Monthly Archives: June 2008

Building a Startup is both Exhausting and Exhilarating

Posted on June 30, 2008 | Leave a comment

If you are thinking about starting your own company, be prepared for the highs, lows, and completely exhausted moments. It is nothing like a traditional 9-5 job and if you are not prepared for the rigors and frustrations of building a company, they can take you by surprise.

We did an initial private BETA launch of VendorCity this past Friday and I spent much of the weekend (roughly 20 hours) preparing for our public launch this week. I missed going to a birthday party, mowing the lawn, spending quality time with my two boys, and simply having a chance to relax after a very long and arduous week. And, it is only going to get worse as we launch VendorCity over the next couple of days.

So, why go through all of this? The reasons are many but they come down to the excitement of building something, the thrill of watching your work have an impact on others, the ability to dictate how and when you work (to a point), and the opportunity to make more than just a salary. And, of course, being your own boss and having the chance to make your own decisions and learn from them in ways that are nearly impossible when you work for others.

So, what do you think it takes to be an entrepreneur?
 
 

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Posted in Entrepreneur

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Be prepared to do just about anything

Posted on June 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

As an entrepreneur, be prepared to do everythingAs an entrepreneur, you must be a jack of all trades and must be ready to do just about anything.  If you feel certain things are not worthy of your time or are too beneath you, then starting businesses is not for you.  It really is that simple.  Here’s a short story that highlights what you, as an entrepreneur, should be ready to do.

This past week my two partners and I at VendorCity decided to change our plans and launch nationally instead of locally (we were going to start in just Boston and New Hampshire).  For the most part, technically, this was not a huge hurdle because we had “sorta” planned for it but we had not spent any significant effort thinking the issue through.  We knew eventually we would have to geocode this (put client’s in a region based upon their zipcode) but felt that we could do it quicker for now by manually by selecting cities in each state as the nearest “metro” area.

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Posted in Entrepreneur, VendorCity

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Rating and Reputation Systems

Posted on June 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

thumbs-upSince VendorCity is a recommendation site, it is critical that we take into account best practices when building our own rating and reputation systems.  There’s some good ones and, well, some not so good ones.  Joshua Porter over at Bokardo.com shared some valuable insights on these issues based upon an article from Boxes and Arrows entitled On A Scale of 1 to 5. A close read of these two articles highlight some critical aspects that any site that provides ratings and recommendations should follow.

There’s some great stuff in both those articles and well worth your time if you are involved in any rating, reputation, or crowdsourcing effort.  Within the comments, I found a link to another good read called Collective Choice: Rating Systems.

These articles have made us re-evaluate our own rating methodology and especially the specific rating categories in place today.  Now’s the time to make changes before we launch!

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Posted in VendorCity

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The value of personal and professional networking

Posted on June 20, 2008 | 1 Comment

handshakeIt is nearly impossible to overstate how critical your personal and professional network is and yet most of us, myself included, don’t spend enough effort building and maintaining it.  Those that are most successful in business (and in life) almost always have an extensive network of people that know and trust.  Ask them and they will tell you that a direct introduction or word-of-mouth referral from a trusted friend or colleague is the single best way to build that network of people you know and work with. 

Over the past 10 years I can honestly say that I have done a bad job of building and maintaining my own network.  There’s always a reason, an excuse, but unless you actively work on it, that network won’t be there when you most need it.  I turned a small software company, WebEvent, into a venture-funded firm shortly after the first Internet bubble burst.  I had lots of opportunities to build my personal and professional network at that time (and ever since) but was always too busy; there always seemed to be too many other priorities.  I am now building my second startup, VendorCity, which is a business-to-business vendor recommendation site and am having to rebuild and expand my network.  What I am finding is that not only is it critical (and effective) but I am truly enjoying the experience of getting to meet and know all of these great people.   

So, I highly suggest that you find and cultivate personal and business relationships by going to networking events in your field (and related fields).  For me, I’ve recently joined:

and have attended the following networking events:

  • MIT Enterprise Forums of New Hampshire (we did a skydive presentation pitch)
  • NH Entrepreneur of the Year
  • WebNOB (Web North of Boston – meetup in Manchester)
  • NSWG (North Shore Web Geeks – meetup in Newburyport)
  • PopSignal (networking event in Boston)

Also looking at going to the WebInno group event in July, local meetups in NH and Mass, as well as the Boston Mashable event in August.  If you know of any others, please drop me a line or post a comment.

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Posted in networking

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Launching JC’s View!

Posted on June 19, 2008 | Leave a comment

JC CameronIn the upcoming weeks and months, I will be using this blog to share my experiences as a technologist and entrepreneur launching VendorCity, my latest startup.  You’ll have an insider’s view on what makes a startup tick and the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. Plus, I’ll share my thoughts on technology, social networking, crowdsourcing, and life in general.  Most importantly, I hope that my readers will become active partcipants and share their thoughts and stories as well.

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Posted in General

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