What do your Friends Know About the Web 2.0

As I venture into starting Why Go Solo, a social networking site and company rooted in web 2.0 technology and functionality, it’s dawned on me, that one of the major benefits on my side is that my friends, acquaintances and family are pretty clueless about the Web 2.0.

Obviously, I’m not referring to my network of friends I run around on the web with, I’m referring to my friends from school, from the Marine Corps and my other business venture. The majority of them have little to nothing to do with the web besides using the internet for online searches/shopping and using email. This also included Martin, just a few months ago. Per his post yesterday, when I approached Martin he didn’t know much about the web 2.0, however, he still saw the full potential of Why Go Solo.

Same goes with my friends, acquaintances and family. They really haven’t thus far participated in any online communities, or blogs and they don’t know much about feedbruner, twitter, pownce, digg, delicious…etc.

While for many of you reading this post, this might be pretty absurd, since you can’t live without those applications and yes, there are millions upon of millions of other people who are in the same boat—many people are still uninterested and untouched by the web 2.0 movement.

The reason why? Nothing out there has really answered a real need they have in a simple fashion through web 2.0 applications.

So when I pitch Why Go Solo to people who are not web 2.0 savvy and they absolutely love it and then add…will I be able to do this, and this and what about that; I get really excited. Now, I’ll admit, that the funny part is some of the features they are looking for already exist on the web in other areas however, Why Go Solo will apply those features in a format that provides value.

Martin’s dad is a retired Reserve Marine First Sergeant and Corporate America business man who traveled a great deal and when Martin explained Why Go Solo to him, his first thoughts were “This is perfect for the baby boomers”. Our banker, also a baby boomer, thought the exact same thing.

I hadn’t thought of the baby boomers…a mistake many generation X and Y folks do, because Why Go Solo is web 2.0 type company, but once again, the light bulb went on—this will be attractive to those who haven’t participated in the web 2.0 arena because we are providing real world applications that meet and fulfill a need.

Every day that I meet more web 2.0 savvy people and gurus the more I learn and enjoy the interactions, but I’ve also realized how important it is for me to keep looking into the web 2.0 from a bird’s eye view and to keep talking about my thoughts with people, who know nothing about, what I’m about to do. They are very valuable resources and they will keep me from losing focus on who I want to serve and how.

This is also called “avoiding working in a bubble”.

What does Web 2.0 and Aspirin have in Common?

According to Wikipedia, “Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2003[1] and popularized by the first Web 2.0 conference in 2004[2] , refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies — which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users.

Sounds like some jive talk that will occupy my spell check for 30 minutes. Since partnering with Ann back in January ’07, I’ve put on my cowboy hat and handkerchief, and investigated all sort of sites: Myspace, Facebook, Pownce, Friendster, and Twitter, etc. in my own sad attempt to educate myself, and what have I learned?

1) If this is the best Web 2.0 can muster, there is much room for new entrants to provide more value-added experiences and services.

2) We have a duty to launch Why Go Solo and provide connections that do not currently exist.

My two cents is that the Web 2.0 overlooks the fact that Brick and Mortar operations would LOVE to build relationships that will benefit the member, online community, and the business.

For example, Ann, Ruth, and myself met with Steve Gavula, the President of the MHG Group, a local restaurant chain owner in the DC Metro area Friday night. They have a gorgeous restaurant location called, Circa Dupont, in the heart of Dupont Circle, Washington DC. As you walk up to the location, you see an inviting outdoor eating section and hip storefront appearance.

Once you walk in, you can choose from 3 different experiences:
1) trendy coffee house
2) bar and grill with big screen TV’s
3) fine dining

Steve is constantly looking for ways to be a part of the Web 2.0 world and to have his establishment used as an extension of the online community world. To date, the Web 2.0 world has not extended an invitation to the dance.

Some Web 2.0 Perspective and Food for Thought

My eyes are sore I have spent so many hours online this week reading, researching and further exploring the various communities, blogs and tools that make-up this vast thing we call the Web 2.0. I have come up with some conclusions, which you might or might not agree with and I would certainly love the feedback.

Please note, that I obviously can't mention everything in one post and these observations are kept simple and in broad overviews.

I’m going to start off with my thoughts that I initially shared on Pownce after reading Fred Wilson’s write-up on the Union Square Venture blog about their new investment in Twitter. What fired me up so much about the post was this:

As we stated when we made our investment in Delicious,

The question everyone asks is "What is the business model?" To be completely and totally honest, we don't yet know.

The capital we are investing will go to making Twitter a better, more reliable and robust service. That's what the focus needs to be right now. We'll have plenty of time to figure out the business model and there are many options to choose from.

I was absolutely amazed that millions of dollars would be invested in concepts (Delicious and Twitter) that have no solid revenue models. No solid revenue models equal one thing, a need for real strong exit strategies that probably involve either Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or some other big company coming in for a buy-out. (This of course already happened for Delicious)

This then, also takes me to the ever-so-talked about Facebook. What is Facebook’s real revenue model? We’ll get back to this…first lets cover Ann’s simple view, in simple terms and minus a timeline of the web 2.0 history has it applies to the market (basic people using these tools).

I don’t want to debate if Friendster was the first online community or not, what I think we can all agree on is that MySpace was the first online community to really take off . For the first time in web history people really began to flock to the internet to “check other people out”. Humans are a curious bunch (for information, knowledge and for the sake of being curious)…and MySpace offered a peek into other people lives and an opportunity to “connect” with people you would ordinarily never meet or encounter.

That is the root of what has since then spawned everything else we now utilize and see has part of the Web 2.0. Ultimately, people are getting more and more curious about what other people think, what they are doing, what they are watching and what other people recommend. We call this curiosity communication, the sharing of information, networking and dare some say, real interaction. It’s a beautiful thing, because we are learning more about each other, discovering new things and exploring new territories.

What’s also really obvious, if you spend any time on the web, is that the market (general public) comes into the web 2.0 arena with different levels of knowledge, interest and involvement.

Let’s talk business a little bit. Marc Andreessen wrote a great post on what makes a start-up successful and he drives home the point that in the end—the market will spell success.

When addressing the start of a new business and whether or not the market will support it, the first question should always be: Is there a NEED for my product or service. This question is often overlooked in the Web 2.0 world and instead people think…Wow, this is a really cool application, let me build a business around it.

So let’s talk market, and let’s bring our no income revenue Twitter and weigh it against Pownce.

First off, Pownce has an income model. They are 1) running very discreet and well integrated ads and 2) they have a $20 Pro option.

In regards to the market, here is why I think Pownce will come out a winner on top of Twitter and it’s based on passed history of the market.

Twitter greatly limits your ability to feed people’s curiosity and share information. 140 characters isn’t much and there’s no way to send content other then text. Twitter is much more of a one way street and does not promote user interaction.

Pownce to be perfectly honest reminds me of a chat room and discussion boards. Never really participated in chat rooms in the past, but chat rooms have been around for awhile and have always had huge markets, same with discussion boards. The interchange between people isn’t limited to only 140 characters and text only. People can easily reply to the content that is being shared and the topics span many different areas.

Pownce provides a lot more of what people are looking for…and by people I mean the average person who spends time on the internet.

I don’t think there is a NEED for Pownce, but at least it feeds people’s curiosity in better ways then Twitter, so they have a definite shot at making it. And once you do spend some time on Pownce, you realize, there is something to definitely be gained from taking part in this new community and the sharing of information. Pownce does provide value to their users.

That’s me touching on another critical point about business. If you don’t directly answer a need then do you provide VALUE?

Okay, so back to Facebook. What NEED does Facebook answer? What value does it really provide their users? And who is really driving the expansion of Facebook?

I’m not going to answer the first two questions. Personally, I don’t need Facebook and I haven’t really gotten much value out of it. I do, however, want to discuss what’s driving the expansion of Facebook because I think this will help people think wisely about their future involvement with Facebook.

In my humble opinion, Facebook is NOT being driven by the market (the basic web user and non-web 2.0 businesses), it’s being driven by web 2.0 businesses, entrepreneurs, people and investors. Facebook is an inside job being pushed out to the market.

Will these tactics work? Time will tell. But, if you are basing your success and bottom dollar on making applications and widgets for Facebook (or Twitter for that matter)…I would diversify your business portfolio a little.

Need and value. Keep them in mind as you watch new web 2.0 companies appearing and disappearing. If the business does neither: does not answer a need or provide added value…then, do they feed human curiosity?

Run down the list of successful web 2.0 companies and see what you get…

Oh, here is another question I'd love some feedback on...Is continuously trying to simplify the use of the web 2.o really a need or an added value or are insiders creating this as well?? I do love my RSS feeds!

I'm on Pownce!!

Yep!! I'm one happy gal...thanks to two people. My man Trik read my post today and left me a note in MBL about quite a smart young lady named Jessica. I went ahead and visited Jessica's blog, left her a comment, asking if she would share one of her invites with me...and she did!! We also had a splendid chat on Skype. Jessica is a 17 year old sophomore in college and entrepreneur, you can check out her company's blog: Startupism.com I remember being on my own at 17 and already being an adult. It's not easy, but it holds great rewards and experiences!!

Oh and by the way, I have SIX invites now. One of them has Trik's name on it, if he wants it, but the other five are available...

Weekly Recap and Stuff I Missed (wk5)

Be Sure to Vote: Yes, in the upcoming Presidential Election, but more importantly place your vote on our new poll...see right there, to the left. Yep, that's it.

What Do You Dislike The Most Doing Alone:

a) Going out to dinner
b) Going to the movies
c) Going out to a bar
d) Traveling
e) Going to a sporting event
f) Going to a cultural event (this includes going to the Opera, museums, concerts, festivals etc.)

Here I am...Lets Connect: I joined a few new communities over this past week and since starting this blog. It makes perfect sense if you think about...to become a successful online community, you have to know what's happening everywhere else and what's hot. Click on the logo to see my profile and leave me a comment with a link to your profile or send me an invite. And yes, I know, this is a very small fraction of what's out there and I will soon break down and get a profile on MySpace again.


You can also see what I'm doing on Twitter from the blog. I deleted it off MBL so I'm trying to figure out how to get it back. Would love to find interesting people to follow...

Amazing what you can discover browsing SU and people's profile. I haven't given any site a thumbs done...I just don't have the heart for it.


My favorite right now. I'm really enjoying meeting people on MBL and discovering cool new blogs



Not sure if you'll be able to reach my page...this is a brand new online community that just launched as a preview. It's different--and all about sharing stories, life experiences, tips and advice in areas such as career, business, hobbies, love, dating, and life in general. It full of trained life coaches who can help and assist!!

I don't use LinkedIn very much...but, I'm on there!



Want to know what's up with Web 2.0 and beyond...this is the place to be. Great blog content and full of information. I haven't really connected with people on there yet. I probably need to apply myself a little more. I do really like the way the profiles are set-up.




Thus far...NOT A FAN!! I really don't see what the big buzz is all about. Someone is gonna have to clue me in as to why, FB is so awesome. I was really ticked off I couldn't joined the Marine Corps Network, unless I had a valid Marine Corps email address. Once a Marine always a Marine...but not according to Facebook...




Yeah, right...I wish. If you have one of those invites laying around, I'd be very grateful :) I think I was too late getting on the Mashable invite scheme.


Thank you: I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Trik for the shout out and for the support and encouragement. Trik has come out of nowhere...well, okay, we met on MBL and is rapidly becoming a great sounding board and someone who is really looking out for us.

Website and Community Development: Slow week on this end. But, we did clarify a few points that needed to be addressed. One of the features we wanted to add needed some scrubbing.

Brain is in Over-Drive: It's good to be back home but it appears that the time off has sent my brain into over drive. I've been thinking of new features, applications and utilizations for Why Go Solo like a mad woman, since I've returned. I'm writing everything down, so when we're at a point where we can make the leaps...I'll have a notebook full of cool stuff.

Well, that's about it for this week. Don't forget to leave me a way to come find you!!

Give me my Password...

Please. Pretty Please. For crying out loud!! I want my password. Okay, I realize the fact that I don’t have my password is my fault—I have good excuse for that, but come on, a little customer service and support from MySpace wouldn’t hurt either.

I attempted to retrieve my password multiple times by submitting my email address and although I get the message that my password was sent to my email address…nothing ever arrives into my inbox.

I have also sent out a few emails to MySpace support, which are obviously lost in the mix, and no one at MySpace cares. May be I need to email them everyday, but who has that kind of time!?!?

I really want to get back into my MySpace Profile for a few reasons:

1) To gain the option to delete it. Thankfully, at the same time I changed my password I also updated my profile. When I created the profile, back in 2004, I was in a different place and had a different mind set, then I do now. I’m starting to worry about some of my friends selection back then.

I ran into one of my MySpace friends that used to live in California on Craigslis in Washington DC—he was looking for a bi-girl for him and his girlfriend in the men seeking women section. It’s a small and somewhat scary cyber world.

You would think since I haven’t logged-in for 18 months that they would automatically delete the profile…

2) To update it. May be, I don’t really need to delete it, but I definitely want to update it and may be, start using it again.

3) Avoid creating a new profile. I already have “friends” in my old profile, albeit some dubious ones, but friends none the less, and comments, messages and what not. I really don’t want to create a new profile. Plus, I was on MySpace before it became what it is today…I want to keep my seniority!! I realize this is semi-illogical and pathetic thinking…

This makes me wonder out of the 160,000,000 members on MySpace how many of those are duplicates??

So why did I change my password? When I first established my profile I was single, when I changed my profile and password it was because I was in a relationship. My boyfriend at the time, had a habit of snooping and I felt it was safer to change my password, as well as, the content and pictures I had posted. I changed it to something that was completely different from all my other passwords…so different, in fact, that I can’t for the life of me remember what it is!!

I guess at some point, if I want to have a presence on MySpace again, I’ll have to bite the bullet and create a new profile.

Why Go Solo is going to have excellent customer and service support to avoid this from happening.

Local Online Community on HOT 99.5

Hot 99.5 in Washington ,DC has started their own local online community called the Hot Spot. The reasoning behind the Hot Spot, according to their website and radio commercials, is that, since online communities such as Facebook and Myspace have millions of members you end up lost in the crowd and unable to find people you have things in common with…therefore, you need something more local.

First, that makes no sense. Common sense tells you, the more people on a site, the greater your odds of finding people you have things in common with…plus, since those sites are designed for you to invite your friends to join you--you would think, the people you invite to be your friends are people that interest you and you have things in common with…same with the folks whose invitations you accept.

However, don’t get me wrong, the idea is a good one—it’s a good one—because it enables you to be connected online to people that are closer to your area, listening to the same radio station, and knowledgeable about the same community and events. It’s also a great deal for the radio station (see my cash cow comment below).

I have browsed through the Hot Spot. The layout of the website and profile pages are decent and basically resemble all the to other online communities out there. I have not joined yet and not sure I will.

I listen to HOT 99.5 throughout the day for the music, but I really don’t like the DJs or the topics they select to talk about. It’s definitely a younger and immature level of intellect, selection of issues and subjects compared to the DJs on 93.9 WKYS and WPGC 99.5 and my morning show of choice is Elliot in the Morning on DC101. I realize the maturity level on Elliot’s show is often lacking…but at least, it’s FUNNY.

What I’m a little taken back by is how long it’s taken them to reach 10,000 members. Especially when you consider, how easily they are able to get the word out over the air. They are now offering to pay out $10,000, once they reach, 10,000 members. Yeah, I would certainly hope so, since they are running advertisement on their site, and will be able to cash in with local advertisers in a BIG way. Not surprised the plan is to turn the Hot Spot into a big money cow for the radio station.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens next and who, if anyone, will follow suit.

Temporary Homepage

Very short post!! Just want to announce that our temporary homepage is up!! Check it out...I realize it's not much and takes you right back here but still, I'm pretty happy with it :)

www.whygosolo.com

Defining Moment

We all have certain defining moments in our lives which have shaped the course of our lives; moments that have propel our lives in new unforeseen directions, brought us great joy or sorrow and growth. There are a few factors that can bring about defining moments and one of the most common factor is: meeting someone new.

Life is a journey, that for many of us, rapidly becomes a routine and a series of patterns. We find ourselves unhappy and bored. We start wondering if there’s more to it all and how we might go about changing things up.

Well, meeting someone new can be the catalyst to: exploring who you are, getting a new job, finding romance, trying out something different, discovering fresh ideas and options, getting a huge contract, making a sale and who knows what else.

Once you reach your hand out to someone and introduce yourself…you open up the door of possibilities that reside in the interaction, experience and openness of meeting someone new.

When was the last time you met someone new? What happened? What did you learn? What did you discover about yourself?

The Demise

I was in Borders today and I grabbed my usual stack of magazines: Business 2.0, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine, which had a great article: How to Kill a Great Idea! The story written by Max Chafkin, enlightens us on the amazing and unprecedented failure of one of this decades most innovative start-up—Friendster. The story compiles the input and view of Friendster’s founder Jonathan Abrams on how it all ended up going wrong.

My big take away and bottom line of what happened--does nothing to help ease my mind about going after and getting VC funding.

The other funny part was learning a little more about Abrams’s initial vision for Friendster and how Why Go Solo comes into to play by being the next generation of it, while making a full 180 degrees change to it.

The Friendster fiasco aside, the concept Jonathan Abrams created and implemented gets him, at least from me, tremendous respect. Social networking is what he invented…and that is definitely NOT a failure. It’s only been 5 years, that’s right—5 short years, since the birth of online communities and social networking and already, they are making a huge impact on our society.

Read the full story

The Road to Funding (Part II): An Extension of the Business Plan

What exactly are investors looking for, besides the obvious—a venture that will make them money. Which by the way, a venture that will make them money will have the following features: the venture is easily scalable; the venture has a wide, but specific market/niche and it’s a venture that answers a specific and obvious need that is currently not being addressed.

I’m absolutely positive, Why Go Solo, has all of those characteristics and endless potential…it’s not a hard sell there or an issue. (Well, at least not to me!!)

The next big thing that investors will thoroughly investigate and screen is the management team. Does the management team, with the associated outside resources added to the mix and the board of advisors, have the abilities, skills, know-how, passion, conviction and drive necessary to make the venture happen and successful.

Once again, I’m absolutely positive the team assembled to bring Why Go Solo to life is indeed, currently, well up to the challenge. However, this is a little of a harder sell. Main reason why? Me.

It would appear that as the CEO of Why Go Solo, I will be undertaking many duties in areas that are unknown to me. That is, if you went ahead and only looked at my resume. A resume that is filled with previous positions or billets held in the past that does very little to truly expose the real abilities, skills and depth of everything I can do and have done.

I would obviously not state in my resume the many hours spent on online communities, the countless first dates from online dating sites, Yahoo personals or Craigslist. I would also not list on my resume the people I have helped and assisted in making online dating successful for them, or my true natural knack for meeting people everywhere I go. I would also happen to skip mentioning my gift for writing personal ads, answering personal ads, creating captivating online profiles, etc. Nor, would I fully share the pain, agony and annoyance I know many people are feeling out there from being single, too busy, shy and disconnected.

That is exactly why this blog is becoming an extension of not only, the business plan, but also of my resume. The blog allows me to show what I know, to prove what I can do and to begin to bring to life…Why Go Solo.

Conundrum and Catch 22

What to do, what to do, what to do…

A little over a week ago I had dinner with a friend, who I actually met through an online dating site about three years ago. We catch up for dinner every blue moon. We hadn’t seen each other for well over a year, so I spent a lot of time catching him up on what I have been up to (and vice versa). You know, from the disappointment and heartbreak of closing down the Coaching Agency, the lessons I learned and of course the new venture I was embarking upon.

He was very interested in Why Go Solo and he definitely thought it was an awesome idea. I then, whined, complained and bitched about my impatients and experience of going about securing funding. He has raised money in the past, so he clearly understood what I was talking about. He offered some good advice and also offered to send my info and business plan to an associate of his that is connected to the founder of the online dating site LavaLife.

I got really excited, since someone with that type of background and available cash would be a wonderful potential investor. I thanked him dearly and planned to get home and send everything to him. By everything, it also meant sending out a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

On my drive home, I began to think about what could happen if I sent out the business plan. No, I wasn’t thinking about how quickly the money would come in, but rather my idea being sent all over the place and then stolen.

Guy Kawasaki, in his book The Art of the Start, says something along the line that, that is pure paranoia on the part of the entrepreneur and VC firms and Angel Investor groups do not sign NDAs. I understand that...kinda, but I feel it’s different when you send it to individuals. My friend would sign the NDA, but what about the next guy, and the next guy and the next guy.

You want to keep positive control of your business plan. You want to know who it is being sent to and preferably you want to get it back. I much rather give someone a hard copy of the plan and get it back after a certain amount of time. Yes, the person could make a copy, but that is much more limiting then having a soft copy which can be easily changed and forwarded.

The conundrum of course then becomes…if I don’t send out the plan, then how can I expect to get this potential investor? What’s a gal to do? I’m leaning towards sending out the executive summary and the blog website address. If the interest is truly there, then I can have direct contact with the investor and ask him to personally sign the NDA, then send the plan.

It’s a longer process and possibly one that might not work, but I have to do what makes me comfortable with this matter. Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

Never Lonely But Often Bored

I’m 29…soon to be the big 30 in September, single, outgoing and very active. However, my friends for the most part, have either moved away or have gotten married. I never, okay, I rarely find myself lonely, but I very often find myself bored. I hate being bored.

I have a plethora of interests…many of which, I don’t get to do. The primary reason why that is? Because, I don’t have anyone to do them with. I’m not against going out alone and often do, but guess what, that gets a little boring at times too!!

I have been on the multitude of online communities, Craigslist, Meetup.com and even the dreaded online dating sites and none of them have really delivered a worthwhile experience or real people who are, and do, what they claim in their posts or profiles. I know there are many of you reading this who can relate…I will likely rant about this again in the future!!

I am definitely and completely fed up with it…which is why, I came up with Why Go Solo. Why Go Solo is designed to “Make Spontaneous Connections Happen”…and what do we mean by that.

Why Go Solo will stand apart from the rest. We will have many unique features (and partnerships) to attract people looking to meet like-minded, active, action-oriented, friendly and professional individuals that understand that chat, email and quick notes in a profile is not socializing, nor is it really making friends. After all, what happens once you turn off your computer? Where are you friends then? Where are those friends when you want to go to the movies, play golf or go out to dinner? Do we really want a society that only knows how to communicate online and at the root of their being feel completely isolated and alone?

Just something for you to think about…for now.

Why, Why Go Solo?!!?

Unfortunately, I can’t fully disclose what Why Go Solo is all about or what the secret sauce will be. We can’t risk losing this amazing concept to someone else or to another organization, but I am going to attempt to tell you as much about it as I can, so you can get excited about what we’re doing.

Do any of these apply to you:

Are you new to an area?
Are you always traveling?
Are you single?
Do you continuously need to network?
Do you often find yourself alone?
Do you want to expand your network?
Do you love meeting new people?
Are you a social butterfly?
Are you ready to make new friends?
Do you feel isolated and disconnected because you’re too busy?
Do you often wish you could find someone to “hang out” with, who has similar interests?
Are you tired of meeting people online and never actually meeting anyone offline?

If you answered yes, to one or a few of those questions…Why Go Solo is for you!!

I meet a lot of people on a regular basis. It’s just part of who I am and definitely a huge part of being in business and an entrepreneur and each time I do, I learn new things, I grow and expand who I am. I also have one huge network that provides support, encouragement and assistance whenever I need it. It’s priceless.

Of course, it’s a little ironic, because like I mentioned in another post, I still end up bore and alone most of the time. Yes, I have a huge network and lots friends, but they are not all necessarily near me, available all the time, or fully into what I enjoy doing, which is why; I’m always open to meeting new people. I want to meet new people that are more specifically matched to the activities and interests that I have.

This is common for a lot of people both single people and people in relationships. Your husband, wife or life partner might not necessarily be always interested in the same activities, events or interests you have…so, it would be great to be able to quickly find someone who is. Why Go Solo will facilitate that.

Let me better clarify that too. Meeting someone does not imply meeting someone of the opposite sex. Time to be mature and expand our way to thinking. A middle age woman, can look for another middle age woman to go to the Opera…a professional executive can look for another professional executive in a different corporation to go golfing…a sexy young woman can look for another sexy young woman to go to happy hour.

It’s perfectly healthy, normal, but yet, difficult to find individuals who are willing and ready to go do what we are sitting home wishing we were doing.

That is Why, Why Go Solo!!