Your Suspect

If you read this blog, you don’t need to be reminded that I’m an entrepreneur, or that CitySquares has been funded by angel investors from eCoast Angel Network, to Jonathan Kraft, and Mark Cuban, among others. The bottom line is that CitySquares would not be here today if it were not for our angel investors, but more generally if it were not for Angel Investing as a whole. Most importantly though, angel investing is good for America, that simply cannot be disputed. So why is Senator Chris Dodd trying to make it harder for entrepreneurs and companies to raise angel financing, and why is he going to raise the minimum requirements to be an accredited investor, and on top of it all make the SEC review every angel deal before it can get done?

Is the Democrat from Connecticut out of his mind? What is he trying to achieve here, raising revenues for the federal government? I don’t get it – where’s the logic in this provision? Maybe someone smarter than me can help me understand, but in the meantime if you are for entrepreneurship, for innovation, for job creation, for small business, then go here and sign the petition to stop this nonsense.

More information can be found here on The Huffington Post, in a well penned piece from Robert Litan. A quote follows:

Various studies published or sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation have made it abundantly clear how dependent the U.S. economy has been and will continue to be on the formation and growth of new companies. Angel investors are important funders of new companies. There is no good time to make it more difficult for them to invest in startups, and now — when the economy is struggling to recover from what may be the deepest recession since the Great Depression — is the very worst possible time to discourage angel investment.

Sign the petition here.

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The Kelsey Group, or should I say BIA/Kelsey, held their annual Marketplaces conference this week in sunny San Diego. A heck of a show it was. So good that I probably was only able to sit in a handful of sessions. I say that because when I first started going to Kelsey shows in 2005 I was a newbie to the local scene, a newbie to local search conferences, and I probably sat in on 90% of the sessions, and soaked up information like a dry sponge. And that was the intent – to learn as much as possible, and then learn more. While my desire to learn at these shows hasn’t changed, my priorities have – it’s all about networking now and prospecting and establishing business relationships, of all types.

My colleague, Todd, and I had back-to-back-to-back meetings from even before the preconference started on Monday morning. By the time I left the hotel late Wednesday night, it wasn’t without three more impromptu meetings that kept me busy and well fed right up until I had to leave for the airport at 7pm. Here I am, 1:30 the next day, 60 minutes away from a follow-up meeting.

I wonder sometimes how some businesses in my industry (vertical? space?) are even able to stick around or grow without attending shows like these. These shows are sort of like annual or biannual checkpoints for many companies; are you still in it? are you thriving? surviving? ready to grow? growing? ready to do that deal you put-off last time around? changing models?

Since I started attending these shows almost five years ago now, I’ve seen many companies come and go. It’s exciting to grow alongside other companies, competitive or complementary or otherwise – it really is something to have those brothers and sisters to grow up with. It’s also sad and disheartening to see some of them vanish, never to be heard of again – to reminisce with others about those brands, faces, names, stories.

Perhaps the one point that really stands out for me though is how clear it is to me that these kinds of conferences and trade shows are so vital for me as an entrepreneur, and for CitySquares as a business. Some thoughts I’d like to share while they’re still fresh:

1. Never judge a book by its cover. It’s so easy to dismiss a company because their slides may have seemed boring, or overly complicated, or the speaker wasn’t charismatic enough, or was even too charming. It’s easy to dismiss a company because their booth wasn’t fancy enough, or because someone was shy or anxious and didn’t have a drink at the mixer. I’ve been surprised so many times. Be bold, be brave – talk to everyone – but don’t be too aggressive about it. Just be there. Being there is the first step. Before you know it you’re deeply engrossed in a conversation and discovering common denominators.
2. Don’t go to bed. I mean this. You didn’t spend your or your company’s money to go to bed when the best stuff happens. The best time to meet people, to learn, and to establish relationships and prospect for deals is during the hours following each day’s show. Whether in the bar, the restaurant, in the lobby, in the hallways, or outside the hotel at dinner and bar meetings – that’s when it happens. Simply put, be available. Don’t drink? No problem – but be there. You can make up the sleep on the plane or when you get back to your hometown. This way you’ll really be taking advantage of all the networking opportunities.
3. Be real, be curious, be yourself. Don’t know about a topic being discussed, ask the panelists questions when the mic goes around. If the mic doesn’t make its way to you, stick around after the panel and track down the people you want to talk with. They’re at the show for the same reasons you are!
4. Have business cards. I know it’s a no-brainer, but there is nothing worse then meeting someone and not getting their business card, or vice versa. Bring three times as many business cards as you think you’ll need. I can assure you that if you’re doing all of the above, you’ll use them. You may even need to run up to your hotel room to get more cards.
5. Ask for time. If you meet someone you’d like to get to know better, or learn more about their business or talk about some ideas you have for working together, just ask them to meet with you. This is so easy – whether its an early breakfast meeting the following day, a chat in the hallway at a table, outside in the sun, at the bar that evening, over lunch or dinner, or even out in town – just ask them for their time. You’d be surprised. I’ve never been turned down. Sometimes you meet with someone and you find there’s just not a fit. OK – now you know! Time wasted? Absolutely not! More often than not though, there’s a synergy somewhere – but don’t force it either.
6. Follow up. LinkedIn is the best way to follow-up. If you’re not on LinkedIn – get with the program! Really though. When you gather up all those cards every day, before you finally close your laptop at the end of the night, set them down, search LinkedIn for each person and write a personal message to them – remind them who you are and add some context to the message. A lot of names and faces get mixed up, business cards are just the reminder. Mention the topic you were discussing, be it business or even something casual that was discussed. It’s hard to remember who everyone is, but when you add context it jogs the memory and make it a lot easier for the recipient to accept your request. Follow up again a few days later with an email or a phone call.
7. Go to the sponsored parties and events. Most evenings after the day’s events, there are company sponsored parties and gatherings. Go to them! If you find out its exclusive, and invitation only, just find out who’s doing the inviting and ask if you can attend – its rare that you’ll get turned down. Again, that’s what these events are for and the more people that show up, the better off that company looks – they want a good turnout! They want to be sold out and want people talking about it.
8. Relax. This is especially important because no one wants to talk business 100% of the time. Be yourself, talk about where you’re from, learn about where others are from, talk sports, schools, family, hobbies. You’d be surprised when you do – often times you’ll find that you have a lot in common, and what was at first perhaps an awkward introduction turns into laughter, common interests or connections.
9. Keep it simple. You’re wearing a name tag. People will look at it. After shaking someone’s hand and introductions the first question will be “so what does [your company name] do?” Don’t go into a 10-minute monologue about your special patent-pending technology that’s going to change the game and disrupt the whole business. First, no one likes to hear that their business is threatened by yours, and two, no one likes a bore. Be able to explain in less than 3-4 sentences what you’re business does – specifically what problem it’s working to solve. But don’t be secretive either. No one likes a spy or stealth company being sly.
10. Know the right people. This is huge. Get to know a few people who run the conference, or who seem to know the right people, the folks at the booths, and others. If you see someone talking to someone you’d like to speak with, just ask for an introduction! They’ll be flattered you asked them. Knowing the right people does not mean shadowing people, tagging alongside them like a pet dog though either.

I hope these 10 points ring true for you, or inspire you to get out there more. And if you have any tips you’d like to add to this list, I’d love to hear from you, as would my readers.

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The Kelsey Group is like the ESPN of the local search and advertising world. They’re the authority. They host about four major conferences every year, attracting industry insiders from around the globe. Their next one is next week in San Diego, called MARKETPLACES 2010: THE LOCAL VERTICAL OPPORTUNITY. It’s the who’s-who and that what’s-what of local and vertical solutions and advertising. I’ve attended numerous Kelsey shows and have come to know the Kelsey staff as warm and generous professionals, and many of the conference regulars. The Kelsey Group and their conferences have been absolutely critical for CitySquares. If it wasn’t for them and their shows, I don’t think we’d be a player on this big and competitive field.

I was asked to speak at the Marketplaces show alongside Colin Pape with ShopCity and David Vazdauskas of Local Thunder. The panel will be moderated by Steve Marshall, who I always enjoy. He doesnt pull punches and he adds a certain kind of intensity to the panels. I’m looking forward to it.

I’ll be at the show from Sunday through Wednesday with my colleague and VP National Sales Todd Salerno. We have a few meetings teed up but if you’d like to catch up with one of us just email me, tweet me or send smoke signals, whatever works for ya!

If anyone wants to go, but does not yet have tickets, please get in touch with me, I have a discount code for you to save a little.

Looking forward to seeing a whole lotta people! See you there!

“You stay classy San Diego” – Ron Burgundy

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Today is a special day for CitySquares. It was four years ago today that Bob and I launched the CitySquares.com website. We launched it with only 7 neighborhoods: Porter, Davis, Harvard, Central, Kendall, Union, and Inman. We actually held a launch party in Davis Square, invited local businesses, residents, artists, musicians and others to come and join the festivities. It was a blast! Check out the CitySquares.com Launch Party on YouTube.

When I look back at the entrepreneur I was four years ago and compare that guy to the entrepreneur I am today, I see two very different people. The entrepreneur in 2005 was much more naive and immature. I was so much more of an idealist, so much more pie-eyed, and I had a sharp tongue and quick trigger-finger that I had a hard time controlling. I’m still an idealist, I’m still pie-eyed, and I’m still naive and probably still a bit immature, but today I’m much more rooted, more grounded, more focused, and much more thoughtful about how I communicate and how I handle stress. That’s been a real battle for me – balancing life, making sure that my work does not define me, and hence dominate me.

So much has changed in the local search arena too. When we started many of the players we hear about today were as small as we were. Citysearch was really the only major player. We hardly knew what we were stepping into and local search is a more crowded and competitive space than I ever anticipated, and rightfully so, the market opportunity is massive. That kind of competitive environment has only kept our edges sharp and kept our eyes keenly focused.

The business itself has matured in many ways yet the model itself is still largely intact. That’s a real testament to the market opportunity and do our original business model. While the economy has presented a number of substantial challenges, we’ve been able to navigate our way through the choppy waters and in some ways its actually helped us sharpen our tools. It took us a few years to understand a number of the most fundamental parts of our business model and test them, and now, through some amazing partnerships and alliances we’re about to unleash some powerful solutions to a core problem in the marketplace.

Some of our identity changed over the past four years too. Unfortunately, as a small business with limited resources, there are only so many things we can accomplish. Our heart is big here at CitySquares, and we want to do so many things, want to give and contribute so much to society. If we were a non-profit, we could focus all of our time on these things, but we’re not – we’re a business. We’re in business for a reason, to tackle the market, solve a problem, deliver value for our customers, and along the way make money and provide a return for our investors. It’s not complicated, but realizing that took some time. I look forward to returning to those ideals at some point, be it through CitySquares or other channels.

My partnership with Bob has grown so much, and it’s just been awesome to watch him grow as a professional in parallel to my growth. Bob has stepped up, challenged himself, and done so through some very difficult circumstances. Not only has my partnership with Bob grown and blossomed into a very solid and loyal one, but our friendship has strengthened immensely. We may not hang out as much as we both would like but we don’t need to. I see Bob more than I see my own wife, and our friendship is evident to those who work with us and evident in our ability to work together through thick and thin.

I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing my colleagues grow as people, as life inevitably happens, and see them grow as professionals. Start-up life is not for everyone! That’s a fact! People who I work alongside, like Justin, Kim, Michael, Amber have proven themselves not just as contributors to the business and the company, but as loyal companions who continue to illustrate every day what tenacity and perseverance is about. They are the embodiment of these characteristics. They’ve also become friends and I’m so proud of them, and I’m excited to work with them in the months and years to come, and be able to provide for them and support them as they grow.

I’d like to point out some of the folks who’ve joined the team, stuck it out, and supported us in any number of ways. These people are not all necessarily employees, they’re friends to CitySquares too and their contributions to the company and the business have just been awesome. These folks continue to support us. The list is long, they know who they are. I’m not sure that this anniversary merits thanking them publicly, not quite yet – that day will come, I’m sure of it.

Along the way over the past four years we’ve made friends in the business too, with competitors, industry experts, vendors, service providers, consultants, press and media, and fellow startups and entrepreneurs. They’ve all added to the fun and the experience of CitySquares. Along the way we’ve also seen companies fail to succeed, entrepreneurs see their dreams crushed, and see the underbelly of entrepreneurship, startup life, and even see unethical behaviors by people and companies. These things have all taught us, made us stronger, and made us wiser. No different than a person going through life – learning lessons and becoming wiser in the process.

We’ve made mistakes, of course. I’ve made mistakes, no doubt. But today, on our 4th anniversary I can proudly admit that we’re doing something right. It takes a team to make that happen. No one person is responsible – everyone and everything listed above, and more, is just one of the puzzle.

So while an anniversary such as today’s is special, its just a milestone. There’s still so much work to be done. We can celebrate briefly, but the work continues. Every day is another day in the trenches and we need to advance our lines.

Onward and upward we climb, into our fifth year, heads held high, humbled, courageous, wiser, and focused more than ever.

Thank you for reading.

Ah, decisions decisions. They never end in life, unless you just decide to spend your life as a lump on a log. But even then you still have to make decisions, starting with “I’m going to be a lump on a log.” If, however, you’ve chosen a life beyond lumping on a log, your life is full of decisions. Every day we’re faced with them:

Should I get out of bed?
Should I eat?
Should I wear the wrinkled shirt?
Should I get gas?

Those are routine daily decisions that we all have to make, and there’s nothing  exciting or risky about them – we all make them. We’re not paralyzed by them, unless we suffer from a disorder, as some do.

There are other decisions that are far more important, that we don’t face every day, decisions that affect our lives and the lives of those around us. Decisions like…

Should I marry her?
Should I have children?
Should I buy this house?
Should I get that operation?
Should my child get that operation?

People who are in business for themselves, whether they’re a self-employed contractor doing roof work around town, or an MIT scientist who discovers a new  vaccine, face a whole different set of decisions. These entrepreneurs make a huge decision once they decide to go into business. Some decisions entrepreneurs face…

Should I start my own business?
How do I get my first customer?
Can I afford to pay a staff?
Can I afford to pay myself?
Do I really have a business here?
Can I make money?
Should I raise money?
Should I incorporate?
Should I trade equity for money?
How much control do I give up?
Should I keep doing this?
Should I fire this person?
Should we expand the business?
Can I keep doing this?

The list goes on and on. These decisions have a way of putting an abnormal amount of stress on an entrepreneur because they’re piled on top of the routine/daily decisions, the big life changing decisions, and yet at the same time an entrepreneurs decisions affect herself, her spouse, her children, her family, her social life, her employees, her partners, her customers, her investors, shareholders, board members, etc. There are more people who have a stake in an entrepreneur’s decisions than one might first realize. It’s facing those decisions every day that partly define an entrepreneur. Some are good at these decisions, some aren’t. Some can make these decisions with little help, others need lots of help.

The hardest decisions I’ve faced as an entrepreneur have been the ones that affect individual people – like having to lay someone off, or fire them. There is just no way around it – it hurts the entrepreneur, the employee, and those around the employee.

Recently I faced another hard decision. This one pertained the direction of my company and pertaining those who were at the helm with me. You might say that I was at a point where I felt like my number of options were becoming more and more limited. And for an entrepreneur like me, who’s a fast decision maker after a quick risk/reward assessment, there’s nothing worse than being out of options.

Over the last few months I’ve had to face a reality that was hard to come to terms with – that the company that I’ve built with Bob over the last four years, that I’ve put so much of myself into, was slipping from my grip. I was not pleased with the direction it was going and my vision for the company was moving towards my periphery instead of where it had always been – straight in front of me. Something had to change, and some decisions needed to be made. Others agreed.

Ah, decisions decisions. They can halt you in your tracks. Some people can go their whole lives regretting one decision, and it becomes something of a curse. I knew I was at one of these splits in the road but I couldn’t be hasty. This decision required a lot of thought, and it required a lot of smaller decisions along the way, like playing a game of chess or poker.

A couple of weeks ago, the decision was made and almost immediate effect at many levels. And at the risk of being secretive, but in light of the fact that this decision was a sensitive one, I’m unable to explain what the decision actually was. It’d be inappropriate of me. Also, not knowing the ultimate outcome yet, it’d be reckless. But what it pertains is the very course that CitySquares takes in the near future and long term future. It’s the difference between surviving and thriving. It’s the difference between growth and prosperity or slowly suffocating. It’s about change. And change starts at the top.

Sometimes you don’t know if your decision was the right one for quite a while, and sometimes you know instantly. Sometimes you can go back and change your decision, other times they’re finite. This one was finite.

I learned something during this process, and it was something that I knew but hearing it from one of my investors, hearing him articulate it, and having him look straight into my eyes while saying it, really drove it home. What I learned was this: I am the founder of this company. While I have shareholders and a board of directors, it’s me and my vision that the investors bought into. It’s my passion, my knowledge of the space, my guts and gusto, my vision that got us this far. And if I believe in myself at least as much as my investors believe in me, then I must have an equal amount of conviction and gusto when presented with decisions that do not align with my vision and strategy of the business.

At the end of the day, when I have to rest my head on my pillow, I have to be able to say “I made the right decisions today.” Not making the right decisions, and not making them in timely manner, is the difference between sleeping well and not sleeping well – the difference between doing right by my own Self, doing right by those that trust me (from investors and shareholders to staff and customers) and one day living with regret.

I’m extremely pleased with my decision so far, and I’m proud that I turned this corner as an entrepreneur. Time will tell if they were the right decisions, but I refuse to be a lump on log and let others make them for me.