We Are Blessed

Good Evening Everyone,

I wish you and your families peace tonight. Ah let me see, it has been nearly two months since I last updated this! So much for writing once a week. Ah well, I am going to try to be better about it from here (isn't that what I said last time?!). Okay, well here goes.... In my personal life: I am back at school, taking 18 credits, keeping busy with some freelance work for a venture capital firm, applying for new internships/jobs, working, starting a DECA club on campus, joining AIESIC International, and working toward my instrument rating (and I am doing better on my mileage this year than last!!)! Not to use all of that as an excuse, but it has been keeping me busy.

Ah, but I have some very intriguing news regarding the book! I have continued with the interviews and last week had the opportunity to interview Mr. Bill Smithers (who is the President of CBUSA - www.cbusa.us). Mr. Smithers has been an awesome resource in the past and offered a very unique perspective on several culture aspects on the "small company" side of things for the book. I am excited to share his perspective throughout the book, because in many ways, Bill thinks along the same lines as myself. His experience in the home building & buying group industries is unprecedented and it was great to see him again!

Okay, well before that, I was actually able to complete a variety of other interviews: Mr. V. Glenn Erickson - Former Vice President at JD Edwards & currently an Independent Marketer with the Trump Network, Franchiser, and entrepreneur. Mr. Erickson was kind enough to meet me for lunch on a very snowy afternoon in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. He shared some truly incredible experiences while working at Edwards, how he was able to motivate different teams and develop values within, what was, arguably the leading technology company of its time period. We also discussed America's future and the role in which culture will play in developing that future.

In the week before meeting Mr. Erickson, I was offered the opportunity to interview Mr. Richard Martinez, the President of Young Americans Bank in Denver, CO. Mr. Martinez provided incredible insight into the world of banking education, accounting, and entrepreneurship. The educational programs engineered by Young Americans will, in my opinion, are essential skillsets in building a stronger future America. I will be most happy to touch on the Entrepreneurship programs encouraged by Young Americans in the book and can't wait to explain in more detail how & why what these guys are doing is so incredible! Thank you so much Mr. Martinez!

Now, I must tell you about the interview I am most excited about: Mr. Martin St. George, Senior Vice President of Marketing at JetBlue Airways. Mr. St. George is a mover and shaker, he actively demonstrates the principles under which JetBlue has become so incredibly successful. Most notably, Mr. St. George said, "This is the easiest product in the world to market, everyone here is motivated to do their very best and they absolutely love their jobs." That is the kind of culture that I am seeking out, so thank you very very much to Mr. St. George and JetBlue for continuing to remind us why the very best companies are those that have developed the best corporate culture.

In one word, all of these interviews equate to one thing: passion. You see, at JetBlue, JD Edwards, Young Americans, CBUSA and I all have one thing in common: passion. The people at the helm are extremely passionate about what they are doing, as are the front-line employees providing excellent customer service day in and day out.... These companies perform well not because of their bottom line, or their investment strategies, but because their number one priority is finding the right people to share their passion for their work.

In addition to these interviews for the book - I have had the opportunity to meet two incredible people at Virgin America Airlines (for other reasons than the book), and I just wanted to quickly highlight how inspired I am by their passion, work ethic, and awesome sense of entrepreneurial & visionary development.

Thank you so much to all of those that have been so instrumental in the development of the book. As I continue to press on with the writing, I am simply in awe by the many accomplishments by these awesome people & organizations!

I wish God's blessings to you all, let us never forget how blessed we really are.... Thank you for reading. I wish you all the very best.

Matt

Snow in DEN! (EDITED TO INCLUDE CITATION)

Good Evening Everyone,

I'd like to start by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! Well it is snowing in Denver and crazy weather has been occurring all over the country. Delta and American's completion factor for the month of December was 92% and 89% respectively. Most of those cancelled flights were due to the snow storms up and down the eastern seaboard. Republic saw a total of 800 cancelled flights due to the snowstorm in the east, 700 of which were contract operations the remaining 100 were Frontier flights. That, combined with the ever increasing cost of oil ($90 for a barrel of crude as of today) means that Frontier will lose money from the month of December. You can appreciate that allow the snow is good for Denver, its not so good for Frontier. Next year will be very tough, but I am confident that we have never been in a better position to combat the challenges we face. (It has been brought to my attention that the sources behind this were not properly cited, much of the analysis has comes from Bryan Bedford & Republic Airways Inc. Other analysis is a compilation of knowledge through several things that I have read recently - the WSJ & Fox Business come to mind, thanks to all who contributed).

Well thats all for now - I wish you all blessings as the new year rolls around.

Matt

Writers Block

Good Evening Everyone,

As you are undoubtably aware it has been a while since I have updated this blog - I have been on the road a lot, working a lot and spending much time around family and friends. On that note, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I began the month in Cedar Rapids, Iowa - traveled back to San Francisco, Denver, Newport, Goodland and the Rocky mountains (skiing and snow!) - I believe I am missing one place, but my mind is blank.

Anyhow for the important things. About a month ago, at a severe moment of weakness I very seriously considered giving up this book, it seemed so crazy (and in many ways still does). But then I sat down and spoke to a few people (Andrea Grant - thank you) who really reminded me why I am writing it. The bottom line, I am continuing and working harder than ever to find interviews. Next week I am off to New York to interview the CFO of private equity at Blackstone, and a managing director at Protiviti (a division of Robert Half International), and hopefully VP of Marketing at JetBlue Airways (keep your fingers crossed for that one). The following week I am off to Orlando, where I will hopefully interview a representative from Disney and potentially meet some key figures in the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders). I am still working on a number of contacts - and hope to have updates from Frontier Airlines, LRS, and Marsico Funds soon!

Well thanks for staying tuned, we'll talked to you soon!

Matt

Rainy with a chance of Christmas

Well it must be Christmas time in San Francisco! Yup, the rain is here and I know its about as close to snow as I am going to get (which reminds me of the Colorado Christmas season). Anyway, I hope everyone had a safe and restful Thanksgiving. As with every year, I travelled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for Thanksgiving this year, where I was away from internet access and in a place where I could sleep late (much too late) and enjoy the company of my family. I am so blessed to have great family and friends, and Thanksgiving reminded me how grateful I need to be for that. Anyway, part of my reason for not writing last week was because I was without internet for most of the week, my excuse for not writing until now this week is much more feeble. I have been absolutely slammed with work. The good news is that some of that work translates to very good things for the book. As of right now, I have firmed up an interview with Young Americans Bank (for entrepreneurship development), JetBlue Airways, and Erin Gruwell (not to mention the already completed interviews). Additionally, I am hopeful that the following companies & people will return with a positive response: FedEx (Fred Smith), Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, LRS (Levi, Ray & Schoup), Southwest Airlines, Disney's Imagineering Department, Tom Marsico, and Erin Brockovich.

Okay - well thank you for your patients, I promise as soon as I know more I'll keep everyone updated.

Blessings and prayers with you as you venture forth into the holiday season.

Best,

Matt

Vegas Tonight

Tonight, I am sitting in the Las Vegas Airport (LAS), awaiting an Airbus that will carry me to somewhere far east of here. Adjacent to me is an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 that was just burning a great deal of jet-fuel (it smelled wonderful, put be back into memory of what flying is really like). This airport is decimate, its sad, empty, at the end of the day, it just seems gloomy and tired.

The good news is, I am back in the air - on the way to Chicago (ORD) from here. Now most of you will (for good reason), associate O'Hare with horrid weather delays, obnoxious numbers of holiday travelers, and just a not so nice place to be this time of year. I must be nuts to say this, but it has a certain place in my heart this time of year, it reminds me of my roots - heartland U.S., back when I was very very young taking my first flights (most of them on United, and often through Chicago), but its good :)

Well, with regard to the book, I'm going to be honest, I did not actually do anything to work on it today (sorry!!), I was swamped and have been in transit from them. Tomorrow, I will arrive into Cedar Rapids early and should have a good opportunity to work on the book.

Wish you all the best - safe and happy travels to you all, I'll talk to you soon.

Good Night

Matt

Good Evening Everyone,

I apologize for not writing on either Thursday or Friday nights. I have been very busy lately (ever feel like your incredibly busy, but you can't figure out what you've been busy with? Yeah thats me). Okay, well then - here goes.

Alright, so I began making contacts like crazy - just cold calling on Friday (unfortunately it was the Friday before Thanksgiving week, which means that almost everyone was away from their desk and I'm not optimistic about any responses until the first week of December). So here is where I am at: Made a call to a contact in the Entrepreneurship Development department at the Young Americans Bank. They have been very instrumental in influencing young entrepreneurship growth and development and I love the idea. They are revolutionary in that they don't feel like anyone is too young to be thinking about great new business ideas that can work to improve the world. I once had the opportunity to meet Sam Addoms (founder of Frontier Airlines, AKA one of my absolute favorite companies of all time - for personal reasons), yeah I'm still trying to get back in contact with him for the book - kicking myself for not keeping his contact info. Anyway, I then directed a call toward's Southwest Airlines in Texas, unfortunately they were closed so I'll try again on Monday. The remainder of my contacts are east coast based, so it was too late to get to them on Friday, so stay tuned for Monday.

Its the holiday week, many people are traveling - so I'll keep you posted, but I imagine most people just want to enjoy the week with their family. More power to you guys - everyone has been working very hard lately - enjoy.

I meanwhile will be trying to navigate my way back to Cedar Rapids, IA this week via Chicago :) Talk about a challenge - I must be nuts (for those of you that work in the airline industry - you know exactly why trying to fly from SFO-ORD-CID a day before thanksgiving on United & American is a tall order a best)!

Thanks everyone - I'll update soon when exciting things happen again.

FedEx - Flying the Graveyard Shift

Good Evening Everyone,

Well - let me start by explaining the title, I have been reading bios of inspirational companies, and one of them is Federal Express (FedEx). FedEx is unique in that it is one of the largest aircraft operators in the world, but one of the only that operates a HUGE majority at night (~80% to be exact). So, as I sit here writing at 2:34 AM, I am reminded of all of the FedEx pilots crossing the world tonight, it just seems right somehow.

Okay, then onto the book, today was very busy - I was practically going nonstop from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM tonight, then homework! But, at work today I had some extra time, so I started networking - here's the added list of companies I'm prospecting moving forward:

-Dick Levi (LRS)

-Fred De Luca (Subway)

-Frederick Smith (FedEx Founder)

-Capt. Sully Sullenberger (Capt. aboard US Airways 1549 - Hudson River crash)

-US Air Corp. (Doug Parker - former Finance Chief)

So, on a different but related note, I have good news in the possible contacts at Frontier Airlines/RJET. My mother met the flight attendant on Undercover Boss (the Frontier edition), and he was coming from a meeting with Ian Arthur - they have been incredibly swamped over at Frontier, but things may start settling down and we may have some possiblities moving forward.

Good night all, I'll have a more detailed report tomorrow!

Best,

Matt