Ten Rules For Startup Success.

This was sent to me by a friend so unfortunately I am not able to credit the originator. It is 10 very simple rules for founders to live by:

1. Don’t wait for a revolutionary idea. It will never happen. Just focus on a simple, exciting, empty space and execute as fast as possible
2. Share your idea. The more you share, the more you get advice and the more you learn. Meet and talk to your competitors.
3. Build a community. Use blogging and social software to make sure people hear about you.
4. Listen to your community. Answer questions and build your product with their feedback.
5. Gather a great team. Select those with very different skills from you. Look for people who are better than you.
6. Be the first to recognise a problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Address the issue in public, learn about and correct it.
7. Don’t spend time on market research. Launch test versions as early as possible. Keep improving the product in the open.
8. Don’t obsess over spreadsheet business plans. They are not going to turn out as you predict, in any case.
9. Don’t plan a big marketing effort. It’s much more important and powerful that your community loves the product.
10. Don’t focus on getting rich. Focus on your users. Money is a consequence of success, not a goal.

Everest, Beyond The Limit

If you’ve ever watch the Discovery Channel and seen the series Everest, Beyond The Limit then you will know that this is a documentary covering a group of climbers, lead by veteran guide Russel Brice, as they attempt what very few have done; climb to the summit of Mount Everest.

Brice and his team of Sherpa’s (natives of Tibet who act as assistants and pack mules) make the ascent to the summit as easy as possible for these climbers. They bring all the equipment, plot the course, make the meals, set up camp and even have medical staff should one of the climbers get a tummy ache. So what’s so hard about climbing a mountain?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make light of the incredible accomplishment of climbing to the summit of this 18,000 foot hill. It’s surely something I will never accomplish (or try) but one has to admit that these climbers have everything going for them. They are being shown the way, they are told where to be, when to be there, how fast or slow to climb, what to eat, you get the point…

So, as we continue to climb the path of an internet based startup I was just thinking, it sure would be nice to have a Guide and Sherpas to lead us from base camp 1 up to the summit.

Time Flies! So, What’s New(s)?

We’ve all said it a thousand times, “Boy, how time flies”. Never has it been so apparent then when I discovered that I hadn’t posted in this blog for over 10 months.

So what’s been happening?

Well, for starters, LoanChatLive is Live! We are in what could be considered Semi-Private, Beta. The site is up and fully functioning and has gone through several major face lifts (looking back, it sure was ugly). We have about 20 mortgage pro’s who have signed up, downloaded the ChatStat software and can be contacted through the system. The great news is that the system works. Pro’s are getting chats from strangers who are in need of mortgage assistance. Albeit there is not a ton of traffic coming in but we are getting there.

The plan was to build it and then make them come. Now that we have a working site and pro’s can sign up and get activated the next goal is all about driving traffic; which by the way, is an immense undertaking and a total pain in the ass! Taylor P. our project manager, web designer, whip cracker, (he’s wearing many hats) is also our SEO manager. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. In short, it’s how you make your site get picked up on the major search engines so that when someone searches for “California Mortgage Loans” we show up.

Kyle and I have been reading zillions of mortgage related blogs and then commenting on posts where appropriate. This is how you get inbound links which is something that the major search engines eat up. I tried offshoring this duty to India but as you can imagine the comments were often inappropriate for the post and it turned out to be more work to manage the offshoring then to just stay up late and type away. We are also in talks with several SEO companies that have shown interest in helping us with our project which could be very helpful.

Our advisory board has been very helpful thus far in keeping us on track and preparing us to grow. We thank them immensly.

So, for now we are continuing to push forward all the while working our normal jobs and managing social and family committments.
(Since I started with a quote I’ll also end with one) “If it were easy, everybody would be doing it.”

working with chatstat.com

We are working hard to automate our join system as well as the process for pros to download the chat client, chatstat.

We have decided to go with chatstat because of the tremendous number of features that they will be rolling out in the coming weeks.

Our early attempts to create our own chat client just lead to numerous headaches and wasted hours. Unfortunately chatstat is not yet a finished product either so we ask all of our users to be patient while we smooth the edges.

thanks

About Us

About Us

LoanChatLive.com connects consumers of financial services directly with licensed mortgage professionals via our online live chat forum. As mortgage professionals looking to improve upon our services, we realized that the full extent of today’s technology was not being utilized. By connecting the two parties directly, via live chat, the experience is vastly improved for both the consumer and the professional. No forms are required, personal and sensitive information is not put at risk, and your questions regarding your financial requirements are answered immediately.

Today’s world is fast-paced and at times, difficult to manage. The telephone has become an inconvenience and meeting face-to-face is all but an impossible occurrence for most of us anymore. All of us are looking for solutions to help us keep up with the speed of modern day society. We want Fast, Free, Accurate and Reliable information. Obtaining that, however, is a difficult task. Even the most popular Internet search engines will return thousands of websites with, maybe, some answers to our questions and the amount of time it takes to sift through even a few of them in an effort to retrieve the information we need, well… we just don’t have. And when we do find that information, can we trust it? Do we want to fill out a form that requires our credit card number or bank account number? Our phone number and mailing address? And then wait for someone to get back to us? No!

That is why we founded LoanChatLive.com. A safe and reliable site for Fast, Free, Accurate and Reliable information regarding your specific financial needs. There is absolutely no obligation to work with the mortgage pro whom you chat with, no survey will be sent to you after your chat, and you won’t be barraged with spam from any of our mortgage professionals. Get in, get the information you need, and get out. Should you find the information that the mortgage professional provided of value, and choose to contact them directly for further discussion, please do so! You will never be charged a penny for using LoanChatLive.com!

We are confident that you will find this service to be the solution you’ve been so desperately seeking and encourage you to give it a try. Again, you will never receive a survey asking you about your experience on the site but should you choose to provide us with feedback, please do so via email. We would love to hear from you!

Your financial solution awaits you! It’s just a Chat away!

Sincerely,

LoanChatLive