Road Trip! Day 1: Candlelight Inn - Scarsdale, NY

I gave in to my thrill seeking adventurous side and therefore currently on a road trip from the east coast to west coast. I will be updating my blog with my tasty travels whenever possible. My focus for food destinations are inspired by Diners, Drive-ins and Dives as well as Hamburger America.

The first day brought me to the Candlelight Inn in Scarsdale, NY. My friend Jimmy who is from the area has talked about the quality of the wings numerous times, and I knew I had to try them out. I spent the night at his place and we took the drive to get those infamous wings.

Candlelight Inn itself is a hole-in-the-wall institution, with a dingy interior. We opted to dine in the outside area since it was a nice day. I didn't take a look at the menu as Jimmy already knew what to get; he ordered us a large wings of Hot and Teriyaki mixed and a small order of fries. The wings typically come partially joined; the joints that connect the "drum" and the "wing" are separated, but they are still connected by the skin. This makes the frying surface area that much larger which means more crunch. The sauce was one of the best sauces I've had ever. Most "hot" sauces only have heat while most "flavored" sauces lack heat; this sauce had the perfect mix of flavor and heat. Most of the wings were plump, but some of the wings that weren't joined were on the skimpier side and thus were more prone to drying out. Overall though, probably the best wings I've ever had.

The french fries were crinkle cut and actually tasted like potatoes. The first fry shocked me, since I was use to my fries tasting like oil and salt, but it was definitely a good change. The fries were just thick enough to have a fluffy interior while still having a crunchy exterior snap.

The fact that the Candlelight Inn isn't out of the way adds the convenience that will only assure my return in the future.

Failure

Failure is amazing. Failures are what make life interesting. Failure is a driving force people use to keep motivated (or rather the fear of failure).

The best part about failure though is you can see a person's true self at these times of need. When faced with failure, men who act big and tough reveal to the world that they are far from it. People who put on various faces and give the world false perspectives of themselves have their true colors shown.

What should you do about failure?

This is what I propose:

Most of the time failure isn't really failure; it's just a really tough challenge you have to overcome. If you are willing, there are many solutions that can and will bring you away from the prospects of failing. As my professor Babs always said, "Think entrepreneurially." You have to be creative and think outside the box. There will be a solution. This is what separates the weak people who give up at challenges from the dedicated motivated ones who refuse to give up.

(note: there is a fine line between being dedicated and being stubborn. Don't be stubborn. You'll look foolish and won't be liked. People might tell you to go home.)

So what if the situation is actually one that you can't work around and failure is inevitable?

First of all, take accountability. Then embrace it. Love it. Cherish it. You learn so much more from failing than from succeeding. If you've messed everything you've ever done in life, great news. If you are smart enough to learn from your failures, you won't make them anymore. (Granted if you aren't smart enough to learn from past failures, there's not much I can really say or do for you...) If you aren't willing to take accountability, you definitely won't be willing to try and learn from your mistakes either. Anyways, eventually you'll have failed so many times you can't fail anymore and everything you do will be a success!


Don't be weak. And don't whine about it or find excuses. No one likes a weak excuse-finding whiner.

EB

Leaders vs. Managers

People confuse the differences between a leader and a manager all the time. In college, many kids think they are leaders when they are given "leadership" positions in a student club or organization. They get all excited over the opportunity to delegate orders to subordinates while they manage over an organization. Yes, I said manage.

Most roles people attribute to a leader are actually those of a manager. Managers are in charge of groups, projects, teams, etc. Managers have subordinates to who they assign deliverables. Managers check in with these people to see the progress of these deliverables. In short, managers make sure the group, project, or team that they are in charge of accomplishes what it is meant to accomplish.

Leaders on the other hand lead people. Leaders create change they believe in.

"Leaders have followers. Managers have employees." - Seth Godin

Managers lack the innovative properties of a leader. Managers are too scared to challenge the status quo, too scared to think outside the box. Managers fear failure and thus avoid decisions that might not work. Managers do what it takes to get the job done. Managers are scared of change.

Shake things up and break the status quo. Start something new. Be a leader. Don't wait for someone to lead you.

EB

I have decided to drop out of the TVC this year.

Creating a quality business plan takes more time commitment than a couple all nighters on the weekends. I am not happy with this most recent iteration of the plan, the financial forecasting model is far to naive at the current moment. I have decided to save it for next year after I have more experience and more time. I also decided to go part time second semester senior year to give me the much more needed time when I need it the most. Tentative schedule is as follows:

Fall 2009
70-201: Professional and Service Projects
70-397: Venture Capital Investing
70-483: Advertising and Marketing Communications
70-485: Product Management
70-440: Corporate Strategy
70-637: Interactive Media Design Management
80-321: Causation, Law, and Social Policy

69-134: Beginning Golf
69-102: Weight Training

Teaching:
98-131: Progress with PowerPoint
99-101: Computing @ Carnegie Mellon


EB

Damn it feels good to be a gansta

Today the results of the Apprentice project were revealed. For people who are not familiar with the Apprentice project, basically the class splits up into groups (there 7 groups in our class and our group had 7 members) and each group is given an envelope with cash (aka seed capital), and we have four weeks to make as much money as possible, with the total amounts submitted with cash on hand the last day of the 4th week. At the way end, all the groups pool their profits together, and the group that created the most value from the initial investment keep all the profits (with the seed capital + an investment return back to the professor). Some basic rules are that everything must be legal, and we are not allowed any outside investment in consumer durables, services, or cash.

Two days before the deadline we were hit with a twist, where groups were allowed to merge with or acquire a single other group. Teams that joined would be graded as one team, thus it was clearly beneficial to join with another group.

I've decided to re-invest a portion of my earnings into books to help develop my entrepreneurial skills:

Business Plans That Win $$: Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum
The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened
The Successful Business Plan, 4th Edition: Secrets and Strategies

and a fun one:
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Lessons learned:

Poor group dynamics can be the Achilles heel of a project. It doesn't matter how talented the individuals in a group are because if there are poor group dynamics then they are unable to perform at their full potential. It's usually easier and more efficient when there is a single natural leader (if there's more than one leader, there could be excessive friction over disagreements).

Poor communication will lead to failure. Poor group dynamics will most likely lead to poor communication. Poor communication leads to poor logistics which leads to poor execution. Enough said.

Don't overestimate your revenues while underestimating your expenses. You hear it over and over again. Don't overestimate your revenues and underestimate your expenses. You never really know what it's like until you have a hands on experience with it happening. Everything always looks nicer on paper.

Be friendly with your competitors. Gauge the market situation. Know who you're going up against and how they're doing. More information is better than no information. Also, you never know when you might need their help and goodwill goes a long way.

Manage time effectively. Be wary of deadlines. Don't spend too much time brainstorming if it won't leave you with enough time for execution. Have an adequate plan but don't forget to get the ball rolling.

Have fun. If you aren't enjoying what you're doing then overall you won't be as motivated to do what you have to do.

I love life.

EB