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"Since we were 3 business people, we spent all this time into idiot plans, budget forecasts, BUSINESS CARDS, fancy website… all useless things which in the end

"Since we were 3 business people, we spent all this time into idiot plans, budget forecasts, BUSINESS CARDS, fancy website… all useless things which in the end did not contribute to anything." I've been apart of a lot of startups and this is far and away the best advice. It was a common theme with two startups I worked for during the boom years. One CEO's hubris was stunning. 10 million privately funded and he blew most of it on season tickets and suits at stadiums to "entertain" big prospects (nevermind we didn't have any "big" prospects at the time!), remodeled the office to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars, it goes on, but you get the idea. When you're in a startup, it really is about getting your product shipped, and making sure that's where the focus is. Great writeup and glad you saw the errors of your ways. Lots of people never gain the wisdom you have until after two or three failed attempts.

kylereeve 13y ago
Did you work at Entertainment 720?
- at-fates-hands 13y ago
  Nope. One of the startups was a telecom company, the other an educational software company. The telecom company was the one that burned through all the millions. They had an exclusive contract with one of the regional bells and were trying to make high speed internet accessible to the masses. They were banking on fiber instead of the existing DSL which ran over copper. Essentially using T1 fiber to give high speeds at the cost of copper DSL. They thought they had a home run with a growing base of clients, and were trying to get acquired more than build the next Frontier Telecommunications. They had a crazy story, maybe sometime I'll let the details go. That was a crazy time for sure.
  - hanley 13y ago
    I think you missed the reference. They were referring to a company from the TV show Parks & Recreation. See here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX0ZF8f8G0A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX0ZF8f8G0A

kylereeve 13y ago

Did you work at Entertainment 720?

at-fates-hands 13y ago
Nope. One of the startups was a telecom company, the other an educational software company. The telecom company was the one that burned through all the millions. They had an exclusive contract with one of the regional bells and were trying to make high speed internet accessible to the masses. They were banking on fiber instead of the existing DSL which ran over copper. Essentially using T1 fiber to give high speeds at the cost of copper DSL. They thought they had a home run with a growing base of clients, and were trying to get acquired more than build the next Frontier Telecommunications. They had a crazy story, maybe sometime I'll let the details go. That was a crazy time for sure.
- hanley 13y ago
  I think you missed the reference. They were referring to a company from the TV show Parks & Recreation. See here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX0ZF8f8G0A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX0ZF8f8G0A