The unlikely growth of the micro-blogging

While I do agree that the staggering level of success in the investment world (a rumored $50-100 million) is unique for a pre-revenue business, their experiences mentioned in the article are very unique to other e-commerce startups.

The concept of Twitter.com from the founders Evan Williams (also blogger.com) and Biz Stone, originally two employees of the digital media search tool, Odeo.com. They recall encountering reluctance from engineers and other people to work with them when initially deciding to move forward with the idea.  This lack of early acceptance is not uncommon for start-ups, particularly in the .com industry where businesses are started every day.

The web traffic that the site initially experienced was uncommon and led to a key initial investment from Fred Wilson and Union Square Ventures in the “Silicon Alley” of New York City. Another interesting facet of the startup’s story is that the initial investor was an early adopter of the concept.  This demonstrates a concept that I have learned in my first e-commerce/tech start-up venture on my own: Investment is most likely to come from industry specialists or strategic partners because they fundamentally understand the concept of the business and the problem is trying to solve. Too often start-ups spend time pursuing venture capital with the wrong types of investors, trying to teach the concept to people who don’t relate well to the industry or problem being solved.

This article highlights the creation and growth of high-tech startups, internet technology, and venture capital. Through this story, others may listen and learn from other entrepreneurs about their successes, failures and hardships —But mostly failures and hardships.— From this, I can gain perspective on those ideas and strategic decisions that have maybe worked or not. It gives me inspiration to know that others are experiencing difficulties, but also finding success in a very difficult and trying process. It helps me to believe that I too, can find success as an entrepreneur.