Did I Miss Something?
So one of my former colleagues from GetConnected emailed me -- "I was reading your blog and I feel like I missed something..." Yeah -- I guess a lot has changed. I have moved beyond the Web on PC experience and jumped into the Web on TV experience (not to be confused with the WebTV experience -- this time we're focusing on what you want to do in front of your TV and what your TV is made for -- watching video). To further the confusion, I made a brief (2 year) pit stop along the way in online recruiting (Jobster), but am now back on the Broadband Video path. Phew. It was kinda fortuitous though -- The ActiveTV product took A LONG time to build and get to market (four years!) -- so even though I took a pit stop, I was re-engaged before the product was in consumer hands (Oct. 07). AND -- I was able to meet some of the coolest and most talented folks I have ever had the pleasure to work with -- the old Jobster team. What is great is that almost all of my former Jobster colleagues have been bitten by the start-up bug -- and started things themselves! Hats off to:
Ethan Lowry, Adam Doppelt and Patrick O'Donnell at UrbanSpoon -- <a href="http://www.urbanspoon.com">www.urbanspoon.com</a>
Dave Lefkow at BaconSalt -- <a href="http://www.baconsalt.com">www.baconsalt.com</a>
Marty Unger at YouSaidIt -- <a title="blocked::http://www.yousaidit.com/" href="http://www.yousaidit.com/">www.yousaidit.com</a>
Alan Steele and Phil Bogle at Merge Lab -- <a href="http://www.mergelab.com">www.mergelab.com</a>
Neil Crist and Tracey Middlemas at Prosys Group -- <a href="http://www.prosysconsultinggroup.com">www.prosysconsultinggroup.com</a>
Kerry Rupp at HolidayGoLightly -- <a href="http://www.holidaygolightly.com">www.holidaygolightly.com</a>
Mark Maunder at FeedJit.com -- <a href="http://www.feedjit.com">www.feedjit.com</a>
Tony Wright at RescueTime -- <a href="http://www.rescuetime.com">www.rescuetime.com</a>
Jason Goldberg at SocialMedian -- <a href="http://www.socialmedian.com">www.socialmedian.com</a>
And for sure, I am missing some (feel free to pipe in). All of these Founders deserve kudos for just jumping into their own things. Maybe it is the times, but starting something is always hard and always takes guts. I'd say this legacy points to the fact that it was a REALLY great team with some awesome talent.
So - yeah, it was a circuitous route -- and if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change a thing!
