Despite reaching a point in his career where he was making a comfortable salary with great benefits, Alex felt that his potential warranted much more. Between himself and his wife, who found herself working late into the night, Alex was able to put food on the table and support his family in New York. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t fulfilling his potential, and decided to fly to Los Angeles in hopes of further developing his business idea. Alex Blumberg’s experiences as a new entrepreneur are a textbook example of a mentality that breeds both entrepreneurial success and growth.
Upon going to LA, Blumberg met Chris Sacca, a brilliant and revered mind in the business world. Alex had the opportunity of presenting his business idea to Chris, which surrounded the transition that the American Public was making from radio to digital streaming services. Chris, who’s heard more pitches than the hairs on his head, was able to consolidate Alex’s hour-long pitch into a two-minute summary. Alex was surprised by Chris’s brilliance and his ability to repeat the idea back in such a simple manner. Chris described his concerns with the space being too saturated, the competition from big media, and the short attention span of the average American that is only growing shorter. Chris didn’t invest in Alex’s idea, but set up a meeting with his partner, Matt, where Alex was able to put together a more organized and cohesive presentation. After pitching, Alex notices that Matt likes the idea, but doesn’t stop there. Matt begins to lay out different avenues and ideas that would help Alex to take the business in a whole new direction. Alex listens and compliments the ideas as they are valuable suggestions, but has some reservations. He feels like he is starting to lose control of the business before it even begins, and struggles in his ability to remain true to his original ideas. Both Chris and Matt, two brilliant minds in business, basically discussed the changes that should be made if Alex had any hope of making it with his idea; and while there were certainly positives ramifications from these meetings, the idea of his original venture being drastically changed was discouraging to Alex.
In the beginning, I said Alex’s mentality is that of one that breeds success. This is referring to his decision to leave his mundane career behind in hopes of becoming an entrepreneur. No individual will make it as an entrepreneur without the drive and dedication to make your journey your #1 priority. On the flip side, however, Alex wasn’t the greatest presenter and didn’t have a concrete or refined elevator pitch, which is undoubtedly essential. It’s not a crime to be unprepared or to have a sense of confidence elude you, however; This is just like so many entrepreneurs in the early stages of their ventures who are still feeling out their ideas for themselves. Alex was able to take the good with the bad, which is not something many of us can do. The ability to internalize constructive criticism is also a fundamental piece of being an entrepreneur. Overall, a lot was made clear regarding the potential real-world application of the ideas we learn in class. The industry knowledge and skills of the investors in this podcast were on clear display through their conversation and the advice they had to give.
