Random musings

Close to one month into our mad venture, some of the initial excitement is starting to be replaced by routine, and reality sets in.

One of the biggest surprises for me so far is how confident Mark and I are in what we're doing. It's an ambitious project, many start-ups fail, and it's the first such experience for both of us. And yet we feel that we're firmly in control.

If there's one thing that's worrying me, it's the lack of competition. A lot of what we're doing already exists, scattered on various major sites, but the core idea seems blindingly obvious (to us), and is nowhere to be seen. The closest we've seen are a couple of start-ups which partially address it, but (in our opinion) stop way short of the full potential. So why aren't we seeing it everywhere? I see three possible reasons, and all of them worry me.

1) It's been done, but never caught on, so that's why Mark and I haven't seen it "in the wild". It's possible, but unlikely - we've both spent way too much time surfing the web.
2) It just can't be done. I find this extremely unlikely, since we already have close to a fully functional demo, and it's been relatively smooth sailing so far. It's always possible we'll hit some technological pitfalls, but I very much doubt that any will be showstoppers.
3) We're actually on to something new (and big)! Obviously the most exciting of the three, but in some ways also the scariest.

I'm one of those who works much better when listening to music... and sometimes a song eerily fits with my thoughts. For example, Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" almost sounds like the voice that is probably at the back of every entrepreneur's mind at times:

Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are,

Ha ha ha bless your soul
You really think you're in control

Well, I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
I think you're crazy
Just like me

But too much introspection is never a good thing. The best way to show that our confidence isn't misplaced is to show everyone what we're working on - which we can't wait to do! For now we're keeping our heads down and hammering away at the code, as I listen to Daft Punk.

Work It Harder Make It Better
Do It Faster, Makes Us stronger
More Than Ever Hour After
Our Work Is Never Over

[end of ramble]

Canadian vs. American Entrepreneurial Attitude

We are trying to start this company with as little investment as possible. I am told this is typical of the Canadian entrepreneur. Whereas the American entrepreneur is glad to trade capital over % ownership.

I originally inferred this to mean that the Canadian entrepreneurs are just less willing to give up control. I thought this mindset was somewhat embarrassing to be quite honest. We were always told it was better to have 51% of a watermelon than 100% of a peanut.

My views, after having started up a company, have somewhat changed. I now see how it is MORE courageous to turn down investment. Perhaps investors are like the "landmark of achievement" that many small business strive for. To say no to the flattery of someone wanting to invest in you, the fancy dinners, being courted, well that takes more courage than many have.

After all, investors are in there to make money. They haven't done the work, they are spending someone else's money. If the Canadian entrepreneurial scene is unwilling to let these guys in well, let's just say I understand their attitude. Not being accepted is more a mark of pride in Canada than anything else.