The Objective

I've never been a proponent of an "Objective" statement at the start of a resume'. My thinking has always gone somewhere along the lines of "Why should I limit myself" or "Isn't it obvious? I'm a sales guy!"

Well, that philosophy has expired. I know what I want to do and I am not going to risk any misinterpretation by those who take the time to read my resume'. I want to clearly communicate my intentions, my objective, in order to immediately set the tone for the reader.

Objective: To join a solid team that has remarkable products and a story that needs to be told.

Now let me tell you why I'm worthy of being on your team...

The 800 lb Gorilla

Even though I haven't had my first interview yet, I can anticipate that the question that will weigh on any prospective employer's mind when they see that the company that I founded closed its doors will be "Why?"
As any entrepreneur can attest, answering this question is gut wrenching. But, nonetheless, as difficult as it is for me to answer it's absolutely vital for a would-be employer to receive a satisfactory answer. After all, for all they know I blew my investors' money on a new boat and took off to Cabo.
After plenty of soul searching, I can honestly say that On The Spot Games failed because its products were not remarkable. For all of my best efforts to change the world and give families and friends a truly unique and rewarding game experience, the products fell short. If done properly, my games would have captured imaginations and delivered "Aha!" moments immediately after opening the box. But, no. That didn't happen. At the end of the day, even though I was able to get my games into the hands of senior executives from major restaurant chains and key retail buyers from the best stores, the cards in the box didn't live up to expectations.

If I were to do it again, On The Spot Games would not start as a one-man show. I wouldn't go much past the concept stage without a starting team that included a shining-star creative person and rock-solid ops/finance person. Before, I thought I could work with quasi-commitments from contractors working for equity. Wrong. If people aren't sold enough on the concept to get on board, then either they are the wrong people or the company isn't worthy. Either way, the concept's a non-starter.

The Coach

Yesterday, I had a 2-hour kickoff meeting with my new career coach Matt Youngquist of Career Horizons. I chose to work with Matt based on a referral from a close friend and my observations of the work they did together during the previous year. As someone who has had a successful sales career, I knew that I had the skills necessary to promote myself to prospective employers. I'm looking to Matt to provide the industry expertise and experience that will allow me to hit the ground running and make the most of this opportunity to start a new career.

A few takeaways from our meeting:

• This career blog is somewhat unique as a job search tool. Making it a good example of my ability to find new applications for existing technologies.
• My current bio establishes me as a "game guy" more than a "growth catalyst". I'll need to restructure the content so that the emphasis is placed on the latter.
• The language of my resume is a bit "edgy" and might put some people off. - i.e. it will stand out in a crowd causing some to dismiss it and others to be intrigued because of it. That's OK by me. If you're going to be remarkable, you can't expect everyone to love you. Thanks to Seth Godin's Purple Cow for driving this point home for me.
• I am branding myself as a Growth Catalyst and will focus and these specific abilities to drive home my point:

1. I can visualize new market opportunities where none existed previously
   
2. I can adapt existing products to succeed in those markets or envision new products when adaptation falls short.
3. I have an infectious enthusiasm to suits me well when evangelizing the resulting products from item 2.
4. I can lead the troops in the cause, motivating seasoned sales vets or training and directing rookies.
5. Finally, I can look the CEO of my next company in the eye and tell him/her that I know from first hand experience what it's like to weather the scrutiny of investors. My new CEO boss can count on me to bring that sense of responsibility to the office with me every day. My decisions and actions will be scrutinized for the value that they add to the company and thus improving the return to the shareholders.
   

A Refinement

Continued refinement of On The Spot Games story. I've added a brief account of an early course correction that I made in order to achieve my original goal of entertaining busy American families :
"Rob felt that adding one more game to already-crowded game aisles in retail stores would not accomplish his goal of entertaining active families...(h)e identified casual restaurant chains as the perfect place to reach "families on-the-go" and set out to adapt On The Spot Games’ products to the challenging environment of a busy restaurant. "

Enter the Field Marshall

A recent discussion of the Myers-Briggs assessment with a friend piqued my curiosity, as it's been over 10 years since I last took the test. Thanks to the wonders of the Web, one no longer need pay a career consultant to administer the test I was the case the last time around. Within a few moments I had Googled, taken and gotten the results of the test. I'm a ENTJ, which was a change from the ENTP that described my in the 90's.

What's it mean? According to the profile that accompanied the results, my personality type is known as a "Field Marshall." Among the traits included in the profile that I found most relevant were the Field Marshall's are "bound to lead others" and that they are better suited to improving existing organizations than establishing new ones.

I wish I knew that last one three years ago before embarking on my odyssey into the game world.

Crafting the Message

One of the lessons I learned while founding On The Spot Games was the best way to craft a message is by telling it over and over while making corrections along the way. I began crafting my new career message today at the monthly breakfast meeting of the Northwest Entrepreneur Network. What I learned today:

• I need to work on my response to questions about my on-line marketing experience.
• There's a new book called The 4-Hour Work Week that might be useful in helping me formulate my objectives for my next career.
• One of my biggest challenges will be explaining my experience in founding and running OTSG without breaking into an analysis of what went wrong.
  

Opening Salvo

What to do next? That's the question I'm asking these days and I plan to use this space for thinking out loud to come up with a solution. I've been reviewing my journals of the past 5 years in order to create a list of lessons I've learned along the way (in no particular order):

• A good startup can operate from a cogent executive summary. Biz plans should be re-written and broadened as traction increases. Jumping too far ahead wastes resources if your not fully prepared to answer the necessary questions.
• Actions speak louder than words. If courting a new employee or investor, gauge their enthusiasm by the promptness and thoroughness of their work. If they're not excited, they're not worth your time.
• Consultants, attorneys and other service providers are very good at telling you what you want to hear. As an entrepreneur, you should selectively extract the information you need from these sources and discard the superfluous accolades. They don't help you get to where you want to be.
  
• Strive to be remarkable and prune that which is not.
• Don't squander the good will of a new prospect by using him/her as a sounding board for half-baked ideas.