Angel Investing, Entrepreneurship & Learning

I just read a very interesting article in the Seattle Times that talks about young (in their twenties) CEOs. Supposedly, many VCs are seeking out young talent because they are well aware of the internet market. Here is an example quote:

“Twentysomethings have their pulse on the sweet spot of the Internet, much better than others,” says Mark Kvamme, a venture capitalist with Sequoia Capital, which has invested in several companies with young founders. “They are able to put together a product or service that speaks better to that generation — and do it without enormous amounts of capital.”

To me, this brings up a very good question: Which is better — energy or experience?

Of course, I am a young entrepreneur, so I would take the energy side — under certain circumstances.

1. First of all, the young entrepreneur must be teachable. The last thing you want is a know-it-all inexperienced youngen. On the other hand, an ambitious high-energy businessman who is willing to learn from his/her mistakes and the mistakes of others will be a valuable asset to any team.
2. Secondly, (going along with being teachable) the entrepreneur must dedicate herself to learning. How much time do you spend each day learning new things? Are you reading the latest news, blogs, magazines, and books? If you do, this will help you to be experienced beyond your years.
   People often ask me if I am planning to attend graduate school and the response I give is: “I don’t know.” The reason that I will even consider not attending graduate school is because I am enjoying the every-day learning experiences that I am currently having. (the graduate school controversy is another topic entirely ). I imagine that if I come to a point in my entrepreneurial career that I am not constantly learning — I will go to graduate school.
3. A young entrepreneur must surround herself with experienced mentors. There is (almost) nothing that can replace experience. I am very grateful for the many mentors that give me help and advice on a daily basis — including, but not limited to the Junto Mentors, BYU Business Professors, Paul Allen, and each one of my brothers. One of the most appealing parts of Greg Warnock’s Junto Partners program is that he has put together an amazing group of experienced mentors in each area (legal, strategy, marketing, sales, etc.).
4. Finally, the entrepreneur must use their energy to their advantage. Sometimes the only thing that will cut it is good ol’ fashioned hard work!

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Sometimes it blows my mind when I am meeting or talking with another individual who isn’t “cool.” I don’t use the word “cool” to mean “popular, well-liked, successful, etc.”– I mean business friendly. I get the feeling that people think that only one of us can be successful; if one company is successful, they automatically think that their company can’t be successful — there always has to be both a winner and a loser.

Frankly, I can’t stand this mentality. I truly believe that we can all be successful together. If you are doing well — that’s great! That’s why I love partnerships so much. If there is an opportunity to partner with another company and it will help the both of us be more successful than we would otherwise be…let’s do it.
Brings me back to the book: Love is the Killer App — if you haven’t read this book, it is a must read.

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Over the past month or so, we (Provo Labs, Junto, etc.) have started meeting once a week for an entrepreneurial breakfast club. We meet each Wednesday morning at 8 am at the IHOP in American Fork. They have been very fun, informal networking events. Let me know if you are interested in joining us.

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About a month ago, we were very excited to be interrupted in a team meeting…after all, the Wall Street Journal was calling. Of course, we were stoked; it’s not every day that the Wall Street Journal calls to find out more information about your company.

Over the course of a couple weeks, the reporter called numerous times to ask questions about entrepreneurship and angel investing — and we were happy to give her whatever she needed. We referred her to a few entrepreneurs and angel investors, and in return, she said that she would include a blurp about FundingUniverse.com. In addition, she called me specifically to get 5 tips for entrepreneurs that she “was planning to use in a sidebar of the story.” In preparation for the article to be published, we worked tirelessly to finish a few products to have ready for the possible spike in traffic.

When the day finally arrived (Jan. 30, 2006), I searched the Wall Street website and starting reading the article. I noticed that it included quotes from the entrepreneur that we connected them with…and 3 of my exact tips in the side bar, but no reference to me or FundingUniverse.com! Check it out.

To be honest, I really didn’t care that it didn’t include my name in the article, but I didn’t think that it was right to publish the article without any reference to FundingUniverse.com. The funny thing is…they decided to use our content later in an article for their StartupJournal section of WSJ. Here is a link to that article — you will notice that the tips seem very familiar to the article that was printed in the WSJ print edition on Jan. 30th.

Now the question…is that journalism or plagarism?

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One of the things that I love about business is that you are always interacting with people. I’m a true believer that the best things happen out of the office. Obviously, your time must be balanced — but for the most part, good things happen when you are out meeting and interacting with people.

Part of the passion that I have for business comes from the people that I work with on a daily basis. My partners (and our team for that matter) are hard-working and trustworthy individuals who are fun to be around.

I also really enjoy to meet new people. It’s very fun to meet other business professionals on a business relationship, but much more gratifying to get to know them on a more personal level. I can’t stand when I get so caught up in business that I forget to get to know people. Has that happened to you?

Something that I am trying to do that I think will make a difference is to be more personal in my communications with other people. Can you do that? For example, can you say, “Peace out, girl scout” at the end of your email? Can you say, “You’re a stud!”? Or does it have to be so formal? I don’t know. I just think that it would be fun to add a little more personality into the workplace.

Anyway, I’m just glad that I get to work with people. I’m always interested in meeting others…if you are reading this and I haven’t met you, feel free to contact me at brockjblake AT gmail.com.

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At FundingUniverse.com, we are in the process of trying to build a community for our users. We launched a company-wide blog today that will allow us to communicate more efficiently to our visitors. In addition, we have set up a daily email newsletter that includes news and articles about angel investing, entrepreneurship, and upcoming events. This daily newsletter has already replaced the majority of my private equity google alerts.

In addition, we would like to create a feature that will allow more interaction among entrepreneurs. Do you have any suggestions?

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