I read an article in the L.A Times this morning that, in all honesty, excited the heck out of me! Here is THAT article: MySpace owner preparing for a re-model
Yes, the article was about MySpace, the company that was sold for bagillions to Murdoch and was sold to Tim & Chris Vanderhook for a fraction of the price. Myspace, the social networking site that millions of people, like sheep, left and flocked to MySpace leaving it in the great big social networking bin in the sky. You know, Myspace, who now have Justin Timberlake as an investor.
Say what?! Exactly.
I recently wrote about Google and how they have had many a failed social networking sites before they got it right with Google+. You can read that life-changing (jokes) blog here: Blog about Google and how crap they were at social networking until they launched Google+ which now has over 10million users.
People love shiny brand new stuff, especially when it is talked about all over the web. New stuff + being talked about all over the web = lots of people getting on board with that new stuff.
MySpace is old, yeah. But, music fans still have their MySpace profile. Justin Timberlake brings an edge of coolness and these guys are well versed in the power of social media. All that is needed is one freakin’ good idea, some crazy, awesome, kick-ass content that will bring music fans back to MySpace and will re-invigorate a new passion for this social networking site. I just know it.
Of course, I have an idea that I would love to talk to Tim & Chris Vanderhook about. I would love to talk to them about the music based concept that I put together called Rock Control, which fell on it’s feet because of lack of investment. I don’t bagillions of their cash I just want to see if they believe in the potential of Rock Control, in the same way that I do, in the same way that Kevin Roberts Global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi did right here.
So, if you can hook me up with Tim & Chris Vanderhook then I will love you forever, not only that, a world of goodness will also come your way!
Last week I wrote a blog entitled, What happened to thenerve.tv? which was Part 1 of an attempt to explain what has happened to an idea that I had been working on for some time. In Part 1 I explained that there had been some distance between two projects that I have worked on and I wanted to offer a reflection as to what had gone wrong in the hope of passing on some experience to other entrepreneurs. In Part 2 I want to share some learning experiences from a project that I have been working on called Rock Control (formerly known as VIP Band Manager).
Rock Control is an idea that I love, if I do say so myself. In essence, Rock Control was the concept that enabled the public to form and manage a band from scratch – from viewing auditions to decide who should be in the band, to choosing a song, developing a style and making all the major decisions to release one song into the charts around the world in order to see how well the band would do. The whole project was to be developed online and viewed as an online TV show (with the hope of getting an actual TV show out of it at the end).
Rock Control was a neat idea, we managed to get some seed investment, a place of the Difference Engine and even a flattering blog from Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi who explained that Rock Control “had the potential to become one of the most interactive TV shows to date”. Rock Control was launched as a website that enabled individuals to upload their audition with the social media sharing facilities for them to encourage their friends and relatives to vote for them. In a period of 6 months we have over 500+ auditions and over 6,000 people who had registered, which were incredible figures for a project launched with little financial support.
The key learning point from Rock Control is that a good idea needs to have a sound financial revenue stream before it can become a successful idea. Rock Control was launched and it was our hope that the momentum that we had gained would lead to investment and we had a pretty good shot at pitching the idea to some really good potential investors who each thought that the project was a great idea, we even had offers of investment, but, only on the condition of the agreement of the TV show which is something that we were pitching for but was not something that we could guarantee. Eventually, in order to get to the next stage we needed investment and we just did not have the money to take it to the next level.
Rock Control was a great idea which caught the imagination of a significant number of people. Nevertheless, we needed money in order to make it work. The experience of Rock Control has made me realise that in the future whenever I have a ‘great idea’ I need to find a firm, solid revenue stream for that idea, before launch, in order to make is a successful viable business. This is clearly a significant lesson for anyone wanting to launch a business.
Rock Control is not an idea that is dead in the water and it is still being pitched to various people, one day I hope to revive the idea and turn it into a success… we will see! For now I am working on another idea that has a very clear revenue stream and more on that to come soon.
At 13 years old this school boy has come up with a clever idea, he is in the process of patenting it and is raising funds to get it made, if it works, well, you just never know. Irrespective of whether this specific idea works or not, it is clear that this young lad is certainly ‘one to watch out for’!
It is said that in order to be talented at anything, you have to start young, this boy is starting is certainly starting young and I look forward to seeing what else he gets up too. Great inspiration though!
I love reading all about entrepreneurs who have had a vision, a dream, and have relentlessly pursued it with everything that they have. I have recently come across one such business One Fine Stay.
One Fine Stay is a website that enables users to book into someone’s house whilst the owner of the property is out of town. The owners of this business, Greg Marsh and Demetrios Zoppos have labelled this the ‘unhotel’ with the belief that people would prefer to stay in hotel-like surroundings but in the ‘homely’ house environment.
This is a fantastic little idea but it does not come cheap at houses in the heart of London being anything up to £299 per night, albeit these are pretty nice properties and locations. This site is certainly getting some great press attention and some awesome customer reviews.
The only downside, in my mind is that, sometimes, it is nice to just book into a hotel, have that hotel feel and have people around you pampering you, food to order (and even to your room) and all the facilities that go with it. Nevertheless, when you check out this site you will see some of the beautiful homes listed on the site, many of which will make you feel like a millionaire, if only for one night!
Check out: One Fine Stay and let me know what you think!
I have heard about this guy, Greg Hartle, from a guy who I admire and learn a lot of stuff from, Scott Barlow. If your addicted to being inspired then you should read up on both of these people. Nevertheless, back to Greg.
As Greg explains on his website, ten dollars and a laptop, Greg had everything. At the age of 22 Greg was worth $1million. Greg was as passionate about fitness, as he was about fitness and pushes both to the limits. Nevertheless he developed a rare lung disease which resulted in his Mum donating a livers to him and subsequently he financially lost everything to cover medical bills during this period.
Greg now has little finances at all but he has dedicated himself to travelling the USA to gather together 501 entrepreneurs who are changing the economy, entrepreneurs who working towards, what Greg calls, a ‘new economy’.
I have just started reading through ten dollars and a laptop and I am finding it incredibly inspiring. I love the fact that there are people out there who are facing challenges in order to chase the dream that they have inside them and Greg is certainly doing that.
If you are looking to be inspired check out Ten Dollars and a laptop.