“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” [The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 1993] Steve Jobs.
What an absolute legend! Steve Jobs was successful, not because he chased money, or a big business, he did not chase either fame nor money. Steve Jobs was hotly in pursuit of fulfilling his life potential. What happened as a result of that has impacted every household on the face on the planet.
More qualified people will write historical, accurate, detailed and inspiring blogs about Steve Jobs and I don’t feel a need to replicate them neither do I want to not do Steve Jobs justice. All I want to say is that Steve Jobs died at the age of 56 with the knowledge that his presence on earth contributed something powerful.
This is something that should inspire us all – we life life, once.
R.I.P Steve Jobs.
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Steve Jobs 1995
I have recently come across crowdcube.com, a UK based company that enables the public to invest in new businesses. Entrepreneurs upload their pitch on the platform explaining their business idea , how much money they need and what they are prepared to offer in return. The public can then look at the investments available and decide whether they want to invest.
There are a heap of US versions of these ideas that have been around for awhile, the most famous being Kickstarter. I really do think these sites are really positive for entrepreneurs for the following reason:
1) Secure necessary funding. Ok, so it’s an obvious one! But, I have been in the situation where I require funding for an idea. I have sought investment from friends and I have also been on an accelerator programme that has enabled me to pitch to very wealthy investors. Nevertheless, in today’s financial age, investment is a struggle and further potential options to secure funding could be seriously fruitful. What’s more, small amounts of investment by a large number of people helps investment to become more feasible and possible as it is spread.
2) Develop a committed group of supporters. Shouting about your business idea to anyone who will listen, is vital, the more people who hear about your idea then the more you have a chance of people following you and supporting your idea. If a business can gain a number of ‘champions’ who will shout about the business on your behalf, before launch then this helps increase the chance of business success.
3) Reach potential ‘helpers’. Sharing your business through the likes of crowdcube really helps you to find like minded people who not only share your vision but who also have the vital skills that you need in order to make the business happen.
4) Provides a secure testing environment. I have had business ideas that I should not have launched. At the time I thought they were the best ideas in the world, naively and with the best of intentions. However, retrospectively, these ideas where not so good. If I had placed these ideas on the likes of crowdcube.com it would have enabled me to gauge feedback and wisdom from my potential customers and develop the business idea accordingly. This all important insight may have resulted in me not launching these businesses which could have saved a lot of pain, heartache and finances.
The nature of my first business, Tribewanted.com, was essentially crowd funded. Members of the public paid for their time on the island up front and it was this cash that was used in order to propel the business forward. We received a lot of criticism for this which left people wondering whether the whole thing was a scam. At the time, if Crowdcube existed I would have sought investors on such a platform. I remember, at the time, looking for a UK equivalent.
Crowdcube creates a safe environment for potential investors, it provides the credibility required to bring about the trust in order to invest and, if the full amount of investment is not raised then no money is taken from the investors accounts. Perfect.
One business has already secure 100% of their £75,000 required investment and you can read more about Bubble & Balm here. The only negative is that there are not a heap of businesses who are using the site yet but I am watching and waiting and when the right business comes along I shall invest, I shall become a ‘champion’ of the idea, I will offer my skills to help and I will tell you all about it right on this blog!
So, go take a look at crowdcube.com and if you invest in a business idea – let me know!
Yesterday I mentioned that I frequently put up #startup on Twitter with a call for anyone working on a startup to contact me, purely because I love to see what is going on. Well, after that blog went up I was contacted by entrepreneur Tom Packer. Tom is someone who I have known for awhile, a creative web programmer who has come up with some great ideas, some that have been great ideas but have struggled to take off. However, Tom let me know about an idea he launched and created at the weekend, bktrack.com which I love!
Bktrack is a website that enables you to see images of key moments in the world, in whatever year you choose to want to see. You may look at the year you were born, the year you got married, the year your parents met – whatever tear you choose. Bktrack is a crowd sourced idea meaning that it is calling up on the public to upload images of key moments of throughout the years.
I really like the idea, it is a sort of cross between instagr.am and wiki that has huge potential. There are many ways to monetize this site and, indeed, Tom has let me in on a few of these ideas. Some ideas that I could imagine include – brand sponsorship of brands key moments, advertising, merchandise around specific years and timelines such as T-shirts and posters and stuff. There are endless possibilities for development here from launching personal timelines, group timelines, being able to post your images on your blog and website etc. It is just a really cool idea.
Of course, the success of this business depends on the public uploading images so, head over to bktrack.com and get involved!
Like Bktrack? Hate it? Thinking of ways it could be improved? Post your comments I would love to hear!
Congratulations to Tom, cannot wait to see where this goes!