a community Lovingly created for kiters, by Kiters.

by Jessica Valenzuela @mavindigital

Recently, I’ve had to face some tough decisions as a Founder for a new company that I am nurturning, Just Kite It. Beyond the day-to-day hustle of ensuring that action items are followed-through and executed on efficiently, networking and making connections that will help grow the company, keeping your team motivated and focused, there are those days when tough decisions need to be made in order to keep the upward momentum of the startup. Decisions that at times may result in hurting a friendship that you truly value.

I could have chosen to start Just Kite It on my own. After much consideration and thought, I decided to bring in a co-Founder. Back in August, my requirements were simple and generic: equally passionate about kiting. Someone who can strongly complement my skill sets and talent. After all I started a service business, Mavin Digital, Inc. So this new startup should be a piece of cake. I discovered that there is more to learn.

Lesson #1: I was naive to think that friendship and common passion for a sport and a lifestyle is enough to warrant a strong working relationship.

When the wheels start to turn is when you realize that common passion and friendship is not enough to get you through the potholes of starting  a company. You can only prepare so much and risk manage as much. Have 101 conversations on the possible challenges that could occur to keep the fluidity of the creation process. At the end of the day a Founder’s duty is to have clarity and focus on the tasks. Can friendships make it through tough business decisions? It depends. There is no right or wrong answer here. In my opinion, keeping a general open mind and conversation always bears better fruit, yet the Founder’s Duty is keeping the vision in which the company was founded. Keep that flame burning bright up to the finish line.

“Trust is a Founder’s biggest challenge. Not capital,” Divya Gugnani, Founder Behind the Burner.

Lesson #2: Is capital enough to earn co-Foundership status? The clear answer is no.

Obviously, investor equity at the seed round is available to those who invests in the startup. Yet it is a Founder’s duty to pick a founding team he/she can trust to have infinite desire to help execute on your idea, transform it into a great product and understands the business you are building. Equity motivated by capital alone could dilute the vision of the startup. Distractions over revenue decisions versus focusing on what is strategically sound for the company could hurt the growth of the organization and performance of the brand.

“Create and deliver a good product first, then business will come,” The Apple story.

Lesson #3: KISS and focus on doing one thing well.

Identifying a problem and crafting a solution that a community would find valuable is not a one shot process. Nurturing an idea and transforming it into a product requires evolution. Sometimes the idea becomes diluted and the problem in which it is intended to solve is lost. We were close to heading down that path for Just Kite It. I was reminded by a fellow Founder and friend, KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and focus on doing one thing well. So back to the drawing board I went.Today, as we draw closer to our alpha release date for phase 1…I’m excited! It won’t be perfect, yet that is the beauty of the startup creation process there will always be room for improvement.

Lesson #4: Don’t build to sell. Build to create a great company.

So far the most invaluable lesson I’ve learned since my journey into creating Just Kite it. I was at a coffee shop yesterday meeting someone who I have a high regard for and is one of my Advisory Board members for Mavin Digital, Inc. He stopped me in my tracks when I said, “well in two years I’ll probably sell.” I was greeted with “Don’t think like that. You don’t build a company to flip it. You build a company to create great companies.”

Indeed, why would you want to sell something you love? “Do what you love and never give up,” Bill Tai.

In the last couple months the buzz about social media has been getting so loud I got rid of my cable. Ok that’s not really the reason I got rid of my cable but it might as well have been. Almost every story was either about Facebook or Twitter.

Ok so we all should know by now that social media is hot. No, I take that back…it’s smoking hot.

Almost everywhere I go there is someone calling themselves a social media expert. What makes them an expert? I read a great post recently over on the MarketingProf Daily Fix blog about social media that I think is the problem with companies and individuals implementing social media.

They can teach you the platform but they can’t teach you to be social

And without those skills any social media strategy is going to fail. People like to do business with people they like. Not with people they find obnoxious.

Becoming a “social business” (meaning true participation as opposed to leveraging social media as a new form of marketing) can impact nearly every function of a business -
Five Challenges Social Media Will Bring to Business by David Armano

My advice to anyone new to social media.

• Decide why you are doing it in the first place. Just because it hot…does not mean it’s right for your business. Just look at all the abandoned blogs out there.
• Be yourself.
• Don’t say anything online you wouldn’t in person.
• Stop reading all blog posts about how to tweet. If someone unfollows you. Who cares.

IF you have not caught the Internet Week New York bug yet, here’s why you should:

Gain insight. Even when you think you know it all, there is a lot to learn. As an entrepreneur, big consumer and evangelist of everything tech, digital and social media it is important to stay current and filter what is useful and relevant for our clients and community. A few events that I think are key and if you can register  would include Beyond Facebook: How will the students of today use the web of tomorrow, The Future of Digital Cities and Creativity and Technology (I am at this one today!).

Be inspired. Admittedly my first time at a New York Tech Meetup event last night, I was inspired by the products showcased. Will certainly make this event a part of my monthly repertoire. My personal favorites:

• UpNext offers a 3D view and local search or your city (currently just New York). It is available on the iPhone!
• Centrl offers a new way of connecting with people on the go. Available on the BlackBerry and iPhone.
• Livestream formerly known as Mogulus. I believed in their product when I discovered it last summer. I didn’t realize how powerful the new Procaster tool – it is rad! I am so looking forward to dabbling in videos thanks to Livestream!
• Aviary bringing design and editing to the browser. I haven’t tried it, but will definitely encourage our team of designers to dabble in it.

Connect and reconnect. Internet Week New York creates an invaluable opportunity for people to connect and reconnect. Everyone who is passionate about the community, opinion leaders, entrepreneurs, VCs, techies and creatives are engaging and making the effort to support the events and programs. Personally met a number of new key contacts simply by getting indirectly involved with a handful of events and being present at a number of them. It is tough to leave your desk knowing you’ll be back in a few hours with a foot more of work before you left. Yet if you are aspiring to start a company or pursue an entrepreneur career in the future this is one of those city program events that you can’t simply miss. The time is now.

Learn about new trends in tech from kids. At the ContentNext event last Monday, June 1 10 Kid Entrepreneurs To Watch were showcased on flyers. Here’s the roster MyYearbook.com, Whateverlife.com, MobilEdu, Uno, FEE Entertainment, Courses, InternshipIN, Dynamik Duo, Teens in Tech, Eclectyk.

Celebrate the people who make it happen. By participating in the events and programs you are helping celebrate and support the people who work hard to make it happen.

Enjoy and have fun! Have you checked out the parties? Quite an impressive list difficult to decide which one to hit…I’ve been going from one to another the past two days.  Unsure if I can keep up the entire week! The list of the fun events are also listed in the Internet Week New York schedule.

Now get out there! If you tweet, the official hashtag is #iwny.

~ jessica ~

Our friends at Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco took the economic climate in careful consideration when planning this year’s expo. They have done a fabulous job producing with the power of less.  Kudos to Janetti Chon (@janerri) and team for their careful planning and top-notch program management. I predict this will be the best ever Web 2.0 Expo yet!

Register for a Free Expo Pass and get access to all this:

• Expo Hall
• All Keynotes
• All Government 2.0 Sessions
• All Sponsored Sessions
• Web2Open and Web2Open Hybrid Sessions
• Opening Reception (Sponsored by Palm)
• Booth Crawl
• All other networking events
• Launch Pad
• Tekzilla Live!
• Solutions Showcase Theater presentations
• Sunlight Hackathon
• Birds of a Feather Sessions

Register today (use discount code EXPOPASS).