ASR Blog

our founding fathers

we are proud to be announcing!! new shirts on their way!!!

ch-ch-ch-changes.

You mentioned how Punkster Acoustic is coming out in March and bedding in the winter, how do you feel about Punkster's evolution as a business and how have you changed since Punkster first started and you were dying shirts by hands?

how have i changed? uh. . .im more stressed out now, i'd say thats about all. oh, and i know a lot more about running a business and clothing. i feel more apathetic towards small companies and i understand why clothes cost so much.

its funny when i see where we are as a company today and think about where i started and i think, the nieve thing was key, i knew i wanted to push it, i knew i wanted to turn it into something, but if i would have known the time, pain, stress that i was about to jump into i might have skipped it entirely. i think there is something to be said about being able to be young and poor and create something you love before you need to be "responsible" and that was a great time to do it. punkster was really kind of my answer to not wanting to work too much or for anyone. it turns out i work a ton more, but i enjoy it because im working on something special.

but punkster is a company i want to evolve into a brand, as opposed to a t-shirt line. i always knew that the t-shirts were just the jumping point and that trend would dye down and/or get saturated someday, and that is kind of here now, so i push punkster further.

the thing is, if i would have started a baby line with clothes and t's and bedding, etc. . .it would have bombed, been overwhelming, i needed to get my niche, when i started i had 10 designs, they came in one size, one color, one cut. that was it, 10 styles. and gradually the t line grew, first we added sizes, then bodies, then colors, and now always more slogans and i think we have 400 or something like that variations. i could have never handled that in the beginning. can hardly handle it now. but the key is to start small and let it grow naturally.

hickster

> 1. What helps you come up with the witty Punkster slogans and how would
> you
> describe Punkster's "vibe"?

punksters vibe is trying on your grandma and grandpas clothes and then listening to old rock and country albums in a basement in brooklyn or a barn in ohio. oh, and that would only be if you were 2 years old.

i would describe punkster as hickster, a farming hipster.

i like to play with words anyway, so this is a natural thing for me, i love naming stuff, and making puns, and any clothing, art, etc that i love is witty and wordy. so its just how my brain works. my friends and i like to sit around and think of a type of parent, for instance, techie, apple-user, and then come up with words for their kids to wear (ipood)

> 2. How important is it for you to have the production side of Punkster
> outsourced, as in you no long have to package and ship the products
> yourself?
>
its huge! as the owner, creator and innovator behind a company, there
comes a time when your time is worth more than stuffing and shipping. but
in the beginning, your time is worth pretty much nothing so its good to do
everything you can, it just gets to the point that doing all the paper
work, shipping etc is a bad use of your work time and burns you out for
the innovative stuff that pushes the brand forward

preach it!

roles and responsibilities

when running a business it is really important to trust who you work with to get something done and to get their side of the business done properly. when you lose that trust you love the connection.

it is really important when you are working with one or more people in your business to set the guidelines up immediately, even before you begin the business. punkster is split between the business side and the creative. i am in charge of all things punkster, i do the design, the slogans, the marketing, the shoots, the vibe of the brand, the feeling we give off to the outside world, the partnerships to create bigger and better punkster everything.

then there is the business side, which i do not have much skill in and i entrust to my business partner. she deals with all things money, bills, stores, invoicing, inventory, etc.

now thats all fine and ideal, but sometimes the line between creative and business gets . . . messy. and its hard to figure out who does what. its also hard when you aren't in the same place to keep on top of eachother and know what is getting done and what isnt. its also hard to be on the same page when you are talking to clients about whats going on with their order.

so yea, partnerships are hard to do.

the business prenup

we are trying to value our company right now, here is an interesting email about what the heck we are doing and what it all means. things get so complicated so quickly out here in the real world!

Wanted to let you know I met with a man from Park Avenue
Securities last week who will be able to help us construct our operating
agreement after our meeting. They are basically financial business planners
that help small businesses with life insurance, health insurance, liability
insurance, investors, loans, buy-outs, becoming "silent" partner, retiring,
selling the company (we would all have right of first refusal and have to
agree, or would own it with the new owners if one person sold their portion,
as you cannot be forced to give up your share) and valuation (though
obviously he said we can estimate the value pretty easily right now based on
our finances since they aren't complicated yet).

Eventually when we have savings (ha. ha.) then they can help invest it etc
to make sure its not just sitting in a checking account without interest.

Once we have our initial talks about how we want to divide up ownership and
profit/loss sharing of Punkster/Punkster Acoustic we will have a conference
call with him to draft up the contracts. We won't be using him for much more
than advisement until a few years from now when we have actual money that's
being held/saved, but he will definitely be an asset in doing this operating
agreement and also in amending our LLC papers which will have to be done as
well.

I asked him the investor vs loan questions and he said obviously every case
has to be analyzed on its own, but in his experience small bizs often do
best and are happiest when they go the route of third party loans from small
biz institutions (not a bank) and don't give up control of the business to
investors. So he agrees with Donald Trump!! Haha. But then again, we need
to be able to financially back loans with our own assets. We are all in
different financial situations, so that could be an issue. Its like being
married-if we all own equal shares then it defaults to the person with the
least amount of assets/credit. So we want to be aware of that in
structuring. He can help with all of that (either investors or the loans)
but obviously we need to get all of these details ironed out before we put
even more of our own personal finances on the line and also the details of
who is doing what so that everyone is contributing equal time and energy to
make this business successful. As of now, I am uncomfortable with these
details being unaddressed and with the division of labor/responsibility
within the company.

So after the meeting we will have a clearer idea of what everyone is
comfortable with and then can allow him to be the third party to make sure
its all fair. I would like to have all the formal documentation completed
soon after our meeting as I feel it is very important to our growth and to
make sure we are all on the same page.

SOME QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT AHEAD OF TIME

1) How would you like to see the ownership of Punkster and Punkster
Acoustic divided? Separate entities or one? Sell-able together or separate?
Does M come in as full partner in both or a majority partner in only
Acoustic? Acoustic is her idea, her development, and her execution, Punkster
is providing the finances to fund her for now and the infrastructure..How
are profits/loss shared?

2) What dollar amount would it take for you to walk away from the
company tomorrow? (buyout) 50K? 100K? 500k? -this number will be revised
within the documents each year as sales grow and it becomes more valuable.

3) If you die, what do you want to happen to your share of the
company?

4) If one partner decides to sell their whole share or part of their
share: Can they sell to anyone they please (thus giving you a new business
partner) or does that person have to be approved? Do you want to be able to
sell to anyone or do you want to have to get approval?

5) What do we do if a partner is not pulling their own weight/decides
not to do work? Should this negatively affect their share of the company?

6) If someone wants to retain ownership of Punkster but has decided to
pursue another career (silent partner/investor), should they have to
contribute a dollar amount each year to retain their current ownership? What
dollar amount? Or will this not be an option and everyone will be required
to be doing Punkster full time/completing their responsibilities or else
will have to allow themselves to be bought out?

sunday afternoon movie

"You wanna be really great? Then have the courage to FAIL BIG and STICK AROUND. Make them wonder why you're still smiling."

"No true fiasco ever began as a quest for mere adequacy. A motto of the British Special Air Force is: 'Those who risk, win."

"thats life. . .thats what the people say. . .riding high in april . .shot down in may . . .

i thought of quittin' one time, but the rent man wouldn't buy it" - thats life, james brown version!

"There's a diffrence between a failure and a fiasco. A failure is merely the absence of success. Any fool can achieve failure. But a fiasco, a fiasco is a disaster of epic propotions. A fiasco is a folk tale told to other's to make other people feel more alive because it didn't happen to them."

ideas from elizabethtown. the greatest "bad" movie ever.

like the hippies out in san francisco do . . .

my friend out in san fran, mike jeter, gets the dream following concept. business types, artist types, creative types, we are all the same. and we are all looking for the same kicks and the same rush of creating something beautiful. whether it works or not. . .

i liked his work. go look at it at www.mikejeter.com.

a word to the wise:

just because you are snobby doesnt mean you know what your doing. and it doesnt mean you are better at your job then those of us who giggle while working. or at very least, we smile. i dont think people are better at their jobs than me because of the length of their frown.

however impressively long it is

todays lesson,

"dont hate. . . create!"

when my friends have babies. . . .

i couldnt have said it better! all my friends new babies are my little billboards running around! hehehe (evil laugh)