We Are Efficient

Our duty is to create efficient efficiencies, correct inefficient efficiencies, banish all laziness and efficient inefficiencies, and shun altogether the inefficient inefficiencies.

The opposite of efficiency is opportunity cost. Venues that regularly host live performances without attempting to capitalize on the content created on stage suffer such a cost. Ours is a content creation factory designed to streamline the process. The best musical equipment will be on hand so that artists need only bring their guitars and picks to a performance. The stage doubles as a recording studio in off hours. The recording studio produces music content that is utilized in video productions, short films, and on an online jukebox for subscribers and on-site visitors.

Such a factory requires a significant capital investment in property, plant and equipment with a heavy reliance on technology. These one-time costs are depreciated over the life of the equipment. There are other fixed costs such as insurance, maintenance and IT expertise. In total, the costs associated with such a factory would be represented on a pro forma statement as an upfront capital outflow of 33% to 50% of the total cost in Y=1, with capital outflows trending downward for each subsequent year. By Y=5, the only costs would be for insurance, maintenance and employee salaries.

But for now, at Y=-1, developing efficient efficiencies is more a theoretical exercise than a practical one. I think we're managing to avoid most inefficient inefficiencies--but then again, how can you really know if you're doing the wrong thing badly? A big task is tackling the efficient inefficiencies. There are a number of business practices, such as video editing and file organization, that were "good enough" to get us by until now. But no more: knowledge is power, and such practices are no longer efficient. In this fledgling state, we are only now becoming aware of the ourselves amid the awkwardness of start-up adolescence. There is, I believe, a metamorphosis to come.

So in the spirit of affirmation (and in spite of the lackluster, raw, vegan HippieMeal I ate last night) I will declare with a note of optimism in my voice:

We are efficient!