The power of passion

Trying to kick off a start-up is crazy. I knew this before jumping in but it took a while before I found something I really truly and categorically wanted to do ... the type of stuff you sneak out of bed late at night to work on or wake up in the morning thinking about. It is wild, stressful, exhausting ... the only way to make it work is to believe in it otherwise there's no way you can keep going. I've passed on many great ideas and opportunities that I was convinced were going to make it but it just wasn't turning my crank.

I saw this kind of passion and excitement Saturday night at the Senators hockey game against Buffalo (beat them 4 to 1!). I saw it in the players but especially from the crowd. I saw it in my oldest daughters who were jumping for joy after a great goal. The excitement was so raw and honest it even caught the attention of the camera man who ended up capturing the moment. They ended up on the live broadcast and in the news!! If you saw two sweet girls with ringlets, faces painted and sens jerseys bouncing up and down just behind the Sens bench ... those were mine. How much more exciting can it get!! Oh yeah we got a few pucks and my brother in law got a signed hockey stick from Ray Emery.

Fortunately, our escapade was as a result of a Molson Canadian contest my brother in law won at Local Heroes in Kanata. The prize included a return limo to the game which was pretty cool too!! VIP all the way baby!! For most of the other pore saps, it cost them a bundle ... hundreds of dollars in many cases. It is unbelievable how many pay stupids amounts of money to be there ... but when the main lights go down and are replaced by spotlights and the crowd is getting ready for the team to come out or in the last ten seconds of the anthem when the crowd goes crazy ... there is nowhere else you want to be. You forget everything else and get caught up in the excitement ... it is worth it!

So what does this have to do with start-ups and cool stuff? Listening to the coverage before and after the game, you realize that the passion of being at the game does not translate to most professional broadcasts. There are lots of smart people talking about the technical aspects of the game but most are missing the raw emotion present in the people at the game or even watching it on t.v. Earcandy.fm (no website yet ... hang in there) will aim at giving the people a voice so that the raw thoughts and emotions come through. When you experience what we will create, I think you might find it unpolished but extremely engaging and hopefully addictive.

BTW, my brother from another mother, Rolly "Rokpig" Renaud has just kicked of his own blog. Check it out and give him some words of encouragement ... he is very shy!

http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/rokpig/46410

I have a few cool things to share with you but I'll save them for the friday post so please check it out later in the week. Gotta go make some money.

Cheers,

Allan Isfan
Engineer with an Irong Ring (and two new NHL game pucks)