[ScottFree]

Never skip the training..........
 
It's the difference between a gifted 100 metre sprinter and an olympic qualifier.

Where would Bryan Mills be if he hadn't skipped the training of the skills he had acquired over a very long career.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[artur9]

   
This. You nailed it.
 
I've mentioned this many times to coworkers that just don't get my obsession. They assume that I must have perfect hearing. 

My hearing is certifiably defective.  A curse I gave to my son.
 
I can still hear some differences amongst gear.  Staging and imaging being the easiest.  'Cause I know what to listen for.
 
And because my hearing is so bad I am more sensitive to things like phase problems (nails on a chalkboard), lack of dynamics (sound gets mushy without it) and transient speed (mushiness again).
 
These things I've learned by listening to gear trying to understand why I could not hear what I heard from the musician on the street corner or the concert hall.

 

[auvgeek]

  First and foremost, I’m sure you may be thinking, “I can’t go two years without a salary, no way, no how.”
 
But how true is this?
 
What if you started the company in your spare time, while you maintained your regular job? That’s what I did when I started Schiit. I stayed at Centric while Schiit was ramping up.
 
Yes, I know, that’s a ton of time. During the Centric/Schiit start-up phase, I was easily working 80 hours a week. Work eats your life. You won’t see your kids. That’s a pitfall—but it’s also an inherent part of trading time for money. How bad do you want it? That’ll always be a key question, no matter how you end up going about starting your own business.
 

Hey Jason,
 
Just wanted to ask a question in reference to the quoted section above: do you have any advice for dealing with non-compete clauses? Not so much a problem in California, but it definitely can be an issue elsewhere. Obviously, many people build up skills and contacts in the corporate world with the goal of eventually taking those skills to start their own business. It can be hard/impossible to continue working a day job while starting a company on the side in the same field. I understand that if you want it badly enough, you'll just figure it out, but I'm curious if you have any specific thoughts/advice on that issue.
 
PS. I'm in my mid-20s, currently getting my doctorate in robotics, and I definitely plan/hope to start my own company within the next ten years. I have gotten so much out of this book, and I especially enjoyed this latest chapter.

 

[Jason Stoddard]

  Hey Jason,
 
Just wanted to ask a question in reference to the quoted section above: do you have any advice for dealing with non-compete clauses? Not so much a problem in California, but it definitely can be an issue elsewhere. Obviously, many people build up skills and contacts in the corporate world with the goal of eventually taking those skills to start their own business. It can be hard/impossible to continue working a day job while starting a company on the side in the same field. I understand that if you want it badly enough, you'll just figure it out, but I'm curious if you have any specific thoughts/advice on that issue.
 
PS. I'm in my mid-20s, currently getting my doctorate in robotics, and I definitely plan/hope to start my own company within the next ten years. I have gotten so much out of this book, and I especially enjoyed this latest chapter.

I (luckily) don't have any experience with noncompetes. I've only had two "corporate" jobs in my life, and neither had a binding noncompete. Mike (Baldr) might know more about this than me, but he may not...he's also been averse to typical corporate gigs. I only have anecdotal evidence which suggests that many noncompetes are hard to enforce.
 
(However, if Schiit was bought by someone like, say, Harman, and we ended up with noncompetes, you better believe we'd be paying attention to them, because a billion-dollar entity will definitely enforce their noncompetes as vigorously as they can. And before you panic, there are no plans for this, just citing an example of a large company making directly analogous gear.)
 
It also bears mentioning: take a close look at the documents you're signing when you get a new job! Not all companies are as enlightened as Schiit, or as supportive of their employees. You could find that everything you're working on is technically their property, both in and out of work. When I started at Sumo, I made it clear that I had a speaker company on the side, and didn't want anything I did there part of, or property of, Sumo, nor was I going to kill the company to work for Sumo. That caveat was noted on my intake documents.
 
(Not that Odeon ever went anywhere, ha!)

 

[FrivolsListener]

  First - you took hekeli's comment totally out of context.  He was not disparaging the filter, he was talking about its marketability.
 
Second - most people cannot hear any difference between DACs, because they are not trained listeners.  It's not a genetic ability per se (although there may be some aspect of better or worse hearing apparaus) - rather it is almost entirely due to training, practice and experience.
 
Well over 90% of people will not know what we are talking about, with regards to sound quality more subtle than turning bass and treble knobs to 10.
 
Of the remaining people, 90% of those only think about sound quality in terms of bass-midrange-treble.  They have no idea of imaging, room sound, attack-sustain-decay, preservation of original balance, instrumental timbre.
 
You have to be an audiophile, audio engineer, or musician to notice any of those things.  Only those people will benefit from the Multibit DACs.

 
Your point is well taken, but, yes, the filter in isolation is only part of the picture.   Nonetheless, it is most of the "secret sauce" that separates Schiit from other bullsh*t.  Anyone else can build quality gear using the best components, if they so choose.  But Schiit delivered that, *and* the filter.
 
The other thing is, I'm not "trained" in any sense of the word.  I certainly lack the vocabulary to describe what I'm hearing in what passages of music.  That doesn't stop me from hearing it.  I just hear the difference.
 
What I am, however, is an enthusiast who can hear the difference.  I know just enough about electronics to be dangerous, and just enough about music to provoke snickers from musicians.  Yet I hear it.
 
But, in fairness, I apologize to @hekeli -- nothing was meant in malice.
 
Peace, all!

 

[FrivolsListener]

  It also bears mentioning: take a close look at the documents you're signing when you get a new job! Not all companies are as enlightened as Schiit,

 
I have turned down positions because of the nocompete clause.   I've taken others because there was no overlap between my interests and theirs, and they had no standing.
 
I also had one company that tried to get me to sign a nocompete long after I was working there.  After telling HR that I'd have to run it past my attorney before I would sign anything, the issue was quietly dropped.

 

[jcx]

Working for a big company can be a valuable experience in the right position, the right company - mentoring, exposure to a good "process", a few complete product development and release cycles will give you valuable skills, perspective - big companies will have many product starts that fail internally - and you still get paid.
 
But you can be pigeon-holed, exploited for a narrow skill while your education is still relevant, this is probably the most likely today with a undergrad (software?) engineering position, companies needing technical PhDs should want to use you more effectively (and everyone with the experience of hiring them already knows undergrad hardware engineers are useless fresh out of school.)

 

[FrivolsListener]

   
Ummm... pardon me, but, uh, who else comes to Head-fi?

 
Um, me?
 
I decided to get an account because I was reading Head-fi and trying to separate the signal from the noise.  I figured maybe I had something worthwhile to say, so I'd sign on in case the moment happened.

 

[jacal01]

  My hearing is certifiably defective.  A curse I gave to my son.
 
I can still hear some differences amongst gear.  Staging and imaging being the easiest.  'Cause I know what to listen for.
 
And because my hearing is so bad I am more sensitive to things like phase problems (nails on a chalkboard), lack of dynamics (sound gets mushy without it) and transient speed (mushiness again).
 
These things I've learned by listening to gear trying to understand why I could not hear what I heard from the musician on the street corner or the concert hall.

 
You know it once you hear it.  And once you know the difference, you can start naming it and attributing the causes.
 
No substitute for exposure.  Ignorance is bliss, and like innocence, once lost... 
 
But time is priceless.  What's your life worth?  So by all means, train yourself for quality.

 

[valiant66]

 

Ummm... pardon me, but, uh, who else comes to Head-fi?

Um, me?

I decided to get an account because I was reading Head-fi and trying to separate the signal from the noise.  I figured maybe I had something worthwhile to say, so I'd sign on in case the moment happened.

Sorry, my friend, you're part of the club now… welcome to audiophilia!

 

[FrivolsListener]

   
Try what? Schieet? I think I've said several times that I own Gumby (which I got after trying out and liking Bimby), which I preferred to Chords 2Qute - but as we know that's not a DAVE.. I'd like to see Mike and Rob do a deathmatch on who's got the better design.. 

 
Good!  Glad it meets your standards.  However, given the Schiit stance on talking schiit about others, I doubt they'd participate in a deathmatch.  Let someone else do the deathmatch with their equipment, though, maybe.

 

[bigro]

  2016, Chapter 2: What To Do While Waiting for Ragnarok
(or, Alternate Strategies for Creating Your Own Well-Capitalized Company)
 

 
 
On the Financing part-

 
I know A few people who have built successful businesses while working "normal jobs" and I have helped with different aspects.

A Few Self Financed and grew slowly. I Know a few who also had some failed businesses (me being part of one) . At least from the Self financed Part I can say that it can force you to grow slow but if you do fail it is hard enough to concede defeat. I could not imagine then having to come to the realization that you have tens of thousands of Dollars in loans and/or credit card debt to deal with now. Or ...Or yes It makes me stutter. you just took a Heloc out on your house and now you have to deal with that. At least for us when we Shut it Down. It was find a Bottle to hide in, wake up the next morning, lick your wounds, Nurse your hangover and move on. I don't like Credit cards Much so luckily the temptation was not there to dig a deep whole that we could not crawl out of. 
 
True stuff

• It’s not for everyone.
• It’s difficult.
• It can eat your life.
•  

Yes, Yes and Yes . We drove all over the state talking to potential clients, worked early and late and I still had a 70 mile commute each way to work and back. And deliveires had to be made if it was snowing or raining or a hurricane was predicted to come by.
 
 
Pitfalls-
 
1.Your first product doesn’t take off at all.
2.The product doesn’t take off as fast as you hoped.
3.You fall prey to the unexpected.
 
I would Say our Downfall was A combo of Number 1 and 2 aaaaaand 3. The Driving force behind this Grand plan was the Now wife was not able to find a permanent Job after everyone did their 2008 Lay offs. After numerous contracts as a Graphic designer that ended she was fed up. We spend a lot of time at the local farmers market and shops and she wanted to try to get into food. Basically The concept was to Make Organic Meals that were not bland or out of a can. She has a Knack for this. The goal was Mostly Vegetarian but also catering to those on the gluten free program. At first we had the issue with number one. How to do you get people to try your food when you are not in a little booth at Costco? Very Hard. Next best thing is to package up and just leave them with people. Boy tahts expensive. you cant just leave a little taste you needed to leave a small portion so they at least took you seriously.
 
Then there was Number 2 . We had some stores pick up the products and they were selling well for a unknown company. But not enough had picked us up and not quick enough. We were not even breaking even. it would have cost less for her to just stay home. All Unsold Products if we could not eat it fast enough was trash. Really just throwing it down the drain. And On top of that Some stores paid after the fact so you could go a week or two before you saw a check.
 
Then Number 3 . We were bleeding some money but that was expected at least int he beginning and it was tolerable. We ate like Broke college kids and ate all the unsold products we could. Until Regulations Kicked us in the face. We were told the state required us to cook all foods in a commercial kitchen if being sold or we could be fined. Fine I said We will convert our kitchen.... Nope, do not pass go, do not not collect $200 if you attempt you will enter the Poor House. Even doing all the work myself and buying used appliances it was a minimum of $10,000 was what we figured. We Got creative. Some friends owned a Bakery and let us use their kitchen, but bakeries have bare minimums especially theirs because they baked everything in a wood fired oven. So we tried to rent a Kitchen. This Killed us. Then to sell in some bigger stores you needed insurance, this killed us again. Our losses piled up so quick that within 2 months of starting to rent a space the white Flag was waving. A side note the Kitchen we were renting was no Cleaner than ours. We had to scrub the place down every time just so it was acceptable.
 
 
One Experiment Down and My wheels are turning and I probably will try to get something off the ground soon. Something we both like and can work on at home without having to pay for some one elses mess of a building. I am doing research on regulations first as that's what shot us in the foreheads the last go around. I will not do anything with perishable products and the Internet means you do not really need a brick and mortar retail space to start with or have to beg people to stuff a spoon full of food in their mouth and hope they don't spit it back out on your shoe.
 
The plan Is to get a few small products built and fine tuned to get an idea of cost and time as well as work out any kinks in manufacturing and design. Having The Graphic /Web Designer Wife Is nice. She can make the website look pretty and functional. Once we Finalize our first few products, I plan to build a few pieces of each product to have on hand and in boxes ready to ship. But I will keep only a few pieces in stock during the first stages so the cost of entry is fairly low. Non Perishable products are nice because people will not get sick if not used 3 days from now.  Once we get the foundation built then the larger more expensive concepts can slowly get worked on.  The Starting small and working your way up concept is definitely a borrowed idea from Schiit. The other Concept borrowed is quality products at a realistic price, and No its not an audio company. I am no Engineer. I can fix, diagnose, and solder electronics. Design and Engineering Nope.
 
 
Jason's Plan for the Marketing book could not have come at a better time. Of all in this past thread the biggest thing takeaway is.  If You Want To Do Something, Do Something. 
 
 

 

[Jason Stoddard]

   
 
On the Financing part-
 
I know A few people who have built successful businesses while working "normal jobs" and I have helped with different aspects.
A Few Self Financed and grew slowly. I Know a few who also had some failed businesses (me being part of one) . At least from the Self financed Part I can say that it can force you to grow slow but if you do fail it is hard enough to concede defeat. I could not imagine then having to come to the realization that you have tens of thousands of Dollars in loans and/or credit card debt to deal with now. Or ...Or yes It makes me stutter. you just took a Heloc out on your house and now you have to deal with that. At least for us when we Shut it Down. It was find a Bottle to hide in, wake up the next morning, lick your wounds, Nurse your hangover and move on. I don't like Credit cards Much so luckily the temptation was not there to dig a deep whole that we could not crawl out of. 
 
True stuff

• It’s not for everyone.
• It’s difficult.
• It can eat your life.
•  

Yes, Yes and Yes . We drove all over the state talking to potential clients, worked early and late and I still had a 70 mile commute each way to work and back. And deliveires had to be made if it was snowing or raining or a hurricane was predicted to come by.
 
 
Pitfalls-
 
1.Your first product doesn’t take off at all.
2.The product doesn’t take off as fast as you hoped.
3.You fall prey to the unexpected.
 
I would Say our Downfall was A combo of Number 1 and 2 aaaaaand 3. The Driving force behind this Grand plan was the Now wife was not able to find a permanent Job after everyone did their 2008 Lay offs. After numerous contracts as a Graphic designer that ended she was fed up. We spend a lot of time at the local farmers market and shops and she wanted to try to get into food. Basically The concept was to Make Organic Meals that were not bland or out of a can. She has a Knack for this. The goal was Mostly Vegetarian but also catering to those on the gluten free program. At first we had the issue with number one. How to do you get people to try your food when you are not in a little booth at Costco? Very Hard. Next best thing is to package up and just leave them with people. Boy tahts expensive. you cant just leave a little taste you needed to leave a small portion so they at least took you seriously.
 
Then there was Number 2 . We had some stores pick up the products and they were selling well for a unknown company. But not enough had picked us up and not quick enough. We were not even breaking even. it would have cost less for her to just stay home. All Unsold Products if we could not eat it fast enough was trash. Really just throwing it down the drain. And On top of that Some stores paid after the fact so you could go a week or two before you saw a check.
 
Then Number 3 . We were bleeding some money but that was expected at least int he beginning and it was tolerable. We ate like Broke college kids and ate all the unsold products we could. Until Regulations Kicked us in the face. We were told the state required us to cook all foods in a commercial kitchen if being sold or we could be fined. Fine I said We will convert our kitchen.... Nope, do not pass go, do not not collect $200 if you attempt you will enter the Poor House. Even doing all the work myself and buying used appliances it was a minimum of $10,000 was what we figured. We Got creative. Some friends owned a Bakery and let us use their kitchen, but bakeries have bare minimums especially theirs because they baked everything in a wood fired oven. So we tried to rent a Kitchen. This Killed us. Then to sell in some bigger stores you needed insurance, this killed us again. Our losses piled up so quick that within 2 months of starting to rent a space the white Flag was waving. A side note the Kitchen we were renting was no Cleaner than ours. We had to scrub the place down every time just so it was acceptable.
 
One Experiment Down and My wheels are turning and I probably will try to get something off the ground soon. Something we both like and can work on at home without having to pay for some one elses mess of a building. I am doing research on regulations first as that's what shot us in the foreheads the last go around. I will not do anything with perishable products and the Internet means you do not really need a brick and mortar retail space to start with or have to beg people to stuff a spoon full of food in their mouth and hope they don't spit it back out on your shoe.
 
The plan Is to get a few small products built and fine tuned to get an idea of cost and time as well as work out any kinks in manufacturing and design. Having The Graphic /Web Designer Wife Is nice. She can make the website look pretty and functional. Once we Finalize our first few products, I plan to build a few pieces of each product to have on hand and in boxes ready to ship. But I will keep only a few pieces in stock during the first stages so the cost of entry is fairly low. Non Perishable products are nice because people will not get sick if not used 3 days from now.  Once we get the foundation built then the larger more expensive concepts can slowly get worked on.  The Starting small and working your way up concept is definitely a borrowed idea from Schiit. The other Concept borrowed is quality products at a realistic price, and No its not an audio company. I am no Engineer. I can fix, diagnose, and solder electronics. Design and Engineering Nope.
 
Jason's Plan for the Marketing book could not have come at a better time. Of all in this past thread the biggest thing takeaway is.  If You Want To Do Something, Do Something. 

 
Much respect. To have one business tank, then go back into it...when Odeon died, I swore I'd never start another business. I was really bitter. It was a huge surprise when life threw me into a situation where I had to start another business, pronto.
 
And food? Holy moly. Perishables? Aieeeeeee, run! I know it can be a good business--hell, it can be a great business (Centric does a ton of work for UNFI companies, like Albert's Organics, so we know the space really well) but it ain't for me. At least partially because you're dependent on distribution. All my blather about the wonders of direct sale doesn't do much if you're selling product that can't sit on a shelf for weeks or months. Food is a different ballgame. You need distribution. You need stores.
 
And when you have stores, you have games. I think I mentioned one of our clients in a previous marketing chapter, who was ordered to do a "zero-price promotion" by the large chain they were in, because their sales per square foot didn't meet the store's goals. You get one guess who gets to bear the cost of the "zero price." Yeah. There you go. 
 
And when you're in food, you have regulation. Organic stuff is particularly fun, since not only do ALL of the ingredients have to be organic, the kitchen has to be certified as well. That bit another Centric client in the butt. But that wasn't as bad as his other product, which the FDA decided was a "medical device." Having that happen is about as fun as you think it is (that is, a bit like having a half-dozen root canals done...by TSA employees...in public at Denver International.)
 
And I can go on and on...another Centric client does nothing but food labeling--the Nutrition Facts, claims vetting, etc. Yes, you read that right. There is an entire business built on doing nothing but that. Not packaging, not design, not marketing....just making sure the labels are kosher (pun kinda intended.) It's not a small business, either. And congrats, the standards on Nutrition Facts are about the change. 
 
So, yeah, if I was to add something to the chapter above, it would be, "Get familiar with the regulations regarding your chosen field/product/service." Because they are a big part of the "unexpected" in #3. And they really can bite you in the rear end.
 
Good luck on the new venture!

 

[tonykaz]

Going into business is a huge mistake ! 

 

Successful owners have been owning their own business since childhood, they've been apprenticing for decades, most of their early ventures ended in failure. By the time they're 50 or so they've learned how to avoid the mistakes ( the hard way ). They never could work for others ( for any length of time ), they've lived the life of risk taking, they're prepared to grasp (pounce on) fleeting opportunities. As they discover a wide and profitable success their competitive peers will join the frey.  

 

A brave hopeful admires the success of his neighbor, the business owner, and pines for it, thinking he has the skill, education, talent plus some cash to invest, maybe even a clever product or service idea.  He's a smart guy, he can do it.

 

But, he can't ! , he's lived the sheltered life of a Corporate. 

 

Every field of endeavor has Stoddards, Chord's Franks, Igor Levin.  It took these guys 4 to 5 decades to sharpen their skill sets.  

 

A guy breaking out might get a table at a Flea Market to try his hand but even that has it's competition. 

 

If a person hasn't spent his life scratching out an income he'll be in no position to compete with the guys that have.

 

Tony in New Hampshire ( soon to be home again) 

 

[jimmers]

 

Going into business is a huge mistake ! 

 

Successful owners have been owning their own business since childhood, they've been apprenticing for decades, ....

For me going into business would be a mistake.
 
 
Apropros the rest of your post:
 
Roy Gandy of Rega was a technical writer at Ford motor company before he started Rega, his only experience was as an audio hobbyist of a few years experience.
Rega is still going 40+ years later, without advertising - like Schiit (until recently); their growth was a lot slower than Schiit - but they started decades before the internet.