I am currently advising two interesting new start-ups, and wanted to chronicle the experience here since they are both very different, and yet face many of the same challenges. Along the way I am also learning a lot about two completely different industries, in two different parts of the world. One is based in Brasil, in Sao Paulo, and the other in New York City. Since they are both just in the initial stages, I won't call out their names as of yet, but wanted to put words to the experience so I (and maybe others) can learn from our efforts.
I have time right now to work with these guys as I was laid off from my job at LiveJournal in San Francisco at the beginning of the year. The "Global Economic Meltdown" was the apparent culprit, but it was a good gig while it lasted. I met some very talented people at LJ, and hope they continue to do well as they struggle forward with their product. I also learned a lot about LiveJournal, a product I knew next to nothing about when I started, and now feel I know just slightly better.
The gig suited me perfectly: a mix of product, community engagement, editorial, policy, and customer care. I leveraged all the work I had done at Yahoo!, and everything I had learned afterwards, and threw it all together to lead those areas I had responsibility for. We were able to bring certain areas of the site and the mindset around it into the 2000's, although there was still a lot of work to be done when I was laid off. The U.S. team, led by Matt B., was extremely competent -- I think that if the crisis had not devalued the Ruble (LJ is owned by a Russian holding company), the work we were doing would have taken LJ from being a niche, fan-fic oriented "alternative" blogging/journaling site to a more mainstream-alternative (how is that for an oxymoron) site with some interesting international possibilities. As it was, we were able to put a good amount of grease on the wheels, so it should coast for a few years just based on the work done by the entire US team in the 8 months Matt was at the helm.
But now, aside from consutling on these new projects (which I will describe in later posts), I am spending a lot more time with my family and friends, which, during the Spring in Santa Cruz, is not a bad thing at all. Oh, and I promise to get back out in the ocean, and try to actually get surfing a lot more, and when not doing all of those, get back to writing reviews for the movies I am once again able to see.