Every day I sit in my office and this photo is there. The picture is of Tim McGovern, Nathaniel Saylor and myself at the top of a mountain where we always hiked and climbed in college. Inside the frame I added a fortune I got from a Chinese restaurant a few years ago that I think fits quite well. It reads “Life always gets harder near the summit”.

I have a pretty good life, but that does not mean that there are not challenges. I work hard to make myself and others around me successful, and that is why I love this photo so much. Not only does it remind me of my friend Tim who died in Iraq 4 years ago… but it is a source of inspiration to keep on striving to be the best. To not let work get in the way of friendship, love or life. That hard work means you are doing something that matters in some way. And that you never know when it all might end.

Tell someone you love them today. Do something that you love today. And remember those who gave it all so we can do these things everyday.Similar Posts:

• I Work Hard Because I Play Hard
• Tim McGovern – One Year Anniversary, RIP
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Southern Startup Hospitality from chris mcintyre on Vimeo.

This is my presentation about my involvement in the Jumpstart Foundry, as well as why I believe in the Southern Startup Hospitality that exists in Nashville. From the Jumpstart Foundry Investor Day 2011.

Open your rolodex. Open your laptop. Open your checkbook.

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On August 25th, 2011, the start-up accelerator I have spent the better part of the last year planning and working with is having their grand finale, the Jumpstart Foundry 2011 Investor Day! 6 companies were chosen and given 14 weeks, $15,000 and a hand picked group of 60 Nashville mentors (who are rock stars in their own right) to build their companies. Would you like to watch this awesome bunch of start-ups launch their companies right here in Nashville? Signup today to attend the Investor Day (limited seating, sign up fast)!

What can you expect to see? Well, I don’t want to give too much away (you can read a bit about the companies here), but let me tell you – this is an amazing bunch of entrepreneurs! We took submissions from companies all around the world to come to Nashville and work with the JSF. Over 100 applicants, 8 countries and 25 cities applied! It was hard to whittle down the list, for sure. Lots of reading, exchanging 100′s of emails, flying around for meetings, skype meetings, in person meetings, and lots of internal debate. Needless to say, I am absolutely amazed by the companies we chose and how far they have come in the last 13 weeks.

The JSF is in it’s second year, and last years start-ups are doing amazing things! Check out some of the following 2010 companies if you don’t believe me: Bizen, SourceYourCity and SplitSecnd (see them all here). This is what I consider to be a historic event for Nashville – 6 start-ups exploding out of an intense accelerator program, primed for investment!

Don’t miss your chance to attend Investor Day, get your name on the list today! RSVP Here.

As a final note, if you are a technologist, startup or entrepreneur looking for a way to accelerate your company, you should check out the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. If you are on the brink of a great startup idea and think the 2012 Jumpstart Foundry accelerator might be right for you – we will start accepting applications soon. Hone your presentation now!Similar Posts:

• Southern Startup Hospitality – My Pitch for Nashville at the 2011 Jumpstart Foundry Investor Day
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• Leaving San Francisco > Photos from the Going Away Party

I had the opportunity to sit with Nashville great Mark Montgomery yesterday for a couple of hours and exchange life stories. For as interesting as he is (read: very), what was most interesting was his straight forward approach to getting the info he wanted/needed from the conversation. An interesting example of this, and the reason for this blog post, was because of a very pointed question he asked…

“As an investor, if I was looking at your company to invest in and saw all the things you were involved in outside of that company, that would scare me. How do you get away with all of it, and why?

My answer was simple: “I take my work life as serious as I take my personal life“. At first he looked at me like I was a little full of crap, but then I went on to explain.

Loving What You Do

Most of us have hobbies or things we LOVE to do: gardening, biking, playing music, mentoring, volunteering, mountain climbing… you name it. Because we love these things, and because (for the most part) we don’t get to do them as much as we would like, we can become obsessed with them. We read articles, write reviews, enroll others, buy gadgets and in some cases fundamentally change our lives for these personal life things. That’s pretty serious. I take my job that serious.

I love what I do. I love where I work. I love the people I work with. I take my job as seriously as I take my hobbies. I approach each day like its that one week a year where my friends and I get together to hike into the woods and camp, climb mountains and tell stories by the fire. I love my job. Everything in my life is part of one story. My personal life bleeds into my work life. I believe it should be that way. When you are a well rounded person, you are a better employee, a better friend, a better spouse, a better parent. Don’t believe me? Ask the people I work with. It’s a shame I have to call them “people I work with” because for the most part, these are my greatest friends and people I share most of my personal and professional time with.

Work Life Balance is for Wussies

Some people call what I have explained here “work life balance“. That is such a politically correct way of explaining peoples lives in this world. Why would you not work for a company you believed in? Why would you not love your job? Why would you not work with people you would call family? Work life balance to me says “I know you hate your  job, but if you have hobbies and friends that will make it better.” I know I’m making generalizations and stretching the definition, but whatever. I have no work life balance and I love it. There is no line between where work ends and life begins.

About My Imbalance

I am a founder (or founding member) of many companies, some here in Nashville (Anrovia Design, ShirtsBymail, Podcast Alley, Mevio/PodShow, CarlSays, Checkd.In, Jumpstart Foundry, Change:Healthcare, EVBE, etc). This is my work, and my life. No balance. I love my startups, as a matter of fact I love many startups (Im a mentor for Source Your City and NextGxDx, and others too). I also love being outdoors, gardening, cycling, motorcycling, family time, creating things with my hands, and more. My work life balance is so out of whack, but that IS my balance.

I work hard because I play hard.

Work/life balance is for wussies.

I take my work life as serious as my personal life.

Do You?

In Summary…

Mark, thanks for the time we spent together. To anyone reading this, I would love to talk to you more about this topic and help you find a way to work as hard as you play. Most importantly, don’t let people tell you about you. You decide who you are, what you love, and what you do… not others. Don’t be afraid to go balls out.Similar Posts:

• Life Always Gets Harder Near the Summit…

I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by Lee Turley of the Edison Equation about being a failure. It was a really great, off the cuff kind of interview that really makes you think about what it means to fail as an entrepreneur. Is it bad? Is it good? What did you learn? How were you better because of it? Answers to all these questions help every entrepreneur grow, and failing is a crucial step of entrepreneurship.

From their site:

“Thomas Edison is repeatedly quoted and sited for his perspective on failure. This perspective has seen many packages; “fail fast, succeed fast,” “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Those tag lines are great for movies but failure in reality is both sharp and blunt like the corner of a steel table.”

I rarely do interviews (and this one is kinda low quality due to internet lag), but I hope it explains a little bit about my philosophy on failure and my failures along the way. My wife and brother are starting a new company called evbe (or Everyday Better). Im hard on them. I have failed a lot and it has hurt. Hopefully they can learn from me to not get hurt so bad, but letting them fail is part of their growing experience as well. In the end, their product, and they as entrepreneurs, will be better for it :)

Watch the Video Here

If you know me, you know I don’t really do interviews. I don’t really like to be on camera or in the spotlight… I’m more of a behind the scenes get-shit-done type guy. But I make the exceptioin every once in a while, and this time it was for Travis Robertson at PodCamp Nashville 2011.

Enjoy the video (ps, the audio is bad for like a minute but gets better).

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Check out the video and story below, a great bit of information from the company I work for, change:healthcare. We recently published our first quarterly HCTI – Healthcare Transparency Index – that shows you some of the trending data we are seeing from our massive data set from all across the US. The gist of it is this: you can shop for everything under the sun but healthcare. You can instantly lookup any Christmas present, car, can of soup, DVD… you name it. But in healthcare that has not been the case until now. change:healthcare works with employers and insurance carriers to show the true cost of medical services, dental services and prescriptions to employees before they have to spend the money. This is freakin’ awesome!

While the government claims to provide pricing for drugs and procedures, those listings only highlight what Medicare and Medicaid are willing to reimburse, not what those services actually cost. Hospitals, doctors and insurance companies provide patients with an itemized bill for care – but only AFTER the fact. The Healthcare Transparency Index, issued today by change:healthcare, is the first to provide healthcare consumers with ongoing trends data about actual healthcare costs – offering insight into critical opportunities for cost savings.

With more than 60 percent of employers in the U.S. expected to offer a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP) in 2011 as a way to curb costs, employees and their families will be increasingly accountable for “shopping” and paying for their healthcare – making it more critical than ever for them to understand the costs involved. To be issued quarterly, the inaugural Healthcare Transparency Index includes data derived from more than 1.3 million medical claims, totaling $220 million, from 90,000 individuals across all 50 states over a 12-month period. Key findings include:

• Prescription drugs offer the highest opportunity for cost savings ($8 million across the HCTI data set), followed by dental, routine primary care physician office visits, psychotherapy, physical therapy and chiropractic. View Chart
• Costs for commonly prescribed drugs can vary greatly. The following prescription drugs offer the greatest opportunities for cost savings for both brand names and generics – by simply switching pharmacies. In fact, an Abilify consumer could save up to nearly $2,500/yr by making a pharmacy change. View Chart
• Wal-Mart, Target, Kroger, CVS and WalGreens top the list of pharmacy chains with the widest prescription cost discrepancies for both brand name and generic drugs. View Chart

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It has been a long time coming, but Amy and I have finally moved to the city! We loved our home outside the city (don’t call it a country home) where we had a huge house on 3 acres and plenty of room to do anything we wanted. But we decided we were more interested in being close to the city. We are now within walking distance to an awesome coffee shop (Drinkhaus), Nashville’s best dessert spot (Cupcake Collection), the farmers market, downtown Nashville (to go honkey-tonkin’) and so much more. I’m not going to lie, it feels amazing to be able to walk out our door and be near everything :)

Contact me if you need our new address or phone number… or if you want to come hang out in the new house/neighborhood.

You know the expression “time flys”, we all use it. But it’s only when you sit and think about the major milestones and events that you realize how much has happened in that year, what you have really accomplished, how much you have to be thankful for and how much you have really packed into life. My trigger every year is today, October 31… the day Tim died. I’m thankful to have that trigger to really reflect on the year and think about everything that has happened in the past year, the people I love most, and the things I have accomplished. It’s always emotional to do, but a blessing none the less to force myself to take some time and really document what has happened in the last 365 days.

My Short List:

• Celebrated 9 years of marriage with my beautiful wife
• Introduced our new puppy, Ari the Golden, to the world
• Started 2 new companies (CarlSays and Carazel)
• Built and Launched a giant campaign for Jason Aldean
• Signed huge new companies at change:healthcare
• Finished (mostly) our house remodeling (and here, and here)
• Moved my brother from CA to TN
• Had a Snuggie Christmas
• Help start the Jumpstart Foundry Microfund
• Built new relationships with amazing friends
• Explored Tennessee and are proud to call it home
• Survived the Great Flood of Nashville
• Had multiple San Francisco people visit us in TN
• Ran a 5k Race and a 1/2 Marathon (results & pics)
• Visited San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Georgia, Alabama and Indiana
• Went on a cruise with my wife and brother
• Gave up cable. Learned to relax. Smiled a lot.
• Took pride in knowing Tim McGovern, and remembering him
• … and SO MUCH MORE! (I could prolly double this list easily)

I encourage you to find one day a year to sit back and just think about what all you have done, and what you have to be thankful for. I miss Tim every day, but am glad he gave me the gift of learning to reflect and be thankful. I miss you buddy.

I love the internet. This news story was released not too long ago where a man broke into a home in the projects and tried to rape one of the women there, but was interrupted by her brother storming in. While this is a scary thing, the people on the internet made a remix/rap song. You MUST watch both, this is some good stuff.

The Original News Story

The Remix Rap Song Version

Don’t read, just watch. This video captures a portion of the emotion and amount of rain and destruction caused by the May 1-2, 2010 Nashville rain & floods.

From the Producer

Between May 1st and May 2nd, 2010, Middle Tennessee received the greatest amount of rainfall in recorded history. It left us with several casualties, millions of dollars in damage and an indelible mark on our city. This video shows but a small sample of the destruction and mayhem wrought by this disaster. Please pray for those affected. If you feel so inclined, please make a donation at http://www.nashvilleredcross.org.Similar Posts:

• Nashville, Tennessee Flooding – Devastating River Destruction

NOTE: Scroll down for my photos and videos or check them out here!

What started off as a laughable amount of rainfall here in Nashville has turned into a devastating flood as water accumulates from across the Harpeth River valley area. There will, in the end, be millions of dollars worth of flood damage and perhaps more than a dozen deaths (numbers keep fluctuating up and down). We are still in the middle of this whole thing, and I’m sure there will be many more pictures and videos of the destruction in this Nashville/Bellevue flooding …. but below are a few of mine.

These photos and videos were taken earlier today when Amy and I made a trip into town to get ice, food and to charge our electronics since there is no power in Pegram, TN and the flooding that is happening.

If you are looking for more news, photos and reports from people living in Nashville, the Nashvillest website has a giant list of flood news resources. You can also follow @nashvillest on Twitter, they are destroying the coverage… props to those guys!

As it currently stands, they have started evacuating downtown Nashville areas that are closest to the river (1st avenue) near the historic Broadway music area due to rising flood waters. In Franklin, TN there is a sundown curfew due to the flood to help protect people. And where we are in Pegram/Bellevue, there is no way to get into town. With down trees, down power lines, extreme flooding of I-40 and side roads… there is no way to get anywhere. We can only hope that people are being smart out there and staying safe.

Another Update: I just got saw a tweet from my friend Christopher who lives in Franklin stating that the National Guard just rolled in to evacuate their neighborhood. Areas are indeed getting worse.

We have also set a 1 day rain record with 7.21″ of rain today in Nashville and 13.6″ in the state of Tennessee today! We have had more rain today than we have had in the rest of the year combined I believe!

See all the photos and videos here.Similar Posts:

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In a spectacle I have never before seen, a ball of fire (they claim meteor) flew through the sky in the midwest last night for about 15 minutes, passing through Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Iowa. The authorities are saying it is some sort of meteorite from a recent meteor shower. Nope. It’s Jesus, and he is pissed! (catch up on the story, Read the full story on the Meteors blowing up on CNN.)

Ok, it could be aliens too. Either way, someone is throwing fire at us and trying to burn all the corn fields in the midwest. My guess? They are pissed that Americans are so fat and lazy, and they blame corn. Corn, or a biproduct of corn, is in everything from food, plastic, animal feed, fuel, clothing and … well, damn near everything. Start those states on fire by dropping a meteor flame (or alien missile shot), kill all the corn, and suddenly Americans will get skinny and stop buying random useless shit, right?

Check out this video now from CNN and their affiliates, of the meteor/fireball blazing through the sky!

Here is a quote from the CNN article, “Well before it reached the horizon, it broke up into smaller pieces and was lost from sight,” the service said. “Several reports of a prolonged sonic boom were received from areas north of Highway 20, along with shaking of homes, trees and various other objects including wind chimes,” it said.”

You know I kid, Jesus & Aliens… I still love you both. See all the google news about the meteors blowing up in the skies here. And lets be clear, in all honesty, this is pretty fucked up. There should never be an unknown fireball in the sky. We have some of the worlds most advanced technology to detect meteore, missiles, aircraft and who knows what else.. so a 15 minute burst of meteor fire in the sky should not be something that sneaks up on us.

I have been blessed with a new Elizabeth Street Brewery hat! This is the only hat I have worn for the past couple of years because of the sentimental value (and, it’s an awesome hat). A giant thank you to both my wife and Richard from the ESB for this wonderful gift.  And to all of you who didn’t believe me when i said this hat used to be black… check out the photos below.

Oh yeah, in case you missed it, the ESB was christened San Franciscos “Best Secret Spot”. Check out the video below.

This morning was very exciting. I went to take my new dog Ari outside and pulled the door shut behind me (since it is like 15 degrees out today). The one thing I had forgotten, though, was that I had just changed all of the handles and locks on my house this past weekend. New locks, deadbolts, and the whole nine yards on all the doors and they had a special feature — the inside handle always twists to let you out EVEN IF the outside handle is locked. You see where this is going already.

I was locked out of my house, in my pajamas, with a 9 week old puppy, in the cold winter morning, no phone, no nothing. What is a grown man to do?

I thought about calling a locksmith, but he would just come to my house and drill out a lock. That option didn’t work for me because like I said, I JUST replaced all the locks, handles and deadbolts on all 4 exterior doors with matching keyed locks.

So What Did I Do?!

With items found within 10 feet of a window on the back of my house, and no more than 30 seconds of work, I popped the lock on the window. I used a spade from the garden and a stone from the landscaping to hit the underside of the lock until it bent the lock and popped the screws. I was back in my house within 30 seconds.

What Next? Im buying an alarm, immediately.

MSNBC Nightly News just published a story on the price variability between cities all across the country, something change:healthcare has been trying to spread the word about for years! Check out this great 2 minute video (embedded below) that describes the scenario pretty well!

Because of sky-rocketing drug costs, people are looking everywhere for ways to save money on medicine they need to live. And what better way to connect with people than through the tools they are using already. Twitter is that tool! You have Twitter open all day and are watching tweets from friends come across, why not use Twitter as a free health care savings tool too?

How Do I use @ASKch to Save Money on Prescriptions?

change:healthcare has made it so easy, it should be illegal! Simply follow the steps below, and you will be finding ways to save on prescriptions, definitions for medical terms and health conditions and more… all delivered via private direct message using Twitter!

1. Follow @askch on Twitter
2. Send a formatted question via direct message
3. Get a fast, automated answer. That’s it!

What Info Do I Send to @ASKch to Get Info Back?

We took the most common questions people ask about their healthcare, and created a way for you to get the answers, via Twitter, in 60 seconds or less. Below are examples of questions you can get answers to!

• Cost of [drug name] near [zipcode]

  example tweet: “d askch cost of lexapro near 37211“

• Generic for [drug name]

  example tweet: “d askch generic for plavix“

• What is [drug name]

  example tweet: “d askch what is lipitor“

• What is [health issue]

  example tweet: “d askch what is diabetes“

• Generic discounts for [drug name] near [zipcode]

  example tweet: “d askch generic discounts for pravachol near 37221“

This simple tool for saving on prescriptions basically provides you with the following information. If you send it your prescription name and zipcode, it finds the cheapest pharmacy where you can buy that prescription and sends you a link to find out more information. But saving money on prescriptions is more than just finding a lower price. If you ask @askch how to save money by switching to a generic drug, it will send you all of the known names of the generics for your name brand prescription. Generics are the same thing (guided by the FDA), but are much cheaper. Finally, generic discounts are available for 100′s of prescriptions too. Generic discounts are typically available for $4 for 30 days or $10 for 90 days from most pharmacies and grocery store pharmacies. If you ask @askch if there is a generic discount, it will tell you yes/no and if yes, how much it costs and at what pharmacy!

Saving money used to be complicated. Thanks to ASKch, it’s much simpler now.

BTW, if you know me, you know I work for change:healthcare and helped develop this tool. You should use it, it rocks. :)

In an article written by TechCrunch this evening, a very interesting observation was made about building a company you believe in that really struck with me. There is no way I could say it any better than they did, or more detailed than they did… but let me tell you what the most important part of the story is for me…

You should not be working for the paycheck, you should be working because you believe it and because you love it. When you believe what you do is awesome, it is awesome.

Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Zappos… they all prove that loving what you do will pay off in the product you develop and your overall happiness in life. Below is a video of Apples recent keynote speech where an editor sliced together the positive word patterns from the presentation. Oh yeah, make sure you read the article too about the importance of enthusiasm to understand more what I am talking about.

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Last night, President Obama spoke on healthcare reform at a joint session for Congress. While I love a great presentation, which Obama always delivers, I was not completely sold on everything he was saying… but mainly because I could not personally review the documents :) If you did not see it, check out the NY Times video replay with a timed breakdown of talking points to catch up.

President Obama delivered some tough news to both parties saying essentially that he was not going to take shit from anyone, and that he was not leaving office until a healthcare bill was in place. He tried hard to combat all of the oppositions major problems with his proposed reform: not covering illegal immigrants, not covering abortion, giving coverage to all Americans as well as who was going to pay for the public program. For me, since I work for change:healthcare, a company that helps people save money on doctors visits and prescriptions, I would love to read the details of the reform documents.

You see, there are a lot of problems with healthcare. Most of them, in my opinion, exist because we Americans do not know (or care most of the time) what healthcare really costs! I hate to tell you, but your office visit to the doctor for your yearly physical does not cost $20. It probably costs more like $90 – $150 — and if you don’t have health insurance, or you have a high deductible, your cost could be $150-$200 or more for that office visit. And even that cost only covers the visit. If you have bloodwork or other tests, the cost is even more. Never is it $20. I could rant all day about this, but I will save you the pain.

The point is, healthcare reform is needed, and hopefully Obama is the guy to do it. but we need to know the details of what we are getting into, and that we will not be selling our souls to pay for it. Obama, shows the details!

What did you think about Obama’s Healthcare Reform presentation last night? What did you think about the GOP response? Were you happy with what you heard, or concerned? Please leave a comment and let me know.Similar Posts:

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Well, we have done it again. It has been almost a year since we ran the Portland Marathon, and Amy and I decided to sign up for another race. Only this time, it’s a 1/2 marathon. More posts soon, but this is the official mark of the start of our 12 week training program.

You can follow all my training on daily mile here, or you can subscribe to my updates on twitter.

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