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Important News
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I am going to start my PhD in August. So I (John Mueller) will either need help running Gi, or will need to sell Gi to someone. Contact me if you are interested. I will post more details about the options in the near future. [ contact me ] |
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1 users online now | 12 logins today
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Compass:
[ Thu May 15, 2008 12:04 ]
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This is a message from one of the founders of GolfInvestors, John Mueller. GolfInvestors was started and is currently owned and operated by GolfSolutions.com, LLC. GolfSolutions.com, LLC was founded by John Mueller in the summer of 1998. Under the umbrella operations of GolfSolutions.com, LLC, the concept of GolfInvestors was thought out by both John Mueller and Mark Miller in late 1998 and early 1999, with the first GolfInvestors stock market run during the 2000 golf season. Mueller and Miller met while taking classes in the graduate school of business at the University of Texas at Austin. Miller, from Germany, was on a Fulbright scholarship for a year in Austin, Texas. While Mueller was at the university finishing up his MBA class work (his MBA degree is actually from the University of Illinois, but he took classes at both the University of Illinois and University of Texas). Miller worked on GolfInvestors until he went back to Germany in the Summer of 2000. Mueller has continued to foster and develop the GolfInvestor concept and technology. From the beginnings in Austin, Texas, Mueller has since moved the GolfSolutions.com, LLC operations to Longmont, Colorado. His latest message talking about his thoughts on GolfInvestors is written below. [ You can learn more about the history of GolfInvestors by going to the About - The Organization ]
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Longmont, Colorado, USA
January 31, 2004
GolfInvestors is first and foremost suppose to be an honest and ethical concept. I point this out at the outset of my message to users as financial stock markets have been considered by some as a place riddled with slimy and unethical practices and individuals and organizations who are associated with such practices. GolfInvestors strives to stay above and afar from corrupt and unethical individuals and organizations to keep its image as clean as possible in the financial industry.
Some people might ask why talk about a real financial stock market when GolfInvestors initially is a set of simulated / fantasy golf stock markets. The reason is that the ultimate vision of GolfInvestors is to be a real and certified global golf stock market (see "The Vision" for more details about the GolfInvestors vision). Yes, this an ambitious goal for a little organization. But one needs to think big, right?
Well, actually there is more to this ambitious idea and concept then just thinking big. I really feel there is a benefit in having industry specific stock markets, like for the professional golf industry. I feel that way for multiple industries, not just for the professional golf industry. The professional golf industry is being used as an example because I am familiar with this market having grown up in the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s wanting to be a professional golfer, and it is relatively simple as far as revenue and expenses models go.
What you are seeing on this site with the GolfInvestors stock markets is the actual thing in action. But I also look to write my Ph.D. thesis on supporting the trend, as well as the need, to have industry-segmented stock markets which provide investors and securities better exposure and protection with better management and reporting.
With the ultimate goal of being a real stock market as the light at the end of the tunnel, I do not want to forget about what the first step of GolfInvestors is. That is to create a solid simulation / fantasy golf stock market. The simulation version of GolfInvestors provides an enjoyable entertainment, competition, and learning environment [ see more about being an investor user or for educators ]. The simulation version is run on the solid technology we have created and provides robust technology, including trading and analysis tools.
The GolfInvestors concept is not a "get-rich" schema. It is a concept built on integrity and a solid base. It might not be well funded, as it is just me cash rolling the operations. However, sometimes the bootstrapping financing method makes the concept stronger over the long haul, as only the strongest survive in such an environment. I am hoping this is the case with GolfInvestors.
From my experience in the past with flash-and-dash companies and concepts trying to make it big fast and before anyone else gets too big to compete with them, I am just taking things step-by-step. Yes, I have a grandiose vision of what GolfInvestors will be when the market recognizes the concept has matured and grown-up. However, right now I am in no hurry to get there. I want to see the concept mature similar to watching my son Martin Nicklaus Mueller grow up. I am in no hurry to see Martin grow up, even though he would like to grow up faster than he really is --- that is most kids for you.
GolfInvestors is not the only thing I do during the day. I operate two companies, GolfSolutions (golfsolutions.com) -- which owns and operates GolfInvestors as one of the things it does, and SmartBond (smartbond.com) -- which is an outsource software development company which had developers that built the initial code when starting development of GolfInvestors back in 2000. These two companies in general keep food on the table for my family. They do not offer a lot of money. But they do earn enough money to keep the lights on and allow me to be around my family a lot, thank goodness (Martin spends the mornings with me in the office before he goes to school in the afternoon).
Everything has its time and place in this world. GolfInvestors' time will come. I am sure it will, as long as I and the rest of the GolfInvestors user base is involved with implementing and working towards the overall vision of the GolfInvestors concept.
I believe in the old adage of "what goes up fast, will come down fast". I do not want GolfInvestors to ever decline fast, thus I have no problem if GolfInvestors takes a steady and stable route to growth. It does not mean I do not want GolfInvestors to succeed, as I will always look to "right the ship" and keep things going in the right direction if I feel things are going amok.
That said, I have not pushed marketing for GolfInvestors or spent a lot of money on the marketing of GolfInvestors so far. I am just not a big proponent, of putting a lot of dollars into marketing during the development and initial operational stages of a company or a complex concept such as GolfInvestors. And GolfInvestors is still under development, as well as in its initial operational stages. Spending our own money on advertising and a huge marketing campaign would not make economic sense at this point. Now, maybe in the near future we will use educational seminars to help teach people about GolfInvestors and trading --- kind of like a financial / investing seminar that uses GolfInvestors as a teaching tool. This would benefit both the attendees of such seminars, as well as help get the word out about GolfInvestors.
In the meantime, I will keep an eye out for a strong strategic marketing partner which understands the ultimate vision of GolfInvestors so we can work nicely together. However, I suspect there is probably not an organization which wants to take the risk in working with us just yet. Once we get further along the line in implementing the concept, and we have some momentum, they will probably want to jump on the band wagon and follow like sheep. I say that in a positive light as I understand the managers of large companies do not have the risk - reward structure necessarily in place to risk working with us at this stage of our development.
That leaves us at today. Today we are continuing to work on the feature development and garnering feedback from the current user base to improve both the technology and the overall concept which GolfInvestors represents. Search engines and word-of-mouth is how we will continue to increase the current 900+ registered users we currently have on the system.
Feel free to contact me at anytime to discuss GolfInvestors. My GolfInvestors email address is jmueller@golfinvestors.com. My office phone number in Longmont, Colorado (USA) is +1-303-651-0200. Or feel free to drop by the GolfSolutions.com, LLC and SmartBond offices. The address of the office is on the Contact Us page. The page also has a link to Mapquest to show you a map of how to get to the office.
Regards,
John Mueller
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John Mueller
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Past Founder Messages
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Contact Information
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Email: jmueller@golfinvestors.com
IM GTalk: golfmomo
Skype: johnnymo1998
Phone: +1-303-651-0200
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