An interesting panel with young web community founders moderated by Guy Kawasaki:
Panel participants:
Sean Suhl of Suicide Girls
Akash Garg of hi5
Drew Curtis of Fark
Markus Frind of PlentyofFish
Max Levchin of Slide
James Hong of HotorNot
Learnings:
#1: Do what you’re passionate about and have fun!
#2: Never surrender! But don’t forget to face reality.
#3: Forget MBA schools and all the case studies. Just get going and go for it!
#4: The team is important. Hire the right people. Hire evangelists. Hire customers!
#5: Drew Curtis (Fark) is a funny guy and definitely a good choice for a panel :-)
#6: Do intelligent marketing. Don’t throw money out the window for ineffective things! But don’t base your future on luck and coincidence. I’m convinced that marketing is still very important for every company.
#7: None of the participants have raised venture capital. Remember: The venture model is not the only model in the world!