Taking Stock of the Venture

Well, the real start to the year now. And I've been lamenting over the challenges facing me. I retrospect, it's only been 3 months since formally launching this, though there were a few months of moonlighting in the previous job in Big Oceanographic Corp...

I know pretty much what those are, and any other entrepreneur will have been here before too. Building the team is so important - and in my last go around, I built up to about 9 people pretty quickly, but they weren't the right 9 people. A couple of them would have been fine, but within that group was some dead wood. A marketing guy who was incapable of even writing a single page of text, unaware that there were decisions such as font size and titling involved in putting together a 1 page document. Small things, perhaps, but a marketing leader?

Multifaceted people are needed. A marketing guy should be able to write a one page document without coaching required, and should also know how to attach a keyboard to a computer and heck, even a monitor perhaps. But also they should be game to sweep the floor and make a brochure for a show, and maybe even load and run the demo. Multi-dimensional people are key.

Other people challenges were more about getting some serious contributions in, and forming a contiguous group. Office space would have helped at that size for sure, and for that money was necessary and that wasn't going to be possible in mid-bubble-burst economy. So the best decision there was to abandon ship at the right time.

This time, I've held off the growth until I have myself created some demonstrable concept. That allows for some superb focus, but it really hamstrings the business side of the venture. I've made progress there, but I should soon be focussing 100% on that element.

I also have been let down by my attempts to find a patent lawyer - well and unforseen illness I guess, but that has set me back by a month or two on that goal.

The other biggy is funding of course. But I don't want to knock on that door until I have something to show that illustrates there's more here than chartware. So I plug on forward.

Thus into the year, and I will try to push toward getting some of the above monkeys off my back.

Watch this space - between inane commentary on the weather and how many cat visits my desk has suffered, you will perhaps see some progress.

Researchinator tries to decide whether to get another tea, or a some acetaminiphen...