Idea - Automated Salad Creation Restaurant

Here's another business that I'd like to see become a reality.  Since I've been on Tim Ferris' Four Hour Body diet, I've found myself eating salads all the time (oh, and I've gotten my weight down to 175 and kept it there for a few months... down from 210 pounds of fatness at my peak of rotundness!).  The salad procurement works great when I'm at work (Amazon has great salad bars, at fantastic prices... small salad with fresh salmon only $6.55!), or in Santa Monica (California Monster Salads), but it's pretty hard to find a great salad when you've worked late and are driving home.  Usually I have to settle for grocery store salads (smashed into plastic containers, made hours ago), or go without.

I know it's hard-to-believe that a salad fast food store could make it -- our country just doesn't seem to want that to happen.  But, when I'm in the salad making line at one of the above, it just doesn't seem like a person is really needed to throw the stuff into the bowl and mix it up.  Rather, I could pick my salad, make ingredient modifications (at the store, or via web/app), and have the container'd salad ready for me on arrival (or even better, in an Amazon Locker-like pickup system, where it's kept cold and instantly available). 

The salad store would only need an employee to keep the ingredient machines full, and clean, etc.  And to handle the payment collection (or locker loading/ordering).  Seems like the cost structure could be quite different than other fast food stores, and would really drive an almost always available healthy food option.

That's it.  Someone, please go make it happen.

Stop criticizing yourself

A few weeks ago, I found myself nagging Karen (my wife) about spending money, and allowed it to escalate into a pretty big issue over the course of several weeks. Once it reached a head, it resolved itself pretty quickly (more on that in another post, about the need for partnership in relatonships... that realization has made a big impact recently). Along the way, though, I realized that I've been the one generating some of the really big outflows (investments in TeachStreet, buying and selling fun cars, etc) while she spend money on smaller things (clothing, shoes, etc). The point is that I could have just as easily pointed the finger at myself, and by criticizing her, I was really doing just that. I thought about that in two other contexts lately.

First, there was the article about "Are homophobes gay?" that made the rounds on the web. It seems increasingly common that those who are the most critical of other groups end up being members of those groups in some way. We've seen it with Ted Haggard and others. Anytime I see someone far out on the extremes, I wonder about their motivation? And, on a larger scale, I've often discussed with Karen, why do some people care so strongly about topics such as allowing gay people to marry? It truly doesn't impact them in any way. It just makes other people happy.

On a much smaller scale, I've been a member of many online and offline groups over the years. With online groups, inevitably rules crop up about who can post what, and how often. The other day, someone posted something self-promotional, and several people loudly popped up to shut down the atrocity. Then, a few days later, one of those people did exactly the same thing. When challenged, the answer was along the lines of 'turnabout is fair play'.

Seems like some consistent themes. That those who try to impose the rules want to be above the same rules. Or something like that. So, stop criticizing yourself, Dave.

Idea for Foursquare monetization

I was at an event last night and the entertainment was really good. Someone mentioned that they'd like to buy their music. But many of these acts are still selling physical CD's. It would be awesome if bands could make their music available on Foursquare at locations where they perform. Could make instant purchasing and sharing a reality, and make all of the venues music sellers.

Someone go make that happen please.

TeachStreet is Closing Down

Today we are happy to announce that we're joining the AmazonLocal team. Sadly, this means that we will be closing TeachStreet. When we opened our doors on April 21, 2008 we had grand aspirations, to create a place to help lifelong learners find great classes and teachers, empower teachers with robust tools to manage their teaching businesses, and enable schools to more effectively generate leads for their classes. Over the last few years we have succeeded in creating what we think is the world's largest selection of classes and courses, and one of the richest marketing toolsets for teachers and schools, big and small.

To our valued teachers, thank you for your support and being elemental in making TeachStreet something we can all be proud of. To our investors, thank you. You put your faith in us. We wish we had accomplished more, but know that we sincerely gave it our best. And your investment helped us grow as people, and as a team. We're forever grateful, and will strive to pay it forward. To our current and past employees, thank you. The last few years have been challenging, but so rewarding for having gotten to know, and grow with, one another. We hope you'll all look back on your TeachStreet days with some fond memories (and that the beer will help erase the other recollections).

And so it goes.

Onward!

How one teacher made a huge difference in my life

Clayton Leach - teacher at Schuylkill Valley High School

Most of us have that one teacher who really made a difference in our lives. Mine was Clayton Leach. He was my typing and accounting teacher at Schuylkill Valley High School, in the late 80s. In Internet terminology, he was the one teacher who applied adaptive learning to my educational experience (more on that later). He was also one of those people who always set the bar for what was possible much higher than where I wanted to comfortably put it, but where I had a feeling that I could reach, if I really gave it my all. He did that for many students who entered his classroom over the years.

I first met him in my typing class. Since I had been fiddling with computers for several years, I was already pretty good with QWERTY keyboard. He quickly realized that, and started giving more challenging assignments (numbers, characters, complicated letter types, etc.) He could have just taught me the same material, on the same schedule, as everyone else in the class, but that wasn't his style. He saw potential, and felt obligated to help it be attained.

I took his accounting class at about the same time. In retrospect, I have no idea why I'd take either of these classes. It was probably to take it easy, if I remember correctly, because 16-year-old Dave was pretty good at math and methodical tasks. But when I started, I quickly accelerated through the first several classes. Mr. Leach immediately took the same approach as in typing, and told me to do a chapter per class, when the rest of the class was spending a week on the same content. He quickly had me finish the entire first book, and proceed on to others. When I asked him if I could take it easy, at some point, he was upset with me! He challenged me to compete in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) regional and state contests, and I ended up winning one of them (regional, I think).
This approach to teaching is now framed as Adaptive Learning, with companies such as DreamBox Learning, Grockit and Knewton leading the way. But great teachers like Mr. Leach made it work before it had a 15-letter name. He saw potential in students where the students didn't recognize it in themselves, and he then made it appear. He did it through sheer will, encouragement, and love -- he wanted to see us achieve our fullest potential, and for many students, I believe that their lives are markedly better and fuller for having learned from him.

Q: So, how did this impact my life? A: In pretty much every possible way. Before Mr Leach's accounting class, I had been applying to school as an aerospace engineering undergrad (I have no idea how I picked that either :-) ); after his class, I enrolled as an Accounting major, and later became a CPA. I did that for several years, and then pursued my MBA at The Wharton School and made a career transition to product development at Amazon.com. I later spent several years working in the microfinance sector, help build the JibJab team, and eventually started my own venture-backed business (TeachStreet), where I spent the first few years doing the accounting and payroll, growing the team and business, and often emptying the trash cans.

Mr. Leach was one of those people who taught me much more than any single subject. He taught me to always do a lot more than the minimum, and that pretty much any opportunity is available, if I was willing to put in the hard work to achieve it. He taught me to do things that I enjoyed, and to have fun doing it (yes, his classes were fun). He reinforced the importance of friendship, and unwavering commitment and support. He was a truly great teacher, and I'll remember him always.

To honor Mr. Leach, I aspire to treat my co-workers and employees similarly, by setting high goals (that I know/believe they can achieve), providing assistance when needed, and operating with a hands-off approach that allows for mistakes. Everyone needs the room and support to realize their potential, but they also need a kick in the pants every once in awhile. I'm so appreciative of the kicks that he gave me; they made my life so much richer.

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This blog post is part of the Vittana "Make a Difference" blogger challenge. The contest invites bloggers from around the world to discuss various ways to make a difference in the world, as well as share stories on who or what has made a difference in their lives.

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Schuylkill Valley teacher Clayton Leach