Guest Speaker Erik Hanberg

On Thursday January 22, 2015, a guest speaker named Erik Hanberg came to our entrepreneur class. He shared his experiences and knowledge of having many businesses. Mr.Hanberg said that his first business that he opened was a theater. I think it was for plays but not movies. Due to a lack of profit in the business, he shut it down. Mr.Hanberg started writing books after that and even set up a website from which he could sell his books through Amazon.com. I believe, he currently has written seven books and is working on his eighth. The books he has written vary from non-profit to fiction to mystery. Most of his books are series. Furthermore, he went on to talk about his wife and how she is a graphics designer. He stated that she has a lot of skill and experience in the work she does. They both brought their skills together and started a company called “Side x Side”. In this business, Mr.Hanberg provided his experience to new start-up businesses while his wife did the graphics design for the start-up businesses. On another note, Mr.Hanberg also has a job as a commissioner of the Metro Park in Tacoma, WA.

I was very impressed when he said that he now has two children and how it affects his businesses but he still somehow manages to do everything. Some important points to mention about what he said: “Be a starter”, “Everyone has ideas”, and “2 kinds of work”.  The first one, “Be a starter”, means that no matter what idea you have that you believe in, you need to just start shipping.  The second, “Everyone has ideas”, means that everyone has ideas but you need to put in the work to make something happen. The last one, “2 kinds of work”, he mentions that you could either sell your time or sell something else. Selling your time is like working a job like a 9 to 5. Selling something else is like selling a product or whatever your business may be. 

3 Business Ideas

Truck Dispatch Business – This business will provide truck dispatch to local truck drivers in Washington State. It will be a middleman by providing service for both local companies that are partnered with it and truck drivers in need of work. This dispatch business will take its commission out of the partnered companies pay and give the rest to the truck drivers for their labor. Future goals of this business will be to dispatch all across Washington State and perhaps neighboring states as well. My brother, father, and I will be the founders of this company.

Truck Transportation Business – This business will provide truck transportation for import and export goods in Washington State. Washington has a huge port in Seattle where goods are always imported and exported. This business will team up with companies to both receive and distribute its containers to their designated locations. My brother, father, and I will be the founders of this company.

Taxi Cab Business – This business is solely for leasing taxi cabs to drivers. It is a private business, in a sense. It will have up to two drivers working 12 hour shifts at all times. The drivers can work as much as they want in their respective 12 hours shifts but will have to pay their lease for every shift. It will start with only one cab. Depending on how much profit is made, more cabs will be added. My brother and father will be my partners (founders) in this business. This business will strictly be based in Washington State. 

Thoughts on Startup.com

I personally enjoyed watching this documentary/movie. At times it seemed like it was a reality show because Kaleil and Tom would argue over their business ways until something was settled amongst the two. I think Kaleil was a real badass. He was really aggressive, motivated, and a great team leader. He knew what needed to be done to make money and run a business. Tom, on the other hand, I think was too soft at times. He really didn’t seem to value money as much as his friends and family. We got to see the kind of household he was raised in. He was a boys-scout type of person.

The one thing I really liked about the movie was the fact that Kaleil and Tom made it seem like the cameras weren’t present. It felt like you were actually next to them, like in the scene where the lawyer didn't show up for the meeting. You could, in a way, feel the intensity in the room at the moment.

I didn’t completely understand what happened towards the end of the documentary. I know they were having some technical issues with their website and some other things. I think they weren’t able to make it over that speed bump which pretty much destroyed their business. But they made a lot of money in the process and even had 233 employees at one point. They started the business off with only 8 employees.

Even though the business sort of failed I bet Kaleil and Tom experienced many new things that will stay with them forever. Other startup businesses consulted them because of their experience.

Expectations for the Course

I am taking this course to hopefully learn a little bit about how to start, manage, and close a business. I have no experience with how a business works besides working as an associate in a retail job for two years. I have seen how the hierarchy of employees is laid out in a retail environment. Furthermore, I have also experienced products get shipped in and sold out depending on the demand of the customers. I am really looking forward to working on the business project that was talked about in class. I believe I have a few good ideas in store for the project and want to see what we do. I know technology plays a huge role in almost every flourishing business nowadays. I want to learn about how and when technology started impacting businesses for the better (and maybe even for the worst).