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Don’t bring me down July 27, 2007

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I’ve never been accused of being overly optimistic (just ask my wife; read my first post).  In fact, I’m usually the devil’s advocate when it comes to looking at the potential of an idea, even if it’s my idea and I really think it is great. 

I’ve started networking with people who have done startups or are working on them now, and I’ve never met a more negative group of people.  I completely understand it is because of the shared experience of getting told “no” and the thankless struggle of starting something new and different, but man, they are such downers.  I’ve taken to heart the blogging by Marc Andreessen about why you shouldn’t do a startup and see the tough road ahead, so I *think* I know what’s coming (I’m sure that statement is getting a chuckle out of everyone who’s done a startup).  There will be thousands of times over the years that I know I will look back at this post and chuckle myself.  I have no reason to be negative yet, so I plan to enjoy it while it lasts.

The Lock Up July 17, 2007

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There’s nothing better than just locking your co-founders into a room and hashing things out.  We’re all still working on other full-time jobs, but we took time-off from our day jobs this week to spend three days together.  In taking a look at the cost structure, it was pretty cool to see we can get pretty far along without significant outside funding.  While looking at the revenue model, an unexpected thing happened; we found a way to offer something back to social causes and charities by MessageDance users.  Imagine that, while defining how to make money, we also found a way to do some good for others. 

Other progress includes electing our board of directors, finalizing the ownership and stock details, filing for a trademark, and setting up a banking relationship.  Progress on the engineering front is moving along at a good clip.  We’ve finalized the end-to-end user flow we need in order to demo to “interested parties”.  Should be completed in about two weeks time.  We’d like to get it out sooner, but the lock up ended on Saturday . . .

30-something in Web2.0 July 8, 2007

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As I get deeper into working on this venture, I wonder if I’m too old to “get it”.  In fact, do I show my ignorance to the space by even referring to it as Web2.0?  I’m paranoid that there is some other term that describes Web2.0 in hipper terms than Web2.0 — something I wouldn’t know because I’m not hanging out in Brad Fitzpatrick’s garage.

After years of working for staid enterprise software companies catering to staid Fortune 1000 companies, can I really expect to launch a service that caters to people who could care less about FASB 52 and SOX? 

Perception is reality July 3, 2007

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We know it’s critical to have the right look and feel to convey the attitude and intention of our startup.  When you look at a site like Twitter and Pownce, you know right away the demographic of their users — they’re young, hip, and savvy.  While it may seem trivial, I think the decision about “the look” for our initial launch is huge. 

Meanwhile, we’re chugging along on PRDs, architecture decisions, building pages, talking to possible advisors/founders, formalizing stock plans, and working on the business plan.