Once upon a time….

There I was in a cab, with a good job and fair pay, still thinking: “wouldn’t it be just great to work for myself and not for others?”.

Ideas like that had popped up regularly for a couple of years. I even had a business plan pretty ready when my employer was acquired by a really big corporation and my dayjob turned more interesting again. The problem with all previous ideas had been that they were based on consultancy services – just like my present job – and that means, of course, that what you earn is directly related to how many hours you work. Does that sound like fun to you? I mean, should working for yourself just mean working your ass off for just as many hours that you are working your ass off today? Except that the doe would go into your own pocket, of course. No, there must be something better to do.

So there I was in the cab, changing my mind-set to conceiving a business concept that was not directly related to how many hours I bill. (Yes, I do understand that starting your own business isn’t done in an afternoon. It takes great efforts and many hours. But my hook was to avoid hinging the long term turn-over to hours worked on a continuous basis).

Another thing to keep in mind is that I have a good life today, with a family I love and a house I own (small loans, too). I don’t want to risk all that. So the concept had to be something that you can start on the side, without too great a risk and without upsetting your employer too much.

Ten minutes later, the core concept was ready.

You see, I’m not one of those very young start-up upstarts (witty, hey?). I’ve been in business for a while. But the point is that I often beat the kids when it comes to being creative, identifying trends and thinking up new concepts. Some five years ago, at a seminar in trend spotting, I claimed that social web functionality would be a main trend in the years to come. (I don’t pretend to have been the guy inventing that particular expression, but I did see it coming.)

So, the idea is about building a new web community to fill a gap that we think is waiting to be filled. When I mentioned the idea to some close friends and colleagues they all said: “Yeah, you’ve got something there. I haven’t seen anyone doing just this. Maybe bits and pieces of it, but not in this combination. It would be really great to be able to do just that.” And as with all social networks, their value to the members increases with the number of members. Which means that if you do it well enough and get members enough, you can hope being able to make some money from displaying Google Ads.

Oh, no! Not a nother web community, you say. Of course, I wouldn’t want to open just one more of the same as all the others. This is different of course. But I can’t tell you just how it is different. Not yet. I don’t want to give anything away so someone else could do a rip-off.

I thought it could be interesting for others to get some insight into the ins and outs and birth pains of a new web project. That’s why I start this blog. Since this is my first start-up, you might find a bit of tooing and froing, but that’s supposed to be part of the fun – for you that is. For me and my band of brothers (and sisters) it might be a bit painful. If you have any ideas on how to relieve that pain, you’re more than welcome to pass on some wisdom by commenting.