The Rentometer is a great site for seeing how your rent compares to other rents in your area. The perfect tool for real estate investors for guidance on how to price their rentals and also great for starving entrepreneurs who are looking for lower rent in their neighborhood.

I’m happy to announce that Investment Instruments has launched a new version of iiProperty.com, a system for real estate owners and managers to help them take control of their real estate investments.

This release includes upgraded rent tracking tools and a very sexy income and expense tracking and reporting system. If you are an established real estate owner or a burgeoning real estate entrepreneur, simplify your life by signing up for iiProperty.com.

A friend of mine, Matt Cutler, recently advised me to read the Venture Capital section of Brad Feld’s blog – Feld Thoughts. I’ve always enjoyed my inconsistent reading of Brad’s blog over the years, so when my 10 month old woke me up at 2am this morning, I decided I had the perfect opportunity to take Matt’s advice.

If you are actively considering raising any kind of investment capital (angel or VC), do yourself a favor: stop what you are doing and read the VC section of his blog now. He presents good information in a clear and entertaining way and also points to some very good writings on other sites. His blog is a must read for the uninitiated.

A friend of mine recently recommended an email newsletter put out by Martin Cagan of the Silicon Valley Product Group. I have not fully explored the resources provided on the group’s website, but I very much enjoyed yesterday’s newsletter(my first received) on the topic of the recruiting machine at Microsoft. As well, I enjoyed their whitepaper, “The Top 12 Product Management Mistakes” and look forward to reading their papers.

One of my companies, Investment Instruments, recently opened up the beta version of its system, iiProperty.com, a virtual office system for residential real estate owners and managers. If you own property, you need iiProperty.com. Register for the beta and check it out!

Eight months ago, one of my recent ventures struggled between sustaining and disruptive mindsets without ever really knowing how to describe the way in which the organization was at odds with itself. Ultimately, what decided the battle was pure pragmatism – it just wasn’t possible to move forward using the strategies, tactics, and metrics that work in a large organization bent on sustaining innovations. Eventually techniques more applicable to a startup company had to be used, and progress began in earnest.

I couldn’t have communicated my company’s past dilemma clearly unless I had read Clay Christensen’s book, The Innovator’s Solution. The book immediately provided me with a well-articulated framework and vocabulary to describe my experience last year. I finished the book armed with new tools to
harness and communicate my entrepreneurial intuition.

I like this little presentation from Inc. Magazine about why now is a great time to be an entrepreneur.

Need to throw up a cheap, fast place online to collaborate with others? Check out pbwiki and create a free password-protected wiki in seconds. It’s basic, but it’s fast, free, and it works.

I’ve never been a big TV watcher, but last summer, I found myself watching an hour or so a day. One night, my wife and I sat down at 7pm and awoke from the television set at 11pm, feeling dirty and grimy after four hours of Law & Order. At that moment, we realized it was time to eliminate our cable television. We did it the next week, and we have never looked back.

The decision changed our lives. We spent more time with each other and on things that we cared about. Our brains did not shut down in the evening. We returned to the life we knew before we watched television. It took two weeks for the addiction to fade completely, and once completely gone, our minds were free.

I know all of the arguments for keeping cable around, and none of them are very good.

Got that favorite show, get Netflix. When we want to watch a movie or a show, we place it on our Netflix queue. No more unplanned or unguided TV watching. You’ll see your favorite shows in order, with no commercials, at your leisure, with no temptation to keep watching other shows you don’t care about.

Think TV keeps you sane, winds you down, etc.? Think again. There are many other ways to accomplish the same effect that are much healthier. Go for a walk, take a shower, meditate. Find that thing that decompresses you but keeps you functional. You need to function to start a business.

An aspiring entrepreneur working and starting a new business must free up as much time as possible to devote to their new endeavor. Eliminating cable television is an easy way to reclaim an hour a day, or 365 hours(15 days!) a year, with one simple phone call. Do it now and increase your chances of success in life. Don’t believe me, check out the stats.

I am slowly reading through the Carnival of Capitalists over at Weekend Pundit. Some great pointers to interesting articles, check it out.

I particularly like this article by Evelyn Rodriguez recounting a powerful sales and customer service experience she had at Pike’s Place in Seattle, Washington. Read to learn about the art of creating an Experience of Yes.