Its been about 3 weeks since my last post and I am happy to report that our startup is once again changing focus. The new site we are creating is called civi-side and it is a service designed to connect Canadian Forces reservists with reserve-friendly employers.
The reason for addressing this market is that there is a clear need, paying customers, barriers to entry, and seed funding. These are the holy grail of entrepreneurship. With them you have the highest potential for success.
The opportunity fell into our lap through a combination of inventiveness, the right connections, and serendipity. Being a reservist I saw the need for a job connection service about a 1.5 years ago, and prepared a memo for my commanding officer. While enthusiastic about solving the problem; I had no idea that there was a business in the offering, so I thought I would just be doing a service. While I waited for my proposal to take root somewhere in the organization I concurrently worked on bodbook. In Dec 2006 bodbook was funded by the CYBF and civi-side fell along the wayside. Without my pushing the concept to the CF organization, and bureaucracy being as it is, the idea died along the way.
Fast forward to late Oct 2007 and an open-ended question to my commanding officer by a well-placed general. The general posed an open-ended question "How can we do better for our soldiers?" Remembering my proposal, my commanding officer tells the general that she has an officer who has a good idea how to materially benefit the reservist through a job connection service. The general thinks this idea sounds interesting and invites the officer (me) to a meeting.
While waiting for the meeting I start integrating all that I have learned over the past year (business planning in particular) to prepare a bulletproof proposal. Along the way while business planning, I realize that there is a real business opportunity hidden in the service. This is the point where I refocus our resources completely towards civi-side.
The last paragraph contains an important lesson to absorb (possibly the most important one): "Go where the opportunity is". A year ago I might not have gone after this opportunity because common wisdom says that you need to follow through on your ideas. I would have figured that we were funded for bodbook and therefore I have to follow through on this till reaching success or failure. Normally this isn't bad advice, but in entrepreneurship it can be deadly. If I wasn't flexible enough to see that civi-side offered the path of least resistance then I would have missed recognizing this great opportunity, and potentially going bankrupt in the process. As an entrepreneur you need to focus, change focus, position, and reposition. I realize now that success is based more upon desire for success and willingness to adapt to any circumstances in order to achieve it, than any one particular idea.
Today we have seed funding for the service, a huge opportunity, and real benefit to offer users. All in all a fantastic end to 2007, and beginning of 2008.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Friday, November 9, 2007
You have a solution...but do you have a problem?
There's a great saying about many software companies that goes like this..."They have a solution looking for a problem". What that means is that the cool thing the company is building really has little or no value to the average end user. Startups that do this are almost certainly doomed because they will never gain any traction beyond the Technorati.
Bodbook started out kind of like the solution looking for a problem. We wanted to build something cool that combined social networking with reality television. Getting a group discount as a benefit was a byproduct, but certainly in the early going wasn't the main focus. Along the way we met many advisors that helped us refine the vision so it actually did solve a problem, but as earlier postings will tell you seeing the forest for the trees was by no means guaranteed.
My advice is not to heed your really cool idea for a feature or service without carefully examining whether it really addresses an acute problem. One of the best ways you can determine if it is an acute problem is to be the beneficiary of the solution. If it works for you, it may work for others. If you can find a solution, then you need to determine the size of the "Total Addressable Market" to see if it can make money. This is a fancy way of saying "How many people can I serve directly with my solution?" Though it may not be your first interest, analytical business planning makes all the difference in making a choices between what to pursue and what not to. The ones that are worth pursuing will become abundantly clear with a little research.
Bodbook started out kind of like the solution looking for a problem. We wanted to build something cool that combined social networking with reality television. Getting a group discount as a benefit was a byproduct, but certainly in the early going wasn't the main focus. Along the way we met many advisors that helped us refine the vision so it actually did solve a problem, but as earlier postings will tell you seeing the forest for the trees was by no means guaranteed.
My advice is not to heed your really cool idea for a feature or service without carefully examining whether it really addresses an acute problem. One of the best ways you can determine if it is an acute problem is to be the beneficiary of the solution. If it works for you, it may work for others. If you can find a solution, then you need to determine the size of the "Total Addressable Market" to see if it can make money. This is a fancy way of saying "How many people can I serve directly with my solution?" Though it may not be your first interest, analytical business planning makes all the difference in making a choices between what to pursue and what not to. The ones that are worth pursuing will become abundantly clear with a little research.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
All apologies
To anyone at Redeemer University College who might be offended by my reference to it as Redeemer College...my apologies. However, in my defence, when I went to Redeemer it was simply referred to as a College. I also happen to think that the name of the school sounds catchier as Redeemer College without the extra "University" thrown in to extend the name. With that said, in order to reach a reasonable compromise I will just refer to the school formerly known as "Redeemer College", and currently known as "Redeemer University College" as Redeemer. I hope that those who are offended can live with my heartfelt apology and this painful compromise. Thank you for bringing this important point to my attention faithful commenter.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Simplicity
Something very important to think about when constructing an initial concept for a startup...simplicity. You may have a million ideas on how to make the greatest widget of all time, but if you can't narrow it down to one simple idea then the likelihood of succeeding are greatly reduced. If your concept is complex then either you will get bogged down in building it, or your target user will become confused and go for the simpler solution. This is not to say that your product cannot become complex along the way, but this cannot be your initial foray into the market if you have competition.
We have learned this lesson the hard way with bodbook; and have boiled down the most important concept and created Wombitt from it. I don't know that Wombitt is even ultimately the right concept, but I do know that it is about as simple a point of entry into the market as is possible, so it gives me great confidence.
The best way to simplify is to figure out exactly what your core competency is, and build a simple idea around it, that solves a need for a customer.
With that said, this advice may really only be relevant in hindsight. I think that we often think that our ideas are more simple than they really are, but if you can apply it I highly recommend that you do.
We have learned this lesson the hard way with bodbook; and have boiled down the most important concept and created Wombitt from it. I don't know that Wombitt is even ultimately the right concept, but I do know that it is about as simple a point of entry into the market as is possible, so it gives me great confidence.
The best way to simplify is to figure out exactly what your core competency is, and build a simple idea around it, that solves a need for a customer.
With that said, this advice may really only be relevant in hindsight. I think that we often think that our ideas are more simple than they really are, but if you can apply it I highly recommend that you do.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Finding Partners
First thing I received this morning was a message on Facebook about a job posting for a developer. This person responded with a very curt "$10/Hr for a web developer: People cut grass for $10/Hr". I was very surprised by this response to say the least. This person had been offended by our offer and wanted to let me know it.
The message this morning got me thinking about how lucky I am to have found two partners already in building Wombitt. Finding people to help you build out the concept is instrumental in reaching your goals. The question is where do you meet these partners. Ideally you will meet them through normal social circles. The next best place to meet potential partners would be at networking events like Facebook Camp, or DemoCamp. Here you will meet people interested in new technology, who perhaps will even be entrepreneurial. Given my experience this morning I should probably say that job boards are last resort, but we found one of our partners through a job board and he has worked out fantastically, so I suppose it is hit and miss.
The most important thing you can do to bring partners on board is to explain your concept in easy to understand terms, creating a description that highlights the benefits more than the features. For example,"Wombitt is an easy to use search engine that makes word of mouth reviews between friends instantly accessible online. The benefits of which will save the user money and time in making their own purchases". This little skill has been the hardest part of pitching for me because my natural inclination is to veer to the abstract rather than concrete.
Finding partners is an essential part of starting up because it helps vette your ideas through the filter of other people's opinions. In starting with bodbook almost a year back, the concept has changed so considerably because I was constantly trying to recruit additional help. If I had tried to go it alone we wouldn't have arrived at the most important insights that define where we are going and the problem we are solving. Good help is hard to find, but is immeasurably valuable when you do.
The message this morning got me thinking about how lucky I am to have found two partners already in building Wombitt. Finding people to help you build out the concept is instrumental in reaching your goals. The question is where do you meet these partners. Ideally you will meet them through normal social circles. The next best place to meet potential partners would be at networking events like Facebook Camp, or DemoCamp. Here you will meet people interested in new technology, who perhaps will even be entrepreneurial. Given my experience this morning I should probably say that job boards are last resort, but we found one of our partners through a job board and he has worked out fantastically, so I suppose it is hit and miss.
The most important thing you can do to bring partners on board is to explain your concept in easy to understand terms, creating a description that highlights the benefits more than the features. For example,"Wombitt is an easy to use search engine that makes word of mouth reviews between friends instantly accessible online. The benefits of which will save the user money and time in making their own purchases". This little skill has been the hardest part of pitching for me because my natural inclination is to veer to the abstract rather than concrete.
Finding partners is an essential part of starting up because it helps vette your ideas through the filter of other people's opinions. In starting with bodbook almost a year back, the concept has changed so considerably because I was constantly trying to recruit additional help. If I had tried to go it alone we wouldn't have arrived at the most important insights that define where we are going and the problem we are solving. Good help is hard to find, but is immeasurably valuable when you do.
Monday, October 22, 2007
"What's the Need?"
A little bit of a digression but related to the overall theme of starting up. I received an email from a developer asking me about my opinion on a startup he was thinking about getting involved in. The startup is kind of like a rating service about bosses. You can give your boss a rating along a spectrum of good-bad. Kind of like "Digg", with good bosses ending up higher on the scale than bad ones.
On first glance this seems like a good idea. Everyone has a boss, not all are great. This could help users find the better ones. If you pose this concept to your friends you will probably get some enthusiastic responses. However, you have to look more closely at a concept to determine if it really is worth pursuing. In this case you have to ask the question "Why would the reviewer share a rating?" In business they call this the "Value Proposition" or "Pain Statement". What is the compelling reason that the user would "Need" your offering? If there is no compelling need the chances of success are lower. Finding that sweet spot is a key consideration in getting investors. If you can't point to a compelling need with a smart strategy for filling it, you are highly unlikely to get money from sophisticated investors.
The good news on this is that you don't have to to come up with the solution to a "pain" right away. It is more important to find a big enough area of interest for you to start doing some heavy research in, and then finding what in that area needs the most intervention. If you can find a way to apply web technology to a big problem, you are well on your way to a successful startup. For example, we started bodbook with an idea about connecting friends with word of mouth about movies they had seen. We went about creating this social network with some cool features and then released it to the public...it bombed. Luckily, despite at first not realizing what was most compelling about what we were doing, we were able to reorganize around the core concept of sharing word of mouth. Given that our first offering failed we are lucky to be working in a big area with lots of need, we just have to iterate within it until we find our sweet spot. That should be your goal also.
On first glance this seems like a good idea. Everyone has a boss, not all are great. This could help users find the better ones. If you pose this concept to your friends you will probably get some enthusiastic responses. However, you have to look more closely at a concept to determine if it really is worth pursuing. In this case you have to ask the question "Why would the reviewer share a rating?" In business they call this the "Value Proposition" or "Pain Statement". What is the compelling reason that the user would "Need" your offering? If there is no compelling need the chances of success are lower. Finding that sweet spot is a key consideration in getting investors. If you can't point to a compelling need with a smart strategy for filling it, you are highly unlikely to get money from sophisticated investors.
The good news on this is that you don't have to to come up with the solution to a "pain" right away. It is more important to find a big enough area of interest for you to start doing some heavy research in, and then finding what in that area needs the most intervention. If you can find a way to apply web technology to a big problem, you are well on your way to a successful startup. For example, we started bodbook with an idea about connecting friends with word of mouth about movies they had seen. We went about creating this social network with some cool features and then released it to the public...it bombed. Luckily, despite at first not realizing what was most compelling about what we were doing, we were able to reorganize around the core concept of sharing word of mouth. Given that our first offering failed we are lucky to be working in a big area with lots of need, we just have to iterate within it until we find our sweet spot. That should be your goal also.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Funding
The only thing you can be sure of with funding is that it is elusive at best, so should you get some, be a miser with it, because you can't be sure when revenue or additional funding will come through.
Our experience with funding has been that it is extremely hard to get and will run out more quickly than you would imagine. We spent 3 months from application to approval to get our initial round of funding, $15000, from the Canadian Youth Business Foundation...and in retrospect that was the easiest money we could get. This is not to say that there isn't easier money to be found, it was just that we had no access to it.
If you have family that will support your efforts you should try to tap them first because their confidence in you will inspire confidence from friends and others. Beware though, taking money means risking their respect if you squander it in any way.
We went the opposite route in taking a bank loan and therefore were able to show a prototype. With that said, it didn't make our fund raising much, if any easier because the people you are pitching have to have some sense of what you are doing before they will put a dime in. For example, I have a cousin who married into money and was part of a successful business. I pitched her and her husband and walked away without a dime. The reason, they could not evaluate the opportunity because they had no sense of what it took to build a successful web company and the potential returns of doing so. On the other hand, I pitched a small number of my friends and was able to snag a small investment from a couple of them. The lesson I suppose it to pitch whomever you can because you never know who the idea will catch with.
The next level of investor is an even more elusive one. The "Angel" investor is usually a former entrepreneur who has cashed out of his own business and is now looking for the opportunity of cashing in on new business without the massive headache that running one's own startup entails. Angels can basically be found in only two ways 1. Angel Investing Clubs: These clubs group Angels together to evaluate potential deals that have already been vetted by professional evaluators. They usually aren't interested in seed deals like the one you would be bringing them. 2. Social Networking with other entrepreneurs. Most successful entrepreneurs had to raise money to do so, therefore they usually have contacts with Angels. If you want to tap this resource contact entrepreneurs who you think you might have something in common with and introduce yourself. You will usually find these people very accommodating and willing to help an entrepreneur just starting out.
The next level of investor is the Venture Capitalists. These people are professional investors and are just about impossible to impress without what they call "Traction". If you want to make these guys take notice you need to show results. They are however worth shopping your idea around with because they can bring high level issues to your attention that you may not have thought about. The downside is that they also may use your information to help out entrepreneurs they have in their portfolio already. My advice, tell them enough to basically describe your concept, without giving them the "Secret Herbs and Spices" that you believe will make customers keep coming back for your product.
When presenting to anyone take their criticisms in stride and try to learn from them. We have written our business plan so many times I can barely remember what the original concept was anymore. With that said, i know that what we are creating is exponentially better than what we started with, and much of that can be directly attributed to feedback from potential investors.
Next week I will write about recruiting the team, and building the product.
Our experience with funding has been that it is extremely hard to get and will run out more quickly than you would imagine. We spent 3 months from application to approval to get our initial round of funding, $15000, from the Canadian Youth Business Foundation...and in retrospect that was the easiest money we could get. This is not to say that there isn't easier money to be found, it was just that we had no access to it.
If you have family that will support your efforts you should try to tap them first because their confidence in you will inspire confidence from friends and others. Beware though, taking money means risking their respect if you squander it in any way.
We went the opposite route in taking a bank loan and therefore were able to show a prototype. With that said, it didn't make our fund raising much, if any easier because the people you are pitching have to have some sense of what you are doing before they will put a dime in. For example, I have a cousin who married into money and was part of a successful business. I pitched her and her husband and walked away without a dime. The reason, they could not evaluate the opportunity because they had no sense of what it took to build a successful web company and the potential returns of doing so. On the other hand, I pitched a small number of my friends and was able to snag a small investment from a couple of them. The lesson I suppose it to pitch whomever you can because you never know who the idea will catch with.
The next level of investor is an even more elusive one. The "Angel" investor is usually a former entrepreneur who has cashed out of his own business and is now looking for the opportunity of cashing in on new business without the massive headache that running one's own startup entails. Angels can basically be found in only two ways 1. Angel Investing Clubs: These clubs group Angels together to evaluate potential deals that have already been vetted by professional evaluators. They usually aren't interested in seed deals like the one you would be bringing them. 2. Social Networking with other entrepreneurs. Most successful entrepreneurs had to raise money to do so, therefore they usually have contacts with Angels. If you want to tap this resource contact entrepreneurs who you think you might have something in common with and introduce yourself. You will usually find these people very accommodating and willing to help an entrepreneur just starting out.
The next level of investor is the Venture Capitalists. These people are professional investors and are just about impossible to impress without what they call "Traction". If you want to make these guys take notice you need to show results. They are however worth shopping your idea around with because they can bring high level issues to your attention that you may not have thought about. The downside is that they also may use your information to help out entrepreneurs they have in their portfolio already. My advice, tell them enough to basically describe your concept, without giving them the "Secret Herbs and Spices" that you believe will make customers keep coming back for your product.
When presenting to anyone take their criticisms in stride and try to learn from them. We have written our business plan so many times I can barely remember what the original concept was anymore. With that said, i know that what we are creating is exponentially better than what we started with, and much of that can be directly attributed to feedback from potential investors.
Next week I will write about recruiting the team, and building the product.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Welcome Redeemer College
If you have come all the way to the bodbook blog via The Redeemer College newspaper you must be interested in learning how to startup a web company. If you have come via any other signpost on the web this may still be of interest to you.
In the article for “The Crown” I started with the basic question that a startup must ask: “What if?” In the case of bodbook we asked “What if we could create an online social utility that could help students use their numbers to save money through group discounts”. If you read back on this blog you will see how much we have changed our concept, and yet the guiding principle of “What if?” was always the same. You can assume that your concept is going to change many times before launch, so make sure that you know what direction it is you want to go before you head out onto the road.
Once you have your “What if?” start to shop the idea around with friends and family. Resist the temptation to conceal what it is you are doing. Despite your belief in the area of interest; you are going to find people mostly indifferent, and sometimes seriously opposed to the concept you are proposing. Most entrepreneurs go through a stage where they don’t want anyone stealing their idea so they won’t share it unless someone signs a non-disclosure agreement in blood. This is exactly the worst thing you can do. In shopping your idea around you are going to get a ton of criticism about why what you are trying to do won’t work. That may seem like a bad thing; but it is really the first step in shaving away the completely impossible from the highly improbable. The sweet spot is in doing the highly improbable because that is where you start to find your niche in the marketplace by doing something your competition can’t or won’t do. One caveat, if you find that everyone thinks that your concept is great then your audience is either too mindful of your feelings, or your initial question is too pedestrian and therefore is already being done by somebody somewhere.
Once you have a “What if?” slightly tested in the fire of public opinion, it is time to start to write your first executive summary of a business plan. This little document of 2-4 pages will help get you in the door with potential investors, but more importantly will start to get you thinking about some key questions that you will need to answer as you begin to build your business.
The key questions that you need to answer in the exec summary are:
Concept: What exactly are you trying to accomplish. In the case of bodbook we were trying to use the web to create a way for students to organize themselves around events so that they could gain group discounts.
Why your idea improves upon what already exists: In our case we felt that students were paying full price at movies and restaurants around the campus because they weren’t organizing around one or two places. We felt that if we could help them organize around a single movie theatre or restaurant they could gain a group discount.
How much money you will need: The answer to this question is often difficult at such an early stage. The best estimate you can make is to figure out some initial goals such as build a prototype and do a beta test in a relevant market. Once you have these goals in mind you can start to figure out your expenses relative to the amount of time you project to accomplish the goals. Then add six months of expenses to the estimate. Adding six months is a good safeguard because everything takes longer than you first estimate. And whatever you do, spend the money as if it will take the extra six months.
How you will make money: This question is relevant to friends, family, and professional money. You should have a plan to monetize your idea if you want to attract some money to finance your goals. A simple one page summary excel sheet outlining how much money you think you can make, and how much it will cost to run the business should suffice at an early stage. If it isn’t enough, just inquire from you potential investor what additional figures they need to make a decision.
A short section on strategy to market, including promotions, should be included: For example, with bodbook we suggested that it would take approximately 2-3 months to build the service, and we would promote it via the school newspaper and facebook flyers. Another caveat, the investor just wants to know that you have started to think about the various ways to accomplish your goal, so don’t worry too much about actually creating the perfect market strategy.
Competition: If you were to build what you are proposing who would want to see you fail? In our case, we thought that facebook might have a problem with us because we were trying to service the same market as them. We also thought organizations such as Student Price Club might view us as competition.
How you will overcome resistance by your competition: This is a relatively easy question to answer once you have honestly put your concept to the fire of public opinion. Once you have shaved away the impossible from the improbable, compare your offering to that of the competition and refine the concept again until you have the offering that your competition is either unable, or unwilling to match. If in that sweet spot you can create significant value in terms of saving the user time and/or money you have a competitive advantage.
Management team: This is where you list your accomplishments as individuals to inspire confidence in those considering investment. At this stage of your lives you are unlikely to have done much in the way of business, but you may have done some things that make you stand out from your peers. For example, if you have won academic or athletic awards list them, if you have T.A’d list it, if you have been an R.A list it. While at the highest levels of investment these accomplishments won’t mean much, at the initial level many investors will take your level relative to others your age as a good sign of potential.
Summary: Bring the entire document together in a paragraph or two outlining the opportunity and making a call to action. The executive summary will help coalesce your ideas into something tangible for your team and investors. Don’t worry about making it perfect, just have a reasonable, defensible answer for everything you say in it. If your business planning turns out to be anything like ours turned out; then you will be reworking your exec summary many, many times before it turns into something that really reflects reality.
Coming up with an initial idea and starting a rudimentary executive summary should take you less than a week, so in my next post I will talk about some possible funding sources that can help make your idea a reality. See you next Thursday.
In the article for “The Crown” I started with the basic question that a startup must ask: “What if?” In the case of bodbook we asked “What if we could create an online social utility that could help students use their numbers to save money through group discounts”. If you read back on this blog you will see how much we have changed our concept, and yet the guiding principle of “What if?” was always the same. You can assume that your concept is going to change many times before launch, so make sure that you know what direction it is you want to go before you head out onto the road.
Once you have your “What if?” start to shop the idea around with friends and family. Resist the temptation to conceal what it is you are doing. Despite your belief in the area of interest; you are going to find people mostly indifferent, and sometimes seriously opposed to the concept you are proposing. Most entrepreneurs go through a stage where they don’t want anyone stealing their idea so they won’t share it unless someone signs a non-disclosure agreement in blood. This is exactly the worst thing you can do. In shopping your idea around you are going to get a ton of criticism about why what you are trying to do won’t work. That may seem like a bad thing; but it is really the first step in shaving away the completely impossible from the highly improbable. The sweet spot is in doing the highly improbable because that is where you start to find your niche in the marketplace by doing something your competition can’t or won’t do. One caveat, if you find that everyone thinks that your concept is great then your audience is either too mindful of your feelings, or your initial question is too pedestrian and therefore is already being done by somebody somewhere.
Once you have a “What if?” slightly tested in the fire of public opinion, it is time to start to write your first executive summary of a business plan. This little document of 2-4 pages will help get you in the door with potential investors, but more importantly will start to get you thinking about some key questions that you will need to answer as you begin to build your business.
The key questions that you need to answer in the exec summary are:
Concept: What exactly are you trying to accomplish. In the case of bodbook we were trying to use the web to create a way for students to organize themselves around events so that they could gain group discounts.
Why your idea improves upon what already exists: In our case we felt that students were paying full price at movies and restaurants around the campus because they weren’t organizing around one or two places. We felt that if we could help them organize around a single movie theatre or restaurant they could gain a group discount.
How much money you will need: The answer to this question is often difficult at such an early stage. The best estimate you can make is to figure out some initial goals such as build a prototype and do a beta test in a relevant market. Once you have these goals in mind you can start to figure out your expenses relative to the amount of time you project to accomplish the goals. Then add six months of expenses to the estimate. Adding six months is a good safeguard because everything takes longer than you first estimate. And whatever you do, spend the money as if it will take the extra six months.
How you will make money: This question is relevant to friends, family, and professional money. You should have a plan to monetize your idea if you want to attract some money to finance your goals. A simple one page summary excel sheet outlining how much money you think you can make, and how much it will cost to run the business should suffice at an early stage. If it isn’t enough, just inquire from you potential investor what additional figures they need to make a decision.
A short section on strategy to market, including promotions, should be included: For example, with bodbook we suggested that it would take approximately 2-3 months to build the service, and we would promote it via the school newspaper and facebook flyers. Another caveat, the investor just wants to know that you have started to think about the various ways to accomplish your goal, so don’t worry too much about actually creating the perfect market strategy.
Competition: If you were to build what you are proposing who would want to see you fail? In our case, we thought that facebook might have a problem with us because we were trying to service the same market as them. We also thought organizations such as Student Price Club might view us as competition.
How you will overcome resistance by your competition: This is a relatively easy question to answer once you have honestly put your concept to the fire of public opinion. Once you have shaved away the impossible from the improbable, compare your offering to that of the competition and refine the concept again until you have the offering that your competition is either unable, or unwilling to match. If in that sweet spot you can create significant value in terms of saving the user time and/or money you have a competitive advantage.
Management team: This is where you list your accomplishments as individuals to inspire confidence in those considering investment. At this stage of your lives you are unlikely to have done much in the way of business, but you may have done some things that make you stand out from your peers. For example, if you have won academic or athletic awards list them, if you have T.A’d list it, if you have been an R.A list it. While at the highest levels of investment these accomplishments won’t mean much, at the initial level many investors will take your level relative to others your age as a good sign of potential.
Summary: Bring the entire document together in a paragraph or two outlining the opportunity and making a call to action. The executive summary will help coalesce your ideas into something tangible for your team and investors. Don’t worry about making it perfect, just have a reasonable, defensible answer for everything you say in it. If your business planning turns out to be anything like ours turned out; then you will be reworking your exec summary many, many times before it turns into something that really reflects reality.
Coming up with an initial idea and starting a rudimentary executive summary should take you less than a week, so in my next post I will talk about some possible funding sources that can help make your idea a reality. See you next Thursday.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
A New Chapter in the Bodbook
We have decided to essentially turn over day to day of Bodbook to the students of Redeemer College if they are willing to accept it. I have been working on the spinoff project that I mentioned in the last post for the past two months and have come to the conclusion that trying to do both at the same time is just too much.
I really believe that bodbook could be something useful, so I am highly hesitant to simply forget about it, that is why I have decided to do an experiment in entrepreneurship and turn it over to the students at Redeemer College. A select group of students that identify themselves as wanting to be founders will have the opportunity to run it as their own business. They will make all the decisions, profit share, and shape it into whatever they feel it should be.
The only concession they make to me is that I remain Chairman so that they can leverage all that I have learned over the past year of developing bodbook, making contacts, raising capital...in short letting me shorten their learning curve.
I really believe that bodbook could be something useful, so I am highly hesitant to simply forget about it, that is why I have decided to do an experiment in entrepreneurship and turn it over to the students at Redeemer College. A select group of students that identify themselves as wanting to be founders will have the opportunity to run it as their own business. They will make all the decisions, profit share, and shape it into whatever they feel it should be.
The only concession they make to me is that I remain Chairman so that they can leverage all that I have learned over the past year of developing bodbook, making contacts, raising capital...in short letting me shorten their learning curve.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Bodbook V 2.0
It's been around two weeks since my last post. We are nearing launch and it all looks to be going according to plan. My last meeting with investors went well I think. We are supposed to touch base again sometime soon. One big thing that came out of the meeting was a question posed to me. The question was about our facebook strategy. Since this was a question I had been asked in my last meeting with a VC I was prepared and came out with a reasonable answer. However, the question got me thinking about a deeper application than we were currently envisioning. Once my brain gets working on a problem it doesn't let go until I have a solution. In this case thinking more deeply opened up a whole new approach to our service that I hadn't thought of before. In the space of a few days I had an entirely new interface designed, as well as a new business model.
We are still going ahead with the original plan, but bodbook version 2.0 is going to be awesome. I have been calling it "on-demand word of mouth" and I think that it is going to do for word of mouth that Napster did for music. I'll save the actual description for when we are ready to launch V 2.0, but I think it is going to be huge.
Until then, just a few little things to do for bodbook before we launch in a few weeks. I am very excited to see it finally come to fruition.
We are still going ahead with the original plan, but bodbook version 2.0 is going to be awesome. I have been calling it "on-demand word of mouth" and I think that it is going to do for word of mouth that Napster did for music. I'll save the actual description for when we are ready to launch V 2.0, but I think it is going to be huge.
Until then, just a few little things to do for bodbook before we launch in a few weeks. I am very excited to see it finally come to fruition.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Another investor meeting
I'm meeting with another VC tomorrow. The partner I'm meeting with is someone I actually have wanted to meet for a long time. He founded a startup in the 90's called MobShop. It was essentially a group discount site for consumer products.
I wanted to meet this guy b/c we are doing essentially the same thing, but with a social networking twist. We are also introducing products to our users, so on second thought, it's a little different. Regardless, I think that he will have some insights to offer on what we are doing.
We are now just slightly over a month from launch, I'm all pins and needles to see how things work out.
I wanted to meet this guy b/c we are doing essentially the same thing, but with a social networking twist. We are also introducing products to our users, so on second thought, it's a little different. Regardless, I think that he will have some insights to offer on what we are doing.
We are now just slightly over a month from launch, I'm all pins and needles to see how things work out.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Investor Updates
Since I last wrote we met with the Venture Capital people. It was a really interesting meeting that went better than I thought it would. The only complaint was that I didn't tell them exactly what bodbook was (social network). I did gloss over that point b/c I assumed that they had some knowledge about what it is we were doing from the executive summary of the business plan (the main guy didn't read it). Luckily the person who convinced the main partner to meet with us did understand the opportunity and was able to pitch the finer points for us. My feeling is that we are a little early stage for these guys...but who knows.
I also had another last minute meeting with another potential investor. I felt like that meeting was much more fruitful. He is an Angel investor that puts in money at the earliest stage. He and his partner have the money we need now, and the connections we need later to grow bodbook so I see this as being a better fit. There's only one hitch and that is that we would have to move to Montreal, as that is the only place they invest. I don't consider this to be a big issue since Montreal is our second biggest market in Canada.
I also had lunch that same day with Ben Yoskovitz from Standout jobs. They had a deal with the VC that we met with in the morning, but things fell apart along the way to the cheque actually being signed. I had heard of Standout before things went south with the VC and had asked for their advice on how to approach the meeting. Ben was really generous with his time and gave me alot of really useful advice. Anyhow, we met for lunch and discussed startups, investors, and the entrepreneurial climate in Montreal. I got a really good sense that the development of the entrepreneurial community was growing by leaps and bounds. So moving bodbook to Montreal sounds like it holds alot of promise for our fledgling little company.
We are now about 5 weeks to launch and things are looking really great. I'll keep you posted.
I also had another last minute meeting with another potential investor. I felt like that meeting was much more fruitful. He is an Angel investor that puts in money at the earliest stage. He and his partner have the money we need now, and the connections we need later to grow bodbook so I see this as being a better fit. There's only one hitch and that is that we would have to move to Montreal, as that is the only place they invest. I don't consider this to be a big issue since Montreal is our second biggest market in Canada.
I also had lunch that same day with Ben Yoskovitz from Standout jobs. They had a deal with the VC that we met with in the morning, but things fell apart along the way to the cheque actually being signed. I had heard of Standout before things went south with the VC and had asked for their advice on how to approach the meeting. Ben was really generous with his time and gave me alot of really useful advice. Anyhow, we met for lunch and discussed startups, investors, and the entrepreneurial climate in Montreal. I got a really good sense that the development of the entrepreneurial community was growing by leaps and bounds. So moving bodbook to Montreal sounds like it holds alot of promise for our fledgling little company.
We are now about 5 weeks to launch and things are looking really great. I'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
A sense of responsibility to the community
It's been a few weeks since my last post. It's not that I haven't had anything new to report, just that we have been in the midst of trying to battle our way through what has ended up being our greatest technical challenge...making a social calendar. I'm happy to report that we finally found a template and user process that looks and works well.
You wouldn't think that making a calendar where your friends could look at your schedule and invite you to events would be so difficult but my goodness has it been. The trickiest thing about web design is that it is near impossible to see your site through the user's eyes. Each template was completely a riddle to users. They could never figure out how to input and access the contents, therefore it was just a useless feature. However, we figured that this feature is going to be a huge part of the service so we had to go back to the drawing board at least three times and rebuild the design from scratch, incorporating feedback and new ideas. We've done it so many times that I actually felt obligated to apologize to our developer.
Well today we got the new calendar up and it looks and works well. I've had users play with it while I silently observed and to my relief they have been able to do everything it offers without coming to the procedural roadblocks they were coming to before. Of course, it still needs some tweaking but I am confident it is a calendar that everyone will be able to use without any instruction.
Onto other things, I have my meeting next week with the Venture Capital firm mentioned in the last post. I have been putting together a presentation as well as compiling an up to date business plan. The benefit of doing a business plan over and over again is that you can see how much you have developed over time. I look at the one I did in March and I can see we are miles of ahead of where we were only 3-4 months ago. I also see how my knowledge of the potential of bodbook grows with every version of the plan. I feel very confident that the VC I am meeting with will be impressed by my level of market knowledge and insight into how our technology will change how word of mouth travels at the very least in the post-secondary market.
I also came across this great article that describes a recent study talking about how technology is giving those that are naturally inclined to share their opinions about products more effective tools to get the word out. The entire article supported our model and niche, but what really stuck out to me was the reason that these evangelists gave for sharing their word of mouth...community service.
These evangelists thought that it was important that others be given the benefit of their opinion so that they could make informed decisions. This was an incredible find because it supports what I believed would be a great motivation for our connectors to share their reviews...a sense of responsibility to the community. That's why with every discount coupon we distribute we include a reminder that says "Remember to share a review to save your friends money, and earn reward points". This statement is designed to emphasize to our connectors that simply sharing their review helps save their friends money. They don't have to do anything that they were not inclined to do before, just that the benefits of what they do will now be greater.
As I learn more about social behaviour I become more confident in the power of bodbook to enhance and accelerate word of mouth to the benefit of all our users. It's exciting to know that what you are doing really will transform the world for the better of all those involved.
Anyhoo...I'll let you know how my meeting with the VC goes.
You wouldn't think that making a calendar where your friends could look at your schedule and invite you to events would be so difficult but my goodness has it been. The trickiest thing about web design is that it is near impossible to see your site through the user's eyes. Each template was completely a riddle to users. They could never figure out how to input and access the contents, therefore it was just a useless feature. However, we figured that this feature is going to be a huge part of the service so we had to go back to the drawing board at least three times and rebuild the design from scratch, incorporating feedback and new ideas. We've done it so many times that I actually felt obligated to apologize to our developer.
Well today we got the new calendar up and it looks and works well. I've had users play with it while I silently observed and to my relief they have been able to do everything it offers without coming to the procedural roadblocks they were coming to before. Of course, it still needs some tweaking but I am confident it is a calendar that everyone will be able to use without any instruction.
Onto other things, I have my meeting next week with the Venture Capital firm mentioned in the last post. I have been putting together a presentation as well as compiling an up to date business plan. The benefit of doing a business plan over and over again is that you can see how much you have developed over time. I look at the one I did in March and I can see we are miles of ahead of where we were only 3-4 months ago. I also see how my knowledge of the potential of bodbook grows with every version of the plan. I feel very confident that the VC I am meeting with will be impressed by my level of market knowledge and insight into how our technology will change how word of mouth travels at the very least in the post-secondary market.
I also came across this great article that describes a recent study talking about how technology is giving those that are naturally inclined to share their opinions about products more effective tools to get the word out. The entire article supported our model and niche, but what really stuck out to me was the reason that these evangelists gave for sharing their word of mouth...community service.
These evangelists thought that it was important that others be given the benefit of their opinion so that they could make informed decisions. This was an incredible find because it supports what I believed would be a great motivation for our connectors to share their reviews...a sense of responsibility to the community. That's why with every discount coupon we distribute we include a reminder that says "Remember to share a review to save your friends money, and earn reward points". This statement is designed to emphasize to our connectors that simply sharing their review helps save their friends money. They don't have to do anything that they were not inclined to do before, just that the benefits of what they do will now be greater.
As I learn more about social behaviour I become more confident in the power of bodbook to enhance and accelerate word of mouth to the benefit of all our users. It's exciting to know that what you are doing really will transform the world for the better of all those involved.
Anyhoo...I'll let you know how my meeting with the VC goes.
Friday, June 15, 2007
A great end to a great week!
As if Wed wasn't good enough, bodbook has seen a great end to this week. We were invited for our first meeting with a venture capital firm. I know better than to expect this to be the final meeting we have with investors, but it solidifies that we have a winning concept that is interesting to all levels of investors.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Yesterday was another fantastically interesting day in bodland. I had several significant meetings. The first one of the day was with an industry leader in point of sale systems. In case you aren't familiar with the term, POS are the software programs that theatres, fast food, gas stations, etc use to enter the purchases you make. My intention when requesting a meeting with this person was to get his advice on how to integrate bodbook into the systems of each theatre. At best I was hoping that he would be interested in sitting on our board. Instead he proposed that we form a business partnership that plugged into his other businesses including theatre POS systems, online movie ticketing, and a cashless payment system. I have to say that his proposal was entirely unexpected and gratifying. I don't know where it will go, but quite cool nevertheless.
The next meeting of the day was with another startup called Campus-411. The do alerts from school administrators, security, profs, clubs, etc via cell phone text messaging. One cool thing that they offer is digital coupons. For example, the discount coupons that our users download for movies can also be sent digitally via cell phone. They only need to be scanned at the theatre to be redeemed. I really like their technology and get a good sense from them. Hopefully all that will work out.
The next meeting was with the experienced business person I wrote about 4 months ago. He has been an advisor with us since I met him, but now it looks like he might be available to join our team in a more significant way. It is still necessary for us to raise capital to afford him, but given the really strong reception we have been getting from investors I think his presence on the team will essentially guarantee whatever money we need at a price that we can live with.
Finally, I met with our team to talk about the little adjustments we had to make in the design and functionality. The main parts of the site are done, but there are a million little things that will enhance the users experience so we keep plugging away on those. I am really excited to see how cool this all turns out when we launch in Sept.
That's just another day in bodland. I think we have alot more interesting ones ahead.
The next meeting of the day was with another startup called Campus-411. The do alerts from school administrators, security, profs, clubs, etc via cell phone text messaging. One cool thing that they offer is digital coupons. For example, the discount coupons that our users download for movies can also be sent digitally via cell phone. They only need to be scanned at the theatre to be redeemed. I really like their technology and get a good sense from them. Hopefully all that will work out.
The next meeting was with the experienced business person I wrote about 4 months ago. He has been an advisor with us since I met him, but now it looks like he might be available to join our team in a more significant way. It is still necessary for us to raise capital to afford him, but given the really strong reception we have been getting from investors I think his presence on the team will essentially guarantee whatever money we need at a price that we can live with.
Finally, I met with our team to talk about the little adjustments we had to make in the design and functionality. The main parts of the site are done, but there are a million little things that will enhance the users experience so we keep plugging away on those. I am really excited to see how cool this all turns out when we launch in Sept.
That's just another day in bodland. I think we have alot more interesting ones ahead.
Friday, June 8, 2007
"Are you worried about Flixter?"
It's been a couple of weeks since Facebook Apps platform has opened. Flixter has jumped out to be a very popular app in a very short period of time (1.5 million users and growing). People have been asking me in a concerned way "Are you worried about Flixter". My answer is "Not at all". Though we share similarities in rating films, we have completely different goals. I even think that Flixter might actually help us. At the very least it shows potential investors how much interest there is on Facebook for movie reviews.
The main distinction between Flixter and Bodbook is that Flixter is a social network for people who love movies. It is a place to share all things movies. Bodbook on the other hand is a event management system that includes movies. We focus on sparking interest in particular movies and managing all the invites that result from our efforts. Users benefit b/c they get reliable reviews and cash discounts to boot.
Not satisfied to sit on our hands until launch, Bodbook is in the process of developing more reliable review systems and event management features that will positively blow away anything out there doing anything similar. I don't think it wise to discuss it publicly in this forum, but suffice it to say, it will maximize the reach of our influencers further than even we imagined originally.
On another note, while we haven't actually inked a deal with any investors yet it seems that this part should come imminently. Just this past week a deep pocketed investor approached a friend of mine that is knowledgeable about the sector. He wanted an opinion on how marketable bodbook is. My friend gave it to him straight that we had something that has disruptive potential. Then just today a friend of mine from the military asked if he could invest in the company based only on the description. What is remarkable about both of these potential investors is that I haven't even pitched them. They have independently come to be interested because there is something even in the description about bodbook that smells like money. Not that investment is any guarantee of success, but so much interest sure is validation that what we have been working on for the past year is coming to fruition.
The main distinction between Flixter and Bodbook is that Flixter is a social network for people who love movies. It is a place to share all things movies. Bodbook on the other hand is a event management system that includes movies. We focus on sparking interest in particular movies and managing all the invites that result from our efforts. Users benefit b/c they get reliable reviews and cash discounts to boot.
Not satisfied to sit on our hands until launch, Bodbook is in the process of developing more reliable review systems and event management features that will positively blow away anything out there doing anything similar. I don't think it wise to discuss it publicly in this forum, but suffice it to say, it will maximize the reach of our influencers further than even we imagined originally.
On another note, while we haven't actually inked a deal with any investors yet it seems that this part should come imminently. Just this past week a deep pocketed investor approached a friend of mine that is knowledgeable about the sector. He wanted an opinion on how marketable bodbook is. My friend gave it to him straight that we had something that has disruptive potential. Then just today a friend of mine from the military asked if he could invest in the company based only on the description. What is remarkable about both of these potential investors is that I haven't even pitched them. They have independently come to be interested because there is something even in the description about bodbook that smells like money. Not that investment is any guarantee of success, but so much interest sure is validation that what we have been working on for the past year is coming to fruition.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Facebook Open!!!!
Wow! That's all I can say at this moment about Facebook opening up it's user base to outside applications. I now have to figure out how to integrate bodbook with FB, but sure as heck I will.
The opportunity to become one the applications that users can select within FB is a totally unexpected one. It means that we can use the NewsFeed to promote BB. The more people who sign up for our app the more people that will become aware of it. Given that our model is all about getting the most connected people to sign up this is like a gift from heaven.
I'll let you know more as we get to think through the ramifications of this great opportunity.
The opportunity to become one the applications that users can select within FB is a totally unexpected one. It means that we can use the NewsFeed to promote BB. The more people who sign up for our app the more people that will become aware of it. Given that our model is all about getting the most connected people to sign up this is like a gift from heaven.
I'll let you know more as we get to think through the ramifications of this great opportunity.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Summer beta off
Turns out we won't be doing a beta at Mac this summer...however it's not for the usual reason of not having the technology ready. The alpha is complete and is simply undergoing usability testing now. The reason for the delay is that we finally have a reference client that wants to do a beta test. The only problem is that they want to do the pilot in Sept. The sales manager for Ontario told me that they probably wouldn't be able to measure the effectiveness of bodbook with a summer pilot b/c the blockbusters tend to skew results. On the other hand, Sept and Oct tend to be their slowest months, therefore the combination of coupons redeemed and a comparison to historical results should give us a really clear picture about how effective bodbook is in changing consumer behaviour. Anyhow, another lesson in entrepreneurship...timing is everything. Although our technology is ready, our client is not. The good news is that the time will come and we can use this whole period to improve our service (I still have tons of ideas for making bodbook even better). The offer still stands for those that want to alpha test for us. Just use this format at bodbook.com. Email:first name@utoronto.ca, Password: first name.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Summer beta at McMaster U
We are getting closer to a beta release this summer at Mac. If we are doing a beta the goal is 18 June. My buddy Mackenzie has been a great salesman for the service. He has been instrumental in shopping the idea around and finding out what people like or do not like about it. Now that we have simplified the service and adjusted the template the interest is definitely growing.
I spent a number of hours last night trying to create a plan for executing a release. Time is short so I had to come up with something concise. It looks that I have achieved that. I also just had a great idea for getting the welcome weeks reps on board. We could put the entire welcome week schedule as default on the social calendar's of all first year students. This way the students will immediately see the usefulness of the calendar, and the welcome week reps will promote the service.
I spent a number of hours last night trying to create a plan for executing a release. Time is short so I had to come up with something concise. It looks that I have achieved that. I also just had a great idea for getting the welcome weeks reps on board. We could put the entire welcome week schedule as default on the social calendar's of all first year students. This way the students will immediately see the usefulness of the calendar, and the welcome week reps will promote the service.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Make Money and Meaning?
Well things are still going great. We are getting more interest from other investors so I'm pretty pleased with that. The new template for bodbook is 75% Complete and we should finally be able to do a Beta this summer at McMaster.
I have a tremendous confidence that bodbook is going to turn into something great. The more I understand the underlying principles of social influence the more I think that bodbook has even greater potential to shift social behaviour in positive ways. For example, introducing critical causes to the most social connected and influential persons in a social network has the potential to rapidly create "Tipping Points" that will move masses of people to social action...such as that needed for Darfur. This is an exciting prospect as the viral spreading of information between social peers holds the potential for generating action greater than any mass media has ever done. Even causes that broke through all barriers such as the "LiveAid" concert of the mid 80's, or more recently "Live8" concerts of 2005 were less an effect of mass media exposure than the result of some of the most connected and influential persons in our worldwide social network (musicians) using their influence to effect change. The musicians created change because their status as persons to be admired made them influential in shaping our own views on what needs to be done to effect change in the world.
It is my hope of course that bodbook makes money, but I would be far prouder if it made meaning. If we are correct in our calculations of what really makes a person the most connected and influential then we may be on the road to making the world a little better.
I have a tremendous confidence that bodbook is going to turn into something great. The more I understand the underlying principles of social influence the more I think that bodbook has even greater potential to shift social behaviour in positive ways. For example, introducing critical causes to the most social connected and influential persons in a social network has the potential to rapidly create "Tipping Points" that will move masses of people to social action...such as that needed for Darfur. This is an exciting prospect as the viral spreading of information between social peers holds the potential for generating action greater than any mass media has ever done. Even causes that broke through all barriers such as the "LiveAid" concert of the mid 80's, or more recently "Live8" concerts of 2005 were less an effect of mass media exposure than the result of some of the most connected and influential persons in our worldwide social network (musicians) using their influence to effect change. The musicians created change because their status as persons to be admired made them influential in shaping our own views on what needs to be done to effect change in the world.
It is my hope of course that bodbook makes money, but I would be far prouder if it made meaning. If we are correct in our calculations of what really makes a person the most connected and influential then we may be on the road to making the world a little better.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Design Perfection
Since I last wrote I put negotiating with the investor on hold. I have been thinking heavily on what he said about simplicity. I came across this quote which gave me great pause to think:
"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away".
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I realized that the contest could still be removed without losing the core, so we have decided to remove it and use it as a Plan B if the simple version is unsuccesful. So this means a bit of a redesign, which of course means a little more time developing. On the other hand, we now know that the project is fundable from an investors standpoint so it really gives us alot of options.
For those of you reading who are thinking of being entrepreneurs (or are already) I think that finding the core concept and making it as simple as possible really is the most important first step. All other things seem to be falling in place with this simple yet deceptively complex task. I'll keep you guys updated as things progress.
"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away".
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I realized that the contest could still be removed without losing the core, so we have decided to remove it and use it as a Plan B if the simple version is unsuccesful. So this means a bit of a redesign, which of course means a little more time developing. On the other hand, we now know that the project is fundable from an investors standpoint so it really gives us alot of options.
For those of you reading who are thinking of being entrepreneurs (or are already) I think that finding the core concept and making it as simple as possible really is the most important first step. All other things seem to be falling in place with this simple yet deceptively complex task. I'll keep you guys updated as things progress.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Investors and finding your core
Well, I heard back from the investor. He is definitely interested. Of course, simplicity rears its head again. He feels that the concept needs tweaking because it is too complex. As you know from my previous posts this has been an issue that I have been wrestling with for awhile. I have proposed a compromise where we run concurrent Betas in Toronto and Montreal. This way we can run our horses head to head. I really don't care which one wins, as long as we can most effectively facilitate reviews from people you know and trust...either way we should get that result.
Figuring out the core of what we are doing has been such a tremendously valuable process. You would think that figuring out what you do would be easy...after all it's what you do! But really figuring out your core is one of the most difficult things in business. For example, a nail salesman doesn't just sell nails. He sells what can be done with those nails. With bodbook we facilitate the sharing of information around social entertainment. When we get the most connected people talking about films we facilitate a tremendously valuable service that connects friends through the experience of seeing a movie that they like, hearing a band they admire, or reading a book with good reviews. This is why we use the slogan "Getting more social out of your social network". We want to help people connect to one another through social entertainment that they can share together in the real world.
I'll let you know how negotiations go with the investors.
Figuring out the core of what we are doing has been such a tremendously valuable process. You would think that figuring out what you do would be easy...after all it's what you do! But really figuring out your core is one of the most difficult things in business. For example, a nail salesman doesn't just sell nails. He sells what can be done with those nails. With bodbook we facilitate the sharing of information around social entertainment. When we get the most connected people talking about films we facilitate a tremendously valuable service that connects friends through the experience of seeing a movie that they like, hearing a band they admire, or reading a book with good reviews. This is why we use the slogan "Getting more social out of your social network". We want to help people connect to one another through social entertainment that they can share together in the real world.
I'll let you know how negotiations go with the investors.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Prototype 80% ready
Hey All,
Now that I know some people are actually reading this thing I should update a little more frequently. The prototype is nearing completion. Overall I am quite happy with how it looks and functions. After observing people using it I think that we need to add a little more in the way of information sharing.
Unfortunately Facebook has cornered the market with information sharing and we don't want to create duplication (we don't compete with, we compliment facebook)so we really have to figure out what unique information people can share on bodbook that they don't share on facebook. Our focus for bodbook is in sharing information about social entertainment (movies, music, events, etc) therefore we would like to facilitate more information sharing between peers about that. If anyone has ideas feel free to leave comments.
On the business end, I met with an investor on Fri afternoon and asked for $500 000. That's right, I asked for half a million in investment. Asking for that kind of money could either get you laughed out of the office, or very quickly shows you how much others value your concept. Well, I didn't get laughed out of the office. The investor was very interested and had ideas on other investors who might also be interested in getting in on the deal. The investment process will likely take months so I won't count on a fat bank account for awhile, but I feel very confident that we will secure the money we are seeking and will have a very strong launch position.
I really look forward to the launch of the service. I really believe that what we are creating will appreciably improve the flow of information around the entertainment we share with our friends.
If any readers want to test the prototype email me at: ken.seville@gmail.com
The site is only optimized for Firefox right now (v.2 will go IE and Safari) so I recommend that you download FF for the test (besides FF is a much better browser :)
Now that I know some people are actually reading this thing I should update a little more frequently. The prototype is nearing completion. Overall I am quite happy with how it looks and functions. After observing people using it I think that we need to add a little more in the way of information sharing.
Unfortunately Facebook has cornered the market with information sharing and we don't want to create duplication (we don't compete with, we compliment facebook)so we really have to figure out what unique information people can share on bodbook that they don't share on facebook. Our focus for bodbook is in sharing information about social entertainment (movies, music, events, etc) therefore we would like to facilitate more information sharing between peers about that. If anyone has ideas feel free to leave comments.
On the business end, I met with an investor on Fri afternoon and asked for $500 000. That's right, I asked for half a million in investment. Asking for that kind of money could either get you laughed out of the office, or very quickly shows you how much others value your concept. Well, I didn't get laughed out of the office. The investor was very interested and had ideas on other investors who might also be interested in getting in on the deal. The investment process will likely take months so I won't count on a fat bank account for awhile, but I feel very confident that we will secure the money we are seeking and will have a very strong launch position.
I really look forward to the launch of the service. I really believe that what we are creating will appreciably improve the flow of information around the entertainment we share with our friends.
If any readers want to test the prototype email me at: ken.seville@gmail.com
The site is only optimized for Firefox right now (v.2 will go IE and Safari) so I recommend that you download FF for the test (besides FF is a much better browser :)
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Disney would approve
It's been awhile since the last post. Things are moving along but sometime it feels like nothing is happening. I have started to meet with investors but I am ambivalent about whether I want to accept money at this stage. If I did it would have to be from someone who really understood what it is we are creating.
My experience thus far has been that business people want to pigeon hole Bodbook into a model that already exists. They think that we should simplify the service so that it is stripped down to a utility for saving money on entertainment. Even if it were possible to reach a critical mass with a service like this (which I doubt) my gut tells me it would lack the vitality of the people behind it. The problem is articulating this belief in a way that is understood and accepted by business hardened advisors.
I shouldn't say that all of my advisors are against the contest, in fact, our lawyer is behind it, and my mentor is reservedly behind it (maybe because he sees that I am not budging : ) so I have some support. Maybe I just have too many advisors ; )
When I need some reassurance that following one's own gut is a good idea I look back at what Walt Disney accomplished. Disney created the first feature length animated film (Snow White) against the advice of all his backers. He had already been ridiculously successful with his Mickey Mouse short films and his advisors told him to stick to making these. Disney not only refused their advice, he bet his entire studio, his home, his life insurance policy, and every cent he had on his belief that the world wanted feature length animated films (does anyone even question that now?). If you think that was audacious, consider Disneyland. Before Disneyland amusement parks were often dirty places inhabited by not so upright people. Disney had a vision for a bright, clean, friendly park where children and adults alike could escape their real world problems for a few hours. Every expert in the amusement park field told Disney that he would go broke by taking the approach that he envisioned. Disney knew that the world wanted what he was creating so he again went against the supposed wisdom of the industry and pioneered something that would become the standard for amusement parks thereafter.
So I figure that my little dream may be a little more complicated than business wisdom would normally tolerate, but that's the beauty of being an entrepreneur, you get to take chances that no one else would be willing. If I fail at least it will be on my terms, and in a way that honours the great entrepreneurs like Disney that came before me.
My experience thus far has been that business people want to pigeon hole Bodbook into a model that already exists. They think that we should simplify the service so that it is stripped down to a utility for saving money on entertainment. Even if it were possible to reach a critical mass with a service like this (which I doubt) my gut tells me it would lack the vitality of the people behind it. The problem is articulating this belief in a way that is understood and accepted by business hardened advisors.
I shouldn't say that all of my advisors are against the contest, in fact, our lawyer is behind it, and my mentor is reservedly behind it (maybe because he sees that I am not budging : ) so I have some support. Maybe I just have too many advisors ; )
When I need some reassurance that following one's own gut is a good idea I look back at what Walt Disney accomplished. Disney created the first feature length animated film (Snow White) against the advice of all his backers. He had already been ridiculously successful with his Mickey Mouse short films and his advisors told him to stick to making these. Disney not only refused their advice, he bet his entire studio, his home, his life insurance policy, and every cent he had on his belief that the world wanted feature length animated films (does anyone even question that now?). If you think that was audacious, consider Disneyland. Before Disneyland amusement parks were often dirty places inhabited by not so upright people. Disney had a vision for a bright, clean, friendly park where children and adults alike could escape their real world problems for a few hours. Every expert in the amusement park field told Disney that he would go broke by taking the approach that he envisioned. Disney knew that the world wanted what he was creating so he again went against the supposed wisdom of the industry and pioneered something that would become the standard for amusement parks thereafter.
So I figure that my little dream may be a little more complicated than business wisdom would normally tolerate, but that's the beauty of being an entrepreneur, you get to take chances that no one else would be willing. If I fail at least it will be on my terms, and in a way that honours the great entrepreneurs like Disney that came before me.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
"Why have a contest at all"?
Well our hopes for a March 12 Beta launch are completely dashed. There was no way to put out a useful prototype in time, so it looks like we may have to wait until Sept. Unfortunate but not world ending.
On the plus side, the experienced business person, Bram Lebo, that I referred to in the last post has agreed to help advise us and join our "virtual team". That's a fancy way of saying "He'll come on full-time when we can afford him". This arrangement suits me just fine because Bram has so much to offer us even simply as an advisor. I believe that we have a tremendous opportunity to offer and that when he really begins to see what bodbook can be he will be more inclined to contribute more.
Onto a lesson learned about entrepreneurship, part of starting something from scratch is having to enlist help. In order to get people to help you need to persuade them that what you are doing is worth contributing to. This has been a huge part of my role as leader of the project, a job I've undertaken with mixed success. For example, when I describe the service as "Facebook meets The Apprentice" and describe the contest I often get back confused looks and advice to jettison the contest because it complicates things. While I have been instinctually certain that this advice isn't in the best interests of bodbook it has been difficult to articulate why. Finally the other day the answer came to me in a flash of insight "The contest is the core of bodbook". Of course this is obvious to me, but I realized that the well-meaning advice givers didn't have this same understanding of what the service really was. They thought that the idea should just be stripped down to the core of getting users discounts on social entertainment. What they don't realize is that the contest is in fact the real service that we provide to users. When we facilitate the contest properly the discounts automatically fall into place. An analogy that I think really hits the nail on the head is "The contest is to the social network what sparkplugs are to a car. Without the contest the service is as likely to take-off as a car without plugs is to start when you turn the key".
Why do I say that? The contest gives the most connected users in the network a vested interest in growing the user base so that they can tap more people for their events. Without the contest there are no inherent champions to promote the service to peers. The average student may tell some friends about the network based on the discount that they could receive if they all sign-up, an approach that may work with the very cost conscious, but not likely to be one that will turn registering into a epidemic. On the other hand, with the contest the user has a very clear need to grow their personal network so that they can become contestants. They will ask all of their friends to essentially lodge a vote for them by joining the bodbook network. Do you see the difference in the propositions? In the network without the contest the only incentive to tell others is to receive the discount, however, if the network already has enough mass to gain the discount then the only incentive left is philanthropic. However, with the contest the incentive continues to grow until one has exhausted all the possibilities for getting other students to sign up.
Clearly the contest offers a distinct advantage for gaining critical mass, and that is why the contest is core to what we do. The contest also brings out an additional social dimension that is not inherent in the model without the contest...but I'll save that discussion for another day : )
On the plus side, the experienced business person, Bram Lebo, that I referred to in the last post has agreed to help advise us and join our "virtual team". That's a fancy way of saying "He'll come on full-time when we can afford him". This arrangement suits me just fine because Bram has so much to offer us even simply as an advisor. I believe that we have a tremendous opportunity to offer and that when he really begins to see what bodbook can be he will be more inclined to contribute more.
Onto a lesson learned about entrepreneurship, part of starting something from scratch is having to enlist help. In order to get people to help you need to persuade them that what you are doing is worth contributing to. This has been a huge part of my role as leader of the project, a job I've undertaken with mixed success. For example, when I describe the service as "Facebook meets The Apprentice" and describe the contest I often get back confused looks and advice to jettison the contest because it complicates things. While I have been instinctually certain that this advice isn't in the best interests of bodbook it has been difficult to articulate why. Finally the other day the answer came to me in a flash of insight "The contest is the core of bodbook". Of course this is obvious to me, but I realized that the well-meaning advice givers didn't have this same understanding of what the service really was. They thought that the idea should just be stripped down to the core of getting users discounts on social entertainment. What they don't realize is that the contest is in fact the real service that we provide to users. When we facilitate the contest properly the discounts automatically fall into place. An analogy that I think really hits the nail on the head is "The contest is to the social network what sparkplugs are to a car. Without the contest the service is as likely to take-off as a car without plugs is to start when you turn the key".
Why do I say that? The contest gives the most connected users in the network a vested interest in growing the user base so that they can tap more people for their events. Without the contest there are no inherent champions to promote the service to peers. The average student may tell some friends about the network based on the discount that they could receive if they all sign-up, an approach that may work with the very cost conscious, but not likely to be one that will turn registering into a epidemic. On the other hand, with the contest the user has a very clear need to grow their personal network so that they can become contestants. They will ask all of their friends to essentially lodge a vote for them by joining the bodbook network. Do you see the difference in the propositions? In the network without the contest the only incentive to tell others is to receive the discount, however, if the network already has enough mass to gain the discount then the only incentive left is philanthropic. However, with the contest the incentive continues to grow until one has exhausted all the possibilities for getting other students to sign up.
Clearly the contest offers a distinct advantage for gaining critical mass, and that is why the contest is core to what we do. The contest also brings out an additional social dimension that is not inherent in the model without the contest...but I'll save that discussion for another day : )
Monday, February 19, 2007
Up and Downs of a Startup
The last couple of weeks have been very interesting ones. We lost our lead developer and gained an experienced business leader on the same day. Losing our lead developer has been a huge blow for us because she knew how everything was intended to come together. We have had to pick up the pieces and figure it out for ourselves which has been a very difficult endeavour. However, it feels like everything is starting to fall into place now. The basic prototype should be ready to go by early March (only 2.5 months late ; ) and the business plan is getting tighter.
On the plus side, we have attracted a very experienced and smart business development executive to the project. It's not guaranteed yet that he will become a part of our team, but I have a great feeling that he will. In his previous academic and work experience he earned a Law Degree and MBA, as well, founded and led to the success of www.expatica.com. He has since left expatica and is now looking for new opportunities.
By coincidence I had been thinking that we needed to bring on someone who could help lead the business development aspects of bodbook. I am great with the underlying concepts and problem solving but I wouldn't say that business development (building the infrastructure, negotiating deals, hiring, firing) is really my forte. Anyhow, I randomly decided to post an ad on Craigslist advertising the opportunity for an experienced business person to come aboard and become our Chief Operating Officer. Truthfully I didn't expect any contender to emerge from this source but an hour later I received a response from this person. I was immediately blown away by the depth and breadth of the education and experience he had to offer. I got back to him right away and said that we were a startup that could not possibly afford his services, however, with his credential he could probably write his own ticket with investors.
Anyhow, we met a couple of days later and again I was pleasantly surprised by him. I was a little afraid he was going to either turn out to be a flake, or one of those arrogant business guys I meet far too often. He was neither, he was very humble, forthcoming, and interested in understanding our project. We decided to meet again a week later with one of my advisors and continue to discuss the concept and how it could be implemented. We met for a good three hours and really broke down alot of the details of what bodbook is, and why it works the way it does. Not to say that we agreed on everything but I felt very comfortable with his style of analyzing and questioning and felt more strongly that we could have a very successful relationship. The next step is for him to meet with our legal advisors and start the preliminary negotiations for him to join the team. I sincerely hope that we can come to a fair agreement that will be equitable for all.
I'll keep you posted on how things go.
On the plus side, we have attracted a very experienced and smart business development executive to the project. It's not guaranteed yet that he will become a part of our team, but I have a great feeling that he will. In his previous academic and work experience he earned a Law Degree and MBA, as well, founded and led to the success of www.expatica.com. He has since left expatica and is now looking for new opportunities.
By coincidence I had been thinking that we needed to bring on someone who could help lead the business development aspects of bodbook. I am great with the underlying concepts and problem solving but I wouldn't say that business development (building the infrastructure, negotiating deals, hiring, firing) is really my forte. Anyhow, I randomly decided to post an ad on Craigslist advertising the opportunity for an experienced business person to come aboard and become our Chief Operating Officer. Truthfully I didn't expect any contender to emerge from this source but an hour later I received a response from this person. I was immediately blown away by the depth and breadth of the education and experience he had to offer. I got back to him right away and said that we were a startup that could not possibly afford his services, however, with his credential he could probably write his own ticket with investors.
Anyhow, we met a couple of days later and again I was pleasantly surprised by him. I was a little afraid he was going to either turn out to be a flake, or one of those arrogant business guys I meet far too often. He was neither, he was very humble, forthcoming, and interested in understanding our project. We decided to meet again a week later with one of my advisors and continue to discuss the concept and how it could be implemented. We met for a good three hours and really broke down alot of the details of what bodbook is, and why it works the way it does. Not to say that we agreed on everything but I felt very comfortable with his style of analyzing and questioning and felt more strongly that we could have a very successful relationship. The next step is for him to meet with our legal advisors and start the preliminary negotiations for him to join the team. I sincerely hope that we can come to a fair agreement that will be equitable for all.
I'll keep you posted on how things go.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Launching BodBlog
BodBlog is the blog for Bodbook (www.bodbook.com), which is a new kind of social network that combines social networking and the reality tv contest. We affectionately call it "Facebook meets The Apprentice. We think that you will find that it will be fun to participate in, watch, and benefit from. Really simply put, it is game to run social entertainment events like movies and concerts for friends. When your friends come to your event you get all the commissions earned from it. Your friends are then given the tools to write a review, and become an integral part of the contest, while earning reward points that they can later use for more movies, concerts, restaurants, etc.
The service launches as a Beta 12 March 07 and we hope will become just as much a fixture of the social networking scene as facebook is now. If you are a U of T student log into www.bodbook.com and begin to benefit from a very unique service designed to make your social planning easier and save money at the same time.
Ken
The service launches as a Beta 12 March 07 and we hope will become just as much a fixture of the social networking scene as facebook is now. If you are a U of T student log into www.bodbook.com and begin to benefit from a very unique service designed to make your social planning easier and save money at the same time.
Ken
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