Straight Shot Gunn

[Write something frivolous here]

[ssgunn]

September 15th Goals

It's been a very long time since I've done this. Been working on some houses and traveling Europe, but that isn't any excuse.

Goals:

Letters

Prepare 150 letters by Sunday

Find 5 zip codes for postcards

Find and decide on an attorney for Land Contract

Finish my retail flip!

[ssgunn]

May 27th Goals

It's been a relatively long time since I've done this. I haven't written my goals in awhile because I've been working on the rental house I recently bought. It took a lot longer than I expected. I was working literally 80 hour weeks, but this still shouldn't be an excuse.

May 27th Goals

Meet with 3 general contractors, 3 roofers, 2 plumbers, and Steve Plumber.

Finish and sign lease agreement with Dave.

Get plans materialized for this weekend with friend

[ssgunn]

April 7th Goals

Goals:

Close on house, - Replace breaker box - Paint - Figure out what to do with carpet/floors.

Have 200 letters stuffed.

Prepare presentation for Masters.

Read two chapters in Failing Forward.

Recap on March 31st Goals:

Handle Taxe - Win: Filed extension - Fail: No QuickBooks - Fail: Tried to decide on CPA, but one did not get back with me about his price even though I called twice about it

Fail: Did not finalize on carpet because I still don't know if I need it or not

Win: Prepared letters

Fail: Did not start presentation

[ssgunn]

March 31st Goals

Goals

Handle taxes - File for extension - Get a copy of QuickBooks - Decide on CPA

Finalize on a carpet guy

Pepare 200 letters for mailing

Start presentation for Masters next week

Recap on March 24th Goals:

Win: Scheduled an inspector.

Fail: Got an electrician and figured out a possible solution for the roof, but did not get any carpenters aligned.

Fail: Did absolutely nothing with letters.

[ssgunn]

March 24th Goals

This is way overdue. Fail on consistency.

Recap on March 17th Goals:

Win: Got Dave's house under contract!!

Fail: Didn't mail 200 postcards

Win: Visited 3 prospective houses

Win: Read first half of Failing Forward

March 24th Goals:

Schedule Inspector

Get electricians, roofers, and carpet guys aligned for next week.

Prepare letters - print and stuff 100 - instead of postcards

[ssgunn]

March 17th Goals

Recap on March 10th Goals:

Win: Got access to Auditor's database

Fail: Did not get get postcards ready, but did get a template

Win: Visited 2 prospective houses

March 17th Goals:

Get Dave's house under contract with his and his wife's signature

Prioritize mailing lists and mail 200 postcards

Visit 3 prospective houses

Read first 9 chapters out of Failing Forward

[ssgunn]

March 10th Goals

March 3rd Recap:

Fail: Didn't learn the areas

Win: Probate, evictions, and divorces

March 10th Goals:

Get Auditor's database access.

Design and have postcards ready to print by the end of the week

Visit at least two prospective houses

[ssgunn]

March 3 Goals

Feb 24 Recap:

I do not official have the ability to acquire private money, but I definitely made progress. There are a few source I believe I can acquire money from. Slight Win.

I didn't call Scott about wholesaling produce. Fail.

I looked on Craigslist a couple of times for a mower but couldn't find any good leads. Neutral.

March 3 Goals:

I'm having trouble focusing. There are so many strategies with real estate - I find myself trying to do everything. After a talk with Phil, I believe I need to refocus my efforts on wholesaling. However, I find wholesaling difficult because you need to find unlisted properties. I need to find a good cheap way to market to unlisted properties. These properties must be purchased for under $20k and require less than $15k in work.

Focus on and learn about Lockland, Bond Hill, Reading, and the surrounding area. (Areas are subject to change.)

Have three solid and reliable ways to market to motivated sellers (pre-foreclosures, back taxes, evictions?). Focus on getting leads.

Update:

Just finished reading an article. The first half is how I currently feel. The second half is what I hope for.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2012/10/12/why-people-fail-house-flipping/

[ssgunn]

February 24th Goals

Main Goals:

Acquire private or hard-lender money by April 15th for a rehab project in Deer Park/Blue Ash.

Start a landscaping business by March 15th.

Determine whether I want to wholesale produce or not.

February 24th Goals:

Research hard-lender corporations and their requirements.

Ask around about local hard lenders and find a potential lead.

Call Scott (farmer) to get more details about wholesaling produce. Question: Should I start get customers now or can I wait for personal reasons?

Look on Craigslist for mowers, preferably a good riding mower for $200 or under.

[ssgunn]

Goals

You wake up, you’re fired up. You go to school, you’re fired up. You return from work, you’re fired up. You just can’t wait to get your entrepreneurial side out and work on that idea or project to really make a difference in your life. Yet the moment you sit down, you’re stuck and just&

It’s fair to say that it’s obviously good to make goals if you want to accomplish something. Writing them down is even better. However, not too many people share them, nor share them regularly. This is a good article stating that journaling/sharing your goals on a regular basis greatly increases the chances of success.

Here is a new goal of mine: From this day forward for two months, ever Monday I will blog my weekly goals and review how well I did with my previous week’s goals.

[ssgunn]

[ssgunn]

Do not make a product for current adults, but the twenty-year-old babies.

[ssgunn]

DC: A Nurturing Place

I have exercised all of my competitive advantages here in Washington DC.

Political Thought

Interning with the Charles Koch Institute, I have read and discussed about numerous topics of economic thinking such as public goods, seen vs. unseen, and spontaneous order.

Entrepreneurship

I have created a network of entrepreneurs which was minuscule the time before this. I have also participated in the a book discussion on the Lean Startup by Eric Reis and learned much about innovation in my classes.

Finance

Through my classes, I have increased my financial skills and revalidated what I previously knew in the area. 

[ssgunn]

Get A Better Argument

It's not a good argument when people say the following about raising taxes on the wealthy: "Well...they can afford paying more taxes."

My response: No matter what amount, most people can afford to pay more taxes without a negative impact. Get a better argument to convince me to raise taxes.

[ssgunn]

Facebook is a listening and interactive tool. Integrate your website on Facebook as much as you can without making an app.

[ssgunn]

I have the skill. I just need to know the most efficient process of exploiting it.

[ssgunn]

A New Chapter of an Old Adventure

I’m sitting right now in the Jackson, MS airport waiting to board my flight. In the city of Washington DC, American University is waiting for me to arrive.

About a month ago, I was accepted by Centre College to study at AmericanU for Spring Semester ‘12. During this semester, I will be apart of a program called “The Washington Program.” People of different colleges all around the country – and even the world – will be apart of the program. But, this program is not like your typical college classrooms. I will not be sitting in a desk listening to a teacher give his typical classroom lectures. No, instead, I will be enrolled in “seminars” as the Washington Program likes to call them.

I am enrolled in the Business and Economics seminars. I obviously chose this topic because it interests me the most. It is also the field I will work in after graduation. There were numerous other topics I could have chosen such as Journalism and Middle Eastern Studies, but they did not have much relevance to me.

The goal of the seminars is to “combine academic study with experiential learning [by] a blend that features policy makers, professionals, and experts.” Basically, when I attend the seminars, I will be going out and about the city meeting, listening, and learning from people who work directly in business and economics instead sitting in a classroom listening to some teacher talk.

The seminars are not the only thing that is a part of the Program. I also have two days of the week allocated for an internship. Luckily, I already have an internship lined up with a non-profit I respect a lot: the Charles Koch Foundation. It is a libertarian think-tank that advocates free-markets and liberty. I won’t go into much detail about the internship, but I am very excited about working with them.

I have not heard one bad thing about the Washington Program. All I have heard is outrageously positive comments. It is apparently good at building students’ “credentials and their professional networks,” and networking is a big reason why I decided to join.

Now that you know the basics about the Washington Program, enough with the boring stuff. Let me talk about the prospects of living in the city of Washington.

From memory, this will be my fourth time to live in DC. The first time was for a month or two when I was really young (around age 5 or 6 I think), and my father was running for congressional office at the time; the second was when I was a junior in high school as U.S. Senate Page for Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi which lasted for a semester; and the third was when I was an intern for Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi this past summer. Reflecting back on these three moments, I cannot say that this fourth time is a new adventure in my life; instead, it is like a new chapter of my existing adventures in the city of Washington DC. But, this chapter might be the most beneficial yet.

Every time I have lived in DC, it has made a lasting impact on my life in some significant way; however, the second has been the most monumental so far. Due to a full day-to-day work load and the arduous page school, my semester as a U.S. Senate Page really forced me to learn how to be an independent individual, which is a daunting task at age 16. Not only that, but the sheer environment and opportunities of being a Page sparked an ambition in me to go above and beyond the expectations bestowed on me, and this ambition has resided in me at some level ever since.

After reflecting on the impacts DC has made on my life, it makes me wonder how my returning will impact me this time around. Again, I think this time can me as monumental as my Page experience was, but my Page experience changed who I was - how I operated, how I dealt with things, how I thought. But, I think this new chapter will change me in a different aspect than that of my Page experience. The new chapter will not change who I am; instead, it has the potential to essentially pave the way of my coming future.

Let me explain. There are three fields I will most definitely end up working in after I graduate from college: startup companies, the financial sector, or politics. While a vast majority of my friends say I am going to be a politician, politics is actually the area I want to work in the least of the three. I want to work for a startup company the most, while my second choice is the financial sector. No matter which area I end up working in, Washington DC is about the most perfect place to nurture these three interests of mine all at the same time.

With the start of a new chapter, I need to set a goal myself. This goal should mature me at such a level where environments like Centre College cannot do. After taking a look at three potential work fields I will end up at, I believe Centre College nurtures the startup sector the least. I’m majoring in financial economics, so that checks off the financial sector. I feel like politics is present in every community, so there is not a lack of nourishment there. But, it seems as if there is a huge barrier in the startup sector. I have been involved in politics and finance at some level, but not with startups. Opportunities are not present with startups at Centre College, but I know this is not the case at DC. I know there is a vibrant community of startups in DC that I can take advantage of, so this should be my goal while I am here: build a network of people in the startup field.