I don’t believe at this moment that I can raise the contribution size I have been hoping to raise ($10k minimum; $20k goal). My belief was that I could get tons of entrepreneurs that are very interested in the entire start-up experience — specifically getting to hear the insight of experienced venture capitalists and seasoned entrepreneurs (that I assembled), while I ran into obstacles.
Well, we’re still going to get to hear that valuable insight — only, I’m starting a venture now. I’ve aligned with a programmer that believes in one of my ideas just as much as I do. Thus, we’re moving forward on it.
We’re going to get the blog up and running for that site — and shift this blog over there, as to start branding the company.
As for all the contributors so far — if you’d like your contribution returned, I’ll gladly do that. Otherwise, I’m still going to keep the contributions in effect — allowing people to contribute — and feature the contributors/supporters (via ad placements around the web). Neither myself or Dave the programmer are by any means rich, so every penny truly matters to us during this start-up process. We hope that you’ll learn a lot from our start-up experience, and from the insight of the great panel of experts I’ve got on-board for this entrepreneur educational experience.
Not only will I be blogging about this experience, but Dave will as well. Thus, you’ll get to hear both sides of the equation — from his programming side of things, to my business / marketing / information architecture / features / etc. perspectives, to any vision or priority disagreements, etc. Overall, I’ll be having the final say on anything — but if we ever disagree, I’ll likely reach out to the readers and to the advisors, so that we can have more perspective.
I met Ted Rheingold of Dogster/Catster at SXSW last month, he liked the concept of blogging a start-up, but said he can’t wait til I reach the point where I can’t tell. Well, I’m curious if I reach that point as well — and what I wouldn’t be able to disclose to you. If we’re ever in discussions with a large brand for advertising dollars, or possibly looking to acquire us — I likely won’t disclose the company we’re in discussions with. If an acquisition were to occur or a large sponsorship deal, I may wait until it closes before I blog about it — and depending on the signed agreement, I may have to withhold some things (i.e. deal size), but will write about the experience none-the-less.
I hope to get you (the readers) involved throughout the entire process — hopefully some of you will be helping us out, whether it’s logo design or logo ideas, or ideas on “this or that”, or feedback on something, etc. I’m excited!
Announcement of the business idea shortly, as well as full blogging. The first matter at hand will be incorporation — whether to be S-Corp, C-Corp, or LLC … so stay tuned for that interesting topic and the reasons why we’d be one versus the other, and which we ultimately become.