dave radparvar

Project M Application

Yesterday I realized that I hadn’t challenged or pushed myself outside of my work on Holstee in a good while. I saw a tweet from good friend Brian Jones – the timing could not have been better. Working late into the night last night, I finished my application video (above) for Project M.

About Project M:

Project M will encourage and provide techniques for thinking wrong as a way to generate new ideas and design directions. The human brain tends to think along predetermined linear thought pathways. Such linear thinking can inhibit true innovation and creative exploration.

While I have never had any formal design training, it has always been a passion of mine. The chance to challenge and explore new approaches to design surrounded by other curious folks over in Frankfurt, Germany sounds perfect. Would also be a great chance to put my German to use!

The costs of the two weeks are fully covered by a generous donor, with the exception of travel to and from Frankfurt. If accepted, I suppose the first creative challenge is to find a way to pay for my flights :-)

Lessons from the East River

I came home from work today and just felt the need to go for a run. I am not a runner. In the summer I go for the occasional jog, to and from the monkey bars where I work out. But after a mile or two, I usually walk it out.

Today was different, just didn’t get tired. I jogged from our place in the east village to south street seaport and back about double would do if I were going for a jog.

The way back was very tough for me, and I looked over at the East River which was black with the evening sky.

[Tangent: I am confident and comfortable swimmer but three times in my life, I have been in a situation where I felt I was beyond my capabilities swimming. Recently I swam out from shore with some cousins in california to go snorkeling beyond the wave break. Just as we had gotten beyond the break I looked back and saw how far the shore was, and slowly began to ask myself all the wrong questions. My breathing got heavy. I began to wonder how deep the water was. The movement of the ocean seemed to get stronger. My imagination was getting the worst of me. I felt like I just couldn’t get enough oxygen into my body. In a panic, I told my cousins I need to head to shore I borrowed one of their flippers and began to head to shore. A combination of fear, embarrassment, and exhaustion.]

Always fascinated with the constant pattern and shimmer of waves I spent most of my run looking over at the east river. I began to get tired on the way back, my head was telling my body to walk. I thought to myself, looking towards the middle of the river..if was there dropped into the middle of the river would I be tired or drowning?

I knew the answer, I wouldn’t be drowning. I might have been tired and scared as hell but I wouldn’t be drowning, no matter what it took I wouldn’t stop swimming till I got to shore.

Thinking about this gave me energy. Something else that helped me stay energized on my run were my eyes. Whenever I looked a few feet ahead of me there never seemed to be an end in sight. I didn’t feel the progress. I began to look towards skyscrapers and bridges miles away, these were my new targets. I didn’t see one foot in front of the other; I saw achievement, I felt inspired, relaxed and focused.

With a million thoughts running through my head, I saw a clear connection between the lessons learned during my run to lessons I am continuing to learn as an entrepreneur.

Putting all my energy, time and money into Holstee my personal budget and free time are getting tighter and tighter – but I’m not drowning. The more tired one gets the more important it is not to look at each step, you need to look to the skyscraper and the bridge. They are what will keep you focused, inspired, and energized. Next time you are running and tired, or are hesitant in business or life ask yourself: Am I drowning? If not your just tired. Keep your eyes to the skyscrapers, keep running and don’t look back.

Gifts vs Choices

I came across a great post on Fred Wilson’s Tumblr. It was a quote from Jeff Bezos Princeton Commencement speech (if you have a minute its worth the read!) where he recalls something his grandfather told him…

“My grandfather looked at me, and after a bit of silence, he gently and calmly said,

Guest Video Review of Rad’s House

I recently stumbled across a video review that a lovely young Australian guest made (with the help of her dad). They were staying at Rad’s House through AirBnb. They were great guests, and this video is just the coolest!

Update: Wohoo! Airbnb just posted about Rad’s House “Take a bow: A tribute to AirBnb Hosts“

Helicopter Flight in NYC

Materialism vs Consumerism

(This was originally posted on the Holstee Blog)

I have recently become really interested in the comparison of Consumerism and Materialism.

First I would like to set a definition for these two words.

Consumerism: the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.

Materialism: the preoccupation of society to material possessions and their physical composition.

These definitions are my own, and extracted from the many definitions of consumerism and of materialism available online. If you don’t agree with the definitions please share your own in the comments below.

I want to make a clear distinction in the definitions of each word, because I think that each word has a completely different implication but too often their use and understanding are confused.

Consumerism lends itself to overconsumption. People’s preoccupation with acquiring as a result of lust, reward, thoughtlessness or status often overshadows material beauty of items.

One who is materialistic (by the above definition) on the other hand, is obsessed with the composition of items. They ask questions like: “what is it made from?” “how is it made?”, and those who are truly absorbed in the item are passionate about keeping it beautiful.

Consumerism often leads to waste, old products becomes obsolete as a new shinier product becomes the the object of affection. A materialist, absorbed by the product of their passion is obsessed with maintenance. They are concerned for its material composition, where those materials came from, its durability, and chemical or physical properties. The true properties are appreciated on the most basic level, for what they truly are.

In the end people will always want and need to acquire new items, whether for survival, fun, trade, or curiosity.

To differentiate between a materialist and (over) consumerist:
Be aware of the material components, where they came from and how they came together and understand how to maintain it so it lasts as long as possible.

How else can we be sure the ecological impact of the creation of that product was not made in vain?

In the end its not the product that will make anyone happier, but its the experience you have with it. Its not about being shiny, its about having a story.

If you need to acquire something, make it something of value. Understand the materials and the impact on the planet. Keep it something of quality. Appreciate it.

Magento Vs. Shopify

After a year on Magento we decided to move the Holstee Shop to Shopify to makes our lives easier with a: reliable + fast server, easy-to-use backend, fair pricing, and friendly personal support – cant really ask for much more than that!

We looked at Shopify before we decided to develop a custom solution on Magento but were worried about the monthly fee, and the idea of being tied into a SaaS – we were wrong. The time, energy, buildout expenses and headaches were more than the highest plan on Shopify.

Magento could do anything, but never simply. In fact the simplest tasks (like adding products) that we needed to do on a daily basis were the biggest challenges. In Shopify, without much technical knowledge, I have been able to create a theme within a dozen files, in Magento there is close to a hundred files buried within multiple folder levels. Due to the clunkiness of Magento it came to the point where we needed to get our own dedicated or split shared hosting (running about $25-50) for something decent – and at $60 for the Shopify Professional plan it just made economical sense.

The icing on the cake is support. As the default tech guy within our small start-up, I am looking forward the dedicated support team, active community, and platform updates that Shopify offers. I am actually looking forward to finishing up the design and adding products to the shop – could never say that about Magento.

So while I can not yet endorse Shopify as the go to E-commerce solution as I am still new to it, I can confidently say that if you are considering Magento think again – there is a very very small portion of companies who this tool would be useful for, and I would even urge them to think twice.

I’ll do another post to recap the experience I have in launching the Holstee Shop on Shopify – stay tuned.

Wearing Many Hats

My grandparents, Mamanjoon and Babajoon, wear many hats. Not just in these fun photos, but in the life skills they have acquired and apply on a daily basis.

Just love these photos – a reminder that age really is nothing but a number and life will always be what we choose to make of it!

The small pleasures

A new friend, Kostas the Baker, shared this inspiring video recently. A simple and beautiful clip that reminds us to appreciate the smallest details in life. It is not the big things we surround ourselves by or the things that we often save long and hard to buy that make us happy, it is the simple pleasures of daily life and finding the inherent beauty in smallest details of life that make us the happiest.

Almost a year ago I wrote the 2 keys of satisfaction:

Learn to question everything.
There are no absolutes – no truths, only interpretations.

Learn to appreciate everything.
Whether you love it or hate it, there is something to be learned and taken away. In this ‘take-away’ there is value, which should be appreciated.

To this day, both hold true and I am glad Kostas sent me this video which reminded me of them!

Holstee Video by Keveen (KORAKOR)

A few years ago, I was travelling through France and decided to spend a few days CouchSurfing with Keveen. Little did I know he would be constant inspiration and source of positive energy for years to come. There are few people in the world with as much positive energy as this man, and his true goal in life is to tirelessly spread his love to the world.

In a recent visit to New York he captured some amazing footage of Mike and I, and the Holstee environment. After watching the video it was clear that he had a vision, but the recording experience seemed so effortless and came so natural that you could have never guessed the production quality and direction of the short clip.

I am so proud to be connected with Keveen and the Korakor adventure, and I look forward to working together with Korakor to help spread the love!