* Let me lead off by saying, don’t try this at home!
A few days ago I was doing a photo shoot for a press mention that Tatango.com was receiving. We got clearance from the security at a abandoned industrial park, and the photo shoot went off without a hitch. As we were heading back to the office, I realized that I had forgotten my glasses since our marketing guy made me take them off during the shoot because he thinks I look more hip without them (The price I pay to look cool… hahaha).
Unfortunately, when we arrived back at the site, the gate had been closed and locked shut with my glasses on the other side. Below was my solution, and yes, that is barbed wire on the top of the fence. Just because I’m a CEO, doesn’t mean I forgot how to keep it real in the streets.
The dictionary defines “sacrifice” as the act of surrendering or giving up, for the sake of something else. In regards to myself personally, I have never made as many sacrifices in my life, as the amount I have for the sake of developing my idea into a full fledged business. If you are thinking about starting a company (I mean full time, this is your only source of revenue), be ready to sacrifice a lot! To give you an idea of the types of sacrifices I’ve made for the sake of my company, I’ve made a quick list below. This list isn’t meant for me to brag about what I’ve left behind, but more to act as a warning to anyone that wants to start a company. Sit yourself down and be honest with yourself, would you be able to make all these sacrifices for an idea that may not work out in the end? Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.
* What have you you had to sacrifice to build a company?
Last week, I did an interview on the Laura Ingraham show regarding our dress style at the Tatango office. The interview was a follow-up to our recent article entitled “What Sneakers Say About Your Soul” in the Wall Street Journal that touched on the same topic. You can listen in on the interview here:
I’ve been busy doing quite a few interviews lately and there are definitely some things that must be kept in mind while being interviewed. Below I’ve listed my top 5 tips for a successful interview, whether it be radio, television, or print. Feel free to add your tips to the comment section as well.
Tell a story: Stories capture the emotions of the audience, are easy to relate to and are very persuasive. Tell the story of your company, the good and bad, share some of the hardships you’ve faced and the accomplishments you’ve made.
Be an expert: The key to any great interview is great content. No-one wants to listen to someone that doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Focus on what you know, and position yourself as the expert in that field.
Reflect. Every time you do an interview, listen,read or watch your piece and critique yourself like hell. If you suck, figure what needs to fixed to make you not suck. If you kill a certain portion of the interview, figure out what it you did that made that portion great, focus and replicate it. Also, have a trusted friend listen to your performance and then give his or her recommendations and feedback.
Understand the audience. In any interview, keeping your audience in mind is a must. Tailor your speech and grammar to fit. For example, when I speak to various school newspapers and classes, I speak as if I was having a conversation with a buddy. However, when it comes to something a little more conservative (i.e. The laura Ingraham Show), I work to appeal the information and grammar to the demographic tuning in.
Keep it real. Always assume that someone will check the information you provide. Save yourself (very public) embarrassment and never lie to a journalist. If you don’t know the answer to a question, it’s better to admit it then to keep talking and prove it with a wrong answer.
My company is Angel funded, which means I took money from investors. This money helped me get my idea off the ground and pays our operating costs (salaries, servers, office space, utilities) until we are able to become “cash flow positive”, meaning we can pay all of our operating costs with the revenue the company generates. I was watching the news the other day and a clip on ABC caught my interest. This clip was talking about the CEO’s of the three large US automobile companies coming to Congress to ask for a 25 billion dollar bailout. The news story took a turn though when it was found that each executive came in on their private jets. I’m pretty sure with issues such as scheduling, security and corporate policies those private jets were needed, but this story brings up a really good point when managing a company.
If you are running your company off investor capital, or tax payer dollars, as is the case for the car manufacturers, you need to look at your spending from an outside perspective. Investors are watching you and both business and personal buys in my opinion must be evaluated to not give investors the impression that their capital is going to misuse. You don’t want to end up like the CEO’s in the video clip, where most likely there were legitimate reasons to use private jets, but from an outsider’s perspective, it didn’t convey the right image.
* Sorry, no new Italian sports car for you this year.
Thank you all for your great business tips in the comments section below! I feel the best way to give away my iPod Nano would be to let my readers decide who gets it. Be sure to vote below and tell me who I should give away my iPod Nano to. I will close the voting on Sunday 5PM PST, and post the winner on my blog. Make your vote heard… Read More →
Yes, sometimes I step away from the office and go out with friends. Here are the pics from my birthday bash last night. Enjoy! For more pics click here
As you may have noticed I’m on Twitter a lot! I’ve found that to really utilize Twitter to its full potential, I use a bunch of different applications. I thought it would be helpful to list some of the ones I use religiously on a day to day basis. Hopefully you find these useful and be sure to tell me your favorites in the comments.
TweetBeep: If you own a company, you have to be on TweetBeep! This app allows you to keep track of conversations that mention you, your products, your company, or anything that may pertain to your industry.
TweetLater: Get a lot of followers? Check out this app as it allows you to automatically follow the people that follow you. It also allows you to send a nice little thank you when someone follows you.
TwitterFon: This iPhone application I couldn’t live without! This Twitter app is so simple, even a non-tech person like me can use it. It has separate tabs for the timeline of all the people you follow, replies and direct messages. The beauty is in it’s simplicity, you have to check this one out.
Twhirl: Twhirl is great for when you are at your computer. You download it and run it directly on your desktop (looks pretty cool). When you get a message (reply or DM) a little box on your desktop pops up to alert you. The best thing for me is that in coverts really long URL’s into tinyurl’s automatically when you are posting something.
The employees at Tatango are motivated, hard working and extremely dedicated. As the CEO of Tatango, a company where all our employees are under the age of 24, the question I get asked the most is, “How do you motivate your college age employees so well?”
My answer isn’t rocket science and doesn’t require a whole lot of capital for a company to implement. I have made a quick list of the top 7 things we do at Tatango to keep our young employees motivated to give 110% and put in the type of hours required in an internet startup.
1. Energy Drinks & Snacks - This is huge for Tatango! Make sure your fridge is stocked with energy drinks and your kitchen has an abundance of snacks to munch on. Every employee has that time during the day where they need that little caffeine boost or they get a little hungry. If you don’t want your employees to leave the office, lose momentum and waste time that could be spent at their desks, make sure you have everything they could want within the office.
2. Business Cards - Want to make your young employees feel valuable within your company? It’s easy, every employee should have their own business cards. I’m not talking only full time employees or management, every employee should have their own business cards. You have to remember back to when you received your first business card, wasn’t that an amazing feeling?
3. Buy Cool Computers - Don’t go buy the bargain box computers for your young employees, go cool, go hip and buy Mac. College students are all about cutting edge technology and design, don’t let them think that your company isn’t.
I’ve heard over and over again throughout my life that I’m too young to start a company. I used to let it get to me, thinking maybe I couldn’t do this, but I’ve finally got to the point where I can say those people are completely ignorant and flat out wrong.
My advice, anyone that says you are too young to start a company, prove them wrong and start working on your business concept as soon as possible, they will be asking you for a job within a year. Then when they approach you for a job, tell them you don’t feel comfortable having someone so old working for you.
Here are three reasons why my age is an asset.
1) Energy - I can work 15 hour days, 7 days a week and still go out at night and party with the best of them. Throw in some Red Bull and caffeine pills and I’m going to get more done in a day then anyone twice my age could in an average workweek.
2) Lack of Commitments - I don’t have a family to support, a house mortgage or a 401K to protect, which means I can afford to take huge risks. When you really put yourself and your company out there, that’s when real innovation and value is created. Read More →
