| | Last week, I mentioned that I dove into those risky, choppy waters of entrepreneurship. Back in January, I joined the surprisingly small population who march fearlessly into the unknown with a new business idea, putting their entire financial health on the line, armed with a big thinking cap and a very hopeful attitude.
The life of an entrepreneur is not easy, and it most certainly is not for the faint of heart. I discovered that this style of business matches my personality very well, because I am willing to take risks, live on the seat of my pants, and throw all of my fears out the window (along with my life savings). And that is exactly what entrepreneurship requires— the eradication of fear. You don't have to look far to detect the habits of some great innovators of this decade. In the early 90's, two risky innovators— Swanson and Boyer— left the grind of full-time work and guaranteed paychecks and decided to start their own biotech company. The result is what we now know as Genentech, Inc. Just imagine how successful they would have been had they entered the venture with loads of fear and apprehension. You're right! Genentech would have been a disaster and died on the vine before it even had a chance to grow!
Fear and self-doubt are the biggest killers of lofty dreams. Many ideas with enormous potential have been stayed and defeated by the same people who envisioned them— the culprit being self-defeating fear. While it is true that some ideas turn out to be ridiculous pipe dreams, many would-be innovators use crazy excuses in order to mask their shattered confidence. Excuses such as their ideas would go underfunded and die a grisly death, the enormous amount of work isn't worth it and would break the bank for sure. Tragically, their ideas didn't have to end that way; most all ideas have great potential, and it's all in the state of mind.
Our idea involves the mixture of a few proven business models. We did not intend to totally revolutionize technology yet, but rather we wanted to just pick an exciting and challenging industry and then use our technology skills to promote that industry on the Internet. After plenty of research and deliberation, we chose the world of dancing as our target. We applied our significant experience in Internet startups, and the result is our beta website called iYango (www.iyango.com). We quickly realized that there is no one destination website that pulls together all the styles of dance around the world, so that is our new goal. Sure, there are boutique dance resources here and there, but they cater to a particular genre of dance such as salsa or ballroom dancing. The same is true for our only competitor, the rhapsodic DanceJam.com founded by M.C. Hammer, which is stuck in the world of hip-hop and street dance battles. Our goal with iYango is to pull all styles of dance together into a website packed with features that cater to the world's dance audience.
Like I said, we began with a beta website, and the few addictive features that we have on iYango.com are just the beginning. Check back once in a while, and bookmark the site if you have any enthusiasm for dance whatsoever. You'll see the website evolve into a huge global community of enthusiasts who share the common passion of dancing. It will take us a little while to grow, especially in this current economy where startup funds are tougher than bark on a tree. It's a cliché in investor circles that a global recession like this is a great way to put entrepreneurs to the test. In a cash-strapped 2009, it will be those highly motivated die-hards who will keep their small companies together and pull out of this recession with grace.
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| | Posted 12/12/2008 5:42 PM - 116 Views - 16 eProps - 8 comments
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