To be an entrepreneur or not to be an entrepreneur…
Photo by imfreelykeely
Today is the 2-year anniversary of Future Delivery. I want to take this time to thank my team members, family, friends, girlfriend, and all of my readers for your love and support. There is no way I could have made my decision with a calm and confident heart without your advice and comments. Because of you, I am now happier and Viralogy has a greater chance of succeeding.
When I walked into the office last Monday, I was set on leaving SEOP and once again solely focusing on Viralogy. My thinking can best be described with this quote from Ocean’s Eleven:
Cause the house always wins. Play long enough, you never change the stakes. The house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet and you bet big, then you take the house.
I feel that this is the case with the corporate life. If you just cruise your whole life in the corporate world and never change the stakes, you’ll ultimately live a safe, secure, and average life.
I believe that every person gets that one big chance. Most people are too scared to take it or don’t recognize it when it spits on their shoes. Viralogy is going very strong, and I felt that this was the perfect hand. My team and I had just been dealt the Viralogy card, and I thought this was my time to bet big and take the house.
So I approached the CEO and told him that I had decided to leave his company…
There were many reasons why I decided to tell the CEO I was leaving:
- Loyalty to my Viralogy team
- Dislike of working for another person’s dream
- Fear of Viralogy taking a huge blow because of me leaving
- Betraying the startup life and all of my readers
The CEO carefully evaluated each one of my objections. After his analysis, he broke down each one of my objections and demonstrated why joining SocialMediaMarketing.com would not only be the best entrepreneurial move, but ultimately the best move for Viralogy as well.
1. Loyalty to my Viralogy Team
My team and I have been battling for two years. I felt that if I left them now, I would be turning my back on all of them. This was something that I could never live with because I would rather go down in flames with my team than abandon them when we’re so close to potential success.
Realizing my loyalty to my team, the CEO offered me the following:
- Retention of my official title as “Co-Founder of Viralogy”
- Ability to work nights and weekends on Viralogy (this is great because I don’t have to go behind the company’s back in order to do my startup work)
- Salary raise so that I can now invest money into Viralogy every month
- Marketing and business development assistance when the time is right
What more could I ask for? The CEO offered his company resources to help Viralogy drive traffic and generate revenue when the time is right. Furthermore, I would no longer be a revenue burdon to Viralogy; instead, I would now be able to invest money into the company which will allow us to get to the next level.
2. Dislike of working for another person’s dream
Because of my entrepreneurial heart, I’m not satisfied unless I’m working on my own company. I just don’t feel the drive to work overtime for a company that does not belong to me.
The CEO understands the entrepreneurial mindset being an entrepreneur himself, and offered me a significant amount of equity in SocialMediaMarketing.com. I would no longer be working for a company; rather, I would be working on my company.
3. Fear of Viralogy taking a huge blow
I made a mistake and I must apologize to my team. I made the mistake of assuming that the personal brand I built is crucial to the success of Viralogy. Though I feel I have done a great job at branding Viralogy online and driving traffic to it, I am ultimately just a small piece of the puzzle. I have built the systems and divisions of Viralogy Marketing to a point where it can now be run and fully pushed by our Marketing Director - Joseph Yi.
Joseph has my full confidence and I truly believe he has the abilities to be a better marketer than me. Because Joseph is taking the reigns of Viralogy Marketing and I’m playing a supporting and investor role, I feel that Viralogy has a much greater chance of succeeding.
4. Betraying the Startup Life and all of my readers
I have been blogging for almost a year and a half now. I have constantly preached the entreprenerial life and tried to be the example of someone who sacrifices everything for the benefit of the company. I want to be a prime example of someone who came from nothing and then built a successful company. I thought that if I could make it, then you would all know that you can make it as well.
But I feel part of what I’m here to teach is about smart business decisions. When I told the CEO that I was leaving the company to fully join Viralogy once again, he looked to me and said:
Jun, you think you’re making the tough decision right now but you are really making the easy choice. It’s easy for you to go back to what you know and what you’re used to. You’ve been working there for 2 years, and it’s hard to leave that. You have to make the smart business move; you have to make the entrepreneurial choice. A great entrepreneur is not measured by the success of his startups; instead, a great entrepreneur is measured by his ability to make the smart decision. You have a golden opportunity here. What would a great entrepreneur do?
What would a great entrepreneur do?
That’s what I hope to teach each and every one of you. The decision was extremely hard to make, but I have ultimately chosen to take the position at SocialMediaMarketing.com. I believe that it was not only the best personal move, but also the best entrepreneurial move.
I am still building a startup; I am still an entrepreneur. My blog will reflect the startup life and I will do everything in my power to help you become a young successful entrepreneur.
Thank you all for being here for me, and I promise to be there for you.
That is awesome. You were given one of the best positions an entrepreneur can ask for. Now you are partnered with a job you love, and have the opportunity to help Viralogy reach new heights. Thanks for the update and keep reaching for the top.
Thanks Tony.
So tell me what’s going on with your right now. I don’t think we’ve ever had a chance to sit down and chat. I know you’re a student at Arizona State, but I’d like to get to know you much better and hopefully help you on the entrepreneurial path.
Lets set up a time to chat. I have a lot of projects and if you’re looking for some startup experience, it would be great to bring you on board.
Talk to you soon.
Congratulations! It’s so nice to hear that you were able to work things out with both companies. Your CEO sounds wonderful - I can tell he is going to be a great mentor for you and I love what he told you about hard decisions. Such wisdom!
I’m glad you’ve made your decision because now you get to move forward and have fun with not 1 but 2 companies! You know we’re all behind you, and it’s been great to follow your entrepreneurial journey through the last few months of job hunting, finding, and negotiating. I’ve learned a lot from you.
You make me smile Mon. It has been a pretty amazing journey, and I hope that good things are just getting started.
My next post will be about getting everyone together. I know that we have talked about this with several people, and I think now is the time to get everyone chatting about it in the open.
More to come soon
Jun. There are big big things ahead for you. There is a force brewing among our community that cannot yet be described, but cannot be denied. This opportunity will allow you to grow exponentially in the years to come. By the time you’re 30, can you even imagine where you’ll be? We are still in the prologue of our life’s novel, just beginning to pick up the pen to begin writing Chapter 1. Have faith in yourself and your decision - you made it because it was the right one for you. I look forward to seeing where you end up and to our collaborations both now and in the future. Cheers!
Many collaborations to come my friend. I know you’ll be doing big things in Chicago like you told me you would.
Our Gen has the chance to do something big, but will we be able to move past our Egos? I’m sure that we’ll all find a way to work together
You work with an excellent CEO. Someone like this is worth continuing to work with.
Congrats! Always important to know yourself best.
That is one smart CEO. I think you will like working with him. What great points. If it’s only your dream if you thought of it first, then you’re missing some opportunities. Good luck.
I also believe you made the right decision. Congrats buddy!
Jun,
Your CEO needs to be commended, what a great way to recognize talent! It was fantastic in the way he reacted to your list, I believe that the most important concessions he made for you were allowing you to be associated with Viralogy!
More money and an Equity stake? That is an opportunity not to be sneezed at!
And his final advice, nuff said!
Good luck and we all are looking forward to keeping up with your progress right here!
Luke
Yea, very great opportunity for Viralogy and myself. I will keep all of my progress updated here on my blog.
Now that I have large resources, it’s time to take the community we’re building to the next level. More to come on this soon
Congratulations, Jun! You’ve made a great decision. Personally, I feel that only your first 2 reasons for leaving SMM.com were justified. I’m very impressed that your CEO has made such generous offers to address them. It takes a true blue entrepreneur and a great leader to recognise and understand these are major concerns of someone who’s an entrepreneur at heart.
I’m very happy for you to be working alongside such a great leader and having him as your mentor. And I will look up to you to be my mentor online. You’ve been such an inspiration to everyone of us here. I am glad I have found you.
To your success!
Cheers~
Mark
Thanks Mark. That’s one of the things I was missing at first. I felt that an entrepreneur is all about focusing on the startup like tunnel vision. Now I’m realizing that it’s about making smart, holistic business decisions for the company.
My being full-time at Viralogy may not be the best thing for the team if there are other opportunities that are better.
Jun-
Great post. That sounds like a great CEO. I am actually doing an internship at a place called New Media Strategies in Washington, DC. We help companies promote and protect their brand online. The CEO and Founder saw my twitter handle and liked my bio. He sent me a personal email and said that he and I should sit down and talk about entrepreneurship. He is really cool and it seems like you have run into a similar CEO. I look forward to your success. What exactly will you be doing at SMM and how were you able to initially recognize working there as an opportunity worth pursuing?
Brian Citizen
Congrats Jun. I recently made a similar decision. Best of luck, and I look forward to reading about your progress.
You have given birth to a start up and it is your child that you are emotionally tied to. You must let the child go or you will stifle it’s growth . To be a good parent of a start up you have to trust your team and share the growth of the start up with others . If you raise a good start up you can give birth to many others and have the enjoyment and experience of being a successful entrepreneur . If you smother your first child you might not be able to have the trust in the community to do another project..at least with money people.
deleting comments isn’t the way to go either.
Jun, what a post. I must say you were in a situation that if you were to ask me what i would do, i would have answered stayed with my original startup. I read your post and it seems as if your boss or now i guess partner must be a really good CEO with a vision to be able to help you to the decision you have made.
This is all extremely funny to me because i am in such a similar situation right now. I am a product and market researcher for a non-profit on my campus and i have been there for 2 years but at this very moment in time, I am starting my first startup as well as leading a on campus 15,000 copy, one time magazine publication, so these things are taking up a great deal of my time away from my research job. I have worked with my boss on ways in which i may be able to do other projects that are less mind draining so that i can focus on my other projects at this time. I am in the process of creating a proposal for my boss, at her request, to detail what things i will be doing to help at the job. I dont want to quit because i need the money but dont want to take advantage of my much needed time nor my employee..
Congratulations Jun. You did make the right decision. From the moment you told me about your vision for this company, I knew you had something great in the works. I am excited to see how things play out.
To your outstanding success,
bradley will
ps how do I get my avatar up?
Thanks Brad!
What do you mean “get my avatar up”?
Jun, after following your posts and thinking of entrepreneurship. What I learn is this, leaving my friends behind when they need me most. You can delete my comment again. But that’s the honest opinion. I think I better stick with my corporate life and of course the cash $$$ and forget all these dream of becoming an entrepreneur or working on something i like. Sometimes, it’s not about all those people that say you are “awesome”. Trust is something difficult to gain, and once it’s lost, it’s gone.
Anyone can leave a comment on my blog criticizing me as long as they write down their real name and email. If not, I will not take your words seriously. I’ll just assume you’re someone who is bitter and wants to critic others without a rebuttle.
I won’t delete this comment, but all of your future comments should come with your real name, email, and a link to your blog or it will be deleted.
Come out of the shadows. You’ll like it
Jun, whatever. It’s not a hate message. Of course, its your life, you can choose to take it or leave it. I have been in corporate for many years. I will not hire anyone that turns on my back once, cause when a better opportunity pops up, he will leave again. To rephrase my comment:
“Jun, you are so awesome. Congratulation on leaving your friends and taking up this opportunity!”. Sound better, right. Good luck!
Show your face. I dare you
I personally feel like you made a great choice mate. I agree with the idea of not working on another person’s dream when your own dream lays there dormant. I like the idea behind FD and all it’s products and having talked to a couple of you lads on the team, I am quite sure you’ve got a bright future ahead!
cheers mate!
Hey bro,
It takes balls to just say no to a comfortable salary doing what you’re good at in order to work on your company. I’m glad that in the end it worked out for both you and Viralogy. I feel that this is a turning point for you. Coincidentally I’ve had a turning point for my company today as well. Keep us updated man.
Kam
Interesting post Jun. One of the things that the job market has forced in me is the entrepreneur mind set. As you know I’ve walked away from lots of opportunities that just didn’t fit the bill because of almost all the reasons you mention in this post. While not having an income has been a struggle, I can share your understanding of not pursuing somebody else’s dream. As I’ve written in my blog, I think Viralogy is going to be a very important company to the future of social media and brand building. Look forward to your success.
Jun,
WOW this is better that TV I don’t even remember how I ended up on your site but I was at the edge of my seat. Good thing I tuned in late because I don’t know if I could’ve waited on the outcome. I can totally relate to your journey I’ve failed many times and have had slight success on other projects. I’m currently at it again and will definitely be checking your site on a regular basis to provide that extra encouragement needed. Good luck and great decision!!
Jun,
Wow! I seriously need to catch up on your blog posts.
Congrats, I think you made a great decision and the job sounds fantastic!
It is wonderful that you will be able to work on both companies! I’m happy for you!
I can’t wait to see what’s next! Good luck!
Wow, great insight! Thanks!