Angel Investing, Entrepreneurship & Learning

Over the past couple months, I’ve had the opportunity to spend a good amount of time with Jeremy Hanks (Founder, Chairman & Head honcho at Doba).  Jeremy has built an incredible company that has received a lot of (deserved) recognition as of late.  Here are a few things that I have read about:

• Doba was ranked #22 on this year’s Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies
• They were recently featured on the cover of Utah Business Magazine as a 2007 Best Company to Work For
• Ranked #1 Fastest Growing Companies in Utah by Mountain West Capital Network
• And there is more… (but you get the idea)

Jeremy is passionate about entrepreneurship and that passion spreads like wildfire to those that he comes in contact.  On a personal level, he has offered strategic advice to me as a young CEO — and to FundingUniverse.

If Jeremy isn’t on your radar screen… he should be.

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My wife sure loves me a lot.  She must because she has invested a lot of money in me over the past couple of years.

One of the ways that entrepreneurial dreams affect the family is that a lot of the money that you have in savings will usually go towards the business.  A wife will usually sacrifice their thirst for shopping, their comfort of a savings account, and their desire to get their own home so that your company can be successful.  At least that has happened in our household.

So far, we’ve…

• Pulled money (not hundreds, but thousands) out of what used to be called our “savings account”
• Taken gifts and loans from close friends & family (thank you, thank you, thank you)
• Used money that we had received for student loans (not sure if I really should admit that)
• Pushed off buying a home (my parents were on an LDS mission for 18 months — so they asked us to take care of their home).  Even though I was making a 1 hr + commute, it was worth it for the FREE rent.
• Taken reduced salary — 1/2 of my “salary” was going to pay back loans each month

There is more… but you get the idea.

I’ll be making this point alot… but usually the spouse of the entrepreneur is the one that is making most of the sacrifices.  I honestly love what I do.  I have confidence that our team can build a successful company and that the sacrifices will be worth it in the end.

My wife, on the other hand, can only stand on the sidelines and hope that we are successful.  She usually only sees/hears about the “high highs and the low lows.”  Some days, she must be thinking, “what is Brock getting himself in to?!” because she sees me worry about the company and our employees and she knows that I’ve chosen this path over others.

Most of us entrepreneurs call this “skin in the game” — while the rest of the world calls it insanity.  Despite it all, I love what I do.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world… and I’m in deed grateful to my wife for her patience and encouragement…. and MONEY! 

Entrepreneurs:  if you are planning to become an entrepreneur… make sure that you have a supportive spouse.

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Now that we are 2.5 years into FundingUniverse and past the “we might die tomorrow” stage that usually happens during the first year of any bootstrapping business, I’d like to start writing about some of the aspects of mixing family while trying to be an entrepreneur.  I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get some comments from my wife — because her input is going to be much different than mine.

During the early days, both you and your company are usually “hanging on a thread” and most people don’t like to talk about those details while they are going through it (bc they obviously don’t want the world to know).  But… now that we have been through those tough times and are (hopefully) beyond that, I’d like to talk about the struggles in detail so that others can relate and benefit.

Let me give you an idea of where I’m hoping to go with this:

• As an entrepreneur, sacrifices must be made for the sake of the business.  In my opinion, no one sacrifices more than the entrepreneur’s spouse.  I’d like to get specific with the types of sacrifices that are made so that entrepreneurs (and their spouses) will know what they are getting themselves into.
• Aspects of bootstrapping.  What did we do in order to get resources and stay alive.
• Aspects of fundraising — when you really need the money (and you don’t want the investors to know about it).
• Asking your employee’s family to sacrifice and believe that we’ll make it through (very difficult).
• Health Insurance, babies, etc.

There will definitely be more… and I’ll try to focus on how all of this affects the family.  Josh Steimle wrote a ton about “You Might be an Entrepreneur if…” and provided some great content.  There might be a little overlap, but I’m trying to focus more on the family than he did.

The family is important to me.  Entrepreneurship is important to me.  Entrepreneurship has ruined families — and/or usually puts a huge strain on the family.  I am no expert… but am hoping to provide some good discussion.

If you have any specific topics that you would like me to cover… let me know.

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We had another SpeedPitching luncheon a few weeks ago at the Davis eStation in Kaysville. It was a fantastic event with a huge turnout. As always, we have a few of the deals that stand out as the “HOT deals” — and last week was no exception.

Here are the latest deals that you should be aware of here in Utah:

1. Argon Technology: Argon Technology was probably the hit of the show. Nate Alder and Ben Maughn boasted the development of an innovative insulation material that can be installed in winter wear. From what I understand, the turn of a simple knob (yes… built into your jacket) will release a gas into the lining of your jacket and heat up your jacket! When you are hot, simply turn the knob the other way and the gas will be released into the air. Ski and outer gear companies have taken notice and it should be huge success. They have already garnered a lot of interest.
2. LinkingUniverse:  LinkingUniverse is the brain-child of David Bradford (one of the Co-founders of FundingUniverse).  If you know David at all, you’ll agree that this deal fits him perfectly.  He’s as well connected as anyone I know and using his “relationship skills” to build a useful social network — think LinkedIn + SalesForce.
3. Acceptx: (Disclaimer:  this is my brother’s deal).  Acceptx also garnered quite a bit of interest at the last event.  They have created a technology that is 2-fold:  1)  helps professional services (doctors, dentists, orthodontists, etc.) increase their “closing ratio,” and 2) they are working with very large banks to finance the note and the services.
4. TabSling:  TabSling didn’t pitch at the SpeedPitching event, but has turned a few heads in the state.  Led by Jeff Brimhall, TabSling is a new social media tool that allows its users to share the content of their browser at any time.  This is really a “show and tell” type technology, but (being an early friends & family user)… I’ve been very impressed.

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