2010 - What a failure!
At Netgen it took us a while to figure out what we were best at and what we should specialize in. I mean we could do everything: graphic design, front end dev, back end dev, motion graphic video, live action video, animation, mobile sites, applications, IT infrastructure, consulting and the list goes on...
It took me longer than I would have imagined to really understand what we were good at, what we were great at and what we were the best at. More importantly it took me a while to understand what the market actually needed.
I think two factors led to us falling flat for about a year before we hit our mark:
- Lack of experience - I was a first time entrepreneur who was trying to figure out how to get people to drink our koolaid. I should have done a better job of analyzing market needs and recognizing ways to specialize.
- Distractions - I was focused on being an entrepreneur and was not focused on building a business. Every time a shiny opportunity dangled infront of me I chased it, without diligent analysis or a plan for execution.
While running Netgen I co-founded a digital phone company and an e-commerce brand management company. I spent a lot of time working on making these companies successful along with Netgen, without understanding the short term and long term implications of "spreading myself to thin".
In January 2011 I realized the most important lesson I could have ever realized.
"It is easy to start a business but hard to execute" especially when you co-found three bootstrapped companies in one year (my 2010)...
So at that moment, I considered the phone company and e-commerce platform personal failures (They are still running, but without my active involvement). I promised myself right then, that I would not commit to a new venture again unless it "made sense" and was viable. My goal now was to focus on Netgen and build it into a succesful, self sustaining media company. We had all the tools to be successful:
- Highly skilled and motivated team;
- A referenced client base; and
- A diverse set of skills that the market needed.
And that was our biggest barrier. Our services were so broad we confused ourselves in regards to what we did.
That was until Eli Fathi and Aydin Mirzaee asked if we could create a video for their product, Review Room. After completing the video and recognizing how uninque a communication tool this was, we decided to turn our focus onto a booming market... Animated Explainer Videos.
We created a very focused brand that specialized in animated video for companies that wanted to tell a simple, entertaining story. A story that connected with their viewers and converted them into customers.
This new brand also helped us recognize the opportunity to reposition Netgen into a company focused on developing marketing websites and UI design for web and mobile apps. We realized what our specialties were and what the market wanted. They wanted video, websites, mobile sites and any type of digital tool that would help convert more customers. Hence the entire rebrand...
Netgen - "conversion by design"
Getting specialized and giving Netgen the attention it needed has led to great success: Servicing over 70 clients across North America including billion dollar companies such as VMware and Citrix.
Do I regret some of my decisions in 2010? Not at all! I think they defined me as a person, as an entrepreneur and defined Netgen as a company. These failures and decisions also helped me recognize a pretty cool opportunity and now that Netgen is self sustaining with an amazing team I would like to introduce...
NDstorefront... STAY TUNED
PS. You would think after reading this blog I would have learned my lesson about spreading myself too thin...
