If you have ever attempted to raise capital for your startup idea you are in pretty good company. Once you have actually raised capital for your startup idea you are part of a relatively exclusive club. Your close friends and family (who know how long you have been working on raising a round) will congratulate you. The other members of your team will want to celebrate. The PR folks will prepare a press release and try to get TechCrunch interested in the funding story. But, if you are like me, you might not feel entirely comfortable accepting congratulations or celebrating or even getting some TechCrunch love.

Raising money is a lot of work. First, you have to come up with a startup idea that resonates with investors – if it doesn’t resonate they won’t meet with you. Of course getting an investor to meet with you based on an elevator pitch is pretty easy once you figure out what sort of investments they are looking for (assuming that is the sort of business you want to start). Once the meetings begin you will experience a roller coaster of excitement, disappointment and despair. Some investors will LOVE your idea, your team and generally be ready to put a term sheet together only to learn their partners aren’t the least bit interested in having your deal on their website. If you are lucky you will hear no a LOT. If you aren’t as lucky you will hear a lot of maybes. But eventually, you might get a term sheet. Of course once you get the term sheet you are on your own 10th yard line. You still must negotiate the terms and agree on a final term sheet. Once you have signed the term sheet you are on the 50th yard line. Of course sometimes closing is harder than you think. Papering disclosures, employment agreements, charters, financial statements – all can throw a wrench into a deal. When you finally get the wire you are likely so exhausted you may feel relieved, but I would argue that you are actually back on your own 10th yard line.

The congratulations, celebrations and press coverage should make you feel uncomfortable. Your team won’t understand at first, but raising outside capital is a HUGE responsibility and you should start feeling the pressure at about the same time the wire hits the bank. Your investor believed in you, your team and your idea – enough to put their hard earned treasure at risk. While your Mom, Dad and close friends were more than happy to cheer you on – how many of them wrote checks to fund your deal? Maybe a few, but generally encouragement is free. Your investor is not looking for a standard return – he is specifically looking for outsized returns 10x is the norm. For every dollar you spend you have to figure out how to make it worth $10. People who can do that are few and far in between. If you think the venture backed entrepreneurs is exclusive – try getting in the ‘provided outsized returns to investors’ club – it is downright lonely there. Outside capital isn’t for every startup or every entrepreneur, but if you decide to accept it be sure you understand the responsibility you have placed firmly on your shoulders.

I have been thinking about turning 40 ever since last November when I turned 39. Looking at the picture of myself on the left when I was 20 and the picture of me on the right of me at 39 I couldn’t believe how hard the last 20 years had been on my body.

Eight days after my birthday I decided to get serious about my health. To that end on November 11th hired a concierge doctor to manage my healthcare delivery. Immediately she was concerned about my blood pressure – 161 over 98 and my weight – 260lbs. Both were very high, way to high for a 39 year old male. She gave me some medication to reduce my blood volume and ordered me to start testing my blood pressure regularly. She also did a full scan of my body as well as a genetic screen for a wide variety of possible aliments. The results were interesting. She learned that it was very unlikely that I would suffer from Alzheimer’s but that I was at very high risk for early onset heart attacks. She probed further into my risk of heart disease and ordered nuclear studies of the make up of my cholesterol as well as any possible thickening of my arteries. After all of the tests and conversations with my doctor decided I needed to make some changes if I didn’t want to end up dead in my early 50′s.

Step One: Stop Drinking Diet Cokes. Turns out I have been drinking 8-10 Diet Cokes each day for the last five years. That is way to many sodas to drink in a week, much less in a day. I replaced the sodas with water and haven’t had a single Diet Coke since November of 2010. At ShopSavvy/Architel we were spending around $800/month on Diet Coke (and related sodas) and I told my assistant to stop ordering them (replacing them with bottled water). Sadly our monthly bill went up (water is more expensive than Diet Coke!?!?!), but my blood pressure went down. By December my average blood pressure was down to 130 over 92 and today the average is 125 over 78 – without medication! I now drink a lot of water and a lot of iced tea.

Step Two: Start Working Out. We have a trainer who comes to our office twice a day for three 30 minute workout sessions. I began working out with him once a day, on average four days a week. I began getting in great shape. I feel better than I have felt in a decade, but I haven’t been losing weight. Last month I began working out for 30 minutes twice a day for an average of four days a week with a renewed focus on my core.

Step Three: Lose 90 lbs. I have been working with a doctor and have seriously limited my intake of calories (the only real way to lose weight). Based on the testing he did my resting metabolism is 3000 calories per day so I have to consume less than 3000 calories to lose weight. My peak weight was 260 and now I weigh 244. My goals are to weigh the following by each month: Sept. 234, Oct. 224, Nov. 214, Dec. 204, Jan. 194, Feb. 184, Mar. 174 and my goal weight of 170 (by April).

I have always appreciated the Marine Toys for Tots program each year. This afternoon I was wondering how we (i.e. ShopSavvy) might be able to leverage our platform to help collect toys in October, November and December and distribute them as Christmas gifts to needy children around the country. I had an idea.

What if anytime one of our users scanned a toy we suggested they buy a second one using ShopSavvy – one that would be shipped to their local Marine Corps Reserve Unit for distribution through the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. I know from personal experience I have bought toys for the program, but never actually delivered them to a drop off location. Toys for Tots Foundation, hat do you think?

We could even partner with someone like Walmart who might agree to match toy donations made by ShopSavvy users by sending a SECOND toy. Walmart, what do you think?

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of this idea. If you have contacts with anyone at the Marine Corps, Toys for Tots or Walmart that might be able to help please pass along this post (or send me their contact info).

Regards,
Alexander Muse, CEO ShopSavvy Inc.
8350 N Central Expressway Suite 250
Dallas, TX 75206
214.550.2003
amuse@shopsavvy.mobi

Almost a decade ago I began watching, studying and playing poker. I read more than 15 poker books and half as many books on game theory. Mostly I played in LA and Vegas, but sometimes I would play in a card room here in Dallas and even once in the Aviation Club in Paris. I even tried my hand at online poker. I placed 74th in the Legends of Poker tournament at the Bicycle Casino in LA. Poker requires an enormous amount of concentration and attention to detail and I just didn’t have the stamina or the desire to play at the level I wanted to play at. By 2005 I decided I there were easier ways to make money – i.e. starting companies.

While I played around with online poker I was quite concerned that I might be a) playing against a bot or b) the online poker room was somehow cheating so I stayed away from the practice. I assumed that eventually the Federal government would get their act around to regulating and taxing online poker paving the way for recognized casino brands – like MGM to get into the business. Nevada does a great job regulating casinos and I figured that they would do similar job regulating online poker rooms. I was wrong. Instead of regulating online gambling the Federal government made it illegal to accept electronic payments for internet gambling in 2006.

Despite the law more than 15 million Americans play online poker for money. The current crackdown on PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker takes the three largest poker sites out of play. Major casinos like Wynn and Station Casinos have had to end their partnerships with these sites. The only guys left standing are the real crooks and as a result Americans are going to get cheated. Senator Alfonse D’Amato responded to the Obama administration’s decision by explaining, “Online poker is not a crime and should not be treated as such.”

I agree. The Federal government should get out of the regulation of online poker – leave it to the states to regulate.

When I was in Junior High School we lived just off of NASA Road 1 the home of the Johnson Space Center on the outskirts of Houston. Growing up everyone I knew had some connection to NASA and the Space Shuttle program. I recall cookouts at Pinky Nelson‘s house – Pinky was an astronaut who flew on the Challenger, Columbia and Discovery. Another friend’s father helped design space food for the shuttle and I can remember getting to test it out from time to time at lunch. From my perspective Houston was NASA and vice-versa. Every single Shuttle astronaut trained in Houston and 35 still live in the area.

Over the years I have returned to Houston to share NASA with my son. Touring mission control, the massive testing areas, enormous training pool and rocket displays inspired me as a child and have inspire my son. Ethan was so inspired he convinced his mother that he and I should attend Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama last summer. Sadly my three year old daughter won’t be able to visit the NASA I remember. Not only has this administration gutted the space program overall they have decided to erase its legacy on the community.

Members of Congress have indicated there will be an investigation into the decision, but at the end of the day it is Obama’s decision to make and he has made it. Houston is getting its own taste of Chicago politics and as a result will be erased from the history of the Shuttle program.

Several of the relatives of Challenger and Columbia astronauts who died in the service of their country offered Obama these thoughts:

“We are heartbroken to learn of the decision that the Space Shuttle will not be allowed to return home to Houston. Home is where the heart is, and Houston has served as the heart of the space shuttle program since its inception nearly four decades ago. All the astronauts lost were Houston’s residents. We again share a collective loss as a result of the political decision to send the space shuttle elsewhere. We had prayed that the incredible sacrifices this community has endured would have allowed the shuttle’s legacy to continue here. Although we disagree with this decision, we will persevere in our support of space exploration, just as we have done in the past.”

The statement was signed by Evelyn Husband Thompson, whose husband Rick commanded Columbia in 2003; Jonathan Clark, husband of Columbia astronaut Laurel Clark; Sandy Anderson, wife of Columbia’s payload commander, Michael Anderson; Lorna Onizuka, whose husband, Ellison, died on Challenger in 1986; and Cheryl McNair, wife of Challenger astronaut Ronald McNair.

UPDATE: Watch this video to see the Shuttle’s as they are awarded. The final award goes to NYC over Houston and the crowd is stunned – crying out in surprise:

Tears from from people who learned that Houston wouldn’t get the Shuttle:

CEO of Space Center Houston Response to the Shuttle Announcement:

Greater Houston Partnership Response to the Shuttle Snub:

Texas Senator John Cornyn said this decision not to give Houston a shuttle “is an affront to the thousands of dedicated men and women at Johnson Space Center, the greater Houston community and the State of Texas, and I’m deeply disappointed with the Administration’s misguided decision.”