“There is no other event where you’ll have the opportunity to hear 3 minute pitches from 50 startups in a day.” - Startup Riot

Once a year in Atlanta, GA there is gathering of  entrepreneurs from around the world itching to tell the anyone with ears about their business ideas. OK, well they really are trying to get the attention of some investors (institutional, corporate VCs, and angels). There is ever room for larger companies looking for fresh ideas to either acquire or work a partnership deal. Unfortunately I personally have not had a chance to attend yet, but I caught up with someone who has. Hear his story about Startup Riot 2010:

RedMaven: Who is Andrew (Andy) Watson?

Andy: I’m a software engineer originally from Orlando. I’ve worked for huge companies like Federal Express and Cox Communications and also at small startups like MindComet. I enjoy creating things and have a knack for solving problems.

RedMaven: Almost everyone thinks they’ve had a great idea for a product or business, but complained that no one would ever take them seriously, let alone give them money for it. What enticed you to attend StartUp Riot?

Andy: I’ve wanted to start a company for a long time.  I graduated from the Executive MBA program at Georgia Tech in December 2005.  As part of that program we built a business plan around technology developed at Georgia Tech.  I found the entire prcess fascinating and it was at that point that I decided I wanted to start my own company.  A friend invited me to attend StartupRiot in 2009.  While I was sitting in the audience that year I became determined to be a presenter in 2010.  This year I was up there on stage.

RedMaven: Were you nervous the first time you attended? How did you get past it?

Andy: The first time I attended StartupRiot I was just in the audience.  It was incredibly exciting and I was intensely jealous of the founders who were up on stage.  This year I was presenting and I was very nervous.  I had spoken at conferences and in front of large crowds before but I never had this much at stake before.  Add to that Robert Scoble, Bo Peabody, CNN and 400 people and it’s a little intimidating!  The best thing for me was going to Startup Gauntlet the night before.  I got great feedback on my pitch and a lot of encouragement from Jeff McConnell, Keith McGreggor and Paul Freet.

RedMaven: Describe the atmosphere at the venue.

Andy: The venue was electric.  It was literally buzzing with excitement.  At one point in the exhibit hall I had to shout to be heard.  You could feel the excitement from people as the met other entrepreneurs and thought of new ways to combine their technologies together.  It was frenetic.  If it had lasted for 24 hours I would have stayed the whole time.  I talked so much that day I almost lost my voice.

RedMaven: What did you do to prepare for the event?

Andy: We printed out lots of business cards.  I moved our database to Amazon’s RDS in case we got slammed with traffic.  I setup a special phone number to show off our features but I forgot to mention it during my pitch.

RedMaven: If your intentions are to secure funding, beyond the 3 minute presentation, how would you suggest approaching potential investors? What are some of your do’s and don’ts?

Andy: Well, we weren’t trying to raise capital this year but if we had been, I would have tried to network with investors in advance by talking to my advisors at ATDC.  Find out what investors have made investments in your space recently.  Find a way to get introduced to them before the event.  Find out what it takes for them to invest in a company.  Find a way to meet those criteria or have a plan to meet them. Be ready to demonstrate either proven experience (successful exit) or traction (paying customers).

RedMaven: Any funny stories that you have come across while at StartUp Riot? Either personal or something you heard about at the event.

Andy: When I showed up at the event I thought I was speaking in the after-lunch group.  I planned on having a few beers at lunch to calm my nerves.  I thought I would have time to rehearse, practice, re-write, rehearse again.  The only problem?  I wasn’t in the after-lunch group at all.  I was in the first group.  I was THIRD.  Somehow the lists of people had gotten scrambled.  Nobody was in the slot they though they were in.  So I was sitting up in the front of the theater going over my outline and I didn’t even realize I was sitting next to Ben Dyer who I’ve wanted to meet in real life for a while.  I was a little pre-occupied.  I thought I was ready to go.  I had even worked in a line that made reference to Bo Peabody’s keynote.  Then Ben was done.  He started walking off the stage and my mind went BLANK.  I did alright though and in retrospect it was good that I went early so I could get it over with.

RedMaven: Haha, wow! Ok, so looking to next year, if you plan to attend again, what, if anything, are you planning to do differently?

Andy: I would definitely invest in signage.  We didn’t have any and I think it made us harder to find and we didn’t show up in any of the CNN footage of the event.
We also could have done better about having our demo up and running on my laptop on the table.  We’ll get better at the trade show thing over time.

RedMaven: What is the best advice you would give entrepreneurs interested in attending StartUp Riot as a presenter?

Andy: DO IT.  Seriously.  It doesn’t matter if you think you’re not ready.  You’re as ready as you’re ever going to be.  Boil your business down to its essentials.  Come up with 4 VERY simple slides and apply to attend.  What have you got to lose?

RedMaven: Can you tell us about any future projects your are working on?

Andy: We’re currently working on extending OtherNumber into some vertical markets like Real Estate where we can build out special functionality to meet their very specific needs.  We’re also working on an integration with Chirbit to allow post audio clips on Twitter by making phone calls.

RedMaven: What is the best way for our readers to get in contact with you, follow you, etc…?

Andy: My twitter handle is @andrewwatson and we post company updates with @othernum.  Our company website is http://othernum.com/ and you can find a million ways to contact us on our About Page (http://othernum.com/about/)

Okay, I have an exercise. Recently, we talked about jobs, products, services, and saving as different ways to make money. What I want you to do is take out a sheet of paper and write down all the things you can do that people will pay you for. Some easy things could be babysitting or cleaning houses, but I also want you to try and think of what skills sets you have personally that other people would want. I went ahead and did the exercise and these are some of the things I came up with:

money manager
equity analyst
financial adviser
stock market trading coach
small business consultant
social media consultant
website designer
computer programmer
graphic designer
talent manager
motivational speaker
custom shoe designer

After you write down your list, share some of your things in the comments section. I know I keep asking you all to leave comments, but I like to hear from you all (even if you just say “good post” or “hey how are you today”). It lets me know you all are reading the material. But anyway, back to the list. Also, try and put how much you will charge someone per hour to perform the task. This is the part that will tell you how much your time is worth. If you don’t know what to put, Google companies that perform the same task and ask them how much they charge. This way you will have a ballpark range to make your decision. After you have completed the exercise, you now have a list of services you can provide and turn into a business. So, get to work! Money Is Just An Idea, so be creative!

Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Well do not be so quick to judge.

Ken Ahroni, founder of Lucky Wishbone Co., did just that! Well he did not exactly sell customers “wishes,” he sold them something to use while wishing. When I first came across this product (And, no, I was not in the market for plastic wishbones, haha, I was researching simple ideas that made money) I thought to myself, “Who in the world would pay for a plastic wishbone?” Well apparently a lot of people! After thinking of the idea Thanksgiving of 1999, their sales surpassed $1 million USD by 2006!

I love the disposable product business model: products that get used over and over again like batteries, toilet paper, light bulbs, etc. To make your business model better and boost sales, you can come up with a product that the customer will frequently consume.

I know Money Is Just An Idea but Alex Tew took it to a whole different level when he started The Million Dollar Homepage back in 2005. He divided his website into a million pixels and sold each one as advertising for a dollar per pixel. Several months later, he had the whole page filled. If this doesn’t motivate you to sit down and come up with an idea, I don’t know what does! I’m just over here mad I didn’t think of it first!

One way many people try to get an extra stream of income is to find a part-time job. However, this is nowhere near as rewarding as a part-time business. Businesses give you the freedom to set your own hours, grow and expand products/services, and the potential to make a lot more money than a job would. This is also something that most people can do in addition to their 9-5. The same way you would use your nights and weekends to work, you can set that time aside to do a part-time business. So, instead of finding a job you can work during your off hours, ask yourself what is a business idea you can do instead.

Take those same hours you were going to work a part-time job and use it for your business. Since you are your own boss now, you can set your own hours, but you have to make sure you stick with it. If you were going to dedicate 6pm-10pm Monday through Friday to a job, then each day at 6pm, you should clock in at your part-time business. This will give you a framework so you can stay focused and discipline with your part-time business. Most of us fail at part-time businesses because we do not discipline ourselves to work. It is a lot easier for someone else to tell us what time to be at work and what we need to do but we are not willing to do the same for ourselves. I challenge you to find a part-time business instead of a part-time job. Who knows, your part-time business may become a multi-million dollar empire.

For the second installment of “Money Making Ideas” or “M2I” as I like to call it, we explore the idea of writing and selling an e-book online. We are currently in the process of writing an e-book that will be available on MoneyIsJustAnIdea in the not to distant future. We are in the Information Age, and it is not so much about what you know but how fast can you learn and adapt. That’s why e-books are a major player because they allow instant downloadable access to information. So how can you make money by writing and selling your e-book online?

First, you need to have an outlet or distribution channel in place on your own website or someone else’s website. Readers need a way to to purchase the e-book. For example, say you grew apples in your backyard. After harvest you just put them in your house in the closet hoping to sell them. If you never told anyone you were selling apples, how many apples do you think you would sell? Zero. Even if you did tell someone you sold apples, but did not tell them where to buy them. How many apples do you think you would sell? Right again, zero.

What do you write about? How long should it be?

I think writing about what you are passionate about is a good idea. It will be very easy for you to write on the subject and your expertise will give you some credibility as an author. The downside is there may be very few people who are interested in that topic. If your goal is to sell as many e-books as possible then you could write about a solution to a problem many people go through or encounter. Understanding your audience is key and do this before you start writing. Your audience will guide you in how long your e-book should be and how to format it. Writing a 300-page instruction manual on how to set the timer on your DVD player would not be the most logical thing for an audience who is looking for 2 or 3 steps? So try and keep the length and format in tune with the subject.

How do I get started on writing my e-book?

1. Start off by writing down common problems that you encounter everyday

2. Then write your solutions to those problems

3. Research some of those problems you wrote down to see how other people have solved them

4. Solidify your answer to the problem by writing out step-by-step instructions on how to solve the problem you proposed

5. Expand each of your steps to make sure that your reader knows exactly what you are talking about

6. Consolidate your work into a format that makes it easy for the reader to follow

How much should I charge for my e-book?

Prices of e-books range from a couple of bucks to hundreds of dollars. I suggest going online to see what the popular e-books on your same topic are selling for currently. There is no set price range, you will find out what you need to price your e-book based on your sales. If your sales are down, either one or two things are happening; your e-book is not marketed well enough or your e-book is too expensive.