Starting you own Business "The Journal"

[AAAgent]

no worries mate. This is to document my journey and to help anyone else interested in learning what i have to go through personally or want to start their own business.

I may not respond to all the posts but i do read them. The best way i've also realized to answering questions is to show results. That's what i'm aiming for.

 

[AAAgent]

Finally received my papers for incorporating my business and got the payment issue out of the way. They never received my payment and as i was traveling for work all week, I didn't have time to resolve this issue. I went to their office on friday and dropped off a new check in person. Now that that issue is resolved and i've put in a few thousand more into this business……i'm fully invested. I've never put this much money or time into a business before.

Yesterday, i finally managed to bring the entire team together. Everyone now knows each other and what efforts we are managing. The 2 new guys (programmers mobile & backend) asked for higher %'s and the entire group agreed on 22.5% for the 3 other guys and i would received 32.5%. We've also decided to speed up our process to apply for Techstars New York round as applications are due early round on Dec 6th. The reason why we're speeding this up because it's not ideal for the team to all go to Cali as we are based in NYC metro area. This makes it easier for everyone to committing and working and we've all agreed on that.

We're working on purchasing a domain name at the moment so we can generate some email addresses for the team. Once we find one that is available and the name is good, we'll purchase it.

we've agreed on a domain name and everyone has just been issued email addresses. We've also created the Facebook, twitter, and instagram pages.

 

[Derfel]

What are your Overall technical skills that play into that.
Are you our business student with the models and such or do you design something from scratch yourself whatever.
From your journal i can only deduce that you go to push things forward, basically networking and building the hierachy while also filling out papers etc..

 

[AAAgent]

I'm a bit of a Jack of all trades at the moment but i do little technical and no coding work.

Basically all the stuff i can't do myself, i have brought on co-founders for. I can't code for mobile app or design a backend to operate off of so I brought on a person to do each of those. I can't be making 200+calls a day and researching companies for sales as i'm busy doing other things (i do plan on selling hopefully atleast a few accounts) so i recruited a sales guy to do that as well.

I'm out there networking, meeting with our lawyers, researching investors and speaking to them, putting the team together and setting agenda's and everyones role. I'm preparing us to get funding next month and then additional funding 6 months down the line. I've also been creating, linking, and monitoring all of our social media sites. They have very little content at the moment but since we official secured a domain name, i had to make sure we could also secure all the social media site names to match our domain name.

I have this vision of what i want the company to be and i put together a team to help make that vision a reality. I've convinced each and every one of the guys to join on large equity stakes alone. The fact that i've done all my research and answered any questions that they have, how we will grow, why we are positioned to succeed helped make it easier bringing them on board without paying. I also focused on finding people that are passionate, talented, but currently aren't too happy with what they're doing.

-----

For anyone who's not coming from a technical background and feels like the world is stacked against them starting their own business because you lack the skills, I have a few recommendations.

Don't give up. Develop other skills essential for the business as well such as sales, networking, industry knowledge (law firms, banks, competitors, companies that service the industry, etc.). I've made myself invaluable to the business as each of my co founders are as well. They guys don't know who to reach out to to get funding, they don't have a network and don't know where or how to network, they don't know industry players, and honestly they would probably prefer not to do all that once they realize the amount of work it takes.

---

On a side note, I have just secured a call for the team with family friend of mine who used to work at a VC, Startup, and currently works at Google as a Product Manager. I'm pooling the question for the team and me and one of the techs guys will get some feedback from her.

 

[AAAgent]

today/this week has turned into one of those horrible days. I spent the last week traveling for my current job that is paying the bills. I have a couple of reports, tons of meeting notes to enter into our CRM software and a week long of emails to respond to and i will need to follow-up with all of my clients i met with during the last week as courtesy. Today is also the first day in our new office as we've moved over the weekend. On top of getting setup at my new office and catching up on work and reports, the company i work for is being sold (this doesn't affect me too much unless they slash jobs and my department which is possible but as you all know, i'm doing my own thing).

on top of all of that and getting used to the new commute, i was just sent by my lawyer 10 forms to review. i'm waiting for my team to get back to me so i can schedule a phone call for us and then also schedule a meeting for later this week to meet up (will probably both be the same day).

Just a rant as i feel a bit overwhelmed but i'm slowly prioritizing everything atm.

 

[AAAgent]

So the programmers are on board as i mentioned before and since one of them was very eager to get going and created our site and bought the domains, i jumped on to extend that hype by securing all of our social media sites. The sales guy is getting hyped now and brainstorming with me and has told me he's told his wife about our company.

It's nice to see some enthusiasm and people getting work done.

I sent the below email today and people seem to be on board and clear of their roles and excited. Hype doesn't last for long but as our deadline is December 6th, i'm hoping the hype will last the team until then. Below is my email to the team. It's one of my better *leader emails*.

----

Hey guys,

Hope you guys are managing this drastic weather change well.

We're good to go this Sunday for a team meeting from 12pm-5pm. Please block off the date and time and remember to bring some technical work (applications, websites, basically a portfolio if you have one) and be prepared to answer some questions. You'll be meeting our co-worker, Mr. Technical, who is the Head of IT for our US office (the company we're currently employed at). I'll see if I can get the restricted stock agreements from the lawyers by then, they might be asking for more money to produce these so we may need to discuss this as a team.

On a side note, we'll be discussing splitting up into 2 teams for the duration of the next couple of months in order to properly allocate work. I believe the below pairs work best and having a technical/business guy in each team helps get each team member up to speed.

(B team) BBB/ZZZ: BBB works on sales presentation, pitch, & sales process; ZZZ works on getting BBB a basic demo site with some functionality. We need a video demo of some type of site for Techstars by December 6th.

(A team) AAA/XYZ: AAA works on prepping the team for getting up to speed on OUR COMPANY NAME and the incubators as well as prepping for the next step after the competition. XYZ will manage all the social media sites with logins, usernames, content, and linking them all together on to access on the website. AAA & XYZ both work strategically on the application.

side notes: we'll need a team video introduction of all of us and also a video demo of our product/what we will be showing to clients.


A team and B team will both work INDEPENDENTLY and we'll update each teams progress during our team meetings when we get together.






The deadline is December 6th and lets work towards building the best application for then!

Feel free to reach out with questions.

Best,

AAA

 

[synergy1]

I guarantee that someone told the guy who wanted to invent snapchat that it was a dumb idea and that no one would use it.

3 billion dollar offers later, that person probably is contemplating jumping off a bridge.

Just something to think about. Motivation.

 

[AAAgent]

Update: Today is one of those bad days and i'd thought i document it here for myself and the public to see what a bad day is.

Our head to IT basically casually screened these guys and told me my tech guys wouldn't be able to build me a product. I knew that, they aren't the best guys but are passionate about the product and the mobile guy has taken initiative. Plus we are expecting to hire help and they are supposed to manage the process and communicate it with us. The backend guy really doesn't seem to be confident in building a backend or even have the ability to manage or lead. However, he is good friends with the mobile guy and did introduce us to him. I think we could do without him………… He's XYZ in the email and right now he's managing social media….I can do this myself but to make better use of my time and him as a resource, i put him in charge.

We got to talking about the incubators requiring at least half the team to be fully committed to the startup and not have any obligations outside of the startup. They would also need half the team to commit fully to the 3 month program in order to consider funding the team. The mobile guy who owns his 2 small mobile app outsourcing companies already told me he's all in. I said that me and him would be in (which we already discussed in the last meeting) but i also mentioned since the team composition is extremely important, if any of them could somehow commit to the 3 months, it would help our application (i still believe we'll be accepted with just 2 people). Then we got to discussing how we should just put everyone as fully committed but then i mentioned they probably require you to sign contracts that you can't be employed by external parties or can't be contracted or paid by another company. Somehow the conversation went sour and the mobile app guy thinks that because i counted him as all in (which is what he told me), i thought i was saying he didn't have a job. He kept saying how he supports his family of 3 and has a kid to support. He kept emphasizing that and i could feel the tension between us and he wouldn't even look me in the eye. I assume that because you own your own business, you operate on your own hours (which he said yes to) and that would mean that he could essentially be working with us whenever we needed him and to attend meetings at the incubator. Anyways he pulled me aside and told me that he felt that i was basically calling him a scrub…….. we had to clear that all up (awesome).

Then they decide to leave the 1 minute video demo of the product to me because it's less sales/client oriented but more growth of the company oriented so that our investors can see why they should be investing in us. I do agree but now essentially the website work really doesn't need any work (priority for the application) since i'll be building a presentation/video which replaces what the website was supposed to do. So now it's back to them doing menial tasks while i handle the brunt of the work.

So now i have 2.5 weeks to prepare a 1 minute presentation on my own that get's the product and growth potential across, and then i need to answer all the questions. Now i'm giving away half my company to the 2 programmers that aren't the best but is all i've got. I've talked to the head of IT guy and told him there's a spot for him on the team if he's interested. He seemed interested and willing to help but he told me he's busy but loves our idea. i'll see if he's willing to join. I also need to get everyone to sign paperwork that guarantee's all their work belongs to the company.

On top of all of that, i offered to give them their shares of the company but the lawyers required that they pay $500 for their restricted stock agreement. I told them we were getting a reasonable rate for the 3k incorporation and legal advice coming from professionals but now they want me to research whether the additional $500 per person for the stock agreements which gives them ownership of the company is fair. I asked them to give me a price which they'd pay and they came back with asking me to do more research on what's reasonable. my sales guy was willing to pay the $500 but the other 2 programmers are like lets talk about the money. I don't mind talking about the money but you guys are the ones paying, why waste me time when i have such limited time to find out if you can pay less. I already paid for the company and my sh1t.

I knew every team would have their struggles, but man….I'm the only one that knows this whole process, researched legal ****, incubators, how to pitch vc's and what they're looking for, if i didn't need these guys on my team to apply….i'd seriously ditch them and hire better people….but sadly tech companies need tech people and i won't get accepted without them………and the good programmers want so much just to join your team.

 

[AAAgent]

hopefully this is just a bad day and doesn't turn into anything worse. If it does, it hurts the companies reputation as our law firm has guaranteed us a bid (not in writing only verbal) and we would get accepted into his incubator as a back up to the other 2. If they saw the team fall apart or get restructured, that could be bad.

The sales guy is on board and i don't see him going anywhere. The mobile guy although not great will probably stay, but i need this backend guy to pick up some slack as he really has nothing to contribute. To cut him out now would create tension on the team but might be needed.

----
http://www.inc.com/5-lessons-for-struggling-ceos.html

4. Don't take it personal.

Founding a company is an incredibly personal experience, yet as a CEO you have an important job to do.

Separating the emotions you feel as a founder from the analytical approach required as a CEO, takes a lot of practice--especially when you realize that not everyone around the table has the same ability to put company before themselves.

----

I'm debating since i've essentially done all of the work, getting us to the incubator (all the research to prepping us) and accepted (hopefully), i'm going to raise my ownership. i'm currently at 32.5% and the rest of the members are at 22.5% a piece. I'm going to talk to the team and try to negotiate for 40% and each of them receive 20%. It's also extremely frustrating in team meetings when people throw out their opinions and i feel like it's wrong, but i just sit there and bear it and try to find some logic to their reasoning...but when you've done so much research and and have been involved in the industry longer they everyone else has, they just don't view things the way you do. Sometimes, for the benefit of not arguing as a team, you just need let people voice their opinions.

Wish i could just go into dictator mode but that is horrible for morale and team building. Plus, it doesn't help me develop at all as a leader. I never thought I was a born leader, but i do think i can lead by example. As opposed to telling people to follow me, i'm betting at getting sh1t done and having people want to follow me. Lets see how this works.

 

[carrot]

Congratulations on your journey
Just for starting and not wishing like 90% others do

I got started in B2B sales (long sales cycle/complex )
I am also working on managing emotions like below ,

In our team worst case we take experience as lesson every day

The sales guy is on board and i don't see him going anywhere.
----
http://www.inc.com/5-lessons-for-struggling-ceos.html

4. Don't take it personal.

Founding a company is an incredibly personal experience, yet as a CEO you have an important job to do.

Separating the emotions you feel as a founder from the analytical approach required as a CEO, takes a lot of practice--especially when you realize that not everyone around the table has the same ability to put company before themselves.

----

 

[AAAgent]

I just realized that i'm really not being a great leader….will update more on this when i get back with some positive insight.

----

Update:

I don't know how to lead a team because i've never lead a team. I talked to my friend about it and he said people pick this stuff up. My co-founder told me that if there's something that needs to be done and there's a person not doing anything "Tell him to do it.". "Tell us to do what it is you need done.". It never crossed my mind "Telling" someone that something needs to be done. It always came off as what dutchman said below "barking orders". But i guess, if you are the leader, sometimes you need sh1t to get done and if someone on the team isn't willing to do it, find someone who will. The sales co-founder has been the head of my department in the past of 10 people (before i joined) and also the head of a product last year of 10 people. He's told me he's got my back but he does it in a way where he's coaching me without really getting to my ego.

I'm a bit envious of this skill.

Bad news, i've been pretty bad leader although I have been getting alot done, i've had to do it all personally because of being a bad leader. I'm learning that when you are put in a leadership position, you need to delegate work, because there aren't enough hours in a day to do all the work yourself and direct the team (if you're doing all the work yourself, you don't need a team).

Today i've learned that being a leader means, getting sh1t done. When your time is better spent on doing other things, tell someone else to do it. I'm pretty sure the next lesson i will learn is how to handle somebody who doesn't want to do what they're told.

 

[The_flying_dutchman]

My man, I'll tell you the truth about being a great leader

* It is NOT about barking orders
* It is NOT about reasoning or bargaining with people
* And it is definitely NOT about inspiring people <--- this is the biggest load of bullsh!t that motivational speakers would have us believe, but the truth is most people are so lazy that they cannot be inspired.

Being a great leader means being good at MANIPULATING people into doing what you want, or if "manipulating" sounds ugly, we could say "influence" or "persuade".

So how do we manipulate people? Well I've found it's actually pretty easy.

Step 1: figure out what it is that they want
Step 2: figure out what they fear
Step 3: figure out who they trust, use this person as a proxy to implant ideas into the target's head. It's kinda like when you like a girl, you would get close to her friends so that you can influence her indirectly, because the direct approach is often meet with resistance.

You'd be surprised that step 1 and 2 are quite easy, everyone wants money, everyone wants to feel unique and special, everyone wants to feel safe, everyone wants to have a sense of purpose. And everyone fears financial difficulty, everyone fears losing their job, everyone fears losing their family, everyone fears what's uncertain.

This is really all you would need to know in order to be an effective leader. Note, I said "effective leader", not "good leader". "Good leader" generally sounds too yuppie, and by the fact that it sounds yuppie it causes would-be leaders to take on yuppie traits. However, if I say "effective leader" it will cause people to take appropriate action rather than take on character traits like being "nice", "sensitive" and "in tune with everyone's energy" <--- that's the type of bullsh!t that would-be leaders exude.....and fail miserably because of it.

 

[AAAgent]

My man, I'll tell you the truth about being a great leader

* It is NOT about barking orders
* It is NOT about reasoning or bargaining with people
* And it is definitely NOT about inspiring people <--- this is the biggest load of bullsh!t that motivational speakers would have us believe, but the truth is most people are so lazy that they cannot be inspired.

Being a great leader means being good at MANIPULATING people into doing what you want, or if "manipulating" sounds ugly, we could say "influence" or "persuade".

So how do we manipulate people? Well I've found it's actually pretty easy.

Step 1: figure out what it is that they want
Step 2: figure out what they fear
Step 3: figure out who they trust, use this person as a proxy to implant ideas into the target's head. It's kinda like when you like a girl, you would get close to her friends so that you can influence her indirectly, because the direct approach is often meet with resistance.

I believe there are different type of leaders and the ones who lead by fear are the worst. When sh1t hits the fan, you will be abandoned without remorse. I believe the best leaders are the ones who command respect and who's followers want to follow their leader. These are the people who will stay by your side because when sh1t hits the fan, they know their in it all together and come out of it all together winning the spoils. Unfortunately, most people only see the outcome of what a great leader looks like, no the steps that are required in becoming a great leader.

My pops was a pretty great boss at one point. He was a 21 year old who became a multi millionaire by starting his own company back in the 80's. He at one point employed over 25 people and had 2 warehouses and 8-10 trucks delivering daily. To cut down on benefits and break-ins and theft....he started to hire local people. Local bums, ex-cons, etc. I still don't know how he did it but he would yell at these guys and they respected him. He would then feed them lunch, give them christmas bonuses, etc. He was always just and fair, when someone got caught stealing my dad would pull them away in private and fire them. These ex-cons never threw a fit because they understood my dad was fair and treated them well and it was they who betrayed his trust. These are the people who told me to grow up and study hard because they didn't want me working like they do and that my dad is a great man. Alot of these guys still respect my dad till this day even though they haven't worked for him for over 15+ years.

I asked my dad why he employed these people, he told me they're cheaper, they work harder, and it helps out the community. Most people won't give these guys a chance so they turn to stealing but if i give them a chance, it gets some of these people off the street and then they become loyal to me telling me what the other people in the neighborhood are doing (who's trying to steal or break in). If i need an extra man today or tomorrow, i'll ask one of them and they'll find somebody for me. If you can command respect and admiration from the worst, commanding it from the best isn't much different. He's been molding me as a child, but i was always the good respectful kid/softie.

 

[AAAgent]

another sh1tty day.....I paid the fee's in full and then my lawyer surprises me with a new bill.....wtf....seriously wtf.

I can't afford this bill. I called up the lawyer and asked him why i received the fee's and he said most startups paid the cost. I told him he should understand as a startup that has recently incorporated, we make no money. We won't be making money for 8-12 months minimum. When we discussed the fee, it was 3k all inclusive and only additional fees would be related to capital raises. He tried to explain how it was standard and i told him it would be standard if he made it clear before hand. I told him that i am not prepared to pay this because i was not aware this expense would be coming. I asked him, how does he expect a startup who literally just incorporated with no revenue and team barely formed to pay for something like this, when it was not budgeted for.

He said he'd have to talk to the partner about it.


Below was the email i was about to send but did not. I voiced the same exact concerns over the phone.
---

Hi all,

I just received an invoice that amounts to $603.65.

This does not seem to fall in line with what was discussed and if fees like this continue to roll in, we will not be able to make these payments. I paid for the $3k in legal fees to retain *your firm* which included the starter-kit you mentioned that covers all expenses for incorporating the company.

I have spoken to other lawyers in the industry and they have also agreed that $2-3k is generally the going rate to incorporate a startup and i chose your *law firm* because of the relationship I have with *founder*. These fees are associated with incorporating the startup so I'm following up as to why I'm receiving a separate invoice before these additional fee’s were discussed. *DM* notified me that the restricted stock agreements would cost extra so I'm unsure as to why I wasn't informed about this costing extra.

 

[AAAgent]

well....sh1t doesn't look good. they're not budging and i think we're both at fault but obviously neither party will come to terms. They offered to discount our capital raise.....which was quoted 8k verbally. So i will probably ask for a written discount of 6k. This is all assuming we make it far enough to past seed funding to get series A.

Obviously i'm super stressed out because now i have to liquidate my brokerage account to pull money to cover these costs and also talk with my team. I'm still the only who has put money in so it might be time to shoulder the burden evenly.

I tried talking to one of my only 2 friends that knows about what i'm doing.....and as everyone as this site has stated.....i should have kept that sh1t to myself. I told him my predicament.........about being charged $600 which he responded to, then i asked him if he could read over my email to the lawyer......he just ignored me.

I know i'm supposed to be a leader and handle this, but who's there to help me when i need help. I guess i'll just have to deal with it myself.

 

[AAAgent]

I must be a horrible leader.

I can't get people to finish work on time and people keep questioning my judgement calls. I'm trying to prepare our team to get accepted into an incubator but the team is penny and dime-ing every cost and they've only been on the team for 1 month. I've put in 4k into the company now and have funded our bank account. Plus i do most of the important work. My team on paper looks super weak.

Applications are submitted in 12 days and they invest based on 70% team composition and 30% business. Below is the number of months/money each person has invested.

AAA- 5 months/4k
B- 1 month/0
C- 1 month/0
D- 2 months/0

clearly the team doesn't look balanced and seems like there may be many issues with this team.

Plus only 1 employee has signed non-compete clauses and none of them want to sign restricted stock agreements which locks them into the company for 3 years guaranteeing their ownership because it costs them $500 a piece. They make me feel like they just want to sit along for the ride and have me pull all the weight while they take on no risk.

95% of the improvements/suggestions the team tries to suggest I've already thought of, wrote down, and researched. But i feel like i have to sit there and listen to them or i'll make them feel stupid.

I'm going to make it clear. I'm here to direct the strategy and vision of the company, the majority of the questions you have asked me or recommended something for me to do, I have already prepared for, researched, and written down. So when you question my judgement on scenarios that I have been working on for months, I will hear you out out of respect but this affects the productivity of the team and shifts our focus off topic. Ultimately, wasting time. We have different roles for a reason. I'm trying to disperse the work that needs to be done to the right people but when my team questions my judgement, it's hard for me to trust anyone to do anything. I put this team together to function as a team and each person has a role to fill. If i wasn't prepared for what we're about to do, you guys wouldn't be here right now. We have 12 days until the deadline of our application and there's still a lot of work to be done and I'm in this for the long haul. I'm looking at what needs to be done today, tomorrow, next month, year, 10 years and i need a team that is ready to go on this journey and share these experiences together.

So if this isn't what your looking for, let me know now. Otherwise lets move onto the next topic.


If i could do this all myself, i would.

I hope you guys are having better luck than I am.

 

[AAAgent]

This isn't working. This team isn't the right team. I'm disbanding it and starting over. I settled for these 2 programmers and i paid the price.

I'm not sure if i'm going to continue writing in here. I feel as if writing my experiences isn't making them better and only making them worse. Non of my co-founders are on the same page as i am and none of risking anything. They want to hop along for the ride. I've talked to a few CEO of startups and their team chemistry seems to be good. They split up work well and all the founders are committed and have something to lose. I'm sitting here with everything to lose while the rest of my team second guesses my judgement, and wants to decrease their own non existent risk.

I'm stuck here panicking trying to fix a leaking ship that i know will sink. I bought the ship because even though it wasn't tip top shape, i thought it would last. This is all my fault for putting together the wrong type of team because hype. I was so drawn in by the concept and MAKING it, i forgot to keep my sights focused on what is important.

I'm at the point where when i have a major problem I have no one i can talk to. My friends obviously don't care. I scroll through my phone and look at all the people i want to call, who would actually want to help me and give me advice and there isn't one person. I post in SS hoping it will help but it doesn't.

I need to get the team together to let them know i'm disbanding it. I also need to get the other 2 tech guys to sign employee invention assignments so that everything that they did for the company stays with the company. This may not happen, but i've decided i would rather not continue with them. The 1 programmer bought our domain and established our email addresses. Domain is important and hopefully he's willing to sell it back to the company for what he paid for otherwise this is going to be a great learning experience.

 

[AAAgent]

I am going to have to agree with the poster above - you have a quandery since you bring no technical acumen or money to the table. Sure you mention all the intangible stuff like delegating, 48 laws of power, calling for money but the reality is you have no tangible progress or ability to move past where you are. In my opinion here are the options on the table:

1- Get a technical guy. Odds are anyone worth their salt will be working. Convincing them to leave their job would be a difficult one.

2- Get the money. Earn enough to pay for a programmer to get an alpha build so you can actually present something to investors.

3- Learn to code for yourself. This might or might not be difficult depending on your own intelligence and persistence ( believe me coding is more about the later)

Ask yourself honestly what you have right now. Just the idea? How can you move past that? Really think about the answer to that. An investor doesn't want you to tell them - they want you to show them. What do YOU have to show right now?

I'll tell you that if you want to get a technical guy on board, you WILL need to offer something more than the preliminary idea because they WILL leave as soon as things get difficult.. This I can tell you from experience when a friend started the idea of the last business I was in but needed my technical expertise to do the benchtop engineering/ academic interface. I left based on a number of factors, but the primary owner being nothing but dead weight ( not saying you are) was one of the chief reasons. I wasn't going to pour my heart and soul into something for someone else who did nothing and was freeloading.

You are still young. Make it happen. If its a solid idea, do it at all costs. Can't make the money, or get a guy? Wouldn't you still learn to code if it ment a 1 million dollar payout someday? I know I would start learning programming tonight if this was the case!

Good luck.

I was thinking exactly this before i started the business. Is my concept good? Yes.

Will investors invest in me? No, because i can't build the product.

Do i have enough money to build the actual product? no.

Am i learning to code, yes but i'm not the greatest with complex math/science. I was always a great strategy game player however and very creative.

My failure this time was because i realized that i was carrying the entire team while everyone wanted a free ride. All my co founders were 30+ years old and i'm 26. They have wives and one even has a baby girl. They're not as risk adverse as i am and were doing everything possible to avoid risk but it came at a cost to valuable time. Now back to your point as to if i'm really essential to the team.....Truthfully at this point, no. Business and strategy comes second if there is no product. If i can manage to get the product built, and obtain customers, then i become invaluable and i believe i can do this. Just not with this team. 2/3 other founders each have their own vision and each want to state their opinion and then it conflicts with my opinion and we spend the whole day debating what to do. We're not functioning as a team, probably because i didn't set the proper foundation and also because i chose the wrong people. I can't direct a team that wants to direct themselves.

I believe finding the right people will be tough (maybe if i continue networking i'll be lucky) but it seems like i'll have to find another way. I refuse to give up at this point before i've even started. If i give up, it will mean i'm not worthy of fulfilling my dream.

 

[Fatal Jay]

You have to remember that must millionaires failed before they made their money, don't give up, if you need an investor lets do something.

 

[Vantagepoint34]

This thread is still going on?