Alex Budak
If you have an idea for a new social venture you want to start -- an organization, be it non-profit, for-profit or just a one-time project -- which is focused on improving the world in some way, we'd love to have you raise the funds you need to make it happen on StartSomeGood! We're a great site for rallying your supporters around your vision for social change and giving you the platform you need to take action on your idea. If that sounds like you, we'd love for you to come use our site to "start some good" -- http://startsomegood.com/start.
Helping people everywhere start their own good
In the same weekend, Alex Budak jumped out of a plane - his first time skydiving - and made the leap into the world of social entrepreneurship, co-founding the site http://startsomegood.com/" rel="nofollow">StartSomeGood.com.
StartSomeGood empowers anyone, anywhere, with an idea for improving the world to take action on their idea and, well, start good.
How I can help Esc members
If you have an idea for a new social venture you want to start - an organization, be it non-profit, for-profit or just a one-time project - which is focused on improving the world in some way, we'd love to have you raise the funds you need to make it happen on StartSomeGood! We're a great site for rallying your supporters around your vision for social change and giving you the platform you need to take action on your idea. If that sounds like you, we'd love for you to come use our site to "start some good" - http://startsomegood.com/start" rel="nofollow">http://startsomegood.com/start.
Currently...
I'm the co-founder of StartSomeGood.com, which is a crowd-funding site for social initiatives to raise the funds and grow the community of supporters they need to transform their idea for good into action and impact.
On a daily basis, this means a great variety of projects to help people start good, but my main roles on the team are leading the venture support team (the great people that help people set-up and run fund-raising campaigns) and leading the tech team (I'm not a coder myself, so I just do my best to geek out in letter acronyms and html code).
Before I escaped...
Before StartSomeGood I was a project manager at a great organization that helps non-profits create brand new websites. I was the go-between - I helped make technology understandable to non-profits, and the needs of these organizations understandable to our developers.
It is a wonderful organization, but I've always wanted to work directly to empower people to create their own good in the world and this new start-up was my opportunity to do so.
My moment of truth...
I grew up in a truly unique time and place in history, growing up in Palo Alto, California, in the heart of the Silicon Valley during the dotcom boom and bust of the 1990s.
This means that entrepreneurship has always been a part of my DNA. As a would-be entrepreneur I've had lots of ideas, but they typically come and go.
The concept of StartSomeGood, however, was different - it was with me when I went to sleep and then again when I woke up. I felt in my gut that it's what I should be doing. And after a while I started listening and decided it was time to take action.
Planning for it...
Really, there's no way you can perfectly plan for launching a start-up; you can only do your best to put yourself in position to succeed. So, that means that you can never be totally ready - at some point you just have to take the leap.
To prepare, we did a crowd-funding campaign for our own crowd-funding site to raise some funds from friends and family to help us launch.
Otherwise it's simply been a process of learning every day, constantly failing, and doing my best to learn from those failures.
The worst and best bits...
The best part has been the opportunity to connect with some amazing social entrepreneurs doing incredible things to create new futures for their communities. Empowering artisans in rural Thailand; a new app for helping people overcome stuttering; a computer lab for abused women; and a new school in Nepal... we've seen an incredible diversity of amazing projects launched on our site. And being able to support and learn from these entrepreneurs has been incredible.
The most challenging part has been learning to maximise every single resource at our disposal. So instead of spending $50/month on a service, it means signing up for free trial account after free trial account.
It could be so much easier, but in the end I wouldn't trade those challenges for the amazing positives.
Best advice...
My favourite book of all time is http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Alchemist-Fable-About-Following/dp/0722532938" rel="nofollow">"The Alchemist" by Paulo Cuelho. It tells the story of a boy on a journey in search of his 'personal legend', and one of the recurring themes is that when you want something badly enough, the whole world conspires to help you achieve it.
I've absolutely found this to be the case with StartSomeGood - it's incredible how generous and supportive people have been. From my family and girlfriend always being there to support me, to an awesome co-founder joining me on the journey, to the more serendipitous moments where someone or something just appears to help when needed. Stay true to your personal legend.
Useful resources and information...
- The best book I've read for the entrepreneur's journey is http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Entrepreneurs-Ordinary-Creating-Extraordinary/dp/0787988626/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1349531313&sr=1-1-fkmr0" rel="nofollow">"Life Entrepreneurs" by Chris Gergen.
- I've also joined the http://www.sandbox-network.com/" rel="nofollow">Sandbox Network which is absolutely one of the best decisions I've made. It's a group filled with entrepreneurs and innovators who have become close friends, sounding boards and supporters.