plus all my other great friends who are foolish like me….JC$, Javi @ StuVu.com, Max….the list goes on.

If I could recommend on thing for young folks right out off college, entrepreneurs or anyone trying to get the most out of life, it would be to surround yourself with abnormal people…they will help you live an abnormal life!

Tags: blogs, entrepreneurs, friends, Projects, startups
Posted in My Life | 10 Comments »

When Your First Start-up “Fails”. What Do You Do?

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009

Photo from Ethan Hein

If you are working on or thinking on working on your first startup, read this. It should help you avoid a messy situation.

In the journey of entrepreneurship, ups and downs are expected. So when BlackTop Hoops had an entire month of everything going right, it was to be assumed that the perfect storm was waiting right around the corner. Here is a quick story of how the perfect storm hit my first big scale entrepreneurial project, BlackTop Hoops, how I handled it and how you can do better.

I tried to forge the river and my wagon got flooded (everyone likes nostalgic analogies right?).

For those of you not familiar with me or BlackTop Hoops, I have been working on “BTH” for a little over a year trying to figure how to help recreational basketball connect and organize. I set forth to create social platform which would allow online communities of basketball players to highlight their basketball skill set, find courts to play on and organize game to play in (this was BTH’s core). Our (I’ll tell you the reason for the “our” usage later) grandiose plan was to help basketball organizations (leagues, tournaments and trainers) promote their companies and organize their members. We believe that rec. basketball is far too segmented to the detriment of basketball players …so we would build the community, bring in the organizations and create a meaningful/ profitable company Yayayy!! Easier written then executed. It turns out that when I started I knew absolutely nothing, but was ballsy enough to take the leap of faith and get going on the project. I guess I knew so little that a year later, I still didn’t have a finished product to push public. (more…)

Tags: entrepreneurship, failure, start-up
Posted in My Life, Projects, Tips for Entrepreneurs | 9 Comments »