Searching For a New Home

Good ‘ol Downtown Orlando -the haven where the construction never ends and the parking is horrendous. What more could you ask for? You have a beautiful lake next door, Mickey Mouse down the road, and traces of Lou Pearlman’s delinquent pop empire just a stone-throw away. It’s quite an exciting area and far more than any outsider may suspect.

If there is one thing that I hate about anyone external to the Central Florida area, it’s their obliviousness to what really happens in Orlando. Yes, we do attract millions with our Disney attractions, and yes, we happened to spawn the most popular boy bands ever. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have an inner sanctum filled with creativity, integrity, and innovation. We actually do, and it’s beginning to really take form. I like to call it Downtown Orlando.

Jamblr has resided downtown since its conception earlier this year. Fortunately, Jamblr has been able to work, meet, and hash out all of the company’s details at the Endagon Entertainment Group offices. This is only temporary, however, as the search for a new Jamblr space in Downtown Orlando is on.

We have already looked at most of the buildings downtown, some properties in surrounding cities, and even some unconventional spaces. Oddly enough, we still seem to be attracted to the socializations of Downtown Orlando; the ability to be in the central hub of serious business; the constant accessibility of anything you could possibly need.

So what if I am paying a fortune just to park everyday? So what if I can’t swim in Lake Eola? Who cares that the cityscape is still incomplete? All that matters is that Jamblr and myself are leading Orlando into a world of respect and admiration for the rest of the world to see.

Jamblr Vs. Tumblr Vs. Flickr

When we first started this Jamblr project, we struggled to find a name. At first, we had the most brilliant and fitting name you could possibly think of. The problem, however, were the legal issues surrounding it. Our lawyer and team deemed the risk too high to move forward with it. All hope wasn’t lost though, because we had five clever minds coming up with new ideas everyday, especially co-founder Justin Wagner, who was throwing out names like they were recyclables.

Slowly but surely, we had other name options. Some were good, some were horrible. Somewhere along the way, we thoroughly analyzed the current trend of “web 2.0″ and the popular names that were inhabiting the scene. Although we were hesitant to “follow the leader” in a sense, there was a reason we decided to drop the “e” from what could have easily been “jambler.” Just by looking at it now, I realize that that was the right move to make.

Great sites like Flickr, Tumblr, and many others are still flourishing because of their unique service and not because of their grammatically incorrect moniker. We’d like to think that Jamblr works the same way; filling a void and offering a service that almost everyone can use.

So Jamblr it is, and Jamblr it will be. After all, it’s much better than “Janglr.” Don’t you think?

Constant Innovation

jamblr is a big project. What we are trying to do is by no means a small feat. The majority is in the design and development of the site and that is not something that I contribute to the team. I look at myself as an idea guy with a pretty good Social Media background.

With this, I sometimes get over anxious and look for things that can be done today. There is no employee manual for jamblr. There is no template for success. In the day-to-day operations there is nothing on the project grid for me, but there is.

I need people talking about jamblr in some capacity. Whether its investors, blog viewers, the kids who find the silly video on YouTube or anyone else that comes across this platform.

Well, I am happy to announce an announcement that I cannot make. Wow, that was true marketing and PR hype. All I can say is that there is a device that is causing crazy hype worldwide and I want to take advantage of it and its new platform.

Well, I got approval and now we are going at it. Hopefully next week I can make a real announcement and truly show the talent that the 5 of us have in making something when there wasn’t supposed to be something.

The biggest advice I can give from being in a start-up is to constantly be innovative. Take advantage of situations. Look for clues on Google Trends. Look for holes in existing systems and look for scald down versions of your own project.

The key to winning this internet thing is really to get something out and see if people bite and the site sticks. Well, now we are ready to throw something out and I am here to make sure it sticks.

Looking forward to next week!

-Greg Rollett

Establishing Value on the Web

Ask any internet entrepreneur how they plan on making money with their latest venture, and there is a good chance you will get an “I don’t know yet.” In conjunction with that, however, comes their knowledge of the value of capturing eyeballs. It’s universally known that financial projections and a company’s estimated value are hardly accurate. It’s all in your team, your idea, and your market.

At Jamblr, we have been dealing a lot with determining our value. While we want to be attractive to potential investors, we also do not want to stretch the truth and be laughed at. After all, our array of assets speak for themselves. The last thing you want to do is come off as unrealistic and uninformed to the people that matter most to the future of your company.

So how do you handle financial projections in your business plan? The answer is simple - Just do it. Take a few hours to do the best you can to land in the proximity of accuracy, but don’t kill yourself over it. After all, even if your projections were 100% accurate at a certain financial amount, your company will most likely never see that exact figure. No matter how you look at it, your guesses will always be off.

So, my site is capturing eyeballs - why aren’t I making any money? First and foremost, it depends on the amount of eyeballs. Second, do you have any means of revenue? Do you charge for a service, employ advertisements, etc? If not, you must be relying on merely an exit strategy, which in today’s world, is a common tactic.

An immensely successful website like Twitter, for example, does not have any revenue streams at all right now. Their objective: to build their user base and earn a “real” projected value in the long-run. Like the stock market, value is determined by market outlook, among other things. If a potential shareholder believes your company is worth $10 billion by making a bid on acquiring you, then guess what? - You are worth $10 billion, at least for the time being. This is what we have seen with Facebook, when Microsoft bought shares at a suggested figure. Facebook will continue to grow and continue to be an attractive entity to those “big wigs” that want to take over the internet.

Jamblr is unique in that we have many different revenue streams. Similar to a corporate entity, our projections are based on estimated revenue streams and not strictly estimated value. Constant revenue and an accelerating user base make for major potential. We can only hope to be worthy enough for an evaluation from an entity like Google someday.

Separating Work and Play

In my last post, I talked about working while on the road, even during my vacation. Since that post, I have concluded my trip, but not before facing circumstances that have slightly swayed my opinion on the subject.

In an attempt to enjoy my vacation from work a little bit more (and subsequently avoid the constant nagging of complaining family members), I decided to become less proactive and accept the loads of makeup work that will await my return to the Jamblr offices. By accepting this fact, I was able to relax and spend more quality time with family this past week. And it was very nice. I am happy I did so.

The problem for my family members, aside from failing to understand the nonstop workflow of an aspiring entrepreneur, was my habitual phone calls and urgent emails that had to be attended to immediately, no matter what.

It is because of these mandatory daily duties and conversations that I could never completely separately my work from my decadent getaway. My new philosophy: ALWAYS BE ACCESSIBLE. Rather than working around the clock, I allowed myself the freedom from that work while enabling the Jamblr team and my other partners and employees to call me whenever anything needed to be taken care of right away. This proved effective, for everything has been completed and all dilemmas have been given their remedies.

All in all, if I could suggest one pointer to the entrepreneur in all of you, it would be to NEVER completely shut yourself off to your working environment. Instead, realize the urgency of matters that may need your attention right away by keeping your phone on you at all times, without it rendering any type of distraction to your loved ones and the great time you are attempting to share with them. Besides, if you have done a great job getting everyrhing done prior to your time away, you shouldn’t be receiving any of those dreaded work calls anyway.

Creating Fireworks

Yes, somehow it is that time of year already! The 4th of July is upon us, and at jamblr we all have separate plans to go about celebrating, but there is one constant theme, surrounding ourselves with the people we care about.

In preparation for the holiday weekend, here is an unofficial list of the top places to witness the lights, sounds and action of the 4th of July.

Orlando - It’s not all Mickie and Minnie, but they know how to party as well!

Washington D.C. - What better place to see the lights than our nation’s capital!

Lake Tahoe - Can you imagine watching those flashing lights from the calming waters of Lake Tahoe.

New Orleans - Get into the spirit of the city that never died. The lights bring hope to a city that still needs our support.

Philly - Rumor has it that this celebration lasts the whole week. Plus concerts from John Legend and Boys II Men.

San Francisco - Tech kids watching fireworks. How incredibly geeky!

Wherever you are, be sure to snap away and capture the scenery and the memories. Here’s to a great 4th from the entire jamblr crew.

-Greg Rollett