The Doom of Cofounders & Business Partners (Episode 1)

Did you read the last post on this blog? If not, you better go read it so this post makes more sense. Or, don't, whatever.

So, now that you read it, or not, you should know that I have a new business partner. Having had a partner for over 2 weeks now, I'm going to tell you everything I know about business partners! (Admittedly, this is very little, but it's more than I knew a month ago, and perhaps just enough info for you. Perhaps.)

The first advice I was every offered about bringing on a partner was, don't do it! I was at a Bootstrap Austin meeting and no less than 4 people advised me that partners were a bad idea. Not only that, but a leader of the growth phase subgroups (companies that make about a million bucks a year) told me that he had watched every growth phase partnership fall apart (except 1, that hasn't fallen apart yet;). Ouch!

Then, what am I doing? It seems that I don't know. In fact, I'm already experiencing some of the issues that probably make partners fall apart. In situations like mine, where I founded the company and worked on it until 3 in the morning for the first 6 months, it's hard to let go. Jennifer is in charge of pretty much everything related to getting the word out there (or marketing/PR if you must). But, how can I know that she's as committed as I am? How can I know that she isn't going to let the ball drop? Really, the question is, will Later, Dog be her baby like it's been mine? Because that's what I want, someone's who's ridiculously invested.

I'm going to say something foolish now. Probably as foolish as I was at 17 when I wanted to marry Soren because I was absolutely infatuated. (Wait, did I just break some blog code of ethics by mentioning an ex-boyfriend's name?) From all appearances, Jennifer is my soul-founder. She is an absolute perfect match for Later, Dog in every way that I can imagine. Her abilities make up for where I'm lacking. And, we get along like peas in a pod.

Admittedly, it's early... really, really early. There's a thousand things that could go wrong. We haven't even begun to figure out how she will vest in Later, Dog or any of a million other logistical questions. That said, I'm counting on us doing exceptional things together in the coming years!

PS: Don't hold your breath for episode 2, it's probably a year or more away. I need some learning time.

Meet...Me

Who I am, you ask? Well, I'm the newest member of the Later Dog team and I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I am to join this adventure with Jessica.

I've been doing Event Planning, Marketing and PR since I graduated back in 2000 from DePaul University in Chicago. I started out in collegiate athletics, moved my way quickly into the pro-sports industry and then traded in all the glitz and glamour to be with a non-profit (Zoo). I moved to Austin about 1 and a half years ago and quickly landed in the event planning world and animal world by volunteering with Austin Pets Alive.

I love animals. All animals. I've had amazing moments with a baby orangutan, young giraffes, silverback gorillas, tarantulas, bats....plus, I have two dogs that mean the world to me.

I believe in the mission and potential for Later Dog. I'm so excited to help make it the best of the best...talk to you soon!

jennifer@laterdog.com

Still... In the Valley of Death

Upon entering the valley of death and remaining here for 6 grueling weeks, here are some reasons to quit that I've come up with:

Cut my financial losses: Google adwords is eating up my money every day, I should just quit and say I gave it a shot and failed. Better than spending more money and failing in a few months, right?

My Ego: You see if I quit now for some personal reason (i.e. I'm pregnant and I can't handle the stress) than I didn't really fail because I quit. So, I save some face with you, my 4 followers, my friends and my family. But, mostly, I save face with myself. I've done a lot of things in my life, and I've pretty much been successful, why stick a big failure in there.

Avoid the Big Risk: If I quit now, I never have to take the leap into asking my customers for money. That's the leap that's dangerous because I'm bound to be told "no." And, I'm no sales lady, so really the easiest thing is to avoid asking the question. This also gets me out of deciding when I should start monetizing, which, at this point, seems like the impossible question.

A good friend of mine reminded me, although it may sound cliche, failure would have been to never begin the adventure. I'm taking a risk, I'm living and I'm going to succeed at life.

And, Seth Godin reminded me in this way:
"Living with doubt

... is almost always more profitable than living with certainty.

People don't like doubt, so they pay money and give up opportunities to avoid it. Entrepreneurship is largely about living with doubt, as is creating just about any sort of art.

If you need reassurance, you're giving up quite a bit to get it.

On the other hand, if you can get in the habit of seeking out uncertainty, you'll have developed a great instinct."

So, I press on. But, trust me, I can't wait to be out of this valley, one way or another.

Widget

I'm so excited about this new later dog widget that I had to test it out here.  So, here it is!

I know, I'll write a proper post soon, I promise!  I'm in the valley of death, what do you expect?

Yes, you are transforming the world.

One way to know that you're changing your corner of the world is that people do a double take.  Do you remember the first time you heard about email?  I was a freshman in high school, when a long distance friend explained it to me over the phone.  Then, he explained it again.  And, again.  Why would I want to send you a message on hotmail when I could call you on the phone.  Now, I process dozens of emails a day (would it sound better if I said hundreds?), and I couldn't live without it.

Later Dog is transforming the connect for the pet sitting business (and perhaps pet businesses overall).  Pet sitters are accustomed to putting their contact info. on another website in order to "advertise".  Then, a pet owner has to do all the research herself (I still think we should have a unisex reflexive pronouns).  Later Dog is a one stop shop: search for pet sitters, see how much they cost, read their reviews, and request a booking.

So, when pet sitters don't quite catch my drift the first time around, I take it as a compliment.  If Later Dog was just like the competition, there would be no explanation required.  It's sort of like bike riding, it might take you longer to get started, but once you learn to ride it, you can haul a lot more crap, faster.

Now, go find a way to haul crap better!

ME!

I wanna talk about me.  Okay, not really, but Seth Godin told me to do this, so here we go.  Let's start with some easy to read stats:

Jessica Chapman

Entrepreneur & Owner of LaterDog.com

27 Years Old

I have a man and 2 toddlers

Driven and honest to a fault

I oughtn't forget to tout my biggest worldly accomplishment:

Degree in Environmental Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, Valedictorian.

And now for the details:

I was born and raised outside of LA, and moved to San Diego for college.  I met a rugged and manly marine while I was there, whom subsequently convinced me to marry him.  He let us stay in San Diego for a few years, but in the end all Texans return to their roots.  And, my husband was raised outside of Houston, thus he dragged me back to Texas.  At least I was smart enough to request Austin instead of Houston.  

Actually, Austin is a great place to raise a family, so we started one.  Raising children gives me joy beyond measure, but it also makes me restless.  The 1st thing I did to satisfy my craving for intellectual adventure was to convince my hubby that we should build a modern home.  Too bad that process lasted less than a year.  Then, I started thinking up all sorts of invention and business ideas.  Later Dog was the first to make it through the gauntlet.  So, here I am nearly 6 months later, not nearly as far along as I thought, waiting for the birth of my 4th child.

Wait, what happened to that Environmental Engineering degree?  

I'm using it for all it's worth, but not in a traditional way (because I can't stand the brainless work of the engineering cube).  When I was still in college, I got this hair brained idea to build a water treatment plant in Haiti (you might say God told me to do it).  So, I did.  It was destroyed by flooding before it was every complete, but the passion in my soul will never die.  Water is Life; My life's goal is to provide clean water to the 3rd world by building water treatment plants.  I won't get into the details of why I believe water treatment plants are the way to go... 

Later Dog shall be my means to an end of having enough money to funnel significant amounts into Clean Water.  I don't want to sell it to them, but maybe after Seth Godin gets ahold of me at the workshop, I'll change my mind.  (wink, wink)


PS: If you noticed an inconsistency in my post, it's not me, it's you.

From the Valley of Death

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear...



I couldn't wait to get to the "Valley of Death" and I finally made it!  (Valley of Death, otherwise known as: the point in your business where you make it or break it.)  Wait, making it to the valley of death isn't making it, is it?  Dirt, let me re-formulate...

Seth Godin puts it this way:
The problem with putting it all on the line...
is that it might now work out.
The problem with not putting it all on the line is that it will never (ever) change things for the better.
Not much of a choice, I think.  No risk, no art.  No art, no reward.

When you're in the valley of death, things will move more slowly that you imagined they should.  You'll always have fewer subscribers than you had hoped to have, your email list will be shorter than you think it ought to be, and you'll wonder "does this idea suck?" or worse "should I just quit?"  No, don't quit.  You haven't even given your idea a chance to thrive yet.  Do you think google was built in a day?

I have a good friend who keeps failing...  He is super smart, he's a genius developer (so he can build any website he thinks up), he's devoted (he'll work a 14 hour day at IBM then hit the side-business), and he has a true entrepreneurial spirit (full of great ideas).  But he hasn't hit it big, yet.  What's the problem?  From my assessment, he comes up with great ideas, builds the sites overnight, then feels for any bites.  Three hours later he figures no one is interested and moves on to the next thing.  He changes business ideas faster than Seth Godin updates his blog.  [Don't worry, I plan on utilizing this to my advantage... I am convinced 1 or 2 of his ideas are trees waiting to grow money, so hopefully he'll be my next founding partner.]

His whole premise is based on this idea: Fail Fast.  This is the idea of some entrepreneurs who have way more experience and knowledge than I do.  To me it stinks!  I think it's throwing a bunch of good ideas out the window and seeing which one flies back into the car.  Now, don't get me wrong, I believe in market research (where you figure out if people will actually pay for your service/goods), but I'm more about Jason Cohen's method: Get 10 Customers, Quick.  I figure if you can sell it to 10 people, you can sell it to 10,000.

So, I've theoretically "sold" Later Dog to about 50 dog sitters... we're getting there, but we're not there yet. The biggest problem is that they haven't actually parted with any moola yet... I'll have to earn that!  And, that's just what I plan to do.

Why don't you plan on being encouraged instead of discouraged while your'e in the valley of death.  You're already invested, so celebrate each new subscriber.  I think of each of my dog sitters as bars of gold, I want each one and I will do nearly whatever she wants.  Seriously, I don't think I've told one of them "no" yet.  (Okay, maybe I gave a few of them maybe's when they were asking for new features, but then again, maybe I didn't ;)

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and they staff they comfort me.  Psalm 23

Later, Dog