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War Stories: The Five Ps of Pittsburgh start-up success
Thursday, July 13, 2000 By Henry Wang, chairman, iventurelab.com
The other day a friend asked me, "How do you start and build a new business in Pittsburgh?" He was interested in starting his own business and wanted some advice.
Without hesitating, I told him how my brother, Tommy, and I approached starting an Internet incubator/"technology think tank" here in the 'Burgh over a year ago. Our philosophy was, "Just do it." The premise is simple. If you have an idea that you truly believe in, and are willing to commit your life to the pursuit of turning that idea into a successful venture, then start doing something.... anything.... that starts you moving in the direction you want to go. Surround yourself with positive thinking people and DO NOT listen to all the people who will tell you why you will never be successful. Virtually every great idea, innovation and invention had ten times the number of detractors than believers when it was first introduced; from Fulton's Folly -- the steam boat -- in the early 1800's to the early 1970's concept that every household would eventually have its own computer.
I honestly feel that many would be successful businesses never got started because the originators of the idea had literally "What If'?"-ed the concept to death. If my brother and I had played devil's advocate with ourselves, detailing all that could possibly have gone wrong in building our business, we never would have taken the first step toward making our goal a reality. Instead, we just got started and committed ourselves to addressing each of the millions of details that would come up along the way.
My friend considered what I had told him for a moment and followed up with another question.
iventurelab.com is an Oakland-based incubator of Internet companies.
In this growing service-oriented economy, it is not uncommon to hear the phrase, "our most valuable assets walk out the door each night." This is certainly true at iventurelab. Getting highly talented, motivated people is critical to the success of any business and incredibly difficult in today's market. The only thing harder than getting them is keeping them.
Keeping employees walking back in the door each morning requires a dedication to building and maintaining an open environment where people know they can have a significant impact on the success of the company. A wonderful thing happens when you do that -- your business becomes their business, and everyone rallies around the common goal of growing the company.
At iventurelab, we all work crazy hours designing and developing cutting-edge, state-of -the-art Internet technologies that will revolutionize the way things will be done on the Web in coming years. A mandate like that is inconsistent with an 8-to-5 Monday through Friday schedule. We have people who don't know that life exists before 10 a.m., others who start hitting their peak at 3 a.m. Sometimes it seems there are just as many people leaving the building at 7:00 in the morning as there are coming in. There's truly a lot of work going on here.
At the same time, we have ping-pong tournaments in the middle of the afternoon, huge group lunches and even an occasional song-and-dance routine during company meetings. The bottom line is, give your people the environment they need to be comfortable and the knowledge that they are directly responsible for the success of the business, and everyone wins.
Never falter in your belief in yourself or the goals you have set. I truly believe that iventurelab represents the most impressive collection of raw technology talent in Pittsburgh, and very possibly in the United States. My brother Tommy and I believe, with every fiber of our being, that we are building a world-class institution. Finding, funding and building technology solutions for the next generation of Internet based companies is our whole raison d'etre, and we are committed to being the best. When you're an entrepreneur, especially of a start-up, you don't have a job or a "career path". Your business is your life and the life of your business is up to you. Believe strongly in both.
This philosophy should apply to whatever your business is. Define what it is that you do and dedicate yourself to doing it -- whatever it is -- the absolute best it can be done.
This is simple really. Everyone has a reason for starting a new business and it's different for each person. For some it's the money and the prospect of "making the big bucks!" For others, it's the goal of making a name for themselves and leaving a legacy. Others are eternal entrepreneurs who live for the thrill of the pursuit, to build a business from scratch, but once it's up and running smoothly, move on to the next start-up challenge.
Whatever the reason, keep it close and remember your motivation. Make sure the decisions you make are consistent with the reason you started your business in the first place.
We started iventurelab so we would have a vehicle through which we could continually dedicate ourselves to developing state-of-the-art technology innovations and help other businesses launch themselves. That's what keeps us motivated. That's our purpose.
For a start-up, this is extremely important. Partners include business service providers, such as lawyers and accountants, as well as investors and advisors. Here I feel there are a few key characteristics to look for when choosing your partners. For lawyers and accountants, of course, you should be highly confident in their ability to perform their function with excellence, and you should trust them implicitly. After all, you are turning over key components of your business to them for guidance and management.
When it comes to looking for investors, it's often tempting to take money from anyone willing to invest in your idea. But more than just money, you need investors that can also be trusted advisors. People who can help guide you through the maze of obstacles and expand your network of contacts. While we are extremely thankful to our investors for the financial commitment they have made in iventurelab, their guidance and advice has been a truly invaluable resource.
We even view the local Chinese restaurant down the street as a partner. They were willing to provide us with a substantial discount on food in exchange for options in our firm. In my opinion, that is a strong statement in the belief in our company. We will continue to do business with them in the future because they were willing to believe in us early on.
Finally, one of the most important factors in successfully starting a business in Pittsburgh is the city itself. Pittsburgh is committed to growing new businesses here and has dedicated significant resources to help fund that growth. With 70+ employees, but a limited credit history, the Mayor's office was willing to help iventurelab with the acquisition of a new 130,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in the Strip District. This will serve as the centerpiece for our global expansion plan that leverages our proposed iventureIndia and iventureChina subsidiaries as well as domestic and international offices. This new facility will be instrumental in allowing us to continue to grow our business at these early stages of development.
Another critical Pittsburgh component for us is Carnegie Mellon University. CMU provides us with access to some of the most talented and respected individuals in the high-tech community, from top-of-the-class graduate students and Ph.d.'s to faculty members recognized as leaders in their fields.
Pittsburgh represents incredibly fertile ground for a new technology centered business to take root and grow. We never could have grown so quickly without the deep resources this city provides.
So that was what I told my friend. The last time we spoke he was in the process of recruiting employees and building a prototype. He decided to "JUST DO IT."
I wish him well.
Yitz Francus of e-Cruise on surviving the struggles
Michelangelo C. Celli of CommerBuilder.com on the value of true networks
Astro Teller of BodyMedia on how Pittsburgh almost lost his business
Sanjay Chopra of Online Choice on finding investors sometimes means finding yourself.
Dave Nelsen of CoManage on the physical challenges of managing in the New Economy
Technically speaking: a few questions facing Pittsburgh's emerging industry (4/9/00)
Changing with the times (3/26/00)
Start-up graduates from tech incubator (3/22/00)
Pittsburgh's new economy: Computer consulting concern not a typical family business (1/14/00)
Have a question or comment about War Stories, or have one of your own you want to tell? Contact Ken Zapinski, New Economy columnist, at kzapinski@post-gazette.com.
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Focus on the People.