It’s about time I answer a reoccurring question. People ask it in various ways but it boils down to: How can Obsidian be so stupid as to only partner with a very select group of people?
Isn’t it dumb to only focus on entrepreneurs between 18 and 26, are
early stage, don’t need immediate funding and are located in the
northeast US? Clearly Obsidian is missing out on millions of
extraordinary opportunities. Obsidian just doesn’t get it.
Not only do I receive emails like this daily, but
some people also post these comments on our blog. One typical example
was posted by Scott Rush on June 10th.
Your entrepreneurial success is NOT determined by your age.
Arguably the younger you start, the more time you have to learn, expand
and grow. But if Colonel Harland Sanders can start the KFC franchise
at age 65, you can do the same. Your marketability and your success
are not determined by your age.
Your products and/or service are NOT less marketable the day you turn 27. Actually, many very successful entrepreneurs started their companies only after working in the “real world” for 5 to 10 years.
Your entrepreneurial success is NOT determined by where you live.
If you are in the great state of New Jersey, or in the great state of
Texas, or the great state of South Dakota… it doesn’t matter. Your
success is up to you and your ability to market it. Of course, if you
are in the great state of Confusion, that’s another issue all together.
You entrepreneurial success is NOT determined by how much funding you get.
In fact, the less funding you have the more likely you are to be
successful. Since with less money, you must have more ingenuity. The
more ingenious you are the more success you will have.
Very nice. Now that we know that none of these
parameters influence success much at all, why on God’s green earth does
this clown, Mike Michalowicz of Obsidian Launch, require these
discriminatory requirements? Is he a total idiot or perhaps just
slightly retarded?
If you have read any of my blogs or seen any of my
videos, you will know that I believe in absolute focus. Being a master
of one thing, not a jack (ass) of many. It is my belief that
entrepreneurs at different stages and/or different ages benefit from
different relations and different services. Because of our
discrimination, Obsidian continues to lead the industry with absolute
proficiency in launching startups with entrepreneurs who are 18 to 26,
don’t need immediate funding and are located in the northeast. Here’s
a few reasons why:
-
Entrepreneurs 18 to 26 typically take direction from parents or
elder siblings. When we get involved in projects, we like to get these
individuals involved. Everyone has to be on the same team, even if it
is just for emotional support, in order to launch a company
successfully.
-
Entrepreneurs 18 to 26 often have strong ties with their
colleges. Obsidian works with many colleges and leverages these
relationships to help grow Partner companies. When our Partners,
Obsidian and supporting universities are working together, good things
happen.
-
Entrepreneurs who don’t need funding to launch their product or
service are “boot strappers” (as a side note, our intention is to
change this term to “3-sheeting” instead of “boot strapping”.)
Obsidian offers infrastructure. We have a full staff of individuals
who provide accounting, legal, marketing and other support. This
allows the entrepreneur to focus all their attention on building their
product or service. If they require funding to do this final part,
then we simply are not a fit…but a VC probably is.
-
Entrepreneurs located in the northeast are our bailiwick.
Obsidian is all about face time. The internet, phone, and email are
all great communication tools, but nothing can compete with face time.
Meetings, sales appointments and vendor negotiations are done
hand-in-hand with our partners.
I
hope this makes sense, because if it doesn’t I will have to find some
way to jump out of this screen and shake you. You and I can only
achieve and maintain greatness through absolute focus. Obsidian
practices it. So should you. Do everything you can to do as little as
you can.