MyPunchblog

This post was written by Matt Douglas, Founder & CEO

I was happily moving along in my day when Eric (our numbers guy) pulled me aside and asked “When was the date that you officially launched MyPunchbowl?” I didn’t hesitate to respond: we launched on January 15th, 2007 and we were featured on TechCrunch the night before we launched. Then he asked, “Matt, do you know what today’s date is?”

Wow. 2 years. It’s been quite a ride. If I could tell the Matt of 2 years ago some things about running an Internet startup, here are the top 5 things that I would tell him:

1. There’s no substitute for great employees. Find the best. Nurture them, help them grow, and your company will be rewarded more than you could ever imagine.
2. Always keep your pulse on your customers: 2 years later, I still take customer service calls on my cell phone. Yep, go ahead and try it. If I’m not in meeting, I will likely answer the phone.
3. Cash is king: Be very careful about how you spend cash. A dollar saved today is worth 10 tomorrow.
4. Great products win: Looking back, every time we decided to heavily invest in the product (like our great Design Studio feature), it’s always been worthwhile.
5. Be patient: There are very few startups that turn into overnight successes (like Facebook or Twitter). MyPunchbowl might take 5 years to really get off the ground. Be patient, and you’ll get there.

I’m humbled and honored by everyone who has put their faith in me and Punchbowl Software. To our investors, our board members, our partners, our employees, and our customers: thank you for a thrilling 2 years.

Happy Birthday MyPunchbowl.

This entry was posted on January 15, 2009 at 12:44 pm and is filed under About MyPunchbowl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.