March Update
Well it’s mid-March already. Where has the time gone.
The big news is that after long consideration, and a lot of discussion with people I trust most, I’ve decided to pursue investment for some of the ideas here and a few more. I’ve been putting a lot of time and effort into each of the product business models and how a long term business can be structured around them.
I’m not a big fan of startup investment, I’ve worked with too many companies that have seen the wrong VC’s turn a good company into a bad one. But I realized that the only way to make truly innovative products is if you and your staff don’t have to worry about how you are going to pay your bills. I have no idea what will come of it, but at least I have some incredibly smart people behind me showing me the way.
As far as progress, the past month and a half has seen some ups and downs. The big downer being that the Travel Game is getting nixed. One of my peers and someone I respect a lot Josh Williams has created a game similar in concept to the Travel Game. In talking to Josh I think there are some major differences between our ideas, but it just doesn’t feel right to try and creating a competing product to someone we like so much. Not to mention is doesn’t exactly fit into our product strategy. But it was a great idea and I’ve offered to share what we’ve done with Josh and his team.
On the plus side, from my initial pitches of the company and our product offerings to investors the response has been amazing. I’m still fine tuning the plan, cost and profit projections, but I remain pretty optimistic that we have the right people, solutions and market timing. Though I remain a bit jaded towards investment, I’ve met some great people that have excellent advice and feedback that is beginning to change my mind.
My biggest worry is the time suck of the investment dance. Never one to play the standard playbook, I always look for ways to increase transparency while decreasing the level of bullshit in business. And honestly I’m looking at the investment process the same way. Looking for ways to get everyone what they are looking for with the least amount of bullshit in-between.
If I’ve learned one thing over the past year is that opportunity is the biggest distraction (new ideas being a close second). Amazing opportunities come up all the time and you want to see them through. But each time you do, it takes you away from your long term goal. The only way to change that is to do it on your terms, which isn’t exactly easy.
At any rate we’ll see what happens. If nothing else it will be an interesting chapter in the journey.