Category Archives: entrepreneurship

Channeling Rand: Why Authenticity And Perseverance Wins The Race

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The latest StartupGrind Seattle played host to Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz.  It was a great night and in fact I was pleasantly surprised at how much I took away.  Rand being Rand, I knew beforehand it would be enjoyable and a must-see interview but I can’t stop thinking about how much authentic truth was spilled during the evening.

First, I would like to briefly touch on StartupGrind and point out to anyone who has not yet attended a session how cool these events actually are.  Unlike most startup “networking” events there’s an agenda and a purpose to the main event, which is the guest interview.  In just a few short months, they have hosted the likes of Bing Fund’s Rahul Sood, Jonathan Sposato and Rand Fishkin.   These interviews are basically fireside chats with successful entrepreneurs in front of 40 or 50 people leading to very intimate entrepreneurial discussions, such as the latest one with Rand.  For most people this is as up close and personal they get to relatively successful tech founders and a great opportunity to ask random questions to gain confirmation on their thoughts.

I attended most of the events since the first one in August, but I must say Rand was an exceptional interview.   His presence, personality and responsiveness during the interview instantly told the audience he was more than happy to be there and his answers came from the heart and soul of an entrepreneur.   Although many different golden nuggets were shared, I wanted to highlight a few we all can take home.

Authenticity

Listening to Rand, one quickly realizes he is flat-out authentic and genuine in all his dealings.  He was unapologetic with his points of view and responses to questions – at the same time emoting the passion and determination of someone still in the trenches.  He more-or-less supported this point off hand as he answered a question about the difference between Seattle and Silicon Valley.  Paraphrasing, he mentioned how it’s not as common down in the valley to have CEO’s and founders as open and willing to help others around them than it is here in Seattle.   If I’m not mistaken he suggested we eat a bit more humble pie up here.  Rand noted this is one of the big positives of the startup environment we find here in Seattle.  What he didn’t say – and I quickly clued into – was it’s more due to people like Rand, fairly successful people actually wanting to help others and give them time of day without hesitation (and willing to participate in events like StartupGrind on a night he could be with family and friends.)

This is what I deem as authenticity – being genuinely gracious and interested in others even when it’s pretty obvious you have nothing material to gain from the interaction.  Authenticity is very important for founders of early stage startups because it’s going to be how you attract others to join you early on in the pursuit of your vision.  People need to feel like you value them and are being authentic in your dealings with them, not dubious and double-facing.

I will end the concept of authenticity with this description taken from a recent article you should read by Scott Weiss published on TechCrunch titled  CEOs Don’t Come Pre-Made, Authentic Leadership Has To Be Learned:

A person cannot make hard decisions, hold unpopular positions, or stand tall for what he believes unless he knows who he is and feels comfortable in his own skin. I am talking about self-confidence and conviction. These traits make a leader bold and decisive, which is absolutely critical in times where you must act quickly, often without complete information. Just as important, authenticity makes a leader likeable, for lack of a better word. Their realness comes across in the way they communicate and reach people on an emotional level. Their words move them; their message touches something inside….

…A leader in times of crisis can’t have an iota of fakeness in him. He has to know himself­­ ­— and like himself ­­­— so that he can be straight with the world, energize followers, and lead with the authority born of authenticity.

Perseverance

The stories Rand shared about the early days of SEOmoz were honest, raw and at times gut-wrenching.  Yet as any of us who are early stage founders know perseverance through challenge and hardship is what it takes to succeed.  He told stories about dealing with personal debt, working late nights, challenges with closing company financing, losing sleep at times wondering what the hell he was doing with his life,  in addition to other funny and (probably at the time challenging) issues he faced when he was starting SEOmoz.  Again, being authentic, Rand choose to share these challenges with the group and detailed how he persevered through the hardships.

The early history of the company is a great study for any founder who finds their startup not experiencing Instagram type growth right out of the gate, which quite frankly, is all of us!  Rand and SEOmoz are another example of why the number one factor for success during a startup is simply perseverance.  Crap happens to everyone.  The difference between the successful companies and the ones that failed (or gave up) is purely because they got up each day and decided to not quit.

Rand deciding to share these challenges with the group is the single best thing he did that night.  It told the people in attendance – most being founders or early startup employees – starting a company is not at all like the flash, glam and awesomeness you read about in the media.  More to the point, it often sucks.

I think most founders are afraid to believe the truth, that it is this hard.  From the beginning they lie to themselves and believe they will be the next Facebook or Instagram, the startup that shoots straight to the moon and straight into conversations beginning with billions of dollars.  This is faulty, will hurt anyone’s mental health and most likely end a startup’s livelihood.  It would be better if founders treated starting a company like bootcamp or SEAL training, at least then you are prepared and understand perseverance is the name of the game.

Culture

It was quite apparent Rand has formed a great business, but more clear was how he has built an incredible company.  This happens not because the focus is on hitting revenue numbers each month (although that is important) but because the culture SEOmoz has created for itself.  Rand brought the point home by saying “your first 5 to 10 hires will determine your culture since they are the ones who go on and hire/work with the next group of employees.”  Great point and one most founders miss as they continue to run in circles chasing their tail and balancing all the plates they have in the air during the early days.

So important is culture to SEOmoz they created an acronym to live by – TAGFEE.  It stands for Transparent, Authentic, Generous, Fun, Empathetic, Exceptional.  These are great attributes to build a company around.  Founders should take note on the acronym part, whatever your core attributes turn out to be it seems like a good idea to create an acronym that starts as a noun and turns into a verb.  Rand mentioned how they use it in meetings such as “well, is that TAGFEE?” or “do you think they are TAGFEE?”

I was quite impacted by this approach to creating a visceral standard of culture within a company.  Not only does it attract specific talent but it can even help attract quality investors.  As you may know, Rand blogs quite a bit.   Some think he crossed a line when he wrote very publicly about a recent failed round of financing, even including quoted emails and meeting descriptions.  Yet, when writing about these financing failures and voicing his frustration it detracted the investors who disagreed with their culture and attracted the exact investors who believed in it.  SEOmoz announced in April 2012 they closed $18 million from Brad Feld and Foundry Group, one of the most well respected VC firms in the country.  That may not have ever happened if TAGFEE wasn’t the heart and soul of SEOmoz.

Authenticity. Perseverance. Culture.

Three simple attributes to a strong and successful entrepreneurial journey.

Thanks Rand.

Seconds Partners With Dwolla For Awesome New Guest Checkout Announcement

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Seconds is happy to announce our partnership with Dwolla for their latest product release, referred to as guest checkout, allowing anyone to use Dwolla to make a one-time payment from their financial institution to an online merchant or marketplace.

Why is this so awesome?  Now people can make Dwolla payments, in Seconds.

Simply put, Dwolla is great.  For months we have been evaluating how to include Dwolla payments in our mobile payment experience.  Their online and mobile payment network enables friends, families, and businesses to move money in a way that is safer, faster, and significantly more affordable than traditional payment options.  We always believed in Dwolla’s mission to rid the world of credit card fees and today we are excited to finally turn on the Dwolla payment option.

With Dwolla, you simply connect a bank account so you can make payments through the system.  The challenge up to this point was the fact that unless someone already had a Dwolla account created, it was nearly impossible for them to create a Dwolla account and make a quick payment during their first Seconds experience.   Unfortunately, there were a number of steps – some even taking a few business days – to authorize the financial institution and finalization of the Dwolla account.  It was basically a non-starter for our emerging payment platform.

As you can see, this new release leaves all that behind and puts Dwolla center stage in the Seconds payment experience, allowing someone the choice of quickly paying with their bank account using Dwolla in addition to a credit card.

Why is this so great?  Merchants accepting Dwolla are charged at most $.25 per transactions over $10, and transactions under $10 carry no Dwolla transaction fee at all!  Comparing this to the traditional 3% processing fee when dealing with credit cards and your looking at significant savings for merchants with each transaction.

We believe Dwolla has an incredible future and are excited to see where this will lead.  More information about the Dwolla announcement is below.

Try it out now with GIVENATION, and give to IRD.org to help with Hurricane Sandy recovery.

What is Dwolla?

Dwolla is an online and mobile payment network that enables friends, families, and businesses to move money in a way that is safer, faster, and significantly more affordable than traditional payment options.

Using the Internet, Dwolla has designed a smarter way to structure payments and identify fraud. This allows the system to bypass credit cards, PayPal, and other payment types and, at the same time, offer the nation’s lowest cost payment network.

Since 2010, the Des Moines-based company has processed millions of transactions, becoming the nation’s newest and fastest growing payment network.

Pay as a guest:

Now, with Dwolla’s new guest checkout option, anyone can use Dwolla to make a one-time payment from their financial institution to an online merchant or marketplace.

Guest checkout adds Dwolla’s payment engine to traditional bank-issued transactions, allowing the same level of security, safety, and innovation regular Dwolla users enjoy.

Benefits of guest checkout

For consumers:
  • No need for a pre-existing Dwolla account
  • Free to pay: no hidden fees or costs
  • Cardless and checkless
  • Safer than writing checks
  • Safe and secure Dwolla network technologies
  • Save money with Dwolla price (with participating merchants)
  • Privacy conscious (we do not sell your data!
For merchants:
  • Increased profit margins and savings over credit cards (flat 25 cent fee for transactions over $10, under $10 is free)
  • Easily add Dwolla as another payment method
  • Fluid offsite checkout experience
  • Automatic PCI compliance


Using Guest Checkout vs. paying as a traditional Dwolla user

Paying as a guest (for those without Dwolla a account):
  • Free to pay: no hidden fees or costs to use
  • Safer than writing checks
  • Cardless and checkless
  • Safe and secure Dwolla network technologies
  • Save money with Dwolla price (see below)
  • Privacy conscious (we do not sell your data!)

Users with Dwolla account (“Paying as a guest” plus the following): 

  • Pay your friends and family through your social networks
  • Lowest-cost (25 cents for payments over $10, free for transactions under $10)
  • Faster payments and clearing dates
  • Suite of features and tools
  • Connect a bank account for simple depositing and withdrawing
  • Use your phone to pay merchants and friends
  • Minimum balance keeps your account full
  • “Plug-and-pay” with numerous web third-party applications

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Does the merchant ever see my banking information

No. Aside from the fact that you’ve paid, Dwolla does not disclose or include sensitive financial information inside of transactions.

2. Is Dwolla safe?

All information is securely passed, encrypted, and stored in ways that meet or exceed industry standards. Dwolla does not sell your data or transactions with corporations or private parties. For more information, visit security and partnership.

3. Can I cancel my payment?

Yes, but the canceled payment must a.) be initiated by the merchant and b.) occur before the payment is processed.

4. How do Refunds and Disputes occur?

Dwolla defers to the refund policy of its merchants, but will assist in the dispute process whenever necessary. Learn more about Dwolla’s dispute process.

5. Why isn’t my total cheaper when I use Dwolla?

Not all merchants have opted to offer the Dwolla price discount. Dwolla believes it’s up to the merchants to decide what’s best for their business.

 

Watch How Easy It Is To Give In Support Of Hurricane Sandy Recovery Efforts

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Here’s a video showing how easy it is to participate in GIVENATION and use Seconds to give to IRD in support of Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.  Although he’s paying rent and booking a hotel room, your payment experience will be just the same.

It actually takes longer and it’s more difficult to stand in line and order a latte at Starbucks.  Today, hold the latte and give to those who need it.

Text dollar amount to 202-999-3736

or

go to getseconds.com/givenation

Why I Write So Unbashingly Straightforward and Authentic

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On a recent post titled  Founder = Learning To Juggle While Riding A Unicycle On A TightRope   I recieved the following comment.

Nick, I find your blog interesting. Spectating the process of someone having the guts to go it alone and start their own thing is enlightening plus a curious thing to follow to boot. Regardless of the underlying intention of this blog, I thank you for taking the time and being brave enough to share your feelings as you go through your journey.

However…

What did you do before your became this ‘founder’? In the post above you’re describing a vast majority of jobs, whether it be owning a company, directing a company, managing a team or heading up a department. The general sentiment of this post makes me wonder why you considered starting your own business in the first place. That’s really all you’re doing – starting a business. The same as the plumber down the road who is determined to do it on his own. Attaching the terms ‘founder’ and ‘start up’ to it doesn’t really change it in my mind.

Just because the ‘paper pushers’ get a salary, a monthly wage, a mobile device, a fuel card and any amount of other incentives, it doesn’t mean they’re under any less stress to put out their own fires, to keep their job, to keep their team’s jobs, to impress their boss, to impress their spouse, to continue paying the mortgage, schooling the kids, paying for groceries etc, etc.

We all have to juggle buddy. The difference is, while some of us sit in the corner waiting to be hugged, some of us simply add ‘hugging the sad-looking guy in the corner’ to our ever increasing todo list.

Step up mate. If you’re struggling to juggle, perhaps you need to leave the circus? If this response is out of line with the purpose of your post, I apologise. But take a second to consider the sentiment of what you’re putting out there and the effect it might have on your growing number of readers.

Keep up the awesome work and just keep swimming!

Below is my response:

Thanks for the reply and I appreciate your response. And I am glad you are enjoying the journey with me.  However, maybe something was lost in translation and I possibly missed a few things as I wrote this morning. Please read this as a neutral response. The point of the post is twofold.

First, there is a hell of a difference between an owner/founder and an employee – namely the fact that all most all parts of the business rest solely on the founders/owners shoulders. This is typically not the case when you are an employee, especially as the organization grows. (and yes I have been an employee in large and small organizations before, that’s actually what influenced me to start my own company). This perspective can be referred to as Owner vs Employee mentality and it’s not for the faint of heart. And I am not even including all the stuff you mention everyone must now juggle “to keep their job, to keep their team’s jobs, to impress their boss, to impress their spouse, to continue paying the mortgage, schooling the kids, paying for groceries etc, etc.”

Second, using the analogy of learning to juggle while riding a unicycle on a tightrope is to say you have to pretty much learn everything on your own, typically numerous things at once, trial and error as a founder. There’s no owners manual to founding a company, kinda like there’s no magic “lose 50 pounds” diet pill. Startup is no easy task and one of the reasons why most of us never venture out on our own. Employees are trained to do a specific job and have someone (boss, manager, owner) to rely on when things get too difficult or become “over their head” if you will. They have safety nets who can take on the problem if need be and for lack of a better term “wipe their hands clean” at the end of the day since it’s not their company.

I guess a third point is simply the fact that founding a company is damn hard and something I look to grind through towards growth and success. I started on this path because it’s a healthy challenge and allows me to appreciate what life presents when you take it into your own hands. And nope, this circus ain’t leaving anytime soon.

I write bluntly and truthfully for readers – for better or worse. My goal is to open up the black box of entrepreneurship and give people a better perspective, those who may be fascinated with it but have never made the leap themselves. Is it sometimes hard to digest? For sure. But that’s entrepreneurship. Part of the motivation in my writing style is to help readers gain a better appreciation for entrepreneurs and the struggles we go through, and maybe to educate people on the decision they may or may not be contemplating at the moment. Just like life, it’s quite messy.

As you can see, I write with unbashing honesty, authenticity and realness because I believe current and future entrepreneurs deserve it.  I also write with such perspective because quite a few readers of this blog are not actually entrepreneurs and this seems to be the only way I can accurately communicate to them what we go through on a daily basis.  Some are my family and friends that at times I am sure they ask themselves what the hell we are doing.

The point of SoEntrepreneurial is (and has always been) to illustrate and communicate the entrepreneurial journey is words maybe not heard anywhere else.  No, starting a company is not like being an employee no matter how much the above commenter believes it is.  It’s everything they describe – and a hell of a lot more.  And starting a tech company is defineltiy more difficult than becoming a plumber or other service provider who create their own company, namely because when starting a technology company you first have to determine what you are going to do and then build your product out of thin air.  Only after you have done those things can you then go find customers who want to use it!  Come to think of it, if your life and job is equally stressful as being an entrepreneur, I would encourage you to at least put yourself in a position where you are creating equity and ownership in what you do on a day to day basis.   Then you can at least justify to yourself why you are working so damn hard.

If you read popular tech blogs, you’ll read way too much about the lavishing riches and wealth founders’ of companies encounter, as well as all the posts about how another early startup creating a Groupon copycat (ok, maybe a year or two ago) raised millions of investment without any proven market traction.

Like it or not, that is not real life as a startup just as the tabloids or TMZ is not real life.  That’t the 1%.  The rest of us 99% tough it out and have to prove it over the long haul.  It would be a disservice to potential founders if they did not hear the truth from the source.

It sounds as if things I say or the descriptive words I use to write may be offending some people or might cut too close to the bone.  I am sorry if that is the case, but I also feel it’s not really my problem if I offend people.  I know I am doing a service with the words I write, and I am not purposefully out to harm any one person or group of people when I do it.  My intent is to educate and inform through words just as a producer of a documentary would with moving pictures on a screen.  If those words agitate or disturb in any way, well maybe it’s time to look in the mirror.

In any case, I will continue to write with open honesty and authentic voice.  You, as the reader deserve it.  You deserve to actually feel what its like to start a company out of thin air and grow it from the ground up.  You deserve to go through the good times and the bad.  You deserve to hear a fair and balanced perspective on technology and starting a company from someone who didn’t go to Stanford, work at Google or come from the lucky sperm club.  Absolutely, you deserve to hear how a normal guy, with no real starting advantage over the competition can grind it out and become successful with his startup.

Why?

Because if he can do it, so can you.  That’s what SoEntrepreneurial is all about.

Founder = Learning To Juggle While Riding A Unicycle On A TightRope

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Being a founder is often hard to describe.  When you are asked, “what do you do” at parties or other social events, it’s easier to brush it off and not bring up the fact that you are a founder of your own company, just so you don’t have to go into how crazy it is.  When they realize you are a “founder” and you have a “startup”, it’s quite impressive to them.  They think it’s all glitz and glamor.  “Oh” they say, “that must be really fun!”  They think you make a ton of money and instantly give you more credit than you deserve.   They almost give you rock star status.

Or, ironically, they don’t give you enough credit.

The problem is they have no clue what you are going through and what it took just to get to where you are right now.  They have no idea how much you gave up to get here.  They don’t understand you don’t go back to a desk in an building owned by the company you work for, push some pieces of paper around, report to a boss, provided daily meals by your employer, given a shiny mobile device and a cushy salary with benefits.

They don’t actually realize NONE of that is included.   They have no idea you have given up everything in your life for this moment.

They also have no idea being a founder is like learning to juggle while riding a unicycle on a tightrope.

Why would I use such an analogy?

Most people’s idea of a founder is Steve Jobs – Miraculous.  Incredible.   Innovator.   Charismatic.  Leader.  Someone who’s all put together and very wealthy.  Use whatever descriptive words you want but they will be wrong.

Sorry to ruin the fun, but as founders we are generally running around like a chicken with our heads cut off trying to put out the latest fire threatening to burn down our dream.  Most things presented to you will be foreign and scary as hell to fix.  Customers will leave you.  Investors will say no.  Tech will fail.  Team members will leave.   Bank accounts will go dry.  And that’s just par for the course each day.

Most of the time you have no idea what you are doing or what the right move is, you are just putting one foot in front of the other and feeling your way around the dark room.

It’s feels like this: you attend to one thing, and just when you think you have it figured out another thing pops up.  So now you have two things to look over and figure out.  Yet before you know it, instantly another issue arises.  But this one is specifically attached to how you actually make money so you must drop everything else and go figure it out.  Hopefully, once you get that figured out you remember what the last issue was so you can return and fix it.

Learning. To. Juggle. While. Riding. A. Unicycle. On. A. TightRope.

Yes, it feels that tiring each and every day.  Next time you find out someone is a founder, please just give them a hug and ask them what you can do to help.

And you know what?  Juggling and riding unicycles also have their benefits and the analogy works the other way.  More on that topic at a later date.

What Is GIVENATION? Would You Give A #@$%?

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What is GIVENATION?

Hurricane Sandy recently caused billions of dollars in damage, destroying cities and displacing millions of people. What if GIVENATION was a holiday challenge to give whatever you can, helping with the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort?

 

What if we established a friendly competition between states to determine “the most giving state” based on amount of dollars contributed during this year’s holiday season?

What if Seconds just partnered with one of the largest global non-profits focusing on disaster relief around the world?

What if, as you are buying toys, clothes, electronics and other items as presents for family and friends this holiday,  you didn’t forget to give a gift to a nation in need?

What if we announce something big this Friday, November 16th 2012?

What if GIVENATION was real?  Would you give?

 

Ask The Right Question At The Right Time

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There are certain moments, typically in business development conversations, when you sense the entire future of your company is resting on that exact moment in time.  You realize what you say next will either result in an affirmative commitment to your company or a “thanks but no thanks” response.

I just had one of those and boy and I glad I knew it was happening.

The conversation was with a self-identified skeptic for which they were asking why they should consider working with Seconds.  This individual was very cordial and nice, yet opened the conversation with an obvious “you’re behind the 8-ball” tone.  It was up to me to unravel where they were coming from, identify where we fill the gaps and bring them to a point where they wanted to work with us.

I learned (or maybe realized) a few lessons as we were working our way through the conversation towards an agreement.

1.  No is easier than yes

People are naturally programmed to say no.  You must work towards the yes, which requires taking that person on a journey through why they are better off with your solution than not.  Saying yes requires one to actually commit to something.  Saying no requires no commitment, thus it is the easier option.  Remember, most people are commitment phobes and would rather say no than have to stick to a commitment.

2.  Conversations turn with one question

As we worked through our conversation and they received answers to all their questions, it became apparent to me I needed to take control of the conversation if I was going to get a satisfactory outcome.  At one point they mentioned they were already working with a “somewhat similar” company, and asked why they should consider working with Seconds?  My response… “how’s that working out?” and then waited for the answer.  I followed up with “are they rolling out nationwide with your organization being the only organization involved, meaning your organization will be highlighted and singled out?”

At that moment, the conversation changed.  It became clear there was no logical reason for this person to say no and we started down a very positive brainstorm on how to make our partnership even better.

3.  People need to be led

What this really comes down to is the fact that most people just need to be led to a decision.  Since people are programmed to say no – even when yes is the better answer – they need to be led to understand why yes is the better answer.  This takes courage for sure, because going out on a limb and calling someone out can be risky, they might get upset and you might even lose the opportunity.  Yet, it may be the only way you earn a new customer or distribution partnership.

You can learn a lot from one conversation, next time pay attention to how you are handling the questions you are being asked.  You might just help them help you.

The Future of Commerce Will Combine Your Social Network and Mobile Device

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Below is from my latest posts published on PayPal’s DevZone, titled The Future of Commerce Will Combine Your Social Network and Mobile Device.

Each day we hear growing speculation about the so-called mobile commerce revolution that’s just starting to take shape. Some think NFC payments will be the next big thing in retail. Others believe text-based payments will open up the mobile payment experience for the billions of mobile device holders around the world. And thousands of new apps are created each year with a new twist on using your mobile device to pay for everyday things.

To some extent, these concepts and more will shape the future of mobile commerce. However, pundits are forgetting what might happen if you combine the most commonly used platforms in the world—mobile devices and social networks—and infuse quick payment technology within them.

If Those Two Powerful Phenomena Merge, Will We Discover a New Payments Utopia?

It seems as if we’ve been in the stone age of social commerce for years now. Facebook has been around for almost a decade, and before that we had Friendster and Myspace. From my perspective, most don’t realize how close we actually are to merging social and commercial actions. How many times have you read a Facebook update from a friend, for instance, saying something like “I just saw ____ and it was the best movie I’ve ever seen.” Or what about the posts that show off a new car or recently purchased clothing? Those posts, in a small way, are the beginnings of social commerce. By sharing things such as a new purchase or a cool new movie, you are influencing your friends’ commercial interests. Today, people are partaking in social commerce without actually knowing it.

The question is, what will happen when they know they are doing it and they help you make a similar purchase? And more interestingly, what happens when it originates from a mobile device?

Read the rest here.

Seconds Chosen To Provide Mobile Donations For U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

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We are pleased to announce Seconds has been chosen to power mobile payments for the 2012 U.S. Capitol Building Christmas Tree.  Yes, the one that travels across the country on a truck and is put on display in front of the capitol building in Washington D.C.  That one.

This past spring, wildfires burned more then 100,000 acres of land and more than 600 homes near Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to destroying homes, these fires severely damaged critical watershed areas that supply water for the cities of Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. They also damaged critical habitat for wildlife and fish in the region.

Seconds was sought out by a Colorado non-profit called ChooseOutdoors and the National Forest Service looking for a dynamic mobile/text payment system to help raise money for restoration of the thousands of acres destroyed in the fires.  They were very clear they wanted it to be as smooth and quick as possible to complete since people will be standing outside during festivities and if wanting to make a donation, they should be able to with a mobile device.

I told them “No problem.  Heres how it works: People simply text a numerical dollar amount to the phone number. For example, texting “5” will instantly send back a link to quickly complete a $5 payment using a credit card or bank account. Payments can also be made on the desktop or mobile web by visiting getseconds.com and searching for the tree.”

That’s it.

You can learn more about the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree here.  From the press release (full press release below):

People are encouraged to give what they can – even $5 or $10 – to help restore their country, whose deteriorating forest conditions place America at a growing risk of forest fires. “Our team wondered how many dollars can we, as a nation, raise to help restore the forests during the holidays,” said Nick Hughes, CEO of Seconds. So the goal became to raise at least $25,000 for restoration of the very forests many of us make our back yards. “All money raised will go to supporting work crews and acquiring materials needed to replant riparian vegetation, stabilize stream banks and re-plant trees lost in the fires,” said Jeff Olson, president of Choose Outdoors.

Please take a moment out of your busy day and give to the tree.

Seconds Powers Mobile Donations For U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Campaign

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree now represents much more than an old holiday tradition

SEATTLE, WA – November 1st, 2012 – Seconds, the company enabling quick payments using mobile devices, is announcing their have been chosen as the payments provider for a holiday donation campaign associated with the Christmas Tree standing in front of the U.S. Capitol Building.

This past spring, wildfires burned more then 100,000 acres of land and more than 600 homes near Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, Colorado. In addition to destroying homes, these fires severely damaged critical watershed areas that supply water for the cities of Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. They also damaged critical habitat for wildlife and fish in the region.

Seconds is announcing today they have been selected to help ChooseOutdoors.org and the U.S. Forest Service with the Colorado Forest Fire Restoration Challenge Fund, in association with the 2012 Capitol Christmas Tree project. The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree will be cut from Meeker, Colorado and driven across the country starting November 6th, touring more than 30 cities before being decorated and put on display for the holidays in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington DC.

People are encouraged to give what they can – even $5 or $10 – to help restore their country, whose deteriorating forest conditions place America at a growing risk of forest fires. “Our team wondered how many dollars can we, as a nation, raise to help restore the forests during the holidays,” said Nick Hughes, CEO of Seconds. So the goal became to raise at least $25,000 for restoration of the very forests many of us make our back yards. “All money raised will go to supporting work crews and acquiring materials needed to replant riparian vegetation, stabilize stream banks and re-plant trees lost in the fires,” said Jeff Olson, president of Choose Outdoors.

To donate, simply text a numerical dollar amount to the phone number 303-502-5858. For example, texting “5” will instantly send back a link to quickly complete a $5 payment using a credit card or bank account. Payments can also be made on the desktop or mobile web by visiting getseconds.com and searching for the tree.

“It’s an honor to be chosen by the U.S. Forest Service and ChooseOutdoors.org as the payments platform for this special event. Our goal is to encourage people to give any amount they can during the holiday season to help improve the health of our land”, says Hughes. All participants from the winning state will be placed in a drawing for two tickets to next year’s tree lighting ceremony in Washington D.C.

Give up a latte, gain a forest. Our nation’s forests are in critical condition and need our help to restore their health. Imagine what Americans can accomplish by simply giving up one holiday latte and gifting that $5 to the forest. Funding for restoration and public education are just a few of the ways we can decrease the chances of devastating fires – saving homes, neighborhoods and possibly lives. “We are thrilled that a Colorado forest is providing a gift to the nation and hope that it will assist in educating the country about forest health and restoration” said Jerri Marr, supervisor of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests.

For additional information on how to support or help with efforts, contact Jeff Olson at jeff.chooseoutdoors@gmail.com or Nick Hughes, CEO of Seconds at nick@getseconds.com.

About Seconds

Seconds enables any device holder to send or accept payments, whether through the web, mobile web or a quick text message. They believe the payment experience should be as quick, simple and intuitive as sending a text message. Founded during the fall of 2011 in Seattle, the original idea was to enhance mobile ordering and commerce for small local businesses. After pilot tests proved both merchants and customers just want the payment experience to be completed as fast and easy as possible, they decided to only focus on the mobile payment experience. They have a vision of any individual being able to interact and transact with any merchant in the world, holding any device they wish. Currently they hold office space in the recently opened SURF Incubator in downtown Seattle.

Valuable Lessons Learned In The First Year As A Startup CEO

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About a year ago I was approached by a stranger and was asked to join a Seattle startup.  This stranger, my soon-to-be-cofounder, asked me to take the CEO role in the startup, which unfortunately was named Order SM but eventually became Seconds.

I remember it clear as day.  We met at a coffee shop in the Greenlake neighborhood in Seattle and chatted about our similar ideas on local and mobile commerce.  We both believed all the current options on the market were missing the boat, releasing bloated products and not making the mobile ordering/payment experience any easier than it was online or over voice on the phone.

I was much obliged and we immediately got to work, paving the way to release our first product.  It has now been more than a year since this fateful day and I feel it’s as good of time as any to review some lessons I have gathered through my first year as CEO of a fledging startup.

You will be underestimated

First thing to understand as a rookie – your peers, the media, investors and the rest of the industry will underestimate you.  This is a fact of life and was nothing new to me.  “He’s just a guy who was a personal trainer for god sakes.  What does he know about technology?”  Better get used to these types of reactions if you are trying to do anything out of the ordinary.  I don’t fit the traditional mold of a tech startup’r.  I look different than the rest.  I my degree doesn’t align with what we are doing.  To them, I a lost bet.  Although it’s frustrating at times to hear this, I have no problem being the underdog.  I would rather be doubted and exceed expectations than be heralded and ultimately disappoint.

It’s tougher than they say

Starting a company is definitely one of the most challenging things you will ever do in your life.  It’s especially difficult if you did not study at an IVY league or Stanford university, graduate with a CS degree, come from a family of great wealth, get hired early on by Google, Facebook or Microsoft, have a sizable exit from a previous company or any other notable event investors look for when evaluating startups.  No, my team and I have none of the above.  Yet here we are a year later, still creating great products and building an exciting company.

Be prepared to be challenged more than you ever have in your life.   You will be challenged physically.  You will be challenged mentally.  You will also be challenged psychologically more than you ever thought possible.  You will ask yourself why you are doing this and to what cost is it worth.  Challenges technically, socially, professionally and financially will string you out way past what you ever thought you can deal with.

You will also give up more than you ever thought.  Going without pay for pretty much the entire year has been humbling, to say the least.  You might even come face to face with the very things you take for granted each day – the roof over your head, the car you own, public transportation just to get to the office, enough food in your stomach so you don’t starve.  imagine what I think when I walk past beggars and the homeless nowadays.  Not only do I not have $1 in my pocket to give them but also, why would I give them a dollar when they are just sitting there asking for a handout?  Maybe if they were offering a service or working towards something positive for society I might think differently.  I understand the harshness of my thoughts but it’s the same standard I hold for myself.  Add value to get value back.

This is the road less traveled and indeed it’s much tougher than they say.

VC’s and Investors will lie to you

Unfortunately, investors will lie to you.  They will tell you straight to your face they are interested, want to learn more and actually want to invest.  This, most likely, is a lie.  Why?  Investors want access to the most information possible for the least expense, and will lead you on for months before they let you down with a “you’re just a little early for us but stay in touch.”   This is bullshit and you don’t have to take it.  Just cut to the chase as early as possible, tell them what you are looking for and that you are not going to put up with any BS.  Let them know you call the shots in these conversations, and it’s a privilege they are talking with you.  Ask them to get on the train or risk being left behind.  In fact, not cutting to the chase as early as possible shows investors you are naïve, at which point they will exploit the fact for all its worth.  Trust me, I did this too much and now regret wasting my time and energy on something that was not going to happen at the time.

Remember – if you are the one approaching your odds are slim to none.

Leadership is required from day one

The day I agreed to cofound this company and become CEO of Seconds I told my then cofounder:

“If I am CEO than the buck stops at me.  There will be no power struggles, disagreements and other crap that breaks up promising startups.  The CEO is the ultimate decision maker and will have final say, no matter if I hold the position or anybody else.  Agreed?”

I believe this initial conversation set the tone for the company, a tone that has remained solid to this day.  Clear leadership, from the CEO onto others in different roles within the company (technical, design, product lead) has been established and follows a predictable path.  If an issue or disagreement forms, we talk it out as a team and determine what feels like the right decision.  Ultimately, when all perspectives have been heard heads then turn to the CEO where everyone believes the right decision will be made.

Building a great team takes time

I wrote about building teams previously, focusing on filling complimentary roles within the team.  The way things tend to happen in a startup could be summarized by the words “controlled chaos”.  People come and go.  If your vision is intoxicating enough, you will attract people that want to help out.  Problems arise when people realize it will be harder work than originally thought, so some will split.  At that moment, you will find out who is serious and who isn’t.

It takes time and energy to find the right talent for the right job.  The initial founding team helped prototype the concept and get an initial product into the market.  A full year into existence, Seconds now has a whole new team (besides myself and Brent) working on the next phase of Seconds, which requires slightly different skills and talents.  I have never been more confident about our team – as well as more proud of the work we have done in the last month.  It’s okay to have a fluid team if the product is moving forward.  At some point stability will be found.

Building a great product takes time

Just as building a great team takes time, building a great product takes time.   You must be comfortable with timely, constant iteration and waiting patiently as your tests reveal valuable results.  Recently I commented on our evolution of Seconds:

“We launched the earliest version of Seconds about a year ago, under a different name and clearly aimed at a different customer segment.  The product was buggy as hell and to be honest, a bit embarrassing.  But that’s the point of an early release, isn’t it?  It does you no good to have an idea without a product others can touch, taste and see.  We knew we needed to get something into end-customers hands ASAP if we were going to receive any feedback – feedback that actually led to our next iteration.  I consider it lucky we were able to have a team willing to quickly put out a buggy product and gain much needed feedback.  In fact, we created that luck by committing to releasing immediately and listen to the feedback.

… We refused to be boxed too narrow in the beginning, and it has paid off tremendously.  A year ago, we were a text ordering system for local restaurants, struggling to fit our solution to their non-obvious problems.  This winter, possibly millions of people will be using Seconds to make donations to an important cause with a few quick swipes of their finger.

It’s more fun than they say

I am sure you are thinking to yourself about how crazy and interesting of picture the above paints.  All in all, I am having the time of my life and I believe any startup founder needs to be doing the same.  Why on earth would put yourself through such madness if you didn’t enjoy the process?

I though I was just working hard on starting a cool payments company, yet I have learned more about myself in the last year than in the past 30 years of my life.  Deep down in the founding core of any company you will find a root motivation within every founder called personal discovery.  Of course they want to make worldwide impact and maybe even create great wealth for themselves and their shareholders.  But what they don’t talk about is the journey of personal discovery the are currently on, the one that takes them deeper into their psyche and will only make sense decades later.  I find my current journey fascinating simply because most people don’t have the courage to dive this deep.  I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

Are we a little crazy?  Yes.  But as a classic Apple commercial so adamantly starts:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes…

 

Startup Death Valley: What It Is And How To Get Out

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I’m sure a large number of teams reading Techcrunch or other tech blogs right now are in the same situation my company found itself recently.  It probably goes something like this: you have a startup, a product, users and a maybe little revenue.  You are growing month over month but really you aren’t where you want to be.

Most likely you are answering questions with reflexive responses such as “well, we are just testing some assumptions right now” or “we’re heading in the right direction, just need a few more engineers on the team.”  Or, how about this one, “oh, we’re still in stealth, you could call it alpha…”

Give me a break.  Quit lying to yourself.

To put it bluntly, you are in Startup Death Valley.  And you need to get out as soon as possible.  If not, your startup will certainly die.  It might make you feel better knowing Death Valley is where most startups end up – not quite done but definitely not making anything happen.  If you do feel better thinking you are not alone, you are most certainly destined to fail.  Finding yourself in Death Valley is scary and should result in only one question: “how long until we’re dead?”


You and I know it wasn’t always this way.  Not too long ago your team was driving forward toward a goal, excited as hell to be at the office until midnight or later hammering away to the launch your latest concept.  And you absolutely knew, once you launched, millions of users were going to flock.  Revenues were supposed to grow.  Investors were most definitely going to call you back.

And then… Crickets.

Now, it’s become a lot more difficult to get out of bed.  You’ve noticed it’s not as exciting to load up the email or go into the office, and definitely not as fun to field questions about your startup.  Reading all the media out there you just wish you could be on the other side, reaching milestones and attracting investment dollars at record levels.  But you’re not.  You get up each day wishing things would be different instead of actually doing anything about it.  In a word, you are complacent.

If this is how you are feeling, you are currently in Death Valley and have little time left.   So, how do those select few companies – the ones gaining all the attention and money – get out (or stay out) of Death Valley?

First and foremost, they make their own luck.  They pick up the dice and roll them again – quickly.  They get out by putting it all on the line and betting the company, just as we did recently.  Oddly, when faced with inadequate growth too many startups just keep heading blindly toward danger only to drive right off the cliff.   This is, quite literally, insane.  They are not self aware enough to sense what needs to change, when, and how fast.  The ability to sense market shifts and adjust accordingly is an incredible skill that can be found in all of the successful founders, especially ones the ones you don’t find in Death Valley.

Without going into detail about my startup, here’s the playbook we just used to redesign and deploy a brand new product within a month’s time, reviving our company and paving the way for a whole new market opportunity.  If you are a founder or early employee of a stagnant startup, maybe this playbook will help you too.

Make a commitment to change
The first step is to determine what you are going to do and how you will go about it.  To get clear on those issues, you need to take an account of what you have or have not accomplished up to this point.  This requires a long and painful look in the mirror by the founding team, revealing truths that will hopefully save the company.

Has your vision changed since the last big development?  What has the larger market and your existing user base told you since your last product release?  What features are engaging users on the existing product?  What is not engaging and not being used.  Point blank, what’s not working?   What assumptions were proven true and what didn’t pan out?

Then it’s pretty simple – keep what is working and throw away what doesn’t.  Really, just scrap it.  In our experience it was smarter to cut the fat and trim features rather than just add new ones we thought might work.  For a number of reasons we actually decided to rebuild rather than make additions to existing codebase.  Contrary to popular belief, this is more challenging than it sounds.  Why? Inherently, humans tend to be scared and freeze when making drastic changes on things they spent long periods of time working on.  It all comes down to our natural fear of change.  This is no truer as an employee of a Big Co. than as it is as a startup team reviewing their V1.0 product.  The reason is we fear change.  Yet, this is exactly where we found ourselves with our product – growing but not growing very fast. Ultimately, we decided we weren’t scared of the consequences since we knew if we did nothing, nothing would change.  Actually, that’s not true.  It would have been the end of the line since “good enough” is actually not good enough in the big leagues.

State it VERY publicly
Almost nothing gets done until there’s a deadline.  Although dates set internally are the start of it, they are only as good as your team’s integrity.  Unfortunately, it’s way too easy to fudge on commitments when they are loosely agreed upon between a few team members in a private meeting. Fully committing to a new product release required establishing a public event and trying it to our new product.  To make it even more drastic of a commitment, we also stated this publicly and promised a large group of people they would be using our system, the very product that wasn’t yet built. This was really the only way to move the needle.  Similar to launch parties, larger public commitments set solid deadlines teams must respect.  In fact, DEADline is a great word since that is what you will be if, in fact, you don’t meet it.

Do whatever it takes to deliver
Staying at the office until wee hours of the morning, having intense discussions of where buttons and other little details should be placed, and not spending time with friends or family because a deadline is fast approaching, these are all signs you are doing whatever it takes to make things happen.

The biggest sign: you are more afraid of not delivering and failing in public than anything else in the moment.

We found ourselves performing at levels we hadn’t reached in quite some time, if ever.  The last few weeks were a blur, and we didn’t sleep at all the night before our release, not because we were excited like Christmas Eve, but because we HAD to deliver.  Although not amusing at the time, the moment media was suppose to go live (6am EST) announcing our latest release, our site was actually down.  How fun!  Even more challenging, throughout the entire launch day our system was incredibly buggy due to a DNS change and other small issues.  Yet I was as proud as any startup CEO could be watching our entire team set aside all other distractions, doing whatever it takes to push out a successful new release.

The lesson here is simple – without a predetermined public commitment connected to a larger event we would never have pushed ourselves as hard as we did.  We would have stayed in Death Valley, remaining complacent like the other 90% of startups out there.   We smartly made a commitment others outside our organization could hold us accountable and expect us to deliver on.   It was very risky.

Yet, through the very late nights and stressful moments an awesome feeling started to emerge:  Damn right, we will most definitely make this happen.

image via Flickr user Michael Ransburg.

What I Learned At DEMO 2012

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The DEMO conference, held each year in Silicon Valley, has been home to many successful product launches over the last decade.  I was honored to be in attendance this last week in Santa Clara and it did not disappoint.  For those who aren’t familiar with DEMO, it’s an event where scores of startups have 6 minutes to present their product on stage.  At the end, a few awards are given to winners voted by a panel of investors and journalists.  The trip was actually the winning prize from the SURF Incubator pitch competition we won in June.  Before I go any further I want to publicly thank SURF Incubator for the opportunity and I hope we represented you well.

Although we didn’t present or pitch on stage I definitely had a great time.  Here’s Ray Kurzweil speaking on what he see’s as the future of technology.  Things are about the get crazy cool and I’m very glad I was sitting there that day!

The event – one I won’t forget for a number of reasons – was notable, tiresome, and educational.  We spoke with a number of other startups and were shocked at how strong our pitch has become, even to other entrepreneurs.  It’s pretty cool to see others grasping your concept and actually wanting to use it themselves and integrate within their offering.  The trip in itself was very travel intensive, which takes its toll on you mentally and physically.   We spent way too many hours on public transportation, that’s for sure.  But the biggest thing that stuck with me was how much you can learn by just observing people.  As I closely watched the presenters, I noticed a few things that I feel are not covered enough in the media, lessons us “early stage” founders desperately need.   I realized by following a few simple principles any founder can successfully demo their product and impress an audience.

Passion

The truth is, as an attendee watching all the DEMO’s you get quite restless and bored.  This is natural when you are indoors seeing 75 companies parading across the stage throughout the two-day event.  As a presenter, you must understand people are drawn into passionate communicators and distaste anything boring or monotone.  I watched most of the presentations during the event, and I was struck with how many presenters lacked expressive passion for their concept and cause.  They might have had some really cool tech but I wouldn’t have know it by how little they expressed their excitement.  Maybe they were nervous or something, but for whatever reason they did not positively influence me on what they were trying to DEMO.

To me, as an attendee, if the presenter did not elicit belief and passion as they spoke about their product, I tuned out.  It became background noise and monotone distraction to me and my iphone.  You think I am alone?  Occasionally I would glance around to the crowd only to see most attendees face lit up with some sort of device in front of them.  This is something all presenters should not overlook.  Today, you need to give people a reason NOT to grab their phone and play with it.  The best presenters were passionate in the right way, and helped me become passionate about their concept, albeit even for just a few minutes.  It’s notable to mention EVERY award winner passed my passion test.

Poise

In addition to passion, presenters must employ a great deal of poise when on stage in front of hundreds of people.  This is challenging yet probably the most important aspect of public speaking.  Face it, people are very superficial and if a presenter doesn’t come across comfortable, collected and confident the audience will immediately judge negatively.

The presenters that most impressed me were the ones that came across the most comfortable, confident and collected.  In a word, they were very poised onstage.  They told me, through their non-verbal cues, “I am the expert on this subject at the moment one the one you should be listening to.  Our market leading product is one you definitely need to check out.”

Unfortunately, a few of the presenters actually froze on stage and forgot what they were going to say.  This is not a good outcome, especially when being onstage in front of investors and media could result in great fortunes for you and your company.  The result, for me as an attendee, was I didn’t really understand what they were doing (in addition to feeling really uncomfortable).  The result for them, probably very little investment leads.  Whatever it takes, speakers must get prepared!

Relevance

Great product demo’s lead the audience on a journey of discovery into insights and personally useful information.  If not, it’s a waste of six minutes of a person’s time and attention (yes, this is what we all are thinking).   The successful demos all encorporated concepts or illustrations that instantly became relevant to me and others in the room.  One of the startups, StressFriend, has released an app plus wristwatch called Bandu that monitors your current level of stress and displays it in real time on the smartphone app.  Not only that, it maps my stress areas on an interactive map so I can see where I am stressed and where I’m calm.   It’s awesome, and something our society really needs so we can all just chill out!  During their demo, they actually had a drill sergeant come out from behind the stage, yelling and screaming in the face of one of their team members in the audience.  On the big screen, they showed his stress levels changing in real time.  Indeed, they were one of the award winners.  The relevance here is obvious; we all are stressed, we all hate raging people and we all felt it at that moment.  They brought it home!  You gotta believe very few people in the room were messing around on their phone or tablet during their presentation.

Winning pitch competitions can be the difference between gaining media attention and millions of investment dollars… or not.  It doesn’t have to be that difficult, you just need to follow a few major principles.  First be a passionate communicator so the audience feels you and your cause.  Second, be confident and have poise on stage in front of the crowd.  Lastly, no matter your product you need to present a story in which everyone can relate.  These three simple things will go a long way to help with your next demo and hopefully launch your startup successfully.

Seconds Releases A New Mobile Payment Experience Perfect For Any Device

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“We believe anyone, holding any device, should be able to make a payment in Seconds”

The mobile payment landscape is becoming more complex and confusing each day, with various apps and hardware requirements obstructing consumers’ ability to simply make a payment with their mobile device.  For Seconds, my startup, this growing problem presented an opportunity to build out a payment solution allowing anyone with a mobile device to actually complete a payment.

Today, Seconds is announcing the release of our new payment system, which enables any device holder to send or accept payments, whether through the web, mobile web or a quick text message.

“Shouldn’t all mobile devices be able to make a payment?   “We believe the payment experience should be as quick, simple and intuitive as sending a text message.”

The Seconds web experience starts with a simple search bar asking you “who do you want to pay?”  Payments can be made by searching name, email, twitter @username, phone number and possibly location, if they are not in the system there will be an option to send a quick invite.  If you find who you are looking for, you then just enter an amount and hit pay.

That’s it.

The new payment interface is the start an interesting direction we are steering towards…. the merging of Text, Search and Payments.  It’ll be exciting to see how it’s used and where it will go from here, especially with a merchant’s ability to create keywords and auto-transactions.

The text experience is really where it becomes clear how swift payments should actually be with a mobile device. Merchants on Seconds have the option to upgrade to a Text-Enabled account for $5 per month, including a new Seconds phone number and the ability to create keywords. This allows merchants to deploy keywords with corresponding dollar amounts.  Whenever an individual sends a keyword to the merchant via text message, an instant transaction occurs.  It also opens an efficient new communication channel between merchants and consumers.

Quite a few of our payment experiences are outside the ‘dongle card swipe on a mobile device in a small café’, what we mostly read about in media today.  I see an emerging mobile opportunity not in traditional retail outlets but involving the other various and bothersome payments we deal with on a daily basis.

“One can imagine how nice this will be for payments like rent, donations, settling with a friend, school and sports payments, clearing out a bill, paying the plumber, gardener, or personal trainer… quite frankly, all the other frustrating payment experiences no one has seemed to fix.”

In fact, Seconds has partnered with Seattle non-profit Vittana specifically for this launch.

In conjunction with a Seattle startup event/launch party to be held this Friday night, Seconds is powering mobile donations in support of Vittana and their mission to fight poverty through micro-loans to developing world students.   They wonder how much can be raised on this launch day?

Try Seconds now and help Vittana fight poverty.

Text “Vittana5” or “Vittana10” to (206) 538-2901 and donate that dollar amount in Seconds.

Any individual, organization or business can become a merchant and accept payments within a few minutes.  Merchants are walked through creating a free account and quickly connecting a card processor.  Text-Enabled accounts are available for an upgrade of $5 per month.  Seconds charges a flat rate of $.50 per transaction, not including normal processing fees (2.7% + .30) if a merchant is accepting credit or debit cards.   Also available are cash payments via Dwolla, once an account is connected and a bank account is attached.  Dwolla fees are a maximum of of $.25 per transaction (instead of the higher credit card percentages) and are a very attractive option for Seconds merchants. Consumers incur no costs when making Seconds payments.

Lift Off… In Just A Few Seconds

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…6… 5….4….3…2…1…

WE HAVE LIFT OFF.

This is exactly what I am feeling right now as we prepare for our latest release.  And it’s a huge release.  In fact, it’s a company defining release and will launch us into brand new territory.  It involves a Seconds launch event Friday night in Seattle, with hundreds in attendance.  It involves national press coverage.  It has involved weeks of (almost) all-nighters from the team – blood, sweat and tears.

It, by all regards, has been the most challenging but exciting time of each one of our lives.

It also involves a hell of a lot of dev work on the product.  We basically rebuilt Seconds from the ground up, keeping what worked and threw away the unnecessary.  At the time, I didn’t think we could make a more streamlined payment experience, but we did!  This could be taken as blasphemy, but the Seconds payment experience is unlike any other.

If you are are a frequent reader you know we have experienced growth each and every month yet we were struggling to onboard new customers/find the right market.  Based on that situation, during this summer we decided it was time to expand what was working and remove what wasn’t.

If it’s on or after Sep 28th, check Seconds out now!

Here’s a run down of our changes.

1.  We stripped away much of the old merchant experience, it was too clunky and confusing and have drastically redesigned the experience from the ground up.  Seconds is truly a new age payment system, built mobile first. 

2.  We realized the payment experience must be available to everyone (device agnostic), available and functional anywhere the consumer finds themself (proximity agnostic) and merge together communication and transaction for a quick but complete commerce experience.

3.  We created a clean interface for both individual and merchant accounts, easily usable and quicker to complete a task.  The product is even leaner than before and in my opinion, way more potent.

4.  The Seconds experience starts with a simple search bar asking you “who do you want to pay?”  You can make payments by searching name, email, twitter @username, phone number and possibly location, if they are not in our system there will be an option to send a quick invite.  If you find them, you then enter an amount and click pay.  That’s it.  The new interface is an interesting direction we are leaning towards…. The merging of Search and Payments.  It’ll be exciting to see how this will be used and where it will go from here, especially with merchant’s ability to create keywords. ☺

5.  We reimagined what “accepting payments” meant, and have now placed the opportunity one click away from a general Seconds user.  Basically, anyone can instantly upgrade to a “merchant account” if they want.  The cool thing is merchants are users by default, so they can make payments as well as accept them.

6.  We split payment acceptance in two options: a web only account (people are only able to make payments to that account via the web) and a text enabled account (involving both the web and messages sent via text/keyword based payments).  Web only is free.  Text enabled is $5 per month.  All merchants are charged $.50 per transaction through Seconds.  We believe the free monthly option will be a big winner and help increase merchant account creation.

7.  Creating a merchant account and accepting credit card payments can happen in just a few minutes – all on a mobile device if necessary.  It’s truly an amazing experience.  This was not the case just a week or so ago – a recent discovery of a new payments partner is going to open doors previously unimaginable.

8.  Based on these changes our margins are becoming even more awesome.  We enhanced how we are facilitating credit card payments and digital cash payments to create not only a better merchant onboarding but a better overall business.  This is huge and will allow for a nice cashflow in the short term as we get going.

9.  We have decided to focus Seconds on the college/University/Greeklife student market.  We have been told over and over how desperate they are for a sleek payment system where mobile users can quickly make a payment on the fly when they need to.  There is also strong interest in non-profits and donation collections for the same experience.  These two markets have one big thing in common: the payment is the product, in the sense there’s typically no physical product to be served.  This is where we’ll start and should get some strong growth from there.

Below is just a few of the events on our calendar:

Sep 28th – Media Launch of new Seconds payment system

There will be solid media coverage of the launch of our new system.  Sky’s the limit.

Sep 28th – Startup Crawl Fights Poverty

I have organized an event for the startup Seattle community and which will double as a launch party.  It will be a great night, should grab some exposure for Seconds and you are definitely invited if you are in Seattle.   https://soentrepreneurial.com/2012/09/18/the-seattle-startup-crawl-fights-poverty-september-28th-at-5pm-rsvp-now/.

Oct 1st – 3rd. – DEMO Conference

We will be down in SF for the DEMO conference, the trip we won during the SURF Incubator pitch competition.  It will be fun and we’ll be working on meetings and connecting with people there.  If you are in SF, please connect with me.  @jnickhughes.

Oct 16th – 18th –  TwilioCon

Twilio (the platform we use for communications) has invited Seconds to be a part of the event, one of a select group of startups to demo/highlighted during the event.  TwilioCon will be an awesome time for Seconds to get some solid attention from other startups, users, investors and media.

Soon – Dwolla partnernership

Dwolla will be making some big announcements and they have asked us to be associated with the event.  More on this soon!

What Happens When You Merge Search Into Payments?

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This is the main question asked internally at Seconds as we are working on a huge redesign of the mobile system.

Google has shown users are quite intent when searching for specific brands and products, that is why adwords is such a strong business.  The problem is the declining user experience.   The amount of time and number of clicks between the search and the purchase completion is growing.  Often times it can take numerous minutes and scores of clicks or finger swipes in order to complete a simple task such as making a quick payment.

Today, time is money.  A mere second, just a fraction of our life, is precious and valuable.   Anything that wastes it, in my opinion, is not worth doing.

Seconds was created to speed up the payment process, especially on the mobile device.  It removes all the excess layers and allows the essential functions to be completed as fast and as secure as possible.  Seconds was created to give time back to the customer.

That’s why we recently started looking at how to provide the best (read quickest) payment experience on the web.  We stumbled upon an interesting discovery, merging Search and Payments into a rich user experience.

“Who do you want to pay? “

Imagine being met with this statement… what do you do with it?  You could simply search a person, business or organization’s name and Seconds could find them based on our database or Facebook and other open graphs.  Same for twitter @username.  Using phone number, you could find them on Seconds or if not, invite them with quick text.  Same with email, either they are located or invited.

Once the recipient is located on Seconds, you simply enter the amount and make a payment to the merchant.  You also have the ability to see what they are offering (via keywords) and the prices associated.

Keywords offer the most intriguing possibilities of the future of search and payments. Imagine searching Pizza, Sandwich or Mariners on Seconds and being able to find something close by and quickly make a payment.

Already, Seconds allows merchant’s to create any number of keywords with dollar amounts associated.  Anytime a repeat customer sends the keyword to the merchant’s Seconds number via text message, a transaction instantly takes place.  Notice how the repeat experience can bypass what would at this point in the commercial relationship be considered a time waster.  An instant payment via text – it’s magic.

Yet the resulting data – keywords indexed and the inherent value associated – is the strongest future prospect.  Seconds indexes those keywords so indeed, they are also searchable.  This opens up a vibrant and rich search commerce experience void of the millions of worthless links Google provides us today.   The problem with Google is the deluge of information has muddled our user experience.  It takes me longer to search, find and make a purchase than I would like, which in the end frustrates me.

Its time Search was rebuilt with deeper purposes in mind, outside of indexing the entire world.  There’s just too much data and links out there to satisfy any user experience.

As Seconds grows and more merchants engage with the system – be it larger brands or smaller sole proprietors – there’s a massive opportunity to build out a more tightly focused commerce engine, one built with mobile at its core.   In this new engine, not only do merchants create an open avenue for people to pay them as easy and quickly as possible, but they now are able to be found via search on a system specifically built for payments and commerce.

Yes, some very interesting possibilities are available once payments and search merge as one.  Possibilities that, quite frankly, I have no idea what would look like right now.  We know this is only the beginning but the foundation being set down right now has very interesting future prospects.  Look for Seconds updated payment system to be released at the end of September, we believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

The Seattle Startup Crawl Fights Poverty, September 28th at 5pm. RSVP NOW!

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Hey Seattle, it’s that time again!

Here’s your chance to mix Seattle startup life, a little food and drink with an opportunity to help fight developing world poverty. This year’s Startup Crawl has partnered with local non-profit startup Vittana in support of their vision to break the cycle of poverty by facilitating micro-loans to students in developing countries.  Host venues will graciously provide alcohol (and non-alcoholic) drinks as well as tasty snacks and a damn good time for us attendees.  All I ask: How much good can we do in one night as a Seattle startup community?

In lieu of an entry fee we ask you choose to donate any amount you feel appropriate should you decide to have any food or drink.  Even a $25 donation can go a long way!  You may do this upon registration or during the event with Seconds, our local Seattle startup providing mobile payments.  ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE NIGHT WILL GO TO VITTANA.

The event will be in the form of a progressive party, with each host providing their choice of snack/beverages.  We will start at approximately 5pm with SEOmoz as the first host venue.  After an hour or so the group will move on to HasOffers and finishing out the night at Vittana.   Thanks in advance to our host startups, it should be one heckofa night and a great opportunity to check out your digs!

Note: last year this event sold out so you better jump on the train now!

RSVP HERE.

Date: Friday, September 28th

Time: 5pm and later

Cost: Free entry, but we encourage donations if you want to drink 🙂

Stop 1: SEOmoz – 5pm

119 Pine St., Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98101

Stop 2: HasOffers – 6pm

2220 WESTERN AVE
SEATTLE, WA 98121

Stop 3: Vittana – 7:30pm

617 Eastlake Avenue #203
Seattle, WA 98109

What Every Entrepreneur Thinks Before They Even Lift Their Head Off The Pillow

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“No way, You Can’t Quit Now”

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this founder thing is damn tough.  Not a day goes by do I not think about how much easier life would be if I just quit and went back to a measly job trading hours for dollars.

It sounds so nice, doesn’t it… get a job where I have no real responsibility, just show up, go through the motions and every two weeks have money automatically deposited into my bank account.  Clock-in/clock-out and then go hang with friends and family, gleefully spending the money I didn’t work very hard to earn.

If that was the case, the basis of my employment would be how close to the status quo I could lie, just making sure I don’t screw anything up.

Oppose this to the radical idea of pursing excellence in myself and the things I create.

Yes, it’s tempting to go take the easy road like so many others do… so many whom most likely are way more in touch with reality than am I.

The thing is I am not wired that way.  As crazy as it seems to be, entrepreneurship is so much more than status quo, hours for dollars and not screwing up.  Entrepreneurship is about embracing the unknown and challenging yourself to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges, all this with little or no support and resources.  Basically, an entrepreneur is a magician creating something from nothing.  And trust me, most challenges we face seem insurmountable.  These aren’t just “where’s that piece of paper again?” or “I wonder if my boss will let me go on that vacation I have been thinking about?’

That’s child’s play.

Not a day goes by where I don’t think about the consequences of my decision to forgo income (in my own company or with another job opportunity) for the opportunity to do something most people are afraid to do.    Think about what would happen to you and your life if one day your paycheck just stopped showing up in your bank account.  It takes courage, vision, strategy and a bit of stubbornness to make it as an entrepreneur.  And because of those requirements, most don’t.

Also, quitting is the worst possible option at this time.  Quitting not only validates all who doubted but it also flushes everything I’ve worked for and have equity in.  It flushes it right down the drain.  Not only would I be broke but I would have nothing to show for it.  I can’t let that happen.  I won’t let it happen.

All this goes through my head before I even raise it off the pillow each day.  Although things are tough at times, I count my blessings –  family, friends, business partners, God and all other greatness in my life – allowing me this opportunity.   Not everyone has what I have around me.

The amazing thing is how great of position Seconds is sitting in right now.

  • We just experienced our 8th month of continuous growth, month over month.  We have never seen a down month and don’t intend to.
  • We are just about to release a new version of Seconds, one where it will be much easier for you and I to use and experience the value.   It’s gonna blow your socks off.
  • We are throwing a big charity party at the end of the month involving a number of area startups as well as donations (via Seconds) to local non-profit Vittana in an effort to fight world poverty.
  • We are attending DEMO Conference at the beginning of October, a conference which will be full of founders, executives, investors and media.  This is the event we won a trip to earlier this year at the SURF Incubator pitch competition.
  • We have been asked to go back down to San Francisco mid-Oct to be a part of a select group of startups in attendance the TwilioCon, a conference put on by one of the tech platforms in which we have built our system.  They want us to demo Seconds and showcase what we have built with their communications technology.
  • In conjunction with our release, we will be rolling out across local colleges and universities for Seconds to be used to easily collect payments in students’ college and greek life.  First one starts at the end of September and we’ll be systematically spreading across numerous campuses throughout the year.

Given all that is good about where Seconds is heading, a few bad days/weeks/months personally will not be enough to push me over the cliff.  I suppose someone or something is trying its best to persuade me to give-in and give up.  If that’s the case, they are going to have to do much better than they are now.

No way, you can’t quit now… you gotta get up and go make it happen.

Café SURF: How A Startup Incubator Turned Tech Hangout In Less Than A Year

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The Seattle startup scene just gets better by the day.  One of the coolest things to come out of Seattle this year has to be SURF Incubator, which opened in April and is now home to more than 40 startups.

Yes, there are other startup spots in Seattle (ones where I have thoroughly enjoyed spending my time), but the progress SURF has made in less than a year is staggering.  Over the last five months they have grown from just a glitter of an idea into a strong argument for the tech startup epicenter of Seattle.

Not a week goes by where something’s not happening in their massive office space.  They’ve thrown a raging launch party, hosted entrepreneurs from 23 countries, facilitated a number of members to join forces and become cofounders, hosted various meet-ups and weekly tech gatherings, and let’s not forget the frequent and tasty happy hours!

Community-supported space for digital startups

SURF is dedicated to advancing the ideas and passions of technology-focused entrepreneurs.

I believe the vision of SURF founder Seaton Gras and Director Neil Bergquist for a better startup experience is the main reason SURF is seeing such awesome adoption.  That, and the fact that paying an arm and a leg for office space is pretty much a non-starter for most early stage startups.

Entrepreneurs around the world can be more productive when they collaborate and have access to a broad network of business and technical resources. Working at home or in a coffee shop makes it difficult to gain exposure to fellow subject matter experts. It’s also hard to maintain momentum or gain any serious traction.  SURF can reduce the barriers of entry by providing flexible and affordable space with a robust community of resources. This reduces entrepreneurial risk and enables startups to operate incredibly lean.

Realizing people love hanging out at SURF, today they are announcing their latest concept, Cafe SURF.

Entrepreneurs who may not be ready to lease office space and typically work in low-cost locations such as coffee shops or local cafes now have another option.  SURF Incubator just created its own cafe inside the incubator’s 15,400 square foot facility in downtown Seattle and has opened it up to the public.

SURF is building the cafe to help integrate the startup ecosystem thereby helping entrepreneurs collaborate with one another and engage with the various support resources available at SURF Incubator.

Highlighting the technology and companies built within their walls.

The thing is, Café SURF isn’t your ordinary coffee shop. With the contributions of resident startups, Café SURF is Seattle’s first tech-focused, fully self-serviced coffee bar. Patrons pay just $50 per month and receive unlimited coffee, 100Mbps internet access, and designated work space.

Additionally, food and tea are available for purchase via Seconds, my company and a SURF resident startup, which deploys a text-based mobile payment system. Café SURF members can also provide feedback to the management through a text messaging comment service provided by another SURF resident; Talk to the Manager. Thanks to the various technologies from SURF residents such as Seconds and Talk to the Manager, Café SURF will be sustained as a fully self-serviced operation.  SURF has also partnered with local coffee roaster, Caffe Vita to help establish the cafe.

Café SURF members may attend open office hours with investors, mentors, and SURF Incubator’s corporate partners who provide counsel and startup services. This startup centric cafe is anticipated to become a central link for innovation and networking within Seattle’s technology community.

The technologies and services being integrated into Café SURF are outlined below:

Seconds – Deploying a text-based mobile payment system.

Talk to the Manager – Text message comments to the SURF Café management

Knotis – Online marketing, advertising, daily-deal promotion

Imaginative Design – Creative work

Equilitree – Logo and SURF Café page design

Best Practice – Space design and architecture planning

Caffe Vita – Coffee

Do You Have These Talents Needed To Launch A Startup In Today’s Crazy Climate?

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Im my latest article on x.com’s devzone platform, I talk about the ins and outs of starting a company in today’s climate.  The article covers the specific attributes founders’ of startups tend to possess, as well as 5 steps to starting your company once you have made the decision. (hint, it starts with quitting your job!)

Below are five talents found in the StrengthsFinder, from the book Now Discover Your Strengths, that when combined, create a pretty clear picture of the founder archetype.  Check and see if you possess the unique talents found within most startup founders?

1. Activator
According to the StrengthsFinder, “People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.”

Do you tend to JFDI?

2. Adaptability

According to the StrengthsFinder, “People strong in the Adaptability theme prefer to ‘go with the flow.’ They tend to be ‘now’ people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.”

Can  you adjust and adapt to ever changing circumstances?

3. Strategic
According to the StrengthsFinder, “People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.”

Are you studying the market and identifying where the puck is going?

4. Discipline
According to the StrengthsFinder, “People strong in the Discipline theme enjoy routine and structure. Their world is best described by the order they create.”

Can you get up and work every day until the job is done?

5. Focus
According to the StrengthsFinder, “People strong in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.”

Can you break down your vision into the necessary parts and then just focus on getting to the first mile-marker?

You will find more detail in the article so be sure to read it to grasp the depth of starting a company in today’s hot startup climate.

Read more > How to Launch a Startup in Today’s Hot Entrepreneurial Climate