Summary

The text recounts the author's experience with a failed start-up idea for a friend-finding service due to lack of funding and discouraging feedback, drawing parallels to the eventual success of Facebook and emphasizing the importance of perseverance and self-belief in entrepreneurship.

Abstract

In the 1970s, the author conceived a "Friends Finding Friends" service to address the challenge of staying connected amid frequent relocations. The idea was to create a database where individuals could register and find each other, with a fee charged for successful connections. Despite a comprehensive business plan, the author's sole potential investor dismissed the concept, leading to the abandonment of the project. Revisiting the idea in 1999, the author was dissuaded again, this time by a trusted vice president who believed the advent of digital yearbooks and email made the service redundant. The author reflects on the mistakes of letting pride and the opinions of others prevent the pursuit of a dream, acknowledging the potential of the idea in hindsight when compared to the success of Facebook. The narrative concludes with the author learning two key lessons: the importance of persistence in seeking funding and the necessity of protecting one's own vision against naysayers.

Opinions

The author believes that their "Friends Finding Friends" concept was ahead of its time and could have been a precursor to social media platforms like Facebook.
The author regrets allowing a single negative opinion to derail their initial entrepreneurial effort, emphasizing the impact of self-doubt and pride.
The author suggests that there are more opportunities for funding start-up ideas now than in the past, indicating optimism for current and future entrepreneurs.
The author strongly advises against letting others dissuade you from pursuing your dreams, stressing that personal conviction should guide one's actions and decisions.

DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS

2 Top reasons for Start-Up business failure

In 1974 I felt there lacked a place for friends to find each other. There was no internet, and writing and sending messages was through snail mail.

One difficulty in snail mail was people were always moving. I had moved from my home state, and most of my high school friends also moved around the United States and disappeared from any correspondence. It was common to get a letter returned because that person no longer lived there.

I thought this problem out and devised a plan. Why not put an advertisement in a tabloid publication and title it “Friends Finding Friends?” The National Enquirer was the largest at that time.

In the advertisement, I would tell the readers that I was building storage (we call it database now) of persons who could put their current address on file if someone was looking for them. If someone inquired about them, I would get their permission before sending their address. The service would be free.

On the other hand, if someone inquired and made a match, the person seeking their friend’s whereabouts would pay three dollars for the service.

Reason One.

Giving Up on Funding Sources

I was excited about my idea, but I did not have any money to advertise. So I sought out an investor from family and people I knew. All but one of my contacts swore to no money. I invited the lone one with cash to lunch to pitch the service.

I explained the whole concept, including a thorough business plan for the project. My acquaintance appeared annoyed as I made the pitch for “Friends Finding Friends.”

As I spoke the last word, my sole hope for funding folded his arms, leaned back in his chair, and said words that still burn in my memory, “Who in the Hell would pay for that crap?”

Embarrassed and deflated, I paid for our lunches and thanked him for listening, then hurried home for a drink. I gave up!

Reason Two

In 1999 I was doing well in business and revisited the idea. I did not need anyone else to finance the venture. Now I had the internet and other tools to get the plan off the ground and get started. However, I was about to make a mistake that would forever crush “Friends Finding Friends.”

Believing Others are Smarter Than You

As I was in the beginning stages of creating an updated business plan, I passed the idea to my company’s vice president. I always thought of him to be one of the most intelligent people I had ever met. After listening to my vision, he shook his head and said that this business would fail from the start.

He stated that these days, all yearbooks from schools were going digital. He said that there is no need for databases for friends that have internet. Email addresses in the databases, he continued, would continually update with new information needed for someone to locate them.

I countered with, “that may be so, but we could also offer text space along with their picture so they could decide if they even wanted to share their address.”

My vice president casually said, “these friends can send anything they want via email; why would they need another option?”

That statement unfortunately made sense to me, and the more thought I gave to my idea of this friend thing, I had to accept that the only two people I had discussed it with had declared it a terrible idea.

What I did in my first pitch was to let pride get in my way. There had to be many more people I could have pitched, but Mr. Pride stood in my stupid way, and I let the idea slide for twenty-five years before I revisited. Then I decided that someone else was more intelligent than me and was saving me from failure.

These excuses as to why ‘yours truly’ did not become the original facebook are just that-excuses. Suppose I did start the business; who is to say if I could have expanded and achieved the same success as Facebook?

But regardless, these are essential lessons, looking back, that I learned from my experiences.

Lesson One

If I have another idea in the future I am excited about; I will not let funding stand in my way. There are many ways now that did not exist years ago to fund almost any idea. It is incredible the people who are willing to support a new startup company. All it takes is enthusiasm, a product or idea, and a strong pitch. In no time, many ideas will be funded and on their way to success.

Lesson Two

Never, ever let anyone talk you out of your dream. That is the most important lesson I have learned over the years. Family, friends, business associates all have opinions, but yours is the most important. Sure, they all are well-meaning, but it was, after all, my dream I should have been protecting. It was my future. I should have put a Kung-Fu grip on my idea and stayed the course of my excitement.

As I reflect, my first pitch on my “Friends Finding Friend's” idea preceded all types of today’s widespread communication types. If I had been successful and found funding, I had forty-seven years of likely improvement to the overall concept before Social Media THE thing.

As they say, it just wasn’t in the cards for me to create a social media company. However, I took away vital life lessons on how and why not to make those two critical mistakes ever again!