Punchdrunk Panda

This time, thoughts from another PdP co-founder :)

gailygirl:

I’m sorry if it feels that we’re spamming you with the same content but this video was shared to me by my business partner (not in a romantic way), Jen. 

For several days, I “parked” watching this video because of my full time job here. And just to clarify, by full time, I am referring to the time (9-5) than the position that I currently have, as I’m quite candid that I am an intern at PepsiCo.

Anyway, I thought this merited another re-share cause of many reasons:

I just love Threadless. During my job searching phase, while my classmates were looking for jobs in consulting firms, banks, or any big company, I was seriously considering applying to Skinny Corp. =)) Unfortunately, they didn’t have any openings. I feel that I’m eating my words, now that I’m at PepsiCo and well, I know I AM eating my words but in my defense, beggars can’t be chosers.

Just as how Jen feels, I feel that PdP and Threadless have the same beginning. PdP started as a hobby or a sideline for Jen and me. Working in the ad agency could not really support the kind of lifestyle that we dreamed of (since ad agencies don’t pay much, not to mention the constant overtime in the office). We mixed business and personal expenses. We had no plans in the beginning but regardless, we just did what we had to do - sell funky stuff. Just like them, we knew that we didn’t want to go back to the agency world. Perhaps the biggest difference between Threadless’ and PdP’s founders is that we (Jen and I) are unfortunate to drown in naivete in web coding. Which brings me to my next point…

I admire Jacob DeHart (fatter guy) for forcing himself to learn HTML/CSS/PHP/etc… I have always been telling myself to learn but so far, I only know the basics of HTML. Without dreamweaver, I would probably know nothing. I feel that if I just exert as much time and interest as I did to learn Photoshop and Illustrator, someday, I’ll just have an “Aha!” moment for coding as well. That day has yet to come…

On the other hand, Jacob mentioned that if his involvement can cause more detriment to the project, then that’s the only time he outsources. This leads me to my decision to outsource our website development.

PdP started with 0 employees, then 2 (Jen and I), then 3 (Jen, me, and Nica), and now 4! I am officially NOT an employee of PdP anymore but it doesn’t mean I am no longer involved. I still try to involve myself if time and energy permits… but my official departure has brought in 2 new staff to the team. Jen calls the team we have now the “dream team”. 

Anyway, bringing in more people doesn’t mean less work for us. It just means that we could focus more on our areas of expertise. Jen focuses on business management, Nica focuses on operation, the two new hires (J & J) will focus on marketing and design, and I… I focus on support. =)) Other than occasionally designing for PdP, sometime, I feel that I’ve lost my place in the company but I’d like to think that I still give overall guidance.

I completely agree that as a business owner, it’s really hard to go on a vacation. Contrary to what a lot of people think, owning a business is not an outlet to be a bum. Even if you don’t plan to be a workaholic, naturally, you just become one. You live and breathe the business.

I know that Jen’s future plans has to do with a lot of traveling, and it’s good that she’s somewhat doing it now but even if she’s out and about traveling Asia, she still checks in at least once a day. I haven’t been on a vacation for the longest time but if ever (unless I’m in a place with no electricity or internet access), I’d probably do the same.

It feels good to hear them speak about failure. Just recently, I felt that I disappointed the company for my biggest failure so far. The website re-haul was something that I was really looking forward to but I was let down by Phil Dorman, the unprofessional web developer I was bitching about in my previous blog. And seriously, for several minutes, I just stared at my screen, clueless on what my next step should be. I feel that”stopping” was my best option but I didn’t want my team to think that I just gave up. But really, I didn’t know how to move forward with Phil anymore.

As Jacob pointed out, there were also instances that the’ve already paid out someone to no avail. But all they could do was just stop the project. I guess what I want to say is that trying to deal with Phil was a pointless effort. The relationship was already strained and I’ve completely lost my trust on him. So it was best for me to cut all forms of communication with him, hoping that (bad) karma will just find its way.

I still look forward to a new website though and one day, I hope to blog about a new PdP site. :)

Finally, I still want to believe that our team as a “get it done” attitude. We avoid making excuses and we’re driven to go after what we want. Admittedly, we’re more cautious now because PdP is no longer just about Jen and me. It’s now about 3 other people that rely on us to feed them. :p

nomadmanager:

(via Threadless: The Do-First Work Ethic :: Videos :: The 99 Percent)

Interesting talk by the founders of Threadless, a company that I feel had similar beginnings as Punchdrunk Panda’s, and a company we aspire to be as big and awesome as in the near future. :)

Amusing to see what founders of companies/brands we admire are like as well. :D

View Jen’s complete entry here.

Nice share from PdP co-founder, Jen. :)

nomadmanager:

(via Threadless: The Do-First Work Ethic :: Videos :: The 99 Percent)

Interesting talk by the founders of Threadless, a company that I feel had similar beginnings as Punchdrunk Panda’s, and a company we aspire to be as big and awesome as in the near future. :)

Amusing to see what founders of companies/brands we admire are like as well. :D

UPDATE ON THIS ENTRY BELOW! (10/1/11)

My business partner Gail reblogged this entry here, and I just wanted to comment/add to some things she said in her reblog by adding to this post.

Threadless is one of the top brands we admire at Punchdrunk Panda.
We love how they successfully push for better design in tees with their brand, how they’ve become a resource for design inspiration, and how they really build a community. And their website really IS fantastic! And after finding out that they’re savvy web guys, I understand why this is the case now.

Do-First Work Ethic: Forget Ignorance / Inexperience / Hypothetical Failure and Nike (Just Do It)
This is the title of their talk, and I can totally relate to it. I feel that’s how we operate at Punchdrunk Panda. I don’t have a degree in business management, I took up Psychology. (Though oddly enough, my course was initially a double major in Psychology & Business Management (PSM-BMG), but I decided to drop BMG because I didn’t like the thought of making a product for a grade, or not being able to really properly choose my business associates. I also figured the tuition I’d spend for the rest of my business classes could go to actually investing in a business I’d like. And then, I eventually did wind up in business. And I got to really choose my team.) I am not discounting business classes, because there is a great deal we can learn under the right professor. But I feel that there really is a lot you won’t really learn about something until you’re immersed in it. A lot of learning can also be gained from chatting with entrepreneur-friends, reading articles and watching videos online, and really just going out and around and seeing what else is going on in the world.

At PdP, I’ve been “forced” to get into things I’ve never had experience in, or never thought I would go into, ever. I’ve delved into the whole production process, quality control, I made shoes (SHOES!!), organized shoots, events, and heck, the once reclusive Daria-like Jen transformed into this super approachable person, especially during PdP appearances or bazaars! (Never thought I’d wind up on TV or be a salesperson!) I’ve also been pushed into the scarier, even more alien world of taxes, government requirements, import licenses, sound systems, managing 154 kids for a workshop, etc. But yes, you will survive, sometimes you will emerge unscathed, sometimes you end up with battle scars so huge that you can’t unsee them (and it’s good when you can’t, so you don’t make the mistake again). But the point is that we do try, we come up with an idea, decide if it’s something the world should bear witness to, or if it’s something that might work for us, and we just do it. And whatever systems are in place, we assess, and we see how we can improve upon them while we’re running them. From there, we just see what works and what doesn’t and we move on.

On How The Self-Employed Are Employed 24/7.

Jeffrey Kalmikoff seems like a very industrious man, and I admire him for that. As an entrepreneur, I understand what it means to be unable to “shut down” or “turn off” from the business. Lying in bed, sometimes at 1AM, 3AM or even 5AM, I’ll think of something I’d like us to do with our company and I’ll type up an email until morning comes and it’s officially time to go to work.

Gail and I told each other almost maybe half a year ago now that we really shouldn’t be sending each other emails on weekends. But we still do. And both of us are stubborn enough not to follow our own rules because we actually still respond to each other’s weekend emails and encourage this behavior.

But having been the sole manager of the business in the Philippines for almost a year before Nica joined our team, I do feel that breaks from the business are necessary to allow other ideas to come in, and really, just to keep one’s sanity.

While I do want my team’s creative juices and ideas for the business to flow wherever, whenever possible, I do want them to balance their lives with their own passions too. :)

GAH.
I wounded up typing so much more additional thoughts than I thought I would!
They’re worthy of their own blog entries! Haha.

Anyway, I love my company, and while our sales have been rather dreary in these past cold, wet and rainy months, I am determined to come back with a bang this Christmas. And while initially, PdP started out on a lark, I know the value of our business and what we’re trying to put out there. So, we will continue to put ourselves out there and try our darndest to make PdP known throughout the world, and eventually become as big, phenomenal, influential, aspirational, and all those other similarly great words, as Threadless.

Who knows, they might wind up getting me and Gail as speakers in the 2018 99% Conference. :D

(via nomadmanager)