Speak my mind

I have been so busy taking pictures lately that I could not decide which pictures to post on my art blog. So last week I decided to make my own photo blog for my pics.

I started with flikr but they had a 100mb limit per month. That is why I decided to create a blog for my photos. I am still learning the ropes and I would really like to hear some comments and suggestions from you.

My family and I saw this new restaurant at Ayala Terraces and decided to try it out. The restaurant was owned by an Australian Chef and he is the one who does the cooking in front of the customers.

Check out my Food Blog to find out more about the place.

Chicken breast wrapped pancetta

Isn’t it ironic how people indiscriminately post their pictures and information on the net. People never realize the danger in divulging too much information on the net.

Most of us are very sensitive when other people encroach on our private lives. We usually get offended if someone would talk about us behind our back. I for one didn’t realized the danger in posting some pictures during my college days. Most of it were from parties and outings.

It only dawned on me that some of those pictures can be used against me to ruin my reputation once I become a professional. Although that was merely a stage in my life where I had little or no responsibilities.  There is still the possibility of those pictures to ruin the chance of me being hired in a high and respectable position if someone uses it against me.

Although most of the pics would never affect me in the future, my concern is the information I have divulged in the net about my self. A lot of information is available on the net that we only dream of having years ago. The trend in social networking has increased the availability of information about a person to the public.

In the past we used to worry about the threat of the government having too much information about us available at their disposal. We were concerned about the concept of BIG BROTHER that there was even a movies made about it, “Enemy of the State” and “The Net” are a few. What we failed to notice right now is that we are the once who are creating the Big Brother concept. The information we willingly provide on the net is what comprises it.

It is only a matter of time that someone would utilize this, or maybe someone has already utilized this without us even knowing it.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve written in my personal blog. Things have been really busy for me in the past few months. Since I’ve started blogging I’ve grown to appreciate the value of blogging. As for me this has been a perfect outlet for all the things I want to share to other.

It has been a great instrument for me to communicate my thoughts, problems or ideas. I must admit that I have become addicted to blogging.

Asides from this personal blog I have been trying to maintain these other blogs:

• Art and Architecture
• Cebu Food Spot
• Money and Opportunity
• Hatton and Pacquiao
• Her and His Story
• I just have to ask

Its a good thing that I have more time now, things are a bit lax right now and this has provided me with ample time to start writing again.

The past few weeks has been very draining for me and my brother.  We were commissioned by a client to design and renovate a house. At the beginning of the project everything was proceeding as agreed with the client. We began renovating the house last november and we encountered a lot of problems with the existing structure.

On December the client had some changes in the scope of the project and we had to accomodate the request which increased the already existing problems in that project. Although we had a verbal agreement about his request to increase the scope of the proejct. On january after we submitted our second bill, the client told us that we never had any agreement with regards to the design and construction of his house.

After solving most of the major problems in his house he decided to remove us from the project and he decided to finish it his self. This wouldn’t have been a problem for the both of us if he approached us in the proper manner.

What disgusted me was the manner he opted to pre terminate our services. Despite of a lot of people who witnessed him agreeing in commssioning us to renovate his house, he said that we never had any agreement that we would design and do the renovation of his house.

If he wanted to save money in his project because of financial difficulties he could have approached us properly. In that way he wouldn’t have ruined any proffessional relationship between us. After this incident I completely lost my respect towards him and any word he utters has completely lost credibility.

I have always believed that a man who doesn’t honor his word is no better than a conman. In any transaction or business, trust and credibility is the most important factor in keeping a long term relationship.

As a person and professional, I always made sure that I would be honest to any person I deal with and that I would always keep any commitments I made to any person I give my word to. Its just disappointing to encounter other people who don’t value trust, commitment and professionalism, but that’s just how the world works. It’s an experience I’ve learned and never want to happen again.

Asheesh Advani offers three tips for raising cash with a second round in mind.
By Asheesh Advani

I received an education about money during the last recession. I was raising money for my startup by stringing together a series of small investments from angel investors, friends and relatives. It was a tough slog, but I eventually assembled a group of investors and a board of directors.

Not long after, an investor offered to make a sizable investment. But the share price he offered was lower than that paid by previous investors. I only had three months of cash in the bank and was desperate to accept, but the board turned down the offer. Despite my protests, I was back to the drawing board with 90 days to find an investor willing to pay a higher price. I eventually did find one, but only after two more years of stringing together small investments at incrementally higher share prices from angels, friends and relatives.

My story isn’t unusual; entrepreneurs who have raised money through private investors know shareholders will fight to avoid dilution. The interests of founders, new investors and shareholders often diverge between the first and second round of financing, particularly during recessions. Here’s how to raise your first round of financing with your second round in mind.

1. Use convertible debt, not stock. This allows you to raise money without setting a price per share. You can set a discount or a bonus for early investors by enabling them to convert the debt to stock at favorable terms when a larger investor comes along. This protects and rewards your early investors and allows you more flexibility and control. Setting a share price for selling stock to early investors is arbitrary and could paint you into a corner. I recall times when I was embarrassed to even mention offers from new investors to my older investors.
2. Set a fair price or an appropriate discount. The price you offer to early investors says a lot about your character. You want a high price because you’re confident about your business; meanwhile, you want to keep the price low to avoid taking advantage of your relatives, friends and other private investors by setting them up for future dilution and acrimonious investor relations. Somewhere between these two extremes is the right answer. Similarly, when setting a price discount for convertible stock, you can set it too high to attract investor dollars. In that case, future investors will think you’ve been too generous.
3. Communicate regularly. When you’re raising money, it becomes second nature to brag about your business. However, don’t let this affect how you communicate with shareholders. Rather than sending them only good news, send them updates on a regular schedule–annually at least, although I recommend quarterly. Even if your startup isn’t generating any revenue yet, tell them what you’re doing to move it forward. Sharing news consistently builds trust. You’ll need that trust when it’s time to raise your next round.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/