Some Thoughts On Being A Self Funded Startup
Posted By : todd sharp Posted At : February 6, 2009 11:52 AM Posted In: Personal, ColdFusion, SlideSix
5
I came across a blog post a few weeks ago from the co-founder and CTO of Docstoc, Alon Shwartz.
The post draws a correlation between startups and war. Alon says:
...starting a startup is like starting a war. First, you think you're right and you have the right. Many others have done the same thing before successfully and you're smarter than most of them. Yes, you'll need resources and funding but you can start relatively small and grow. It doesn't have to be "shock and awe"...
He goes on to draw further comparisons. In war there is the need for support from a countries political cabinet and influencers, in startups the support comes from investors. In both war and startups one of the main priorities is to keep these key parties happy. Without their support things can and likely will go down quickly.
As I commented on his post I'm beginning to experience some of the things he talks about to some extent. Since reading the post I've continued to think about my own project, SlideSix. I decided to share some of my thoughts here on the blog. Why? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's therapeutic in some way to dump some of this out in a post. Maybe it will help others to understand why I'm doing what I do. Perhaps someone, somewhere will benefit or even be inspired by what I have to say.
A Bit of Background
SlideSix was born out of experimentation. Some of you might remember last fall when I posted some of my experiments playing with POI and the CFPresentation tag. It was seriously fun to play with. I loved the fact I could use a Java library and convert a PowerPoint document to a Flash based presentation so easily with ColdFusion. The experiment eventually grew into what is now SlideSix.
The original plan for SlideSix was to open source the application and freely distribute it on RIAForge. After throwing together a crude interface I was close to submitting for a project on RIAForge and posting the code. But before I did that, I shared a few screencasts of the application with some trusted friends to see what they thought. Josh Cyr was one of the people that I shared the demos with and he suggested that I roll the application out as a hosted solution. We threw around some enhancement ideas and I decided to go back into the lab and run with the idea.
After a few months in the lab I launched the original SlideSix on May 1, 2008 during cf.Objective. The service got a bit of traffic around launch, but unfortunately things went downhill fast. I quickly found out that POI wasn't quite 'ready for prime time'. Many presentations simply looked terrible once they were imported. I'm not saying POI is terrible per se. The fact is that PowerPoint support at the time was (and still is) in the 'scratchpad' area of POI.
About 6 weeks into the launch I knew that I needed to seriously overhaul the conversion process or the project would surely have a very short lifespan. I decided to switch the PowerPoint conversion engine over to use OpenOffice. OpenOffice does a fantastic job with the conversion and it is still in use in the application today for the conversion of most file formats (PPT, PPS, ODP and SXI).
Over the next six months I spent untold time modifying the UI and making minor enhancements in hopes that eventually traffic would come. In the late fall I decided to switch from using CFPresentation to my own home grown presentation viewer built in Flex. Soon after the viewer was launched I built a complete management console also in Flex that allows users to manage their entire library of presentations, upload, add media, edit their profile and groups all from a single interface.
What is it like to work on the project?
To be perfectly honest the whole development experience has been a giant roller coaster of emotion. One day it feels like I have built a far superior product that has a distinct competitive advantage, and another it feels like there is no possible way I can ever compete with the existing products in my market (web based presentation sharing communities). In all reality I should fail. Why?
- I am self-funded
- I am the only developer
- I work on the project in my spare time
- The market is highly competitive
There are other reasons why I should fail, but let's focus on these for now. They are all legitimate reasons why I could possibly fail. Each reason in and of itself could be cause enough for me to simply throw in the towel and give up. Combine them all, and certainly I have no chance at success, right?
I could easily admit that I have no chance and simply walk away. But I don't. And I won't. For each reason that I should fail there is a reason that I will not fail.
Yes, I'm self-funded. So what? What are my operating costs? Next to nothing really - I only pay for my hosting and the revenue that I make off my 3 other sites that I host on the server more then pay that bill. At the end of the day I'm actually turning a profit on my web ventures.
Yes, I'm the only developer. What better way to keep my operating costs down? Yes, I work on the project in my spare time, but notice I did not say part-time. The amount of time that I put into the project during the average week is very close to 40 hours.
Yes, there are other services like mine. Why is mine different? I believe that I have a combination of features and offer a unique user experience that no other service can compete with. Simplicity, ease of use, ability to record and embed multimedia, a wide array of supported presentation formats, the ability to attach supporting documentation directly within a presentation - the list goes on.
Alon talks about a 'turning point' that each startup will go through.
...there is some "turning point" that redefines the effort. Some breakthrough or event, some added ingredient that, when looking back, changes the picture and drives toward the win. But that point, the "win" is the most difficult thing to achieve. I think that beyond the obvious difficulties like funding, resources, competition, politics, etc it is actually the very definition of what WINNING actually means. And it is very different for each effort.
Have I reached that turning point? I'm not sure. Being reviewed by TechCrunch may have been that point. Traffic has certainly picked up, users are signing up for the service and using it. Other sites are noticing too and posting their own reviews, most of which have been mainly positive. But what is 'winning' to me? I want to be the best. I want my service to be number one. I want people to think of SlideSix first when they think of posting a presentation online. I want to empower users to create a powerful impression with their message by being the premier service for hosting multimedia enabled presentations.
It's been fun as hell. The project has been my personal playground for the last year. I love writing code and I love learning new things. I've spent countless hours developing, obsessing over details, architecting features and researching solutions. And I've loved every damn minute of it. I could and should fail given all the odds against me, but I refuse to accept failure.
But, I find the claim that there is one turning point or single defining moment that drives you toward the win completely ridiculous.
Every moment is a result of your last 1 [2, 3, 4, 10] days [months, years, whatever] of work. And all of it builds on what you've done before. And each moment leads to the success.
Well my friend, keep at it! You've done a great job so far and it looks like things are really going for you!
Here's a quote from Marc Andreessen (Netscape) about being an entrepreneur I found interesting:
“First and foremost, a start-up puts you on an emotional rollercoaster unlike anything you have ever experienced. You flip rapidly from day-to-day – one where you are euphorically convinced you are going to own the world, to a day in which doom seems only weeks away and you feel completely ruined, and back again. Over and over and over. And I’m talking about what happens to stable entrepreneurs. There is so much uncertainty and so much risk around practically everything you are doing. The level of stress that you’re under generally will magnify things incredible highs and unbelievable lows at whiplash speed and huge magnitude. Sound like fun?”
@Jeffry: Everything does indeed build, and success is ultimately a result of your hard work, but I think he's referring to a breakthrough moment or climax where everything starts to go your way.
The roller-coaster ride you get on when this happens tests your courage and your emotions each day.
A second noteworthy discovery for me is the training and institutional assistance from start-up helpers like state agencies focuses almost only on paths leading through angel and venture funding routes: "Let's focus on improving your elevator pitch to potential investors." For what it's worth, "the dot-com era" has scewed the standard for "successful".
The help-entrepreneur programs seem to me to be tilted way too heavily toward the ealy investor route. Ironically, based on history, there have been many thousands of small-businesses started yearly that focus on delivering innovation and better value to customers first - (...make a decent living ) and then later focusing on investors and growth. Sadly, I've had some of those helpers tell me "that way takes way too long".
I know that you already know this, but you are doing just fine with what seems like a natural self-directed path...to you..., and that's why you created your product and business in the first place. Congratulations !
First, thank you for reading my blog and for sharing your story. It is important to share as it gives strength to you and others beyond anything one can imagine.
As I read your story I remember myself some years back, different circumstances and idea but some thoughts. You must continue. If you believe in your idea/cause/solution you owe it to yourself.
I don’t think winning is defined by money, fame & glory, nice house, etc. I think winning is defined as a leap forward in the direction we planned on going.
Stay in touch