The Sweet Spot

Letter of Intent....Useless Piece of Paper?

I shopped at IKEA and enjoyed a mini-show of a few college chicks who were obviously shopping for their first apartment - they were super excited about the goldmine they were finding in the as-is room (markdown department). Oh to be young and starting the journey........

Surprise, surprise....it made me think about life as an internet startup.  Our life is changing quickly, we struggled with the development for so long I had almost given up hope (actually, I gave up hope many times over), and now that our site is launched the energy is shifting very fast. 

A major step today - our first signed LOI,  Dr.Z (hubby's new nickname) is totally stoked and celebrating the milestone....I'm still the cynical one and feel less happy (many share my view of LOI's).  Either way, change is coming and I am already missing my "milk-crate lifestyle" of being a struggling startup company (I can't even believe those words came out of my brain...I must be crazy).  What I'm saying is that I'm fond of the memories I have of my first apartment which was put together on a shoe-string budget and as hard as the past few years have been, we had some amazing moments and grew closer to one another as a result of our journey.

Although I'm anxious to get to the next stage of growth, I'm appreciating the journey!

Blackberry vs. iPhone

Within a day of launching we have switched gears and gone from a start-up vision to the real-deal.  Meaning we celebrated for 1 day before wrapping our brain around the amount of work that now needs to be accomplished.

Still shocking that the development was complete on time (only 28 glitches) - incredibly satisfying to see a completed site - overwhelming amount of work now.....

Now I can see the difference between a free site (many available, we used Ning and loved them) and a paid-for site.  The free site was great and served it's purpose, the completed site is clean, crisp, has amazing graphics and video.  It's similar to the journey from using a blackberry cell phone (has tons of capable features) to an iphone (makes the blackberry seem obsolete). 

That's all for now....gotta go load content!

A Cheap High!

24 hours before the launch is totally cool!  Probably the best time since we began this insane journey.

Hubby is feeling crazy wild and we are totally high on life!!!  This is the best happy hour I've ever experienced - the long wait is almost over and the waiting game is super fun! 

Who cares if the site is a success or not, this day goes down as one of the best in history!

All the hard work is about to be unveiled on the net and I'm taking my own advice (posted in an earlier blog) - I'm stopping to enjoy the moment - no looking in the rear view mirror today or looking forward...we are going to make this moment last!

His Life Belongs to the Startup

The calm before the storm.....2 days to launch and all is well.  The developers are promising to have the new site up and running on Friday.  After all this time we simply don't believe it - we are anxious, excited and nervous.

There's not a lot of talk right now with hubby, all energy is focused on unveiling the "vision".  We've rid our lives of all "crutches" in the past month as the countdown got closer - no alcohol to numb the feelings, no caffeine to rev up the feelings, healthy eating and lifestyle to stay focused and attentive to the business at hand. It's a surreal moment in time.   If hubby isn't working, he's working out (keeping the brain and body active).  If he's with us, he's texting/talking on his phone to his peeps.  His life belongs to the startup.  Friday can't come soon enough! 

Mark Lerner is our Poster Boy!

Okay....further proof why we call them Vulture Capitalists!!!

Mark Lerner is a poster child for the ugly world of Venture Capitalists and the power they think they have in this world.  Imagine how many young, vulnerable woman he has spread his yuckies to that have been wooed by him with his money and power!

His wife has quite a legacy now....ewwww! 

Ghetto Sheik.

A friend told me the following story:

A group of inner-city school children were given video cameras and asked to take them home and film their life for one week.  The producer then collected the cameras at the end of the project and made a little movie....what was shocking was the fact that these children lived in poverty - dirty old mattresses thrown on the floor, little food, poor living conditions, but almost all had expensive gadgets.....these videos showed large flat-screen tv's were a common splurge in the ghetto.  It's what we call Ghetto Sheik - you can't afford furniture, food & clothing, but you can afford a flat screen tv!!!

What's this got to do with startups you ask?  Well, when I listened to this story it made me think of how it is when you are starting an internet company and budgeting like crazy.  If you have read all my previous entries, and are still moving forward with your plans for a startup, get ready to budget like you are in a recession.  In our case, we have had investors along the journey, but they are not a definite and you never know when the next paycheck is coming.  Guess what the most dispensable item on the expense sheet is???  Hubby dearests paycheck.  Yes, developers, bill collectors, lawyers, etc. all get their payments before you can pay yourself (and most of the time the money has run out before you get to that point).  We have become quite the crafty family....I have made $100 last for several weeks, and then when a paycheck finally arrives....I feel like it must feel when you enter the world of Ghetto Sheik. 

It does make you appreciate money, and lack thereof!

8.8.8 is the Date.....

The Countdown has begun.....08.08.08 is the release date for the new website - all the hard work and effort finally is about to pay off.

My friends want a big party to celebrate the launch, hubby dearest wants to keep working hard and remain focused, and I want to fast forward 2 weeks to see the result of all this sacrifice and effort.  I am impatient and I want this company to open it's doors and start working.

Today hubby called me a pessimist (I am the only person on the team who doesn't truly believe this is all going down as planned), he said I have to get beyond my baggage....funny though, my pessimism is a direct result of this business.  There hasn't been one milestone that has been reached on the projected date and the web developers have more delays than one can imagine. 

I no longer get mad though - my response?  I state the obvious - "What came first, the chicken or the egg".  This business has made me a glass half-empty person. 

Inspire Me Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, the author of The Last Lecture has died.

Truly sad...

Fantasy vs. Reality

The waiting is killing me!!  When we began this journey I would enjoy fantasizing about the glories of success....my dream house, my dream car, vacations, fun adventures with my possee...now the fantasies have come to a screeching halt!

When I try to fantasize about the success of this internet startup, I am smacked down by the reality of the situation.  The fantasy is that you will start a company and be bought out quickly and enjoy ridiculously large sums of money...the reality is that you will start a company and work 24/7 and live on a shoe-string budget.

Hard to fantasize when your reality is making small amounts of money stretch out for long periods of time and your expenses outweigh your cash flow!

Internet Startup - Can't Get You Off My Mind!

I can't remember a time when our conversation didn't involve the development of website. 

Today we decided to leave it all behind and enjoy a family day at the beach.  As we sat on the beach, watching the children playing in the waves and enjoying the warm summer breeze, we were obsessed with the details of the launch of the site (which continues to be delayed). 

When you are developing your own website you are at the mercy of the developers.  You sit and wait for them to meet the deadlines, create code and deliver an image of your vision - can you say VULNERABLE?!?!?!  You must believe that the team you've hired can step up to the plate and deliver what they promise - so many of them simply can't, even though they will take your money and promise they can (we wasted way too much time and way too much money). 

The missing puzzle piece here is operating instructions - they simply don't exist!  It would be so much easier if someone could actually tell you how/when/what to expect....there are tons of experts, but very few mentors.  The best advice I've heard is this: there are 2 ways to launch an internet company - the first is that you spend lots of time, money and energy building it up (and you must take investors in to do it this way), refine it and launch it - the other way is to build a site quickly (with one of the new networks providing it for free - NING is so great!) throw it out there (no investors needed) and hope it sticks.  The first way can make BIG money and the second can make a few million. 

Either way is good for me!