Built To Run

With the formation of this seemingly new bubblet surrounding Web 2.0, there’s been a continuous discussion going on as related to why companies should be formed. I’ve seen arguments on both sides of the fence, from those that fully endorse building a company that’s designed for consumption to those that believe a company should be built only to generate revenue.

Call me old fashioned, but I tend to agree. When I decided to start syncPEOPLE six months ago, I had no intention of simply “flipping it”, though I certainly would be interested in knowing who would like us :) I’m a serial entrepreneur, been doing it straight for the last 13 years. In the beginning, I was more interested in the lifestyle aspects - you know, supporting myself, not working for anyone else, that kind of thing.

As of late, I’ve really wanted to grow something big. I’m asked often why we didn’t name our company syncEVENTS (we own it but choose not to use it for now). For me, the answer is really quite simple. In the long term view, we’re not just about events. In the near and short term, however, I think that the event industry gives us the most opportunities to do what we’re passionate about.. connecting people to each other and strengthening the ties that hold us together. We see hundreds, if not thousands, of additional uses of our technology and expertise, but we don’t indulge them at the time. It just doesn’t make sense to worry about everything when something is right in front of you.

Looking at the space we’re in specifically, it’s really amusing to me that we’re trying to pioneer in this direction. In many respects, it’s really not glamorous at all. We don’t get to work with the Technorati crowd. We deal with industries across the board from science and technology to trades and supplies. Of course, that’s only one side of the story. On the other side, it’s a tremendously fertile industry that contributes billions of dollars to our own economy. It’s an industry that’s responsible for bringing millions of individuals together to learn and share ideas. What’s not to love about that?

Best of all, we’ve never considered AdSense as part of our revenue model.

As my older brother recently told me on the phone, “Take it easy. You’ve put in the hard work and it will happen.” Yup. Work hard to create value for everyone inside and outside of your organization - how can that be a failure?