Steve Gadlin's piece of the Internet

Today, at about noon, I drew the 5,000th cat for I Want To Draw a Cat For You. It hasn’t posted to the site yet… they release to the site and to Twitter on an automated timer… but if you click the thumb to the right you can have a sneak peek!

Every thousandth cat is a gift I draw to myself… a little check-in with me to mark my mental and emotional state as this project continues.

When I drew cat #1,000, I was congratulating myself on what I thought was the tail end of a project. At that point, that I had even reached 1,000 cat drawings was blowing my mind. The ridiculous influx of orders I received from my Groupon deal had taken quite a toll on me – late nights rushing through as many orders as I could had left me sleepless and anxious. So that thousandth cat was my way of patting myself on the back, and also a reminder that I should strongly consider all possible outcomes before rapping publicly about what I want to do for people.

My Shark Tank appearance happened right around cat #1,450, so by cat #2,000 the crush I felt from the Groupon surge looked like a walk in the park. I had at least another 1,000 cats in my backlog. I was back full time at my day job, and putting in late and exhausting nights after work every day. I was a complete mental and emotional wreck. I think the drawing captures that pretty well.

Cat #3,000 posted just 3 weeks later, on my 36th birthday. I was sick, I was tired… but cool and promising things were happening with the project. I was working with a toy designer and a literary agent on concepts to grow the brand, and all of my hard work seemed to be serving some greater purpose. So I mustered up a Happy Birthday, and kept plodding along through my queue.

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I drew cat #4,000. I’m sure there’s a cry for help encoded in there somewhere, as the thousand cats immediately following were pretty rough. More than once I cursed myself for having started this silly project, and strongly lamented the time I was spending away from my family. The hardest part was seeing the effect of my absence manifest in my kids.

Which brings me to the cat I drew today, the 5,000th in the series. It came up in the queue as I was hitting my low. The weight and stress of adding this work to my life, and how it has eaten away at my day job and parenthood, was absolutely crushing me. But sometimes when you’re at the bottom, you can touch the roots. As I put pen to paper, I was struck with the reason for this, and all of my other silly projects… and remembered why it’s all worth it.

I draw stick figure cats for people to combat loneliness in myself and others.

In times when I have been down, finding a kindred spirit out there in the universe has always made a big difference. Weird people need to be noisy some times so that other weird people can find them. So while I can’t sustain this pace forever, I have to have a little faith that I can push through this rough spot and turn this project into something that eats a little less of my time. And while I do that, I take comfort knowing that each cat drawing is a personal note between me and a customer – and every once in a while that tiny gesture of connection will put a smile on my face, or on theirs. And that is pretty important. So important, in fact, that I drew myself a bonus pig to boot.

Only time can tell us if the sacrifices we make in the name of silly dreams are worth it in the end.

Cheers, weirdos. There are still a few of us kicking around in this crowded, empty universe.

I’m usually super cool when it comes to customer service. Even in the face of severe complaints and harsh feedback, I try to respond calmly, coolly, and with the demeanor of a saint. It may have been my ornery mood today, but responding with snark bit me in the butt today… in a way I think you may enjoy. So here’s the unedited conversation I had with a very special customer this afternoon.

From Rachel, in response to my latest Blewt! newsletter:

steve i dont like you leve me olone

My response:

You are now unsubscribed from my mailing list. Take care!

Rachel’s response:

thanks i never liked you and you suck at drawing btw

My response (and here’s where I get a little ornery):

Rachel -

Thanks for your comments. I hope you go on to create wonderful things in life.

I am also very sorry that you couldn’t find the very simple “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of my mailing list emails. If you had, you could have solved your problem yourself. And I bet that would have felt real great – doing something all by yourself like that.

Stay in school,
Steve

Rachel’s response:

dont tell me what to do u booger

My response:

I would never tell you what to do.

I would suggest that you attend some sort of class in spelling or grammar, so that your emails come across more professionally. It’s hard to take someone seriously who writes like a 9-year old.

Best,
Steve

Rachel’s response:

i am 9 stupid

Point Rachel.

The lesson here? When you’re performing customer service, just grin and bear it. The customer is always right. Or nine.

Tonight my Shark Tank episode will re-run on ABC at 8/7 Central. But that’s hardly the exciting news.

It’s a boy! Oliver Samuel Gadlin has joined us a couple of weeks early – no doubt because he wanted to watch his Pops score a deal with Mark Cuban on ABC tonight. Becky and I headed to the hospital for what we were both sure was a false alarm early Monday evening… but once we got there, Oliver took over, and at 2:29am on Tuesday morning, 3/27, our family grew again.

Oliver joined his big brother Jackson (2) and his big sister Izzie (almost 5!) at home on Thursday evening. I had been in denial about this pregnancy until the very last minute. Even while we were at the hospital, it felt like we were just going through the motions of some silly game. Surprise, Steve! You get a baby!

My body is slowly waking up to the sense memory of having a newborn in the house. I’m taking some time off from my day job, but I’m still trying to pump out at least 50 cat drawings every day while I’m home with the family. Some days it has been easier than others.

Becky has been an absolute champ. I’m pretty grumpy when I’m sleep deprived, and doubly so when I feel the weight of several non-family responsibilities pulling me in every direction. But she and Oliver have maintained a very quiet dignity to offset my tantrums.

Welcoming Oliver into our little family will be a slow and awesome process. And thanks to all of this cat drawing business, my monthly payment on the inevitable (really!) mini-van will be a little smaller. We’re living the American Dream in the Gadlin household. Some twisted version of it, at least.

Whoopy! Hooray for babies! I am so proud and enamored of my little growing brood.

Kevin Smith and his cat drawing.

I’ve started about 7 or 8 blog posts trying to sum up the last year… the Don’t Spit the Water pilot, my Shark Tank experience, working with Mark Cuban, etc.

The more I have to write about, the more difficult it is for me to write.

A few days before my 35th birthday, I stubbornly planted a few seeds. I set lofty goals for 35. I was going to take one last crack at turning Don’t Spit the Water! into a television show. I was going to make one last trip to New York and try for the Andy Kaufman award. I was basically giving myself permission to bust my hump for one more year to try and make my mark in the world of comedy. Success would be black or white – there would be no confusion. Things were either going to click, or I was going to look myself in the mirror and come to term with the fact that I’m a guy who builds websites – albeit a pretty weird one.

There was no black or white. My successes were failures, my failures were successes – and as I should have been able to predict, the future is still a little fuzzy and unsure.

So with just over an hour to go of 35, I’m wishing I had just a little more time, or a little more clarity.

I’m not sure which of my universes to focus on this year. Hopefully this is the year I can squeeze them all into one.

It’s All About Execution and Stick Figure Cat Drawings

2/7/12, Forbes, by Dan Reich

Read this on Forbes.com

What would you say if I told you I was going to make stick figure cat drawings?

Your first response may be to highlight the fact that I’m above the age of 4. Now what if I told you that this was not a child’s arts and crafts project, but my business idea. Not only is this my business idea, but my sales pitch includes a song and dance called, “I want to draw a cat for you.” What would you say then?

I think many of you would ask me if I’ve lost my mind and that would be a fair question. However, the truth is that absurd business concepts, even dramatically idiotic ones like stick figure cat drawings, can be brilliant, revenue generating businesses so long as they are properly executed.

On ABC’s Shark Tank, a show where investors get pitched and invest their own money, a guy named Steve Gadlin walked into a room, stood before five prominent investors and proved that execution is all that matters. He danced, he sang, he pitched a business predicated on cat drawings, and secured an investment from Mark Cuban, a billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks. This is something worth seeing for yourself.

The lesson to be learned here is that there is so much more to a successful business than just the idea. The trick to taking a business idea and turning it into a successful reality is all in the execution of that idea. It’s about taking your concept, regardless of how “out there” it may be, and making it work even if those around you liken your idea to the works of a 4 year old. It takes inventiveness, creativity, and lots of hard work.

Many of todays greatest inventions, if turned into a sales pitch, would be as television worthy as stick figure cat drawings. Just imagine what a Wright brother’s sales pitch may have sounded like. “So you see what those birds are doing? Yeah, its basically like that but with lots of wood and metal. Wanna invest?”

We encounter people every day who come up with crazy ideas, but the people that succeed are the ones that can execute. They are the people whose convictions and beliefs outweigh the objections and negativity of the naysayers.

So as I look out of the window and watch the planes fly overhead, I’m constantly reminded that no idea is too small or too stupid. Ideas don’t mean anything without good execution. And if the planes aren’t enough of a reminder, I suggest you order a picture of a stick figured cat and hang it above your desk.

Mark Cuban His ‘Shark Tank’ Investment Is The Cat’s Meow!

2/1/12, TMZ, by Karly Steinberg

Read this on TMZ.com

Mark Cuban really does have the Midas touch — his $25,000 investment into an online business that produces stick figure drawings of cats (yes, really) is actually proving to be a moneymaker … and the guy behind it can’t keep up with the demand!

Steve Gadlin‘s appearance on the ABC show “Shark Tank” aired just this Friday. For the uninitiated … entrepreneurs go on the show seeking investments from a team of business “sharks,” such as Cuban.

The Dallas Mavericks owner pledged $25k to Gadlin in return for 33% of his business. Within 30 seconds of receiving Cuban’s blessing, Gadlin tells TMZ, his site crashed.

Gadlin tells us, he’s gotten over a thousand orders in the past few days, where before he averaged between 10-40 a week. Gadlin charges $9.95 for his customized cat drawings … and they only cost him about $0.63 in materials.

He says he’s going to take a week off from his real job as a web developer to catch up with the demand.

We talked to Mark Cuban, who said “[Steve] is the master of the bizarre, which means we will be great partners.  He comes up with ideas that sound crazy but make perfect business sense,” adding, “I’m fired up to work him with.”

A preview of my Shark Tank appearance… posted to YouTube by ABC!

Laughs by the gallon at Mette’s Don’t Spit the Water

1/25/12, The Wilmette Beacon, by April Dahlquist

Read this on WilmetteBeacon.com

With comedians shouting over her shoulder, Chrissy Kress was laughing so hard she couldn’t hold in the water stored in her cheeks.

A dribble of water leaking from her clenched lips turned into a geyser splashing onto the stage.

Kress, of Aurora, was a contestant on Don’t Spit the Water, a game show brought to The Wilmette Theatre on Thursday, Jan. 19.

While the game show title may be, “Don’t Spit the Water,” the comedic team was trying desperately, and hilariously, to get the contestants to do exactly that.

“We just love having it here,” said Chad Byers, Wilmette Theatre’s general manager about the game show. “We think it’s a great show. It’s hilarious, so much fun and the audience loves it.”

The hour-long game show was led by Sasha and The Noob, who kept the audience entertained with riddles, stand-up jokes and sing-a-longs between the rounds. Wearing neon, argyle pants, and red and gold sequin vests, the comedic-duo left no color out of their outfits, or their performance.

During the rounds three contestants, who volunteered out of the audience, filled their cheeks with water while different comedic characters bombarded them with jokes.

The contestants earned points for the amount of time they could hold the water in their mouths before the humor was too much and caused them to spit it out laughing.

“Anything interactive is fun,” contestant Marc Bermann said. “Some of the humor had a vaudeville flavor to it, so that was fun.”

Comedic character Mr. Glitter-fairy-disco-baby, wearing a green, shimmering dress and rainbow tube socks, used surprise and cheap humor to get contestants to laugh.

Alice “from human resources” talked to the contestants about their failings at work while character Couch Cootersmith tried to get contestants revved up for the big game.

“They were really funny,” Kress said. “It was the hardest when the HR girl came out with the bag of flour and said it was my drugs.”

While Kress didn’t last long before spitting the water, other contestants were more tight-lipped.

“There’s always some guys that are trying to be tough guys and don’t want to spit the water to impress their dates,” performer Bryan Bowden said. “It’s just part of the game, and we have to be more creative.”

Bermann was able to hold in his giggles when he was focused during the rounds, but when Sasha was chatting with him between rounds, Bermann made a mess of spit-up water on the stage.

“If he had gone eye-to-eye with that Sasha, he would have spit the water in 15 seconds,” said Janice Igra, who accompanied Bermann to the show.

The contestants also could wager their points against the other contestant, betting if he or she would spit the water or not.

While some jokes flopped, overall the comedic troupe was able to keep the audience laughing and the contestants spitting.

This was the fourth time Don’t Spit the Water has come to The Wilmette Theatre. Theater managers said they try to book the show twice a year.

“We try to bring in the best shows from the city to the Wilmette audience, North Shore audience, so this fills that need,” Byers said.

From Soap Opera Weekly: