Jon Hearty

This blog has provided me an amazing outlet with which to channel my thoughts in a productive and organized fashion, however finding the time and inspiration to create the content for it has proved difficult.  Seldom am I so inspired to blog that it weighs me down every hour that it goes undone, so it brings me great relief to finally be sharing the recent event that created the urgent desire to write this post.  This is essentially a continuation or follow-up to a recent post of mine that summarized some of the amazing people I’ve met on Twitter and the online-to-offline interactions that have manifested because of them.

Collaboration is King in the Bay

The Bay Area is an amazing place, one where paying-it-forward is the norm and collaboration is a key to success.  There are literally thousands upon thousands of people ready and willing to help you if you have the cojones to reach out and ask.  Tristan Kromer didn’t hesitate for a second to help me with 420LIST and stand-up guys like him can be found pretty easily if you know where – and how – to look.

There are also people that make your job easier by offering help to you directly rather than forcing you to ask.  A couple days ago, I saw this tweet by @AngelList in my feed:

“Call Naval & Nivi directly for fundraising advice. Friends often intro us to startups for advice—skip that, try the Red Phone 650.434.2257.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but I decided to take a second to call the number and see what it was all about.  Sure enough, I was met with a voicemail message from Nivi instructing me to leave my name, email address, the name of my startup, and a specific question that I needed help with.  Since I was knee-deep in my Redbeacon wizardry, I hung up without leaving a message, but promised myself I’d call back after work.

Making the call

And so I did, calling the Red Phone as soon as I hopped in my car.  I don’t know if you will be able to access the page to hear it, but here is the message I left, and here is the transcription (um’s and uh’s deleted):

Hey, Nivi, Jon Hearty  with 420LIST, email is jon@420list.org or jonhearty@gmail.com, I love angel list, appreciate all the help, it’s been a huge help, love the videos, love the blog. My question is in regards to a help finding a technical cofounder, which I know is a milliion peoples’ probelm out there.  I’ve paid to outsource and build version 1, I’m learning to code and I’ve been meeting a lot of people, but now, for version 2, I’m running into the same issue, and along these same lines, I’m wondering how to move faster with getting a version 2 despite having a technical cofounder that can do a lot of the work themselves; what is the best way to move fast and iterate fast based on my traction and customer feedback and get a version 2 out there, or at least something I can work with and show to people.  It seems to be a very slow process being self funded and trying to find programmers that are expecting a ton of cash.  I hope this is descriptive enough and want to thank you very much for putting yourself out there and giving your number out; I think that’s really amazing and hope to hear from you soon.

Soon after, I check my email and was amazed to see this response that came in less than 15 minutes:

Awesome that you went ahead and got V1 done on your own. And that you’re learning to code. Find an engineer passionate about your product/market. It just takes time. You should also consider manualate-ing some of the back end instead of worrying about writing code for it initially. Try evaluating a bunch of people via odesk or similar as well to find someone cheap who can crank. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a cofounder. For cofounders, make sure you’re offering them enough of the company 10-50%…

I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Nivi is a rockstar (just check out the pics on his website), and along with his brother, Naval, has founded and invested in some amazing companies.  To see a response from him – especially an incredibly quick one – was truly a surreal moment in my life and invigorated me to push forward harder than ever.

It is people like Nivi that not only prove the magic of collaboration that exists in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, but also that a regular guy like me has enough support from some of tech’s greatest minds – and hearts – to succceed.

Image via CrunchBase

Despite the fact that I have been making a sincere effort to get to as many tech events as possible, I am continually blown away by how much I learn from them and constantly feel that I am not attending enough.  I have somehow already had an amazing track record at such events, pitching Aaron Patzer and meeting Pete Cashmore, but as I grow as an entrepreneur trying to find my place in tech, I find each new event to open a door that I didn’t know existed.

Startup Pitch Bootcamp

The last event I attended was the most intimate and informative of the lot.  Adeo Ressi of the Founder Institute put on a three-hour workshop to educate attendees on the do’s and don’t's of pitching your startup, followed by opportunities to pitch both to the group as a whole and to individuals for practice and feedback.  I had already taken a liking to Adeo based on his curation of the Founders Showcase event where I met Aaron Patzer, so I was quick to snag a ticket to the workshop.  The night was full of humor and Adeo’s no-bullshit tips to pitching properly, most of which were simple but incredibly important and easy to neglect without the proper mindset.

Never Say Nobody

The most memorable insight of the night (probably because it was directed at me after my pitch) was the importance of never, ever saying that nobody is doing what you are doing.  Just because you don’t know someone doing it, doesn’t mean someone isn’t.  You will sound naive, ignorant, and foolish for assuming otherwise.  It’s not as important to know why not to say it as it is to remember to never say it.  This claim will undoubtedly cause whoever you’re pitching to instantly stop taking you seriously.

Clairty > Sexiness

People tend to use big words, buzz words, and other forms of embellishment.  The simple truth is that nothing is sexier than easily understanding something.  Your pitch is basically worthless if people can’t understand it.  It’s hard to remember that you know your business better than anyone and you must assume that whoever you’re pitching knows absolutely nothing.

Context is King

During my pitch, I failed to include context to most of what I said.  I unknowingly assumed that Adeo knew things about my business and industry that he clearly didn’t (even if he did, which he may have, I shouldn’t have assumed so).  For example, I mentioned how many monthly posts my website was seeing without explaining what the posts were specifically.  Also, make sure to introduce yourself and your business, including where you’ve been, where you are, and where you will be going, in order to provide context to the pitch itself.

Don’t Forget to Ask

I did many things wrong during my pitch, and one of them seems to obvious to forget, despite the face that I left it out: the Ask.  The whole point of your pitch is to get something from the person you’re pitching, so don’t be shy about ending the pitch by asking for what you want.  If you’re pitching a VC, end the pitch by telling him how much you want to raise and what you’re going to use it for.  Also, be specific by using numbers rather than being vague; don’t say, “I am looking to raise money” when you should say, “I am looking to raise $1 million.”  The latter shows forethought and confidence, while the former leaves too much up to interpretation and can lead one to believe that you haven’t though about the finances properly.  The same goes for stating the use of funds.  Rather than being vague and talking about using the money for marketing and product development (who wouldn’t use the money for those things?), show that you’ve thought a lot about the matter and be specific by using measurable goals (how many users, how much revenue, etc.).

You have to risk striking out to hit a home run

The most important thing I took home from the experience was the importance of putting yourself out there in the first place.  Welcoming criticism, especially when it is as straightforward as Adeo’s, is difficult; no matter how open you are to being critiqued, when someone tells you your pitch sucks, it hurts every time.  Don’t let it stop you from loving every bit of it, though, because  it is the most valuable feedback you will get and will force you to see things from a different angle.

Any business, especially those in tech, are really a matter of people; it takes amazing people to have an amazing business.  These events are full of people trying to make something from nothing despite the competitive landscape and overwhelmingly high failure rate.  I would argue, in fact, that meeting and interacting with these people is just as important as doing so with the likes of the industry greats such as Adeo or Aaron.  If at the very least you realize that you’re not alone, you will comfortably be able to chalk up the night as a huge success.

Image via Wikipedia

Soccer turned out to be a big part of my life growing up, despite the fact that I cried the first day my mom brought me to the field.  I don’t quite remember what I was so scared of – probably because I blocked it out – but I do know that it ended up being an incredibly important part of my life…thanks, Mom!

Soccer is a team sport at its finest, and it wasn’t until long after my last game of my high school senior year that I began to have withdraws.  My first thought was that I missed soccer, but I soon realized that I missed the team aspect of it.  I missed the competitive nature that others bought out in me; I hate losing, and nothing inspires you to be a winner more than the peer-pressure from your teammates to kick ass without making excuses.

THE DIFFICULTY OF SELF-MOTIVATION

Since high school, I have struggled to maintain the level of fitness that I took for granted during my youth.  Running around for a few hours after school every day was fun because I did it with friends and I wanted to perform at my best.  Losing that camaraderie left me alone to learn to live an active life; I knew fitness was important, but knowing isn’t enough.  It takes something more than knowledge to get you to the gym or out for a run.

TEAMWORK IN STARTUP CULTURE

I started my life in startups by interning at Livefyre, an awesome San Francisco company changing the way people interact online.  I had a front-row seat at a show of pure innovation, iteration, and adaptation; the engineering team was constantly analyzing and solving problems, and absolutely had to work together in order to make it all happen.   Although I did feel a bit like an outsider as a non-technical team-member, I found a passion for the intimate setting and culture of a tech startup.

It took a few subsequent gigs to land my current position as a Wizard at Redbeacon, and I finally realized why I love working there so much: teamwork.  Not only am I a part of a team that relies on me, but I finally feel that my contributions are adding value to the long-term vision of the product.  I don’t feel a separation between our Wizard team and the engineering team, despite the physical separation of our work-areas, and I know that as I learn more about what we’re doing, my input will be not only wanted, but needed.

Only time can tell how everything will turn out, but I am beginning to settle into my position and feel that I am contributing to something much, much bigger than myself.  As we aim to change the way people use services of all kinds, I am proud to know that I will play a part in it.

I am by no means an authority on getting a job in the tech industry, but as someone who has passionately stumbled through the space for the last couple years, I am confident in my ability to communicate what I’ve learned through the process and hopefully save you some time along your journey.

While considered an early-adopter of tech and other geekery by those within my circles of influence, I certainly feel late to the party after being exposed to the amazing concoctions being cooked up in Silicon Valley and other cities across the globe.  As the first of my friends on Facebook after joining shortly after my high school graduation., I was amazed that I could connect with other soon-to-be Gauchos and quickly enveloped by online social networking and the doors it opened.  In retrospect, however, I wish I saw the bigger picture, rather than being satisfied with checking out the incoming female freshman class.

In the beginning…

My recent infatuation with the online space wouldn’t start until many years later when I decided to take a risk – something I was accustomed to after several entrepreneurial endeavors – and start a website.  For anyone debating wether or not to take the plunge into the online ocean by starting a website, I fully encourage doing so.  Just make sure you’re prepared. I prepared myself to lose a lot of time, energy, and most importantly (as a non-technical person), money along the way in the event that things didn’t turn out as planned.  Now, over a year later, I’m right about where I expected: exhausted, pot-committed, and painfully in lust love with the relatively unexplored frontier commonly known as the internet.

Golden nuggets of wisdom.

But the lessons I’ve learned along the way have me feeling worth my weight in gold.  I talked to Pete Cashmore about my website and pitched the idea to Aaron Patzer, two people who epitomize what a young, inspired mind can do in the online space in a short amount of time.  I attended many events where I watched startup pitches, shmoozed with other like-minded entrepreneurs crazy enough to build a startup, and realized the magic of Silicon Valley.

More than anything, I realized how much I loved the energy of the startup culture and eventually gained the confidence to dedicate myself to learning, loving, and living tech.  I began to understand that every tech company, large or small, started with just an idea, and persevered only with the steady lubrication of the blood, sweat, and tears of its founder(s).  In the end, I dedicated myself to battling in the trenches until I came out the other side – bruises, scars, and all – with the brains (and the balls) to consider myself worthy of standing next to the greats.

Learning to love to fight.

Now I could be wrong, but I can only assume that regardless of an entrepreneurs success, the struggle continues.  Every day is tough, and especially with an industry as volatile and unpredictable as tech, success requires the ability to enjoy the battles along the way, no matter how painful they may be, in order to win the war.  While most fear failure, the successful embrace it and leverage each failure with constant iteration in hopes of someday being able to be on the inside looking out.