The 10% Entrepreneur: Live Your Startup Dream Without Quitting Your Day Job by Patrick J. McGinnis

Author:Patrick J. McGinnis
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2016-04-11T14:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Finding, Analyzing, and Committing to Ventures

Now that you’ve taken stock of your resources, it’s time to move on to the next stage of your 10% Plan. The investment process is the aspect of the plan that will guide you through each step as you identify and evaluate the ventures that will become part of your 10%. When you have questions, face doubts, or need to check your compass to make sure that you’re still on course, it will help you to ask the right questions, search for answers, and then make decisions based on facts and data. Once you get the hang of it, the process is entirely replicable and will save you a lot of mental energy. By following the same series of steps, you will come to trust in your judgment, learn to work efficiently, and engage in projects that make the best use of your resources. You will also spend a lot of time out in the real world, getting your hands dirty and, in the process, thinking like a venture capitalist. That’s the fun part of your work and it’s often the most unpredictable. You never quite know where your 10% will take you and you might very well find yourself in some unexpected places.

That’s how I ended up at Playlist Live, a mammoth YouTube celebrity convention held in Orlando, Florida. If you’ve never been to one, let me tell you what you’re missing. Walking around the event feels like you’re surfing the Web, but in real life. YouTube personalities sign autographs, sell T-shirts, and mix with their fans. The fans, a combination of tweens and techies, are in ecstasy since they are no longer limited to clicking “like” to show their adulation. It’s hard not to get caught up in the spirit, so I was a bit starstruck when I met Tay Zonday, one of the first breakout YouTube stars. His “Chocolate Rain” video has generated more than 100 million views, at least twenty of which can be traced to my IP address.

I flew to Orlando at the invitation of a former colleague, Marcelo Camberos, who’d recently launched a company, Real Influence, to partner consumer brands with YouTube celebrities. This was 2011, back in the Dark Ages of YouTube stardom. The idea was still in its infancy, and Marcelo was a pioneer. He needed a hand with business development, so he offered me an Advisor role in exchange for some equity and a commission on any sales I generated. Since I’d never worked on an entrepreneurial venture from inception, I knew that at a minimum I would learn something new, in addition to having fun and reconnecting with a friend.

By offering me my first side project, Marcelo officially put me in business as a 10% Entrepreneur. He also put me through my paces. Having worked at online-entertainment pioneer Funny or Die, he was an expert when it came to video, and he taught me how to pitch this new marketing channel to potential clients.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.