In the Internet’s glory run of the 1990s, venture capitalists threw around dot-com money like a farmer shoveling hay, making anyone with half a business plan and the tools to put it into motion a mill
September 13, 2005 (Press Release) --
In 2005, venture capital from ‘angel investors’ is extremely difficult to obtain and requires not only a proven business model, but also a bevy of actual customers. It seems likely that successful online businesses such as Amazon, Google and Yahoo might never have come into existence in today’s competitive environment.
Partners in a San Mateo, California-based online collaboration – ServicesAgent.com – understand first hand how difficult starting an Internet business can be with no venture capital or angel investors.
“When we built the model for ServicesAgent.com, we had a book for starting a business and getting funded,” said Noel Rodriguez with a chuckle. He is one of graduate students who used a graduate-school thesis to form a real-life company with a potentially bright future. “Gerardo (Galvan) and I built this business plan just knowing it would be a big payoff. We started showing it to venture capitalists and we quickly found out it boils down to who you know in that circle. VCs get thousands of business plans every week and they really didn’t care much about us.”
“We weren’t completely turned down, but the ones who actually gave us 10 minutes of their time said we had to improve our business model and show a significant customer base,” Galvan added.
That was in 2002. Three years later, ServicesAgent.com has attracted dozens of users in the regional website’s target market (the Bay Area), as well as more than 50 service professionals who use it to respond to online help-wanted postings, or Requests for Quote, from consumers in categories ranging from home repair to babysitting to photography. The partnership has managed to carve out a niche market, billing their website as a place to “find good help you can trust quickly, simply and economically.” Most importantly, they have managed to pull this off with entirely out-of-pocket funding.
“During the boom times, VCs financed more than 5,000 new companies a year in information technology, communications, biotechnology, and the Internet,” wrote Howard Anderson, a lecturer at M.I.T. in a recent article entitled “Good-Bye to Venture Capital” (TechnologyReview.com, June 2005). “(But) the hype machine is broken. Their new mantra: Spend no more than last year.”
Rodriguez looks at the positives of running his own business.
“We really love what we are doing now, because all three of us can see that entrepreneurship is the ultimate challenge,” he said. “We are doing everything from conceptual planning to online development to cold calling, so we have a chance to see the full spectrum of how to run a business and make it successful.”
Rodriguez, Galvan, and the company’s third partner, Jim Otsuka, (webmaster and database administrator), hope to utilize a combined 40-plus years in related industries to drive their website to the top of this niche market. To pay for the venture, each holds down a full-time job “on the side.”
“Meeting with those VC companies gave us valuable input and some great ideas on how to proceed,” Galvan explained. “It was really very basic – show me you can sign up members, so that is the true test.”
Visit www.servicesagent.com for a look at how this unique market is gaining a foothold in online communications.
Partners in a San Mateo, California-based online collaboration – ServicesAgent.com – understand first hand how difficult starting an Internet business can be with no venture capital or angel investors.
“When we built the model for ServicesAgent.com, we had a book for starting a business and getting funded,” said Noel Rodriguez with a chuckle. He is one of graduate students who used a graduate-school thesis to form a real-life company with a potentially bright future. “Gerardo (Galvan) and I built this business plan just knowing it would be a big payoff. We started showing it to venture capitalists and we quickly found out it boils down to who you know in that circle. VCs get thousands of business plans every week and they really didn’t care much about us.”
“We weren’t completely turned down, but the ones who actually gave us 10 minutes of their time said we had to improve our business model and show a significant customer base,” Galvan added.
That was in 2002. Three years later, ServicesAgent.com has attracted dozens of users in the regional website’s target market (the Bay Area), as well as more than 50 service professionals who use it to respond to online help-wanted postings, or Requests for Quote, from consumers in categories ranging from home repair to babysitting to photography. The partnership has managed to carve out a niche market, billing their website as a place to “find good help you can trust quickly, simply and economically.” Most importantly, they have managed to pull this off with entirely out-of-pocket funding.
“During the boom times, VCs financed more than 5,000 new companies a year in information technology, communications, biotechnology, and the Internet,” wrote Howard Anderson, a lecturer at M.I.T. in a recent article entitled “Good-Bye to Venture Capital” (TechnologyReview.com, June 2005). “(But) the hype machine is broken. Their new mantra: Spend no more than last year.”
Rodriguez looks at the positives of running his own business.
“We really love what we are doing now, because all three of us can see that entrepreneurship is the ultimate challenge,” he said. “We are doing everything from conceptual planning to online development to cold calling, so we have a chance to see the full spectrum of how to run a business and make it successful.”
Rodriguez, Galvan, and the company’s third partner, Jim Otsuka, (webmaster and database administrator), hope to utilize a combined 40-plus years in related industries to drive their website to the top of this niche market. To pay for the venture, each holds down a full-time job “on the side.”
“Meeting with those VC companies gave us valuable input and some great ideas on how to proceed,” Galvan explained. “It was really very basic – show me you can sign up members, so that is the true test.”
Visit www.servicesagent.com for a look at how this unique market is gaining a foothold in online communications.
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