Last week, we invited Hal Josephson (not this Hal… Hal Josephson is one of CH’s advisors) to hang out with us in our Calgary office. Hal is currently President of MediaSense in San Francisco, lives in New Zealand part-time and helps businesses understand and break into the Asian market. He was one of the founders of 3DO, was Vice President of Infotainment World (producers of E3), was behind the movement of community television, and more. To say Hal is awesome is an understatement.

On Thursday, July 19 Hal presented at a Cambrian House “Lunch and Learn” where we ate tasty Thai food and learned about Business Development – and how BizDev differs from, but isn’t mutually exclusive from, PR and Marketing.

Here’s a copy of his PowerPoint, and video of his presentation:

For most start-ups, finding the mentorship and friendship of successful business leaders is tricky. After all, how do you get into the “club” without being a successful business leader yourself? It’s like trying to fit in with the high school quarterback and his buddies when you’re the young, skinny freshman…

Luckily, Cambrian House has a couple things going for us that have helped attract some amazing people like Hal into our world.

1. We believe in crowdsourcing – thus, the wider we cast our net and leverage our networks and our networks’ networks; the more likely we are to meet wonderful people.
2. We hang out with other entrepreneurs - many of whom have worked with other entrepreneurs from a variety of industries: energy, technology, entertainment, etc. so we meet fascinating folks who provide a variety of advice.
3. We believe people invest in people – so when we first meet someone we want to develop a relationship with, we find it best to “get to know them,” and develop friendships and trust first. After all – the best supporters are the ones we can call friends.

Hal is certainly a friend. And, I think his business development tips boil down to a few key points: trust, reputation and reciprocity. After all, people invest in people.

What a week! Cambrian House has been visited by Hal Josephson, Jeff Howe and a constant thwacking noise due to nearby construction.

Have you ever looked out of your office window at a near by construction site and wondered, “How long can it possibly take to construct a skyscraper?”

“Is there such a thing as a silent jackhammer?”

“What was so bad about a vacant lot, anyway?”

But enough about the thwacks, Blue and I offer congratulations to CraigH, who’s idea Business Startup Web Portal is this week’s winner!

Elevator Pitch
For entrepreneurs trying to start a business, iGerminate web portal provides organizational tools and community assistance for launching a new company. It is a central resource for start-up tools and information.

CraigH has laid out a broad vision here, much of which has been covered by a variety of websites. We like micco’s suggestion of looking for a start-up business tool which has NOT yet been implemented in a satisfactory way, build it, and offer links to other services which you would not have the resources to implement/crowdsource yourself.

Crowdfunding and how-to-acquire-financing are two conference topics that always draw engaged crowds according to MJ!

Blue has singled out scrollinondubs’s idea AdSqueeze stopaction DVR ads- the TV treasure hunt as her personal favorite.

Of course, Blue does not understand that this technology was explored in the documentary Max Headroom. Every time a human perceives a rapid change in their field of vision, they experience rapid firing of neurons as a fight-or-flight response is triggered. While this evolutionary response helped us survive in the wild, the rapid firing of neurons in response to flashing 30 different images per second can build up a dangerous electrical charge which can be fatal.

While I wish scrollinondubs all the best with his idea, I’d like to point out that Cambrian House is in no way liable for any deaths which may ensue.

On that note… be part of the wisdom of crowds by voting in this week’s round and… May the best idea win!

Ever wonder what would happen if we were ill-prepared to shoot an IdeaWarz video? Would we just call it off, citing lack of time? Hell no! We’d soldier on and shoot it anyway! Check it out…

Gord here with another IdeaWarz weekly winner! You may want to sit down, it is not uncommon for our readers to faint with excitement!

Saigon’s Exceptional Universal Site (Plus) came in with the highest total score, beating out Saigon’s own eMemorial Central idea.

Upon learning that eMemorial Central had been defeated, Saigon was quoted as saying: “I will crush Saigon! All IdeaWarz competitors know the joy is to crush one’s enemies - see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women! Saigon, you may have won this time, but victory will one day be mine! Saigon, I will break you!”

The Elevator Pitch
For Parents, Teachers, Philanthropists, Govt Agencies, NGOs and everyone who CARES for Children with Special Needs and wants an interactive one-stop information hub, the Exceptional Universal Site Plus (EUS+) is a timely site as a Global Hub dedicated for the Special Children and People with Handicap that want to get informed, get materials, induced learning-strategy-methods for CNS, get professional resources, employers-NGO-Govt-search site concerning their own interest and program, lastly a Jobs opportunities for PWD (People with Disability) and Professionals as well! Unlike other sites that mostly are into simple information and or specific program our product is the answer to various concerns on the special education, issues and concern for SPECIAL Children.

I’ve made some small alterations to the pitch, as English is not Saigon’s primary language (hopefully he will not mind). Saigon is an aspiring special education educator, and can offer more terms for handicapped people than I know existed…

• Children with Special Needs (CSN)
• People with Disability (PWD)
• People with Handicap (PWH)
• Special Children
• Exceptional Children

“But Gord!” one might say, “Inuit have 100 words for snow because they deal with it every day! If you were in training to become a teacher in a special education program, you’d be tossing around the synonyms too!”

“Hey you!” I would then retort, “that’s not true! Ha!”

While Saigon will be relieved to know that both exceptionaluniversalsite.com and exceptionaluniversalsiteplus.com are still available, the community is always available to help brainstorm on a shorter name.

Following Saigon’s two ideas was Matthias’s Not Spots (the anti-travel guide). While the winner, Exceptional Universal Site clocked in with the highest total score, Not Spots, which garnered the highest average score. Blue and I really liked Not Spots, and will keep Matthias in mind the next time we travel to a crap-hole.

Both ideas have been taken to the next level by their creators… instantiating businesses so that jobs can be listed, and Cambro’s can be transferred to anyone completing tasks!

Be part of the wisdom of crowds by voting in this week’s round and…
May the best idea win!

Are you a black-hat hacker with no mission in life? Jeff Howe thinks your mother is an astronaut! He’s Irish, and he’s got a thing or two to say about the genetics of Brits! Do you think our videos should be shorter? I spell out why they’re not in our latest exciting video! Check it out…

It was a close race between Gods_Light’s Hospital Connections, and KidzExchange by Tergwin.

In the end, Hospital Connections held its lead, with the most diverse support from the Cambrian House community.

Perhaps you noticed some peculiar wording in that last paragraph? Discussion as to what constitutes WOC, and how we should have decided the winner is being held in this forum.

Hospital Connections aims to supply patients with webcam communications to their friends and family outside the office.

There’s a strong consensus in the community, that this is a service we’d all like to see, and that it is feasible. Lots of concerns about privacy and Hospital Bureaucracy, but then we’d all be playing World of Warcraft while recovering from repetitive stress injury related surgeries if it was that easy!

Honorable Mentions:

• KidzExchange by Tergwin
• sautélevision by bana
• SiteLiber8 by scrollinondubs

Be part of the wisdom of crowds by voting in next week’s round and…
May the best idea win!

Cowboy hats! Alcohol! Lengthy anecdotes about Steve Jobs! Its been a heck of a week… to hear about our awesome Monday, and our thoughts on our favorite ideas just check out our video…

Gord here with yet another scintillating IdeaWarz winner!

Again, the video game industry is generating the most interest, this time with Fitzpatrick’s Guerrilla Electronic Distribution Platform taking the lead.

A student, Fitzpatrick is moving to Orlando FL to pursue an education in game design and development. He thought of this idea when noticing STEAM (Valve’s distribution platform) had a short list of indie titles.

Fitzpatrick says Guerrilla will focus on providing learning resources to developers, not just a convenient distribution mechanism.

“I think Guerrilla can combine the best of both worlds making it a site focused on games AND game developers.” -Fitzpatrick

Congratulations Fitzpatrick, we hope you can make life easier for those struggling indie video game developers.

Honorable Mentions:

• Best Painkiller: Computers for Grandma by fozzie
• Blue’s Most Entertaining: Learn french and French Kiss Online by braingirl
• Gord’s Dream Idea: CH Magazine / Ideas Magazine by jill

Would love to read your thoughts, let us know what you think. Be part of the wisdom of crowds by voting in next week’s round and…
May the best idea win!

And finally, our loving and always lengthy shout-out to IdeaWarz participants… hey Fitzpatrick, WUZZAAAAAAPPPP!?!?!