I Wish I Could Clone Myself

Seriously, I really do.  I’ve just got too much work and too many ideas for one person to be pushing out and I just can’t help it.

For some reason, I seem to have a problem with coming up with ideas for new entrepreneurial projects.  I just come up with too many good ones.  Of course, that’s a very bold claim and there’s no way I can back it up, but just hear me out.  I keep a little black book of startup ideas and so far, at least 5 out of the dozen or so ideas have been materialized by someone else almost exactly.  Now, I find myself unintentionally coming up with ideas, kind of like seeing things in a different light (minus the cheesiness).

On top of that, I try to get advice on each of these ideas from a panel of critics, who try to bash my idea into the ground.  The ones that make it are the ones that have the honor of residing in my little black book.  My panel includes (among others) several grad school friends, fellow web developers and my mom.  Surprisingly enough, she provides some of the most balanced, unbiased feedback I’ve received so far on my work.

I know you’re saying, “Sure, my uncle Vinny had the idea for Google 15 years ago!!  Doesn’t mean a damn thing if you don’t (or can’t) act on it!”  You’re right, it doesn’t at all.  The problem is, I actually have the ability to make some of these ideas (at least one?) happen.  I have some experience with the industry, can design and program as a last resort.  Unfortunately, I think I fit the bill for the saying ‘Jack of all trades, master of none.’  Thankfully I have a team (more like friends) who are excellent in their respective fields and willing to work with me.

So back to my problem - I can’t seem to figure out how to properly prioritize my work.  I have these friends with solid backgrounds ready to work with me but I’m not sure how to decide which project is the most lucrative or that I am most compelled to work with.  I just finished school a couple of months ago and have completed one project that is steadily growing (new version finished, should be up soon).  I’ll be ready to move on to a new project soon but I have no idea what that should be.

Have any of you guys had similar feelings or experiences?  How do you prioritize your work?

Launch Time Craziness

My partner Mike and I somewhat officially launched UNCForum.com yesterday.  By launch I mean creating an invite on Facebook and sending it out to every single one of our Facebook friends (I had 1000+ myself, plus my partners).  So far people are slowly trickling onto the site and we’re seeing some growth, but I think our real advertising campaign begins tomorrow at UNC’s Fall Fest.

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Update on Current Projects

Right now I’m working on several different projects all at once so I thought I’d share a few of these ventures with you all.  They’ve been keeping me busy for most of the day and I am slowly learning to better manage my time in order to effectively work on them all.  So, in no particular order, I am currently working on:

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An Introduction to Entrepreneurship

As the unemployment rate continues to rise and is forecasted to increase by the end of the year, many workers are finding it harder and harder to have a sustainable job.  A slowing economy has forced many large corporations to cut down on and restrict resources, and unfortunately it looks like the situation will only get worse before it gets better ¹.  A recent Goldman Sachs survey shows that “CIOs will most likely look to cut their resources first from lower-value augmented [contract] IT staff” in 2009 ².   The increasingly harrowing state of our economy is forcing people to seek out new ways of making money, whether it is online or in the real world.

So what is Entrepreneurship?

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