We ARE Just HUMAN

Aslam Najeebdeen, CEO at Frontcube

This post is in acknowledgement of my very dear friend Aslam Najeebdeen. Why? -- because we must acknowledge and support people in our lives -- for no reason at all. Love and help others and good things will happen.

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I met Aslam in early 2011 via a Ruby on Rails IRC chat room while trying to find software development help. I was one of the founders of a startup called Feedgen, which we were incubating at SF-based Angelpad. We had just raised a little money, but not enough to hire engineering help in Silicon Valley so we went offshore -- Aslam was based in Sri Lanka.

At first I didn’t interact much with Aslam because he was doing mostly front-end CSS, HTML, etc -- and my co-founders were handling that stuff. I do remember our Skype interview and couldn’t help but feel that this guy was special.

We were about 8-9 weeks into going full-time into building Feedgen and participating in Angelpad. We were having a tough time finding our MVP and I found myself having to keep us focused while frustration was building. However the one bright spot was our front-end guy Aslam in Sri Lanka.

Demo day eventually came and passed and after a series of atrocious VC meetings, things were looking grim and time was running out for most of us on the team. My two co-founders decided to pursue more stable work situations which I completely understood that they needed. I on the other hand was not going to give up without giving it my absolute all.

After my co-founders left I was struggling to figure out the next move towards saving Feedgen. I had no money to pay Aslam anymore and was trying to salvage the great work that he did on the front-end -- so I scheduled a Skype call with him. That call was life changing -- it solidified a friendship that is still alive and kicking to this day.

During the call I mentioned that my co-founders were moving on and that I had no money to pay him, but that if he believed in me that I promised good things would happen. I asked him to be my cofounder, take equity, and completely redesign the UI/UX to make it his vision, while I find a back-end guy to help us build.

Aslam accepted. And we began working.

Over the next several months Aslam and I went through hell and back. I was working full-time to survive and pay contractors to help Aslam. Of course, we kept getting ripped off by offshore contractors, who when they did deliver on time it was always buggy, not to scope, or frankly didn’t work. We spent nearly every night connected to each other via Skype. We shared in each other's joys and sorrows. We learned about each other’s culture. We virtually met each others families. I learn about his Muslim traditions around payers and fasting, and he tolerated my emotional and philosophical rants on life and meaning.

Eventually, no matter how much we tried, Feedgen ended up failing and the first year or so after that was very hard on both of us. Our courageous attempt at building our business left us broke financially and at very low levels of sadness. Luckily Aslam had a loving and supportive wife who was there for him and I had my family and a great friend named Jim Payne who gave me a gig at MoPub, which saved me in more ways than one.

It’s been 5 years now since we were first met and Aslam has become a distant brother. We both kept fighting in the game of life.

I went on to have an exit with MoPub to Twitter, built an organization called Sales4StartUps, which allowed me to stay connected the the world of startups, sales, and innovation, and now launched my latest product called Dashtab -- which by the way was inspired heavily by Feedgen. We overcame some very tough years and made it through as better men.

Aslam went on to grow Frontcube, one of the most innovative web consultancies outside of the Silicon Valley while being based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Frontcube works with companies ranging from large media organizations like Al Jazeera to hot Silicon Valley startups like Mobile Action -- and of course I’m a lifelong client.

However, there are very few weeks that pass that we don’t communicate. Aside of never having met before, Aslam and I share a very real connection and understanding of each other.

My friendship with Aslam transcends business. It’s who were are as basic humans. Our friendship represents something special in the world today. It’s a space where a 33 year old Cuban-Filipino entrepreneur, who was raised Roman Catholic in Miami, FL bonds with a 30 year entrepreneur from Kandy, Sri Lanka, who is a Muslim, and lives so close to nature that I can hear the animals sing during calls at times.

We represent what’s beautiful about the human experience. That despite all the darkness that exists in the world, promoted in the media, seen in everyday life, you have two guys who on paper are so different and in some cases suppose to fear each other, who are connected and don’t see religion, race, or distance, but are bonded by being who they are, just human.

In fact, Aslam reminds me of the goodness that exists in the world. He reminds me that the spirit of entrepreneurship is a human thing not an American thing or even Silicon Valley thing. It doesn't see race, religion, location, or academic background. It’s a beautiful representation of our desire to dream and belief that we can change our lives and live the lives that we want to live.

To my good friend Aslam Najeebdeen, thanks for your support, loyalty, friendship, and love. 

You’re a brilliant entrepreneur and I am so happy to see Frontcube continue to be great.

Bigger Than Business

I arrived in Silicon Valley for the first time in 2006 when trying to raise money for a social travel startup that my partner and I bootstrapped from my graduate school apartment in Tallahassee, FL. We had decided to pack up and head to the "motherland" to try to raise money and recruit engineers. I remember trying to find engineers to work on equity cause we had no money and VCs at the time were not buying our argument.

Since those days we have both learned a heck of a lot and have both gone through success acquisitions; he was at Mint.com that sold to Intuit and myself at MoPub which sold to Twitter.

For as long as I could remember, I have been obsessed with entrepreneurship and startups. Over the last 12 years, I can't recall a day that has gone by that I have not at least thought about this topic. However, what I have also learned is that no matter how much "success" you seem to have, it's never enough.

For me I've always had some startup idea to dive head first into and kinda ignore the other aspects of life. What's crazy is that I never really understood the power of having a balanced life. And that life really is...well, has to be bigger than just business. I began to truly understand this after my startup Feedgen went under in 2011.

After so much excitement, having gone through the Angelpad incubator and making so many great contacts; we failed. And what was even worse was I woke up to a life that had been dominated by an obsession with startups, and was now questioning it all; it was a scary place to be. I had realized that there had to be more than just building startups and that business was so incredibly risky and volatile that there was no way that I could derive total happiness from it alone.

Since I had that epiphany I wake every day reminding myself to pursue a balanced life. I began doing things like riding my bike through the beautiful roads of Marin County, CA and becoming more aware of nature. I started to read books about Buddhism and doing more yoga. And I think that the most important thing that I began to focus on was that life was bigger than business and that I was not defined by business success or what I did. And although I literally have to remind myself of this on a daily basis, the awareness of it and the option to choose is very empowering.

Now don't get me wrong, I struggle with my ego, insecurities, and mistakes; I can assure you that I have a lot of the above. But what I also have is the awareness to work through these things and find resolve. Happiness and balance is a daily practice. You don't just achieve it once and you're done. It takes work, time, and dedication to the process.

We are not defined by only one part of our lives. We are the sum of our parts and experiences. As entrepreneurs we can still be passionate and inspired by what we create, it's kinda how we are wired anyways, but we must also remember that life is bigger than business. Find a balance, be more than just your venture/s, and perhaps you'll find success?

Poem: The Wise Entrepreneur

In the past I wanted to start a company just to start a company. To give myself meaning.

To make myself proud of I.

I didn't care if it was a great idea, really; and just rushed into it head first.

I just wanted to BUILD SOMETHING.

I just wanted to PROOVE SOMETHING.

To Who? -- To Myself and The World.

Then it became about proving those who saw me fail, wrong.

I Just wanted them to see that I was indeed great.

I needed validation.

This was the rookie.

The rookie entrepreneur.

My next venture will be done smart.

I will be selective.

I will not loose my mind over it.

And I will not allow it to define who I am, but merely be a component of the balance that I strive to achieve.

Life’ish Thoughts: PEACE

My last blog post was all about my perspective on how life, love, and entrepreneurship mirrored each other in so many ways. Its crazy how much I believe I have grown as a human being over the past two years; a two year period of tremendous experiences across all facets of life.

My awareness has caused me to think about life as this journey that really has no definite answers or destinations. What we can all agree upon is this wanting to be happy and fulfilled. A few years ago I did some consulting work for a very wealthy NYC hedge fund CEO; who I admired for quite sometime. I went into that gig thinking that a lot of money, a big office on 58^{th St} and Lexington, and all the power you could want would equal happiness and fulfillment. What I ended up observing saddened and confused the hell out of me. How could this be? – I thought all those guys with private drivers and $20million dollar apartments were super happy. What I found was an empty man who heart had been buried by ego, money, and a loss of perspective. It hit me hard because at the time I had been using the pursuit of financial success as my guiding light in life. What was I supposed to do? -- Abandon all pursuit of financial, career success and go work at a minimum wage job? What I also observed on that extreme was a world plagued with the same heartaches, emptiness, and issues.

So what now? -- could it be that happiness had nothing to do with how successful you are? My observations of both extremes indicated that perhaps the topics where different, however the discontent existed on both sides.

I had always encountered joy from the thoughts associated with the pursuit of success. However this new realization had thrown me into a small existential crisis. It actually forced me to start thinking about and really trying to remember the other things that used to make me happy and fulfilled.

It wasn’t until about 3-4 years later, after leaving NYC for San Francisco, did I start thinking about the idea around perhaps happiness actually being at peace with not knowing all the answers. That happiness was actually about peace.

Life, Love, and Entrepreneurship

Food for thought: Success is in the eyes of the beholder

I’m 31 years old. Since I was a kid my mother tells me that I always had a curiosity and passion to build, invent, love, make music, and make friends. She reminded me of the time I tried to build a small boat from scratch. How I designed it on paper (I still remember it looked more like an airboat -- which was probably appropriate being that I was from Florida), built the frame with plywood, and then sealed it with fiberglass coating. Too bad it sunk quickly once we placed it in the canal near my childhood home! About 2 years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a substantial amount of time with my mother --- yep at 30 years old I was bunking up with my mom and during those several months she shared so many stories that started to bring the puzzle pieces together. I must note that I had practically been on the road for the past 13 years and had not spent this much time with her since I was a child. Her stories answered questions like why can’t I stop thinking of ideas and always wanting to start or build things?  Or why can’t I hold down a "real" job? Why did I spend my 20's starting companies that only led to misery, frustration, and financial instability? Why I left home at 17 years old to explore the new and unknown? Why was I never able to be like so many of my friends and loved ones who were totally comfortable with adhering to status quo? Her stories and companionship surfaced so many memories, both inspiring and challenging. It was one of the most valuable times of my life. 

Its special how as we get older and we begin to look back at our past, while experiencing our present, how much clarity and growth one encounters. I was brought up by an ex-hippie, Cuban immigrant, ex-monk, musician, psychologist in a father and an amazing artist, musician, dreamer, entrepreneur, Filipino immigrant, incredibly loving mother. And let me tell you, the apple does NOT fall far from the tree. As I get older the answers to the questions that I have been asking about myself for so long, seem to not be as far as they used to be. And I have come to realize that, for myself, sometimes the answer is a resounding "its ok not to know the answer Jorge". As an entrepreneur and head of sales at a startup, I oftentimes have to remind myself of this very concept: its ok not to know the answer. My team and I will do our best, follow the path we believe is correct and learn along the way.

When I was 12 or 13 years old I had finally learned how to play the guitar from my parents -- they both play -- and I picked it up by observing them perform and a few guitar lessons. This new found passion led me to do what any entrepreneur would do: I started a rock band. I don’t remember much of Cobain's Veins (my first band, named after the late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana) other than how awful we were and the logo, which was painted on the bass drum of our set. You see that was the first of many bands I started and was part of over the years. As time progressed I started to realize the elements that were really important in a band. Things like, how important a solid drummer was, practice, and the power of discipline. Of course, at the moment I was unaware of what was happening: each band I started, had a greater chance of succeeding, not because the talent was better or the song selection, yet because I was already aware of what NOT to and what to be aware of. Many times as young entrepreneurs, we are so eager to build something based on a great idea think we have -- and often times the ideas are wonderful. What you realize through "failures" is that it is only through them that you truly become ready to succeed. It is only through getting burned that you are aware that the fire is painful. As entrepreneur you realize how important the fundamentals are, yet these lessons are only learned through challenges.

During the evening of August 24th 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit Miami, FL and destroyed the home I grow up in; while my mother, father, and I were in it. We almost lost our lives that evening. I was 11 years old and this was the first time life didn't make a lot of sense and completely threw my awareness for a roller-coaster ride. Shortly after, I had experienced a very close family member struggle with health problems, which completely threw me for a loop. Needless to say, these were challenging moments for my family and I. As I moved into my teenage years I struggled with many questions around many topics about life and it’s meaning. Unfortunately, I spent more time trying to find answers to my questions rather than focusing on my studies during my middle and high school years. This posed a challenge when I got to college. It was one of the first challenges that I had to face on my own as a young adult which was related to my developing the habits necessary to succeed in my "career life". Because I had not performed up to my expectations, pre-college; I was now determined to win. I realized that it was important for me to focus on the task at hand: doing my very best every day, every class, and every opportunity I had to learn. Before I knew it I had made it through 6 years of higher education, completed graduate school, yet most importantly found the canvas to the art that I would be dedicating the next 10 years of my life to: entrepreneurship. As I mentioned above, the 10 years that preceded my graduation of college had been very personally challenging, yet again, what I was not aware of was the growth that I'd been incurring. I had blindly overcome many challenges, a lot of which sit at the core of our humanity and emotional framework. The same challenges we all confront at some point in our lives. These challenges come with different names and have different faces. As an entrepreneur, you will be confronted with some of the most painful challenges you have ever faced while building or operating your business. I can promise you this; your character will be exposed to yourself and perhaps others. Your ability to overcome in a healthy and compassionate manner will determine your success. What does it matter if you make a million dollars yet loose your soul, health, and spirit in the process?
 
Two years ago I left everything I had in New York City and moved to San Francisco, CA to start yet another company. I was so determined to succeed. I had been accepted to a well known technology incubator and had assembled a talented team and was willing to lose it all. And I thought that as long as I pushed my hardest and didn't let anything stand in my way, whether it be health, money, etc; I was going to win this time. Well, the startup didn't work again, and I was left a broken man. 

Last summer, I met an incredible young lady on the Caltrain that at first I was just attracted to physically. As I began to spend time with her I started developing romantic feelings towards her. She began sharing stories of her life and I quickly became aware that she was not in a position to have a romantic relationship with me or probably anyone else. Months past and before I knew it, I fell in love with her. It made no sense, and till this day, I can’t tell you how I fell in love with a woman that I had only known for a few months and was just a friend. I believe that one of the most profound aspects of this woman was how she made me feel. It was a feeling that I traced back to my college girlfriend a decade before. Yet, unlike back then, I was aware of the possible outcomes and the risk I would be taking by continuing to spend time with her. And just like the timing was off back then in college, it was not in my favor this time around either. The matters of the heart can be as illogical, if not more, as being an entrepreneur often times is. However, I think the lesson here was that in the same way that I could not just force my startup business to win, love is something that cant be forced, it just has to happen; and timing is everything. Your co-founders have to be bought in and ready to go to war. The employees you hire have to love the mission independent of your motivational speeches or personal passion. You really can only pass the baton and hope that it makes it to the finish line. Sometimes we want to build a business so bad that we ignore the warning signs and continue to try to build the wrong business. I have personally looked back and thanked life for not allowing many of my businesses to succeed, get funded, etc. There is nothing worse than having to go to war with the wrong co-founders, at the wrong time, in the wrong space. Sometimes failure was the healthiest outcome.

I believe that there is a absolutely truth that exists whether you are trying to build a business, love, or be happy in life: don’t lose yourself. When I began focusing on my health and on just being happy irrespective of business, it's crazy how the opportunities started unfolding, startup projects started working, and personal awareness began to blossom again.



Happiness is a decision that we make everyday regardless of circumstances. I believe that the pursuit of financial success is a road that all who desire it should absolutely pursue. Yet I do believe that no matter how financially successful you become it is a peace inside, achievement of love, and acceptance of the journey that makes it all worth it.

Startups will fail. Hearts are meant to be broken. Love will be given irrespective of reciprocation. Storms will tear down homes. Families structures will change, loved ones will pass, and life will confuse the hell out of you and make you question everything -- perhaps perceptually. However, this is life. And as my father once told me, once you accept that it will be difficult and imperfect, it gets a lot easier, and you may have just succeed. 

Quick Sales Tip: PostWire.com for Sales Prospecting

I am always looking for new ways of improving the way that I prospect, especially when it comes to qualifying opportunities. I came across PostWire earlier this year and have to say I really like it. The way we sell has certainly evolved and contrary to many “sales experts” cold calling is not dead, it's actually just gotten easier. In the past we just had the yellow pages /other directories and a telephone. Then the Internet changed the way we live our lives – both personally and business wise. There are great ways to passively engage and qualify prospects without having to always be in direct communication with them via phone or email.

PostWire is a web service that allows me to send content like videos, files, web links, sales/marketing collateral etc to prospects, and has a comment wall to allow for collaboration.  

Here is how I use it:

• After I get in contact with and qualify a prospect, I tell them that I will be sending them a “PostWire page”, which “contains all sorts of content like videos, case studies, blog posts, etc”.

• Postwire allows me to share the page with as many email addresses I want. As part of the sharing process, I am able to attach a customized message to the recipients.

Sharing this PostWire page is valuable for a few reasons. Of course, it allows me to share great content with my prospects that will be helpful with further educating them as opposed to sending multiple emails back and forth. Sharing these pages allows me to create actions. The sharing of the page can be a quick and easy “next step”, and action on my part. Postwire has a killer feature that sends me an email when someone has viewed the page. This not only gives me some indication that they are remotely interested but it becomes quite interesting when they access the page multiple times. You can also set the privacy settings to allow anyone with the URL to be able to access the page. The caveat is that PostWire will not able to identify who is visiting the page yet will still send you an email that “someone” has visited your page. My colleague and Chief Marketing Office at PunchTab Angela Sanfilippo, describes PostWire as "Pinterest meets marketing collateral". 

As you can see there are plenty of useful ways that PostWire can help salespeople more effectively communicate with and share collateral with prospects. According to the PostWire team they will be adding great CRM integration features in the coming months. Things like Salesforce.com integration for example.

Here is more information regarding PostWire:

• https://twitter.com/postwire
• http://www.crunchbase.com/product/postwire

Entrepreneurship is a Commitment to the Journey

I always joke around about how I have been torturing myself for nearly 10 years by being in the startup game as an entrepreneur. When I first started my career, I guess thats what you call it -- "a career", I swore I'd be rich and famous by 22, then it was 23, then it was; well, you get the point. Today, I'm 31 years old and happier than ever as an entrepreneur. Have I made $20 million dollars, nope. Do I have the mansion on the beach in Miami (my hometown), negative. Have I had a tremendously successful exit, no. So why am I happier than ever you may ask yourself?

Well, its because I understand what this whole entrepreneurship thing is all about now. For the overwhelming majority of us, its not a quick road to financial success. And in fact, if you are doing it for the glamour and fame, you are better off moving to Hollywood and trying to be an actor. For me its been a life journey. My life as an entrepreneur has grown and evolved in the way that I have grown and evolved as a human being. I was once a child and now I am an adult. At one point I thought that my drive to be a entrepreneur was all about the money; yes, I'll admit it. I consider this my youthful days of my entrepreneurial life. I thought it was a quick road if I worked hard enough and that patience was for losers. Again, part of my youthful days. You see, there is no doubt that financial success is meaningful and I still strive for it, yet money is not something that motivates long term and patience is a discipline that enables you to manage both the wins and the loses. You realize over time that this is who you are -- you are an entrepreneur. You are not crazy and must accept that this is who you are, and thats its ok to want to build your own castle as opposed to living in someone else's. You must also understand that this is not an overnight process. You will climb the mountain and run out of energy, resources, spirit, etc, -- many, many times; most call this failure. 

Entrepreneurship is a life decision. A commitment to live your life the way you want to. And for others that means being an accountant, doctor, police officer, etc, etc - and thats perfectly fine. For this whole thing called life and society to work, it requires everyone fitting into the role that they are passionate about. Yet, for you people like us, this is a life full of ups and downs. And just as in all growth processes, over time you become accustomed to these changes and although "failure" will always sting, wisdom is achieved and your spirit becomes stronger and less penetrable.  

Happiness and Balance

My friend Steli Efti Founder and CEO of Elastic Sales, talks a lot about being a happy entrepreneur. I couldn't agree more. Look its tough; very tough. Yet that cant allow you to become a bitter cynical person when things dont work out the way to planned they would. Entrepreneurship is a journey as is life. And although I am incapable of explaining to you why horrible things happen in life on a daily basis, I can assure you that focusing on these awful things doesn't help anyone. And in business, you should learn from your mistakes and difficult moments and make the decision to chalk them up as a opportunities for growth. Focus on the good that has occurred even if its hard sometimes to see it. You must fight for this clarity. After my previous startup failed, I was so depressed and discouraged that I could not see the good that it had brought. Today I am so thankful for having gone through that experience. Each venture grows your network, teaches you valuable lessons, and makes you that much more ready to run a successful company and be a good leader. 

Steli also spoke about adding meditation to his life and not working himself to complete exhaustion. I also agree with this. I too used to work myself to the point that my brain would just shut off. And although, doing a startup requires an immense amount of dedication and time spent working, it's important to focus on the things that matter and know when your effort needs to be redirected. I believe that in order to be at your best, make sound decisions, and be a great leader, you need to be able to develop the discipline needed to know when you need a break for personal development and nurturing. If you think about it, what does it all matter if you have destroyed your health, both mental and physical, in the process? -- Since I have committed to working equally as hard on my personal development including physically, mentally, and spiritually, I have not only become a better person yet have seen my career improve 10x. 

Opportunities for Growth or Growth Moments

Lastly, I want to talk to you about what I call growth moments. These are challenging moments in our lives where things might be going terribly wrong. Whether its in our personal lives or with our startup, these are moments where our character and spirit is put  to the test and many times knock us down to the floor barely hanging on. Does this sound familiar? -- If It does I am here to say that you have made it through ok. And if you are currently dealing with this, I can assure you that this too shall pass. These are what I call opportunities for growth or growth moments. The caveat is that we have to make the decision to be open to growth. Whether you have lost an important business deal, cant seem to raise capital, or experienced a startup failing, these are all opportunities to grow. Now, Im not saying its gonna be easy. Most growth comes with a little and sometimes a lot of resistance, yet I can assure you that this is merely part of your journey. Its part of the process that we all must go through as entrepreneurs. Accept it now and move forward. 

So for now, take a deep breath and enjoy the journey. This is a bumpy yet road amazing road we are on NOW and what lies ahead will come in due time...

Sales4StartUps - Teaching B2B Startups all about Sales

In late 2011, we decided to host our first Sales4StartUps event at Crittercism's office in SOMA, SF. To our surprise we had 80 + attendees and people seemed to really love what we were doing. As a result, we decided to formally launch Sales4StartUps as a way to help teach B2B tech startups how to sell. We do this through events, seminars, and online content. Although Sales4StartUps.org is still under development, we have successful conducted and scheduled 10 + events/seminars across the U.S and Mexico. 

We've partnered with countless startups including Pipedrive, LaunchRock, and NimbleCRM and work with organizations like Wilson Sonsini Goodrich Rosati, 500 Startups's Mexican.VC, Capital Factory, Microsoft Nerd Center, and more. 

Check Out Our Upcoming Events:

Highly Recommended: 

September 12, 2012 in Palo Alto, CA -- Great for learning how to improve your sales presentations. 

http://sales4startupspaloalto2.eventbrite.com/

See ALL Live Events:

http://www.eventbrite.com/org/2354752688

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Angelpad's Thomas Korte is a Great Guy to Have in Your Corner

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that most incubator programs fund and work with way more companies than they can possibly develop meaningful relationships with. In fact, you hear it all the time -- founders complaining about the fact that they didnt get the personalized attention that they expected. And in the defense of the programs its pretty difficult to connect with everyone; especially your Y-Combinators of the world, who have large staffs and like 100 + founders per class.

The one thing I can say about Angelpad and specifically its founder Thomas Korte, is that he actually really knows your name. He actually gives a crap about you and your team. Its been about a year since I participated and I still feel the connection to Angelpad. Whether its the happy hours or great conversations about life in general, Thomas Korte is genuinely a good guy, who cares about his founders; irrespective of whether their start up succeed or not.

Im summary:

Thomas Korte = Great Guy

Angelpad = If you get in, great opportunity to get the visibility needed to get a chance in the dot.com/start up big league of fund raising. And perhaps, even better you become a part of a fraternity of great business minds.

The Non-Technical Founder Part 1

I have spent alot of time this year thinking about entrepreneurship, particularly as it relates to the start up technology world from a non-technical founder's perspective, and I have come to a few conclusions:

1) If you are a non-technical CEO/founder your life will suck for a long time.

The tech world is ruled by, yes you guessed it -- technical people, engineers, developers etc. Guys/gals who can write their own code or challenge the integrity of their team's code. These are the folks who build the first iterations of their company's products and use it to recruit others and validate their ideas. Non-technical founders end up hiring consultants to build stuff (I've done it); which most of the time is a mistake. Why is it a mistake? Well, for one, what you build today is obsolete the moment you commit the code. Two, it usually means you have paid out of pocket; and unless you are a rich guy/gal, this is generally very painful. Three, software is never done. You hire a consultant to build like 1.0 (if you're lucky), and you end up dumping more money into bug fixing. Then you have to actually release something to some sort of user/s whether its alpha, beta or whatever the hell you choose to call it. And then, things break = more bugs = more money, etc etc. Not to mention the moment you release something, you'll want to change it; oh, yeah and 98% of your initial users will find something wrong with it and suggest changes = more money spent on the consultant, etc etc. And then reality sets in: you have spent ALOT of money out of pocket, or the money runs out and its game over.

Another route the Non-technical founder takes instead of dumping his life savings into hiring consultants, is selling the "the dream/vision". Not only does he/she have to find and convince technical people to embrace the idea enough to commit a substantial amount of their heart, soul, and attention to the venture, yet have to make sure that they maintain the enthusiasm long enough to develop something meaningful. And developing something meaningful just gets you to first base.

You do have exceptions to the rule, such as Steve Jobs. Yet, do remember that Steve was only as good as his TEAM. His ideas didn't mean anything unless his team was able to execute. Plus Steve is a complete anomaly.

2) Ideas are blaw; Team is EVERYTHING

I have been guilty of thinking that just cause I had an idea, I had a business. Then the years passed and a million ideas later, I realized that ideas are as useless as being the only player on a hockey team that knows how to skate; you wont even have a chance to play the game and will have to forfeit every time.

Repeat after me; TEAM IS EVERYTHING. Great teams can build things. Great teams can overcome obstacles and challenges. Great teams support each other when times are tough, cause they will get tough. Needing a great team is especially important for the non-technical, tech start up co-founder. He/she is literally useless without this team. And moreover this team has to be ever more awesome to be able to persevere on alongside their non-technical leader.

If you dont have a great team, you will not win. I dont give a shit what anyone else says, you are only as strong as your team. Here are some tips:

1. Keep Teams Local (as much as possible): Its tough enough building a company when your team is in your back yard. Working with remote teams makes it much harder. I'm convinced that having a great team is like having a great relationship -- it takes work. And when you are not able to interact regularly with your teammates, because they are in another time zone is makes it much harder. Many times there are cultural and language barriers. As we all know, often times tones and meanings can be unclear in the virtual world. Now, I'm not saying that its impossible; and in fact there are a ton of examples of teams that have been able to pull it off. My point is, if you are going to have an offshore or remote team, get ready for the challenges that you will face.
2. Be Clear, Definitive, and Make the Though Calls: You need to set the tone and expectation for the team from day one. Sometimes a non-technical founder will be so afraid of loosing their technical team that they will turn a blind eye to red flags or try to rationalize why things are not getting done. If they cant hack it, let them go. Its not healthy for anyone involved.
3. Build SOMETHING you know something about: Too many times do you see entrepreneurs building businesses that they are clueless about. I am definitely guilty of this. I have tried to start businesses that I didnt know much about and perhaps was just cool. Then reality hit.

Long Live the Cold Call!

Listen Up people: cold calling is NOT dead nor is it going anywhere. I'm so sick of these wanna-be sales people writing all this garbage about how cold calling is dead. Frankly its because they have no idea what sales is all about. Yes, I'm going to say it: especially in silicon valley. You have all these brilliant people who are clueless about how to put in the work to generate their own new business. Things like how to prospect, make the calls, do the meetings, do the demos, SELL PEOPLE; aka following "the process". I believe this is a major reason why so many silicon valley start ups fail. This said, let me not pick on silicon valley, this is an issue across the world in general.

A cold call is simply reaching out to a prospect/lead that you approached rather than them coming to you. I call this Outbound Lead Generation or Outbound Prospecting. When a lead/prospect comes to you via a sign up, form submission, phone call, etc, I consider this an Inbound Lead. Generally its marketing's job to generate Inbound Leads; some people call this activity demand generation. Some companies have businesses that generate a high volume of inbound leads based on various reasons. Companies like Google and Facebook have more inbound leads than they can handle. Other companies are not as fortunate and need to spend more time conducting outbound lead generation. Alot of the time start ups face this challenge. They need the "hunter-type" sales guy; as opposed to the order taking, business development manager that just waits for leads to come in or is more focused on "doing partnership/channel deals".

Now, cold calling today does entail utilizing the tools and technology that are available now; which makes it easier than ever! Today we have Linkedin, Jigsaw, Hoovers, email, Twitter, phone, etc, etc. In the past you had a phonebook and a telephone. Today you can prepare yourself better, use multiple entry points, like for example sending the prospect an email and then maybe a Linkedin message, even perhaps tweet at him/her; and then follow up all this with a good'ole phone call. This phone call might sound something like "Hey John, its Jorge from Mopub. I sent you an email this week trying to figure out who to speak with about mobile adverting topics etc. I know you're pretty busy. Any idea who I can chat with about this stuff?" -- My tone is low and slow at this point. I am trying to make sure that this person can understand me and not feel unnecessary pressure.

Today's tools allows a sales person to call on the right people with the right titles, easier, quicker, with more accuracy, and cross-multiple channel/platforms. Today we use email more than telephone, especially during the less important periods of a conversation. My first step is to always try to find that prospects email somehow and send them a short and concise note. Either way, whether I get in touch with the prospect or not via email, my key objective is to get on the phone with them or schedule an in person meeting. You will hardly ever close any meaningful b2b business without a phone call or in person meeting.

As you can see whether you are picking up the phone or sending an email, these are all methods of cold calling. So keep up your cold calling its key to generating new business and being real salesperson.

Sales for Start Up Events

So I just did a sales for start ups event with a few Angelpad companies including: Pipedrive, which is a simple way for a company to manage its sales pipeline. Wishery, wants to improve customer service, sales and marketing with its Gmail add-on. And also our 500 Start Ups friends at LaunchRock, who allows you to setup a viral “Launching Soon” page in minutes. The event was sponsored by Angelpad and Brugan run and hosted at the Crittercism office in Soma, San Francisco.

The event was pretty fun. We had about 200 RSVPs for a Wednesday night, and about 80 people showed up which was pretty cool. Cooper Marcus, who is the founder and CEO of Wishery, did a kickass job of opening the night by demoing his product and explaining a bit of the stories behind the Feedgen and Privedrive teams. Timo Rein, myself, and The Southwestern Company sales trainer Wade Floyd, spoke to the crowd about leads, sales pipeline, and what is takes to be a top sales producer.

What is crazy about this whole night was that people seemed to really appreciate and take the information to heart. I am absolutely excited about doing the next few in the bay area and LA.

RIP Steve Jobs

Wow. It’s about 4:56pm on this San Francisco day…at some point over the last hour I heard folks in my SOMA office mentioning that Steve Jobs just passed away…so I did what we do now days and checked my Twitter..and well, sure enough it was true.
I then saw a tweet from someone referring to Apple.com’s landing page and this is what I saw:


Needless to say, it hit me immediately. A deep sadness overcame me -- which was followed by tears. A few weeks ago I saw a news story about Steve, which explained his life story. How he was adopted and how he was a dreamer. How he had this me against the world attitude and was always willing to risk everything for these dreams. And although, I knew of Mac, Apple and Steve Jobs, I never knew how his outlook reminded me of mine. And at 30 years, I became a Steve Jobs fan. I immediately felt like this hope inside that I was NOT crazy for spending most of my life dreaming and even though I didn’t know him personally, I felt a connection, and almost an obligation to continue to fight for dreamers like us.

RIP Steve Job. On behalf of all us dreamers and rebels out there – we will keep the tradition alive.

Day 219 - Resilience

So today marks the 212th day since I moved to San Francisco to build Feedgen. Its definitely been a long financial and emotional rollercoaster.

Its been a crazy few days. Aslam and I are both having issues with our apartments and Cass is sick with a fever yet still writing code somehow. Its funny how I have conditioned myself to look at every obstacle as simply a possible distraction and seem to plow through them with ease as if I expected it to happen. The thing is that I know crap will happen. I know that people will get sick, landlords will act up, and even girlfriends/boyfriends will break up with you. Yet I believe that our ability to be resilient under pressure is a huge key to our successes – both personal and in business. In actuality, my father was the person who taught me to persevere through the difficult times. He’d been doing it all his life. From his days as a Cuban Exile in the 1950’s to now being a great psychologist and businessman; there are not many things that seem to rattle him - Anyways.

So I guess the moral of today’s post is resilience. Merriam-Webster defines it as:

1 : the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress
2 : an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

Number 1 makes me chuckle a bit. Just cause when building a company or trying to do something great it literally feels sometimes that you are being squeeze to the point of deformation! Things can get so tough on your mind, body, and soul that if you don’t stay focused and expect to power through obstacles they will knock you down.

Stay resilient folks. We’re almost there.

The Feedgen "Why"

I was listening to one of these motivation speaker guys the other day and the thesis behind his talk was trying to figure out the “Why” in what you do as a business person. And well, it led me to take a step back and analyze why the hell I was doing what I am doing. Why I spend 24/7 thinking and working on Feedgen and somehow find the time to work a full time sales gig at another start up while maintaining a high level of production on all tasks. And the reason is because there is a massive "Why" behind everything I do and somehow I have partnered with a bunch of guys who share similar eccentricities and passion for life and business!

Anyways, this is what I call: The Feedgen "Why".

We exist because we are a team of passionate entrepreneurs who love to build and inspire others. We are thinkers, dreamers, and people determined to change the world. We just happen to be passionate about building exciting sales software.

We want to change the way that people feel at work. We want our employees to be happy and inspired by us and the work that they do.

We are not perfect and will make mistakes, yet we will be committed to learning from our mistakes and continuing to grow as an organization and company culture.

We encourage entrepreneurship and thinking outside of the box. We promote the idea that every employee should be passionate about what they do. And if they’re not yet, we’ll help them figure it out.