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Get the full story in the business timeline of Mike & Rio
The story so far: Two unlikely allies, starting with only a few dozen half-baked ideas, have set a goal to earn a million dollars in one year. In this economy, the world needs more people like us. People who make their own way. Implementors of ideas, capitalistic adventurers. But we have limited experience and maybe $275 between us in our bank accounts. Call us naive. But we hustle. Question is, do we have what it takes to combine our abilities, create a viable business, and make something of ourselves?
Here are the characters:
Mike, 48, recently divorced and very broke. Part mad computer-scientist, part Vinnie Barbarino. People call him hard-edged but also hilarious in a quirky way. Likes riding motor scooters, using obscene language and occasionally, just occasionally, wearing a studded collar.
Rio, 22, born in Arizona and raised in Stuttgart, Germany, has a shiny new degree in Economics. Part scientist, part artist, she’s beautiful, fearless, and has a wit as sharp as her tongue. Give her an idea and a computer and she’s as dangerous as Lara Croft on a jet ski.
So here we are. We’re the first to admit that we make the most unlikely pair, but we do generate some great ideas. What we have learned so far is nothing like it’s been described in business schools, books, or self help manuals. We’re starting afresh, throwing all we have into taking our ideas and going somewhere as entrepreneurs. Join us as we document our follies, failures, and successes in the hope that our experiences can make you laugh, learn, dream and create something wonderful of your own.
The full story: The business timeline of Mike & Rio
Rio: I have a college degree, now what?
I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s asked that. I’m sure it happens every year as America’s best and brightest get churned out of top schools and wonder what the hell they want to do with their lives. I graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2009 with a degree in Economics. Perfect timing, right? Not that I wanted a career in finance. I think there was a brief delusional phase of my life where I wanted to be a castrating wall street conqueror, but that passed quickly, fortunately. What I’m doing now is avoiding a real job by being self-employed.
I wasn’t entirely sure if the entrepreneurship thing would work out, so I applied to 27 grad schools, to keep my options open, and because I am completely insane. I applied to everything from economics phD programs (a terrible idea), to architecture schools, and journalism schools. I got into some top architecture and journalism programs, but decided to defer all of my admissions, because I think going to grad school would be painfully stupid at this point in my life. I am lucky because I graduated from college with no debt. Unfortunately I didn’t get any scholarships for grad studies and I don’t feel like putting myself in huge amounts of debt for the illusion of job security. There is no such thing as job security.
Don’t get me wrong, education is very important to me. I just think doing is the best way to educate yourself. The only real security in life comes from improving yourself and creating opportunities for yourself, rather than expecting the world owes you a living because you have advanced degrees.
I graduated right when the economy collapsed, which was amusing to watch in a sort of horror-freak-show type of way, but I nevertheless had the brilliant idea that it was the perfect time to start a business. Why not? We’ll have less competition, if we fail we can pretend like it had nothing to do with our own incompetence.
I’m self employed at a time when most of my friends are unemployed or working a job they hate. Taking that step was less scary than I thought it would be. I just went ahead and did it. I now have the opportunity to really explore and find out what I’m interested in. College is supposed to be the time for this, but honestly, I don’t think you can gain much real experience while you’re in school. You’re supposed to be studying. You’re living in a bubble. Most internships don’t cut it for getting real-world experience. Even if you’re doing more than creating spreadsheets, it’s hard to put it in perspective if your internship is only a couple months long.
The college experience in the states is great, though. I grew up in Germany, and came to study at the University of Michigan in 2005 when I was 18. America’s all about dreaming big; entrepreneurship is not really something that’s talked about as much in Germany. I don’t even think there’s a word for it. (Geschäftsführung? For those that speak German, that word doesn’t quite have the same appeal). America’s all about entrepreneurship and self-actualization, and I think it’s easier to fail here. Or at least easier to start over when you do. The people you meet have a profound influence on the direction your life can take, and that’s mostly what college has been about for me.
The people I’ve met have made the most difference in the path I’m taking right now. Mike and I have always had amazing creative energy when we work on things together. We have very different backgrounds, but somehow we build on each other. There’s an amazing potential for creation and innovation when you work together with someone like that, and we’re excited to see where our ideas can take us. To hold us accountable (and to make it exciting for all 3 of our devoted readership) we’ve decided to set a goal to make 1 million in 1 year. Not just for the money, but for what it represents. Being rich is just the byproduct of doing something really amazing, and realizing your passions.
I’m young, and don’t have many expenses or obligations. I can either get a day job while working on my business part-time, or I can earn money in short bursts, like with freelance work. Time is gold for me right now and creating amazing opportunities for myself will not happen if I’m locked in a 9-5 job. Creating something of value will get you ahead, not waiting for people to notice that you’re special.
To support myself I presently do some portrait photography work. I started a company with my another friend of mine in October 2008. In April of 2009, right before I graduated, we got a grant of sorts from Spark, a business development group here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While they’ve proven to be pretty annoying, the grant really motivated us to get moving and develop our concept further. Basically, our company is a digital health and lifestyle company that develops mobile applications for better living. Our first program, an iPhone app that guides you through the process of deep breathing, was submitted to the app store in November 2009. As you can see, it’s been a long process.
The older we get, the more financial obligations we will have, so now is the time to begin creating the lifestyle I want, before it’s too late. I expect this process to take a long time. If there’s ever a time to fail catastrophically, the earlier the better. The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to catch up, as someone once quipped. I know what kind of lifestyle I want to lead, and what to do to support that kind of lifestyle. My freedom (financial and otherwise) is most important to me. I want to get things moving quickly and at a pace that I set, not work for someone else on undefined goals. Blogging is a great way to get this process out there and perhaps help other people who want to start their own company.
So many resources for entrepreneurs have been written by people who are already successful. Many of them are old white men who have forgotten what it was like to start out. We’re in the trenches and are still figuring this whole thing out. That’s valuable, because it’s real. “80% of success is just showing up”, said Woody Allen. To me this means you need persistence to simply keep working on it. We hope sharing that process can help others keep to working on whatever drives them, too.
Mike’s story: I have a nothing, now what?
I graduated from the University of Michigan suma-cum-nothing with a degree in Psychology. I decided to go on to grad school after interviewing for a job in psychology at the local boys juvenile school where the guy told me “they would rip you apart”.
Good to know that others can spots missing traits in you you didn’t even know you lacked.
So I applied to grad school for Psychology instead, I got accepted, then found out research in psychology pays the same as the Juvenile school did. My choices to actually make money were a degree in Clinical psychology. The only problem with that is I had more problems than most of the people who would be sitting across from me on the couch. Didn’t sound like fun.
Realizing I’d be a pauper the rest of my life, I looked toward business. A Master in Business Administration. What I was really interested in, being the psychologist, was why did all these men who carried a briefcase had this look of utter confidence in their face. I wanted to know what was in that briefcase. So I made the brilliant choice to attend grad school for an MBA, and 2 years, 20k later, I dropped out with just a handful of classes to go when I found out the only thing in that briefcase was their lunch.
Actually I didn’t drop out…I traded school for a job. Another brilliant choice.
It was a small Market Research company at the corner of hickville and main, but it turned out he had some fairly large clients. This is where I cut my teeth on market research. And market research is not what I thought. I thought it was about Marketing and Advertising. So wrong. I call it hard core market research. It’s about customer surverys, focus groups, reports, analyze, but mostly that business is about SITE SELECTION.
Site Selection for retailers is interesting. I had to learn how to program a database because there was huge amounts of demographic information to process. The really interesting thing is Site Selection is based on location, so I got to learn how to program a mapping package as well. Side note, I happen to be one of those people who when you hand them a software manual they read it through and go “coool!”.
Well after 6 years and a promise of having a percentage of that company, which later I found out would cost me 20 grand, I quit to become an entrepreneur…ANOTHER BRILLIANT IDEA!
Quit my job to work for myself on a gig that paid 4 thousand dollars. I figure I made about a penny an hour when I finished that project.
Luckily I had a friend who worked at RackRoom Shoes and he had called to see if I would write them a map based site selection program like the one I built at my ex employers. He said they would pay me $65 grand. After shitting myself, I began work. Took about a year to do. When complete I sold 2 more at the same price.
I figured I was on my way so I took out a 40 thousand dollar business loan to really get things going…again…another brilliant move. I learned you actually have to be making cash to pay back $500 dollar a month loan payments.
So time ticks by, kids come into the picture, the marriage goes out of the picture, (didn’t I mention that) and I’m sleeping in the foreclosed house waiting for the 6 months to expire till they evict my ass. She had moved back by her parents after being utterly disgusted by my lack of getting a job and banging my head against a wall. I did realize recently that the reason the marriage tanked is she met me right when I started the only job I ever had. She met me when I was that 9 to 5 guy at that marker research firm. I never actually was a “job” guy, though. I had a couple of small businesses prior to that. A lawn mowing company (me and a lawnmower) and a construction company (me and my hands). I took a class to pass the test and the state gave me a construction license when I barely knew a hammer from a nail…nice guys. But I did find some work doing construction. My suggestion to anyone who is in a relationship and who wants to be an entrepreneur: Be damned sure she or he knows this bug is in you before kids or marriage. Test the waters as a couple first and see if you both survive it.
After that marriage ended I fought for two years trying to save the old software. It’s very hard, if not impossible, unless you have a major catastrophe like divorce, bankruptcy and loosing the house, to be able to dump something you worked night and day on for 6 years. That mentality kept me from moving forward. It was only when I had to move out and I had no money left, that I broke down and admitted defeat. Oh ego, how massive you had become.
I started over sitting in cafes in another state. I could spend no more than $25 bucks a month on coffee, since that’s all I had left over. Six months later I had a mini-prototype of my old software and damn did it get attention. Landed me a job at the University of Michigan for 6 months and got me a small client. I might mention I met Alessandra at this time and discovered a like mind. That gave me fodder to push on. She listened when no one else would. Finding that person I believe is extremely important to motivation, creativity and energy. So go find your like mind.
That brings us to today. I gave Alessandra my old software. DatMap Corporation. When you bury a company, the stench of resurrecting it yourself is highly distasteful. I felt she could do better with it. She’s the president, I’m the nerd. Perfect. It’s one of two projects I am working on now.
The current project is about iPhone applications, because that’s what’s hot right now. Bitch to learn, but well worth it. I am creating several apps for a friend who’s company I can’t divulge yet. I know, total bullshit, but It’s the only time I get to feel like James Bond. I’m also doing several apps with Alessandra.
I got focus (half the time), I got the skills (I’m getting them), and I got good people to work with (that’s truth). What more could one want.
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