In August of 2007, I wrote a blog post called “Who is Your Front Man”. At the time I wrote the post, I was getting really involved in the web, or rather developing a web presence, since I imagined it would eventually pay off in assisting WhyGoSolo get off the ground.

Although I was enjoying being part of various communities; I wasn’t a fan of the popularity contests, and the small, yet loud echo chamber. Then somewhere down the road, I got into “social media” – I mean, you spend enough time online and learning the technology, plus attending events that it becomes second nature to understand how the web operates, reacts, grows and can be leveraged so I wanted to talk about that too. But how relevant was that to what I was initially trying to accomplish?

What I’ve just realized is that I’m actually a big fool that let herself get derailed. I started out wanting to develop and grow a web startup around a concept I strongly believe in and ended up…well, not entirely sure where I ended up. What I do know for sure now is that I don’t need to be known as a big shot social media guru. (Don’t get me wrong – I know my shit when it comes to social media strategizing but I don’t need to prove that to anyone) I also don’t care who in the social media sphere knows me or doesn’t…I frankly don’t like most of the self-horn-tooting-fools who are now calling themselves social media experts these days.

I was wrong about that post “Who is Your Front Man” because the truth is most of the CEOs of tech startups stay under the radar until their startup gets skylined. They network and conduct business with the players that are important to the success of their startup.

I feel like a dumbass for not realizing this sooner, it took taking part of a social media maketing plan brain storming session at SXSW and Dave Shaw telling me “You should do this for a living” to make me think “No, actually I don’t want to do this for a living. I want to develop and grow a business.”

I’m not going to beat myself up about it or the time invested and lost. I also won’t rush figuring out what to do with the Yut Media site and blog, but it will be changed at some point down the road…so will my follow list on Twitter.

That’s another point about being involved in social media…it takes critical time away from the business development (particularly in my case since I need to network with venues offline). My time online needs to be dedicated to doing research and finding the specific people I need to network with.

The social media sphere brought me a lot of aggravation and frustrations, it really should have dawn on me sooner that it just wasn’t the place for me. I’m fascinated with tech and I need to look at the web with those set of eyes.

I’m going to slap myself in the forehead a few more times before going to bed and start a fresh new beginning tomorrow morning with the title Web Startup Entrepreneur; the real brand I want to develop and reach success in.

I will continue to blog here and back on the WhyGoSolo Plug-in blog…where I need to attract new members.

I returned home from Austin at 9pm Tuesday night, after a 12 hour bus ride that required I take six Dramamine pills to keep from getting sick. The majority of the trip I was kicking myself for signing up to go to SXSW Interactive with a group.

SXSWi is a huge event well attended by geeks and social media types. It’s a fabulous opportunity to network and meet people. There are a plethora of panels to attend during the day and parties to attend at night. In order to satisfy the requirements of having to go to multiple places…you need to be able to make fast decisions and move from one location to the next quickly. Groups just aren’t conducive to that.

As much as I love being social, I’m also quite a loner and I need time alone to recharge. I can’t be around people 24/7. I’ll be flying next year and living large in my own room in a downtown hotel.

Highlights of the Trip – The best part of any conference is the people

Catching up with People: It was extremely nice to catch up with all the people from DC. I really missed those guys (and gals). The Cakoge after party was like a big DC tech community reunion. The DC tech community started coming together about three years ago and now it’s vibrant, strong and well represented at tech events across the country. I’m proud to see how far everyone has come within the community and how far the community has come together.

Meeting New People: I got acquainted with a few people from the New Orleans Net2NO group; people I really look forward to collaborating with in the future. I also got to connect in real life with some of my twitter friends.

• ConnieReece
• Aruni
• Quixado
• Immunity
• GloriaBell
• DavidEckoff

Another person I met was Nan Palmero at the Mashable Party…thanks to Nan I will soon have video capabilities on my BlackBerry. I’m pretty stoked about that; he’s been a big help and it’s great having someone to turn to for assistance since I know I’ve been under utilizing my BB.

The Sessions: Sessions at conferences in my opinion are hit or miss. You never know if they’ll be any good. I made it to a handful of sessions, the best one was Building Your Web Startup After Hours: Aruni Gunasegaram – moderator (Babble Soft), David Altounian (itaggit.com), Jeremy Bencken (buzzstream.com), Gretchen Heber (naturallycurly.com), Elisa Camahort Page (blogher.com)

Since returning to having a full time job back in the Marine Corps, I’ve been beating myself up about the progress I’ve made and wondering if my startup will ever get off the ground. Listening to a panel of entrepreneurs who have built their startups after hours made me realize what I’m experiencing is normal, others have been there as well and made it happen. I walked away re-energized and with the willingness to accept that it’s okay if it takes awhile to make things happen.

Next Year

I plan on returning to SXSW next year, to include attending the Music portion. I’ve also been brainstorming some sessions that I might submit for next year. A conference like SXSW is something you have to experience, live and learn from.

Oddly enough – that’s rapidly becoming my biggest quest again. I was working on the new investor deck yesterday and there was one huge glaring difference in the write-ups I was doing.

Last year, the money was needed mostly for development. We had a development team that was about to start development, but we had no product. Just a concept on paper.

This year, the seed round is needed to prove the concept in DC, VA and MD. The money is mostly for sales, marketing and PR.

Last year I was recruiting developers. This year I’m recruiting sales, marketing and PR people. It’s really awesome to actually have a product that’s ready to serve it’s intended purpose and make money.

I was unsuccessful last year raising money so ALL the development was done bootstrapping…and this time, although I think my odds are much greater to raise the seed round I need; I’m bracing and preparing to do all the marketing, sales and PR through a grass root approach. Even if we raise the money – a grass root approach will still be implemented.

A month or so ago Doug told me I’d have to “do my thing and get people to buy-in to my vision, again.” I sneered when he said that. I didn’t know if I had it in me to be able to do that again. Well, this last week has been completely rejuvenating!

I’ve been talking to a few marketing, sales and PR folks and I’m finding myself totally immersed back into the grand vision and plan. And just like I was blessed to find some amazing developers last year; I’m coming across some splendid marketing, sales and PR people right now.

Again, since we have a product now, when I talk to the marketing, sales and PR people the talk is about immediate action and implementation. Today, I’m brainstorming the initial marketing, sales and PR plan so I can properly assign tasks.

We’re picking up some entirely new momentum. I consider myself having been rather successful to date bootstrapping and taking on a grass root approach because of a strong vision, will to achieve, perseverance and hard work, oh and one other factor: Amazing People.

People are everything to the success of an organization. Most valuable resource = PEOPLE. That’s why I know that money or no money – we’re moving on the proof of concept.

Everything I read and everything I listen to is processed through my entrepreneurial filter. The entrepreneurial filter is like having extensive situational awareness while always wearing business goggles. I constantly seek what opportunities exist within what I just learned? What piece of information is relevant and what will I be able to leverage?

Sometimes it’s obvious and sometimes it’s not until a certain new prospect appears that makes the information I once heard become relevant. Everything you hear and learn has some sort of impact on business – somehow. That’s why anyone serious about business stays abreast of local, national and world news and happenings across all fronts. (Keep a forest view interest while you focus on whatever sector of the forest, tree or branch you’re on)

I think one of the most critical aspects of absorbing all information with the entrepreneurial filter is developing a great ability to think outside the box. My recommendation to anyone who is trying to raise money is “think outside the box”. Be it in regards to where, how and who of the fund raising process.

Someone contacted me today who wanted a little bit of guidance on fund raising. I replied to his question in a way that I know is frustrating to read because it didn’t necessarily have any clear guidance. I was annoyed with my own answer, which had me brewing on proper and helpful guidance for him. I hadn’t put in my email the usual “think outside the box” comment so I put myself in his shoes. Although I have little knowledge of what he’s working on; I started to think outside the box. It didn’t take but about 45 seconds for me to come up with a possible avenue for him to look into. This avenue is paved by a few things I’ve seen in articles and been hearing about on the radio.

He thought it was a great possible way to go. It’s going to take a lot of additional brainstorming to pave the road but at least it’s a real option with potential.

If you’re an entrepreneur or a striving entrepreneur start developing your entrepreneurial filter. Play around with what you hear and read about; find the business implications and possibilities. You can train yourself to start thinking any way you want to!! It just happens that some ways of thinking are a lot more beneficial than others.

Fast forward three years…one failed venture, losing multiple partners and getting burn by a plethora of other things I didn’t know anything about; I now feel anxious and a certain amount of fear about launching my new company.

I get it now. I realize why people said I was brave and courageous to start my own business. (Although, I’d like to clarify that it’s easy to start your own business – what’s hard is turning it into a success.)

I clearly remember all my struggles, pains, disappointments, lessons learned, and heart breaks. I lost my house, went into the debt and isolated myself from many of my friends and family.

With all that being said, the truth is that the anxiety and fears are based on more than knowing what launching a business and trying to grow it is about – it’s mostly based on the fact that there is nothing else in the world I rather be doing. What happens now that I’ve found my calling if I can’t make things happen? This is the proverbial fear of failure. Many people never try or do the things they really love and are passionate about because they can’t face the possibility that once they try; they might fail.

Three years ago I didn’t realize how passionate and in love with business/entrepreneurship I was. I didn’t know that my world would come to revolve around it and that it would bring me such a high level of satisfaction and happiness. I never would have guessed that being in business would challenge me and push me to grow faster than anything else I had ever done before. I definitely didn’t have a clue of how free being an entrepreneur would make me feel. As a matter of fact, I didn’t actually realize the depth of those things until I took a billet back in the Marine Corps. But now I know.

Defining Moment – This Fear is a GOOD Thing

I will soon step back out from having steady income (from being back in the Marine Corps) to running my own business full time again. My hunger to succeed is greater than ever before. The anxiety and fear that exist is new and actually welcomed.

It’s not the absence of fear that makes us brave – it’s doing those very things we fear in the presence of fear. I’m glad I’m feeling this fear. It will keep me conscious of not repeating any past mistakes. It will keep me on my toes and make me think things thoroughly instead of my former “jumping into everything head first.” This new fear is making me a wiser entrepreneur and although, I have never in the past appreciated having fears – this time, it’s a good thing.

What I like about his new post: PR Secrets?? It’s Bullshit is that he acknowledges the amount of ground work he has done to establish his community in order to be able to launch his company without the help of PR folks and he points out that anyone can do this.

I wrote a blog post back last August called Who is Your Front man?? The blog post was something I was beginning to realize as an extremely important thing to identify and establish, as I was developing myself as WhyGoSolo’s front man.

What I wrote about back then and what Loic is writing about now is a topic I have been wanting to get into on this blog at some point, but looks like sooner is more an appropriate time than later. And that topic is Establishing Your Foundation: Building Your Personal Brand

I’ll write more about that in the next few days but here is some food for thought…since it is highly probable your first company will fail; wouldn’t time be well spent developing your own personal brand in order to increase your odds for your second attempt???

Back to Loic’s Post and a Comment that helps prove the Point which came from Jeremy Toeman

Loic, I think your assessment is fairly biased to your personal experience. The truth is most companies and individuals aren’t nearly as well connected as you are, and to just dismiss PR by saying “just go build a community” is frankly, naive. Even your business needs *significantly* more users than you have today, and at some point, if you truly want to accomplish your goals, PR will probably come into play.

Furthermore, many startup CEOs are heavily engaged in building their products/services, and don’t have the time to do the outbound marketing work.

There’s more to this than you make it seem. A lot more.

If you are a first time startup CEO let me dissect this comment for you and how you can’t listen to it:

1- It is your job to become extremely well connected. This goes back to other blog posts I’ve written on whether or not you are even qualified to start the startup you’re thinking of starting. If you aren’t well connected – GET THERE.

2- Building a community is a must. Again, your responsibility to excite people about what you are doing and finding your evangelists.

3- Seesmic will indeed continue to need more users, but anyone who is following what Loic is doing knows that he is continuing to grow his community. The main way he is doing this is through PARTNERSHIPS that come from his connections. Loic is bringing big names to Seesmic and those big names he brings to Seesmic have their own following…see how that works. PR is not required. Loic is a very smart business man. Not saying he might never require PR, but what he does is leverage his community, his product, his service and he adds value to grow on top of what he’s established.

4- All CEOs are equally heavily engaged in building their products – it’s not a reason to not build your foundation. Your team is going to turn to you and they’re going to rely on your connections and the foundation you’ve built to take the product to the next level. Which is why it’s best to establish your personal brand BEFORE launch or even better before you start your startup. You need to know what you’re getting yourself into.

5- Jeremy is right. There is more to this…it took Loic a few years to get to where he is and we’ll cover all the steps you need to start taking for you to be able to do the same.

I’m not entirely sold that the vision part is unique to the Tech Guys. I’ve met plenty of business people and entrepreneurs who can’t see past their initial business concepts/ideas…during my stint as a business coach the primary thing my clients needed was a vision.

Taking the idea to market…I have to agree with that, but here is why, and what I think are the real dings on the Tech Guy: Leadership and Creativity.

Leadership – or in this case the ability to motivate, build and manage a team. Our Tech Guy can build the prototype but the ability to take the idea to market requires building a team and surrounding oneself with key people who can move you and the product forward. That’s not an ability that many Tech Guys have…it involves a lot of networking, meeting people, and sharing of information. It’s more for the extroverted types, which the Biz Dev Buy normally is.

Managing a team requires being able to maintain a clear understanding of all the moving pieces…but again – this isn’t just the Tech Guy who can’t handle keeping everything straight. However, he is more likely to focus only on the tech end of things; forgetting there’s more to it.

Creativity – or in this case constantly coming up with alternative solutions and innovative problem solving. The Tech Guy is more logical in his thinking and the Big Dev Guy is more creative. Marketing, sales, and business development requires a great deal of creativity and quick thinking. Creativity isn’t a strong quality in most Tech Guys.

Quick Crash Course On Initial Things to Do

Most import thing for a Tech Guy to start doing is…Networking! Start meeting people and getting out there. Meet more people than just other Tech Types. Grow your network.

Bounce your ideas off the new folks you meet and get feedback right away.

Find out if what you are working on inspires others, that will be critical to build a team.

Ask yourself: “Can you go beyond the tech?” If all you want to do is code; you’ll need a partner immediately or you are better off joining someone who is looking for a Tech Guy.

I won’t lie – I hadn’t read the blog post so I rapidly jumped in because I thought Aaron was saying that CEOs have an obligation to blog and need to be transparent.

That wasn’t what the conversation was about, but let me start with that none the less.

CEOs Are Doers with Little Time to Blog

Although I also share the belief that CEOs probably need to be blogging, it’s for an entirely different reason and it has nothing to do with needing to be transparent…it has everything to do with the fact that the CEOs (particularly in startups) are the major doers, and movers and shakers of a company. The CEOs are out there making things happen. They are the brains behind the operations and the strategists. Therefore, they ought to be blogging because they know and can justify what they are talking about. They have awesome content to provide.

On the other hand, the many people who are blogging – have never started or been part of a startup or run a business – end up being the loud talkers with the audiences and the ones imparting “knowledge” and knick picking what the CEOs are doing without proper qualifications or justifications.

So you end up with doers who know the scoop but are too busy doing to report it, and the talkers who scoop the scoop and make noise. So yes…more CEOs need to be blogging.

However, here is the catch…most CEOs don’t have the time. They also don’t make the time. Why, don’t they make the time? I personally think it’s because they don’t understand the real value, power, and importance of blogging. They also take for granted what they know and what they do and that many people are fascinated by it. They live by doing and can’t be bothered in the midst of things to be educating or explaining what they do.

But NOTE! If you are a BRAND NEW CEO (I’ll cover this in a future blog post) and you are not blogging than you are simply put: a dummy. A blog is your key to contacts, new networks, and future customers/members.

Example of three excellent doers and bloggers:

1. Loic Le Meur Founder and CEO of Seesmic
2. Mark Cuban owner of the Marvericks
3. Mark Andreesseen Founder and CEO of Ning

What Technosailor was Actually Saying…

I ended up agreeing with Aaron’s point…for once (Aaron is like a brother to me so arguing with him comes naturally) – which is, if you are a successful entrepreneur and you have a “personal” blog, you have a certain level of responsibility to have a good blog. As in, a blog filled with solid content, bits of interesting information, and educational points in order to provide your audience what they are looking for.

If you are not interested in catering to your audience than a) don’t have a blog or b) don’t make your blog public…because the fact of the matter is, other entrepreneurs and people will come to your blog seeking information, inspiration, and knowledge.

The kick back that Aaron received on this blog went something like this: “Aren’t CEOs allowed to be regular people and have regular public online lives?” The answer to that is yes they are however, it’s not the way it works. People, who are by the way your customers and target audience, have expectations. So listen, if you don’t know by now that life isn’t fair – I’m sorry you have to find out this way.

Of course, if you absolutely want to be a CEO with a regular average Joe blog than make sure you say so in very BOLD LETTERS, while completely disassociating yourself with the company (ies) you run. Yep, that does seem kinda pointless…hence Aaron’s point.

I’ll part with what I left on Aaron’s blog: “Blogging is an art and before you get into it, you better know what you are getting yourself into – realize what some of the expectations and restrictions might be and proceed wisely.”