Roddypod

I have no idea how I came up with the idea for CiteScribe. I think it was when I was in the MBA program and had to make a bibliography for a book I used for research in one of my classes. I think it’s safe to say that making bibliographies can be a real pain in the neck. There are so many ways to format a bibliography and I thought there could be a much easier way of making them. I started writing some ideas down and I basically came up with a website where people can enter an ISBN number, title of a book, or author and be presented with a formatted citation for that item. Where does this information come from? For now, Amazon.

Amazon has had an open system for several years now where developers could make their own web store and obtain item information in XML and show that information on their own site. People can purchase items from them and the website makes a commission through Amazon’s Affiliate program.

I’m not really interested in starting a store though. I am however interested in the Affiliate program to monetize the site in some way and perhaps adding Google AdWords later. After choosing the format of their bibliography (MLA or ABA) and they submit their request, the request then gets the required information from Amazon to make a bibliography (i.e. Author, Title, Publisher, etc.). The information for that book is then returned to CiteScribe and formated in the selected format and displayed to the user according. I plan on displaying any cover art that is available and making it an Affiliate link to Amazon. If the user follows through and buys it, I get a 4% commission.

For a while, I thought how I would accomplish getting the XML requests from Amazon and displaying the data to the user. I though I’d make all of this from scratch but it turns out there are several developers who have already done most of the work for me. I can do it using boto written in Python, Amazon Products Feed - Associates Script written in Perl, or Project TinA written in PHP which is derived from the Perl scripts. I’m mostly leaning towards Perl because it’s the most complete solution for what I want to do. I can wrap the Perl scripts into my own site design and create the code that would return a bibliography in MLA or APA format. This is just to get started.

Later on, I’d like to incorporate user accounts where users can store their references that they’ve created and then enable them to share this information with other users. It would also be handy for users to look up others based on the types of research they are doing and collaborate that way and share information. I would also like to enable users to reference all other kinds of media that is used today. Making references for digital media, music, PubMed, journals, newspapers, magazines, etc. This site, however, is not my baby. More of a pet project for fun. I have something else in the works that should be very lucrative if I can pull it off. More on that later…

Yes, you heard me. I’m dropping out of school. Why you might ask? I’ll tell you. Ever since I started the program back in late November, I would ask myself, “Why am I REALLY doing this?”. To be honest, I really couldn’t find an answer. I follow Guy Kawasaki on Twitter and on Friday, February 15, he said he was live on the Houston Business Show. I listened to the show and the question came up about the need for an MBA. To sum it up, Guy basically said and MBA is not needed for entrepreneurs and startups in general. It’s like he was speaking to me. I’m an entrepreneur and I want to start a startup! So for clarification, I sent Guy an email:

“I just listened to you on the Houston Business Show. I just started
my MBA program but I also want to start a web company. Am I wasting
my time with with an MBA? Should I drop out and take the plunge? I
think the reason for getting an MBA is to use it as an ‘insurance
policy’ in case my company fails. Wouldn’t having an MBA be
beneficial to run a business?”

About 20 minutes later, I got a reply. This is what guy said:

“This is why it’s dangerous to have a big mouth! :-) I don’t think an MBA is that useful for a startup. It’s more a way to get into a big company, bank, consulting firm, etc.

The two years you’d spend on a day program is a long time. If you can do
both, more power to you. But if it’s a day program, the world will really change in two years.”

This was the final nail in the coffin. Guy answered my question and with great finality, I made up my mind. I am dropping out of school to chase the dream of starting and running my own company. School was just getting in the way of that. I don’t think I would have regretted finishing the program. I don’t really see how it would have benefitted me anyway. As Guy said, having an MBA is fine if you want to work in a bank or for a consultant. I don’t want to do either. I don’t want to work for anyone but myself.

So, thank you very much Guy for opening my eyes and convincing me that I’m wasting my time with something that I don’t need. This move will save me not only money, but more importantly, this move will save me at least a year and a half of my time. With this much time, I think I can use that time to make something that will put me on track to a life of freedom.

I have a CS degree. I should be a programmer but I’m not. My job title is “User Support Specialist II”. They have different levels which only differentiates your salary. I don’t even know if there’s a level III but I don’t want to stick around to find out.

Just last week, I was passed over on a possible promotion. I could have been working on a database/programming project that would be a lot more exciting than what I’m doing now. Instead, someone else was hired fresh out of college to take over that project. I’m not too happy with that.

My dissatisfaction for this job was the final nail in the proverbial coffin. This job has pushed me over the edge. In a way, I am grateful to have this job because it made me realize that being almost 26 years old, I haven’t accomplished anything professionally. This job jump-started my decision to go back to school for my MBA. I knew I’d go back to school, but if I didn’t hate my job so much and want a change, I don’t think I would’ve gone back so soon.

I don’t think I’ll be working here much longer. I don’t think I could tolerate it here for the next year and a half while going to school. I need something less stressful and something that is a little more challenging. On the side, I have been programming. I have begun on a few Mac apps as well as some Dashboard Widgets that I will be blogging about later. Some of the apps will be free, the others will be paid apps. I’ll start a separate site and incorporate. I’m hoping to get this accomplished by next summer if not sooner. Stay tuned…

Many people have asked me why am I going to school for an MBA. I have a Bachelors in Computer Science and I’ve heard, “Why not a Masters in CS?”. To me, I don’t see how a Masters in CS will benefit my career very much.

The short answer to why I am working on an MBA is because I hate working for other people and would rather work for myself. My career is in a rut at the moment and going nowhere fast. Geographically, I live in a highly competitive area where if you don’t have “experience”, you can’t get a programming job. To be honest, I don’t really want to work for another company writing their software. I want to write my own software.

To really be successful, I want to actually know how to run a business. I want to know how to write business plans, raise capital, hire employees, and above all, I need to know how to market my products and services. I know that a lot of people have started businesses and don’t have MBA or any formal business education. I guess you can call it “learn as you go”. That is unacceptable for me. I’m very serious about this and it’s easy to learn bad habits. Now, nothing goes as planned but it’s a good plan to do a little research before jumping into the abyss.

“Roddypod” is what my mother called me when I was a kid. She will occasionally let it slip now and then to this day. I didn’t mind her calling me that until she started doing it in public. I don’t even know how she came up with that name. My parents are weird in that way I guess. My sister Andrea also had a nickname. She was called “Andy-Panda” growing up. Don’t know where that came from either. For my oldest sister Amity, I don’t even think she had a nickname.

I feel like I’m getting a late start to this considering my age, almost 26. Why am I even bothering doing this? Well, I want to start a software/internet company and I feel that a blog can help promote my business as well as network with other people/businesses. I am also about to start graduate school at Plymouth State University for an MBA and I will talk about my studies and experience on this blog.

I have always had an interest in software development and running a company. I have been interested in making easy to use applications for the Mac as well as useful tools and services on the web. I already have a CS degree and programming experience, now I need the business knowledge to complete the puzzle and get my ventures started. You can read all about it here.