Welcome to Chez Cliff!

Last week, Apple announced its new iPhone called the 3Gs.  It’s faster, more memory and every other cliche upgrade you can muster.  One big headache on the blogosophere is AT&Ts contract clause that states anyone wanting to upgrade to a newer iPhone must pay either $200 or $500 depending on which source you want to quote.

My iPhone is a year old already, which is hard to believe.  Single-handedly it surpasses the moniker of “smart phone” and has become my butler, my secretary, my guide.  With that being said, I’m glad I have no desire to upgrade to the 3Gs.

I’ve never been the type that must have the latest, greatest in technology.  Actually these technological advances largely gone unnoticed simply because I’m convinced version 1 of anything is just a glorified “Beta” version.  When the iPhone was released, I didn’t have an urge to buy it simply because I felt the technology was still in it’s infant stage.  With the release of 2.0, the technology had emerged and Apple seemed to have it’s act together.

So while the iPhone may be the fastest download capable mobile device, AT&T’s network won’t support it.  So why have it?  I don’t do MMS or whatever it’s called.  So the only real difference I can see between my current iPhone and the new iPhone is the magnet (for their compass) and the 3 mega-pixel camera.

This probably means I won’t qualify as an Apple fan-boy, which is fine by me.  Next year when the contract does expire, I’m sure Apple will be releasing a newer iPhone, with more gadgets and with any luck be open to any carrier out there.

Over 60 Properties are going up for auction June 20th.  Click here for more information.

A few weeks ago, I was having a correspondence with one of my customers regarding the new version 2.0.

His last question to me:  Are you guys hiring?

I thought that was a good sign.

Sometimes I could kick myself.

Studying the results from this last weekend, France is my number three customer.  Maybe it’s the pretty interface or the fact that I’m such a lovable guy but something has inspired the Frenchies to download the free app.

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me: we need the site in various languages.  Now.

Inside of iTunes, there’s a tab that allows you to post your applications description in various languages.  English, French, German, Japanese . . . only a handful of languages are allowed.  Swahili is not one of them.  When someone from a french speaking country, like France for instance, visits iTunes they can see the application message written in French.

Translating the information into French serves two of my three biggest customers: Frenchies and Canadians.

Just be translating the text, results of downloads has increased.  It’s not blowing any download-records but it’s steady.  Which is all that I need.

I think what we’re going to do now is expand out into other languages, both within the application and with additional websites.  iTunes supports currencies from around the world; the least I can do is meet the customer half way.

To see it for yourself, click here:  http://www.nestvestapp.com/fr/

No, I still don’t like Microsoft.  But one thing most everyone has in common is they have Excel on their computers.

Last week I talked briefly about the Quality checks.  Pain.

During the construction of Version 1.0, we had a large problem.  The amortization tables were not producing the correct values.  The programmers insisted that the equation was written correctly.

From this point, I had to figure out what happened.  Either the equation was faulty or the programmers made a mistake and I had to show them where.  Pretty tough considering I didn’t have access to the raw code.

I’ll spare you the long, drawn out process of how I found the problem.  Needless to say, a parenthesis was out of place.  I notified the programmers, who adjusted it and suddenly everything worked.  But finding this error took the better part of a week.

With Version 2.0 coming out, we were adding a bunch more calculations to the application.  Checking every single digit would drive me mentally insane.  And with calculations depending on calculations you can’t even see, finding a bug would be nearly impossible.

As scary as it sounds, I put Microsoft to work.  I created an enormous Excel spreadsheet which housed all the calculations in it.  It works the same way as the program, whereas you enter two numbers and it calculates the rest.  And because Excel automatically updates, you change one number and all the calculations update.  Just like our program.

When I sent along the specification for Version 2.0, I also sent the spreadsheet with the note “Please test all calculations against the attached spreadsheet.  You’re required to run three sets of different numbers prior to sending me the application for testing.  If the numbers do not match, don’t send me the application until they do.  If I find the numbers don’t match during my testing, testing will stop and I’ll send the application back to you with a note to fix it.”

Wouldn’t you know it?  The numbers all work like they should.  Much nicer.

I never gave much thought to Peer Groups.  People find them of great benefit, learning and sharing.  So the fact that I never gave much thought to these groups is not a sign that I’m selfish or egotistical.  My thinking has always been to get the business up and running, not finding a support group.

My life seems to be about circles.  When I’m truly ready for something, people appear in my circle to help me achieve whatever it is that I want.  In my core, I try to have as positive of an impact on the people around me as I possibly can.  There’s that karma balance I always try to achieve.  In short, give and take.

You could imagine my surprise when a representative of an CEO peer group called me up, wanting to interview me.

I’m always suspicious of these groups wanting me to join.  Most times, I wave them off.  But when the caller said that I was recommended by a mutual friend, one whom I respect deeply, it gave me an opportunity to verify his claim.  Which I did and the group is legit.

I’ll give you a little bit about the group.

The CEOs meet once a month for a four hour session.  From there, groups meet based on their companies performance.  Over $10M in one group, over $2M in another and then incubators which is my classification.  You’re encouraged to bring questions or challenges your company faces.  Confidentiality is enforced via NDA’s.

Not surprisingly I aced the interview and the next Peer meeting is within the next few weeks.  I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.