Posted by Jeff Ignacio on September 28, 2007 under Business, Technology, Websites | 
Every once in awhile I will scour the web and blogs out there to see what is the latest and greatest in technology and business. Here are some of the most recent websites I have found and my thoughts on them.
KIVA.ORG
Kiva is a site where users can connect with and lend money to small businesses in the developing world. Loans can be as small as $25.00 up to the full amount requested. The money lent has a full loan cycle like a standard loan, but one major difference is that you will receive updates regarding how the business you sponsored is performing. Kiva is a unique website that creates a space for even the smallest investor to contribute to others with talent and ambition, but necessarily the starting ingredients.
MINT.COM
Mint is an online tool to help you organize your financial data by pulling in data from your online accounts into one central account. What is so great about Mint is that it automatically categorizes your transactions. The categorization is not exactly perfect, but you can relabel transactions yourself with a one time change or by setting a rule for particular transactions. The graph interface organizes your data into convenient pie charts for your visual appetite.
DOCSTOC.COM
DocStoc is an online library of business documents shared by its user community. Currently DocStoc is in a beta release, but you can get an invite by going to TechCrunch for an invitation code. This would be an excellent tool for entrepreneurs starting out. Forgetting scouring the web for templates, just go to DocStoc!
Posted by Jeff Ignacio on March 22, 2007 under Business, Technology |
Good lord it has been a while since I have blogged. I promise I will get back on track here!
Just Created My First Website
I have been busy recently trying to get a few companies launched. I even took some time to develop a site that isn’t so fantastic, but will get better. Right now it’s a pay-to-see service which has been generating a few sales (but nothing I can leave my dayjob for!). The site is www.suppliersdaily.com. I am actually in the works to reposition this site to a much better and higher use. I need programmers with major skills and an entrepreneurial appetite.
Project for 2007
Later this year my friend Charles and I are launching a website that’s far from your traditional ecommerce site (like my ghetto Poker Stash site), but more aligned to a community-user generated content site. I realize all of the major websites today are trying to reposition themselves into the new ‘Web 2.0’ craze, so why be left behind? The biggest sites today (Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo, Google, and Craigslist) seem to focus on connecting people and creating a ‘community’ so to speak. Stand alone websites where you show up and the site tries to SELL you everything on the planet (including sneakers for mice) will get you probably 30 seconds (if you’re lucky) or less of viewing time (I bet the advertisers are happy about that). I’m good on the first round of funding (namely my own pockets!) but I definitely foresee a need to raise a little more capital to implement some advanced features. If this thing takes off I might need some investors =D
Real Estate
This market is tighter than the bond between Shaq and Kobe (erm, wait?). I am not talking about residential, but I am talking the commercial real estate market. I wrote an offer for the Urban Outfitter property in Santa Barbara for $7.2M. Turns out a local beat us at $7.35M. That’s the way the cookie crumbles. Not that any of you care, but cap rates in the industry are still sub-6%. What the hell does that mean you say??? A cap rate determines the price of the property. So if the rent for the year is at $130,000 and the expenses are $30,000 you will have a NET income of $100,000 (rent minus expenses). Then you capitalize the income by a ‘cap rate’, meaning you take the $100,000 and divide it by the cap rate. So at a 6% cap (hard to find today) you will have $100,000 divided by 0.06 and your property is worth about $1,650,000. BORING I KNOW.
My buddy Rohit just bought a lot in Texas. He’s planning to hold onto the house for a year, then tear it down and building 2 duplexes. Haven’t heard where he’ll come out on this deal, but he says it’ll be about $200,000. NOT BAD EH?
Bruins
My BRUINS need to destroy Pitt and get to the ELITE EIGHT. I’ll die if they lose.
Newest Thingamabobber For Your Website
Forgive me, but I took this off of Tech Crunch’s blog (I know, I’m a biter). Check out Jatrx. You can make phone calls to a person, company or whatever FROM YOUR WEBSITE! That’s insane I tell you. Check it out, I put it on my own blog www.jeffignacio.com.
Posted by Jeff Ignacio on January 25, 2007 under Business, Random Entries, Technology |
The last few days I have been on hiatus building my new website: WiiExcel.com. I am selling Nintendo Wiis over the web. Right now I am starting out with a small batch and the website is in made-by-Jeff mode, so don’t expect too much. My plan is to sell off the first few shipments and then build a much heavier duty site with more products in the future.
I’ve also started my new job at American Commercial Equities in Malibu. I think I’ll do really well here.
Also, if you’re into military weaponry… the military has just announced its newest weapon: the ray gun. It actually makes people FEEL like they’re catching on fire. It’s range is 500 yards (450 meters) and is nearly 17 times the range of existing non-lethal weapons.
