Why everyone I know has a "Moo card" and a "side" project
Is it just me? Tell me if this happens to you more off late.
Happened to me 11 out of 15 times at Web 2.0 Expo. Meet a person on the Expo floor. Showing the demo of a product (Big company IBM, Microsoft, - these are JUST EXAMPLE COMPANY NAMES BTW etc. or small company).
You start to talk and its clear they "like their product" but dont "love it".
So you chit-chat, get some schwag and move on.
Later after hours you meet Ms. IBM at a party (Web 2 Expo parties ROCK BTW). You start to talk and lady tells you she has a startup she's doing (on the side mind you).
Hands you a Moo card and suddenly all that passion about the space, the problem she's trying to address, the market, the Google ad-words revenue, all come out with the fervor of an evangelical priest.
Everyone I know now has:
a) a side web 2.0 startup
b) a Moo card
c) worked with a team in Estonia/India/Russia/ (fill in good programmers at low cost country)
d) downloaded the Apple iPhone SDK
e) knows a big name blogger and can get "great buzz for their startup when the time's right".
Its awesome.
I liken this to democratization of moonlighting. Previously they did 2 jobs to make ends meet. Now its to make the 2 antipodes (passion and work) meet.
Happened to me 11 out of 15 times at Web 2.0 Expo. Meet a person on the Expo floor. Showing the demo of a product (Big company IBM, Microsoft, - these are JUST EXAMPLE COMPANY NAMES BTW etc. or small company).
You start to talk and its clear they "like their product" but dont "love it".
So you chit-chat, get some schwag and move on.
Later after hours you meet Ms. IBM at a party (Web 2 Expo parties ROCK BTW). You start to talk and lady tells you she has a startup she's doing (on the side mind you).
Hands you a Moo card and suddenly all that passion about the space, the problem she's trying to address, the market, the Google ad-words revenue, all come out with the fervor of an evangelical priest.
Everyone I know now has:
a) a side web 2.0 startup
b) a Moo card
c) worked with a team in Estonia/India/Russia/ (fill in good programmers at low cost country)
d) downloaded the Apple iPhone SDK
e) knows a big name blogger and can get "great buzz for their startup when the time's right".
Its awesome.
I liken this to democratization of moonlighting. Previously they did 2 jobs to make ends meet. Now its to make the 2 antipodes (passion and work) meet.
That is a really funny observation Mukund. It is now so inexpensive to start something - and there is now a model whereby you can start small and grow slowly. PaidContent is a great example - I started reading that 4-5 years ago when it was just Rafat's blog.
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Right - as Rachel says, the barier to entry is to low, it's easy to launch (and to abandon, if it doesn't work out). Perfect for folks with tons of energy, short attention spans, and ADD!
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Mukund, I'm not sure if I gave you my Moo card or not, I've got two of them now. Oh, and my side project has become my full time job. Great observations. I love the entrepreneurial spirit we've got here.
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