projects Archives - Page 2 of 2

Our Space Project

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

You may remember that I met a guy on line called Raul – the Rocketeer from Romania which I posted about.

Well we did our project up. Which was not just fun, but a world first. Again it wasn’t a revenue project, just a fun cool thing that is possible with the all cheap technology we have today.

What was it? We sent a Lego Space Shuttle into Space. Into Orbit, 130,000 feet above earth and retrieved it via GPS. We filmed it with a Go Pro camera. Our mini tribute to the now defunct Space Shuttle Program. See video below.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bluQ4eOeBwo]

A quirky Fact – we had to super glue to pieces together so that the ship would survive the 200km per hour winds in the stratosphere.

The really cool thing, is that Raul Oaida has become an overnight celebrity in Romania and was featured in the evening news as well as on the front page of their national newspaper below.

There is a lot we can learn from this little micro project. Raul has a massive entrepreneurial spirit. He worked day and night to get the launch up on a tight timeline, and even bootstrapped many of the issues we had before the launch. In fact, he organised a trip to Germany, which was the only country who would give us air traffic clearance to do it in Europe. We both used our different skills sets: Raul was the science man – he did all the hard stuff. I was the ideas man, the Venture Capitalist – I came up with the concept, funded it and worked with Raul on delivering the project. The really great thing is that we matched our skills to create something of value (albeit non-financial). Less than 10 years ago none of this would have been possible, and we never would have found each other (which was via Skype). Very cool.

The kicker – my new mini project is with Raul as the Chief Engineer- and if you think this was cool, the next thing we do is going to blow you away. Stay tuned.

I don't know

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Steve Sammartino

Most of the most important projects I have ever done, I didn’t really know how to do them before I started. Some I didn’t even really know how I did it after I completed it.

I feel one of the most important insights to this new era of entrepreneurialism, is that knowing the answer is not really that important – if at all important. We instead just need to make it up as we go along. Ask a lot of questions and be honest with the people in the process that there is quite a lot that we just don’t know, at least until we build it.

10 'just because' projects

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Steve Sammartino

I’ve been thinking about a few different projects I’d like to do. Which at this stage have no real revenue or business associated with them, other than I find them interesting. I thought I’d list them here to see if anyone has similar crazy ‘just because’ projects. Maybe these fun crazy things are what we should be doing and building, instead of working out what other people want. Maybe the thing that really matters is what we want. Either way here they are;

Take a year to fly to every commercial Airport in the world – without a break. yes, including living in planes and airports for a full 12 months. Document it and what happens for some reason. Find interesting stuff and people. See what happens. Film it. Socialize it on live digital media. Find something no one has ever thought of or seen. Just because.
Live for a year only on food that is grown at home. Vegetables and animals. Cook using only wood and home made ovens. Every bit of food that goes in my mouth I will have grown, baked, killed cooked and created. Document it all. Just because.
Walk around the entire coastline of Australia. Beach by beach, headland by headland. 25,760 km’s of it. Learn something. Document it…. Just because.
Make a short film. Without any false ambitions of becoming the next Tarantino. Just to create. Be part of it. Just because.
Renovate a house. Yes, a totally dilapidated 100 year old timber home. To see what my eye and hands can really make when they collaborate. Build a house my family can live in, be safe in, grow together in. Take time out and do this. A non Grand Design for me and my people. Just because.
Start a cult. Just to see if we can make a positive one. A cult of good. To see if I could lead people in such a way that they live for the cause, but to flip it. To make the cause about fixing broken shit in the world….Like the banking system and the 1%. Just because.
Be a used car salesman. mainly because I think it would be really, really hard. To see how I could sell in a difficult environment. To test my skills, and see what I could learn to take into my future. To be the most untrusted person in the commercial world. To be that guy. The be that guy and see how I handle myself and what I become. Just because.
Coach A little league team. Pass on some skills, about the game, and maybe about life. Teach some youngsters stuff that matters – have am impact on their attitude without them even knowing. See how it feels to help out the people who will inherit our world. Just because.
Live in a tropical paradise. Mainly to remove the myth or confirm it. A place where little money is needed, the weather is always warm and technology and financial growth are irrelevant. Find out out if the picture of paradise is real or perceived. Stay forever if it is real. Just because.
Join a street gang. A real underworld style gang. Think East L.A. Get dirty and down and be part of something bigger than me that is from the opposite side of town. Learn their rules and play by them. Deal, steal and destroy. See if the emotional roller coaster is the same, or different. See if I like it more or less. Understand the plight and political machinations of a crime organization from the inside. Draw the analogies and comparisons to the legal world – find out the truth. Just because.

Sometimes we need to embark on startup projects, that aren’t really startups…. Just because.

Solid advice

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

Startup blog friend and movie maker Ryan Spanger has some kind of a secret project happening called creative.biz – I’m not sure what it’s all about but here’s a video which is on the home page. I reckon this is one entrepreneurs should keep an eye on given the solid advice in this short video.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK-48E9tW20]

Wasting money

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Steve Sammartino

As we embark on new projects we hope will be the one, a lot of money gets invested. Hard earned money we’ve saved from busting out a living on week days. The left over money after we’ve paid the mortgage and paid the bills. Sadly, much of it never returns. It’s easy to feel cheated when our projects don’t pay off.

But let’s for a few moments consider the alternatives:

A flat screen TV

Dinner at fancy restaurants

A better car

A new gadget for the kitchen

Other stuff which will eventually gather dust

…….

Turns out the money we lost in startup projects was never really wasted. In fact, it wasn’t lost at all. It’s the investment we have to make to get that elusive win. The alternatives are very poor substitutes with zero chance of a return. Which means we should never be afraid of investing in our projects. What we should really be afraid of is succumbing to pointless consumption.