Decision made...what to do next??

I haven't posted in a while, but a lot has happened. Since my last post, I went through a whirlwind of recruiting. The two companies I was pushing hardest to get offers from, Yahoo! and Google, both ended up giving me offers. Now that I had exactly what I was seeking, what did I do? I turned them down.

You probably think I am crazy and an idiot, but I spent a long time thinking about my decision. It came down to what I really wanted to do. I started this blog as my statement to the (virtual) world that I was going to push forward with a dream to create my own company. To not pursue that dream would be a lie to myself. So that is what I am doing.

I will be particularly broke this summer, so any donations would be wonderful. I like sushi, steaks, and lobster. Unfortunately, my $0/hr wage will not support such fine dining. Yet despite what my mom and dad considered "risky behavior," I am very happy with my decision. I am doing what I want to do.

On the front of the business that I am helping start with my friends, Dean and Ed, things have been going particularly well. I forgot to mention a couple other teammates: my roommate, Craig, and Dean's postdoc, Erik. Apparently the idea has been getting some kind of buzz among the engineering school at Northwestern and Dean has been approached by several groups offering their assistance. I have just been trying to setup meeting with possible advisors, and we have had a few meetings with great people. Tomorrow is the semi-finals of the NU Venture Challenge (http://nuvc.innuvation.org), and I will be pitching our biotech idea to a panel of judges. 3 minutes to sell them, 3 minutes to win them over. I think I can do that.

I'll let you know how everything goes.

One reflection I've had recently: the sooner you decide where you want to go, the sooner you realize you're not sure how to get there.

Getting traction...

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. A lot of things in school have been ramping up such as the NVC (NU Venture Challenge) as well as classes. On top of that I'm working on two company ideas and meeting with a lot of people to get some feedback/insight. One of the ideas I am working on is really not mine. It came from Dean and Ed, who are friends I grew up with at home. I've known Dean since we were 6 and he is a professor at Northwestern. Ed is a high school friend who is finishing up his Ph.D student at UCLA. I'm not really going to say what the idea is, but it could be a huge opportunity in the medical device field.

The other idea is a web idea. I've been able to get some people on board to help me refine the idea. Most importantly, a programmer. Next I'm working on finding advisors who can help me think through the business model.

Exciting stuff!

MBA Recruiting

As I alluded to in my first post, I am taking part in the circus show known as MBA recruiting. It's one big show and dance (from both sides). I've been surprised that some of the companies I've talked to are actually appealing. Yet there is a little voice in my head that keeps saying, "Be veerrrryyy afraid...don't be persuaded by the free food and driiiiinnkkks." Don't worry, though. My goal is to find a great startup that has a need for an MBA intern over the summer. Unfortunately, those startups are hard to come by.

Originally, my plan was to work on a business idea full-time for the summer. But I've been getting advice from experienced entrepreneurs to start something on the side while I make some pay (and hopefully build my network). I guess it makes sense, unless my idea really requires my undevoted attention for the entire summer. Luckily, as I draw out my business plans, it does not.

I also would like to make a plug for Northwestern's student entrepreneurship organization, InNUvation. I am part of the leadership team that is putting together the university's first entrepreneurship competition: the 2007 NU Venture Challenge. Things are coming along really great and I have a feeling there will be some great ideas coming out of the competition (like mine).

Meeting fellow entrepreneurs

I can't say enough about how great a feeling it is to talk to entrepreneurs. There is just an air of excitement around them just because of the fact that they are doing something they are passionate about. These people are the ultimate "do-it-yourself"-ers.

This past week, I spent time in the Bay Area meeting with a few startups. Being a student definitely has its advantages...one being the ability to open doors. As a student, when you ask to meet a company, you are seen as harmless and inquisitive. Furthermore, many companies welcome your visit with open arms. As a non-student, either unemployed or employed, you are seen kind of as a nuisance.

During my trip, I met up with the founders of Spark Parking, TravelPost (recently acquired by SideStep), and meebo. I asked the founders the same set questions centered around what it takes to start up a company. Should I seek investors? When is the right time? How do I find the right people? When do I know if my idea is a good one? Although I have worked for a couple startups, I had a lot of other questions. It is very different if you are the one actually leading the charge and much more intimidating.

At the end of my meetings, I came out with some key takeaways:
1) Believe in your idea! If you think you have a need for your idea, chances are there are millions of other people who also have the same need. To be a successful entrepreneur, you also have to believe more than others. It is this dedication that sets you apart.

2) Be resourceful! If you believe in your idea, then find the best way to execute with the least amount of cost. Don't reinvent the wheel, especially when someone else is selling what you need at a lower price than you could make it for. Open source is great.

3) Sell! You must always be in constant sell mode. In addition, you need to regularly fine tune your pitch based off of feedback from customers, investors, and partners.

4) Plan for the future! As a web company, this means make sure you use technology that is easily transferable. You'll never know when your lead programmer will leave, so making sure someone else can pick up where things are left off is critical.

I was also able to bounce my business idea off of them and get some good feedback. Let's see how things go from here...

Message me

I've added an IM widget from meebo (a very cool company by the way), on the side >>>.

If you see that I'm online, send me a message and I'll respond right away. If I'm not on, still leave a message and I'll respond the next time I'm logged in.

Finals week. When that finishes up, I'm hoping to find a coder from my fraternity who can help me build out my site!

Good Reading

Here are a couple links to some good readings I have come across recently.

For Start-Ups, Web Success on the Cheap
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/technology/09venture.html?ex=1165122000&en=7c5549d9119f9512&ei=5070
- Discusses a trend for startups towards smaller amounts of financing

How to Start a Startup
http://paulgraham.com/start.html
- An article from Paul Graham, who created the technology behind Yahoo! Stores, with tips for startups

Here we go...

Given that I am considered by many who know me a pretty tech-savvy guy, I am pretty late in the game to this blog scene. However I have never really seen the need to share my life with others. So what has changed now? Well let me start with where I am in life...

I am a 1st year MBA student at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Before starting at business school this fall, I worked at a startup education consulting firm name ADIS Corporation. I learned a great deal working at ADIS and met some interesting individuals during that time. ADIS was the 2nd startup I actually worked for. The first was an internet consulting firm named ZEFER. It was at ZEFER that I found my interest in entrepreneurship. I worked at ZEFER the summer after my freshman year at MIT. I was one of its four original interns, earning a $500 stipend (and free monthly subway passes) for the entire summer (that worked out to much less than minimum wage). But as I have learned in business school, non-monetary compensation often is valued much more than monetary compensation. And as an eager student at MIT, the prospect of being involved with an exciting venture-backed firm was more than enough compensation for me.

Back to today...so here I am sitting in my apartment thinking about what I want to do. Most of my fellow business school students are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure out if they want to go into banking, consulting, or marketing. At least most of them have narrowed it down to two of the three. Not to let you think I am above the fray, I have also dipped my feet into the pool of consulting presentations. I even had one firm call me today asking me if I was going to apply -- to which I of course said "Yes!" Ugh...I feel shameless.

But I feel somewhat lucky. I actually do know exactly what I want to do. I want to start my own tech company. The sad thing is that I've been saying this since I was at MIT. Ever since I got the startup bug at ZEFER, I've been telling people that I wanted to start my own company; but the time wasn't right or that I didn't have the right idea. I'm 27 now and I think those two excuses have now exhausted themselves out completely. Especially since as a student I don't have a job so the time IS right; and because I do have the idea. And yet I keep feeling held back. Professors, career counselors, family and friends all tell me to "get some work experience first." It would be too easy to listen to them. I need to believe in myself and break free from the binding safeness of excuses that are too easy to fall back on.

Harking again back to my college days, my fraternity had this tradition of watching Braveheart before the start of every term to inspire us through the academic gauntlet known as MIT. My favorite scene is before the Battle of Stirling when William Wallace stands before his ratty and timid army of Scotsmen -- sent to the battlefield by their coward lords -- and to this band of men he says,

Fight and you may die. Run and you will live -- at least awhile. And dying in your bed many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here as young men and tell our enemies that they may take our lives but they will never take our freedom!

That scene never failed to give me a rush of adrenaline. So this blog is my statement that I am making a commitment to my goal, my dream. It all starts here...