Hi all,
Couldn’t resist bringing you this video from youtube of Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answering a question…
Hope you had fun!
Itay
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Humor Break
Monday, August 27, 2007
Welcome Harvey
I am very pleased to share with you the fact that Harvey Binnes has just joined our team here at B4Playing. We have searched for an experienced Affiliate Manager to run our innovative Multiple CPA (MCPA) Affiliate Program for few months now. Harvey, after taking a serious look at our offering and business outlook, found us as the most promising venture in our space.
We are projecting a stellar growth and we need individuals with vast experience and strategic thinking. Harvey is definitely one of the best! Being one of the first employees at IOG (Now Party) and was in the initial group of CWC, Harvey brings a lot of experience. I have worked with Harvey in the past and found him as a very pleasant partner and a very professional individual.
Welcome Harvey.
Itay
We are projecting a stellar growth and we need individuals with vast experience and strategic thinking. Harvey is definitely one of the best! Being one of the first employees at IOG (Now Party) and was in the initial group of CWC, Harvey brings a lot of experience. I have worked with Harvey in the past and found him as a very pleasant partner and a very professional individual.
Welcome Harvey.
Itay
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Startup Founders Don't Sleep
As I'm writing this, it's 1:34 A.M. on a Tuesday. I'm working right now, and my guess is most people aren't.
It's not that I'm not tired – I am. It's not that I can't sleep – I can. I'm working at 1:34 in the morning because that's what I do. I'm a startup Founder, and I don't sleep.
Startup Founders don't sleep because the work of a startup is never done. Many years from now, when this startup idea turns into a big company with lots of managers and bureaucracy, then I can sleep. As it stands now, there's too much work to do.
My Only Hurdle is Me
Unlike a big company -- where my extra hours really only benefit the company itself, in a startup, these hours benefit me directly. Every extra hour I put in, every extra step that I take, converts my vision into a reality that much faster. In many ways, the only hurdle to my growth is me.
The extra hours I put in tonight working on our marketing plan means our marketing team will get our next ad campaign launched a week earlier. That means our customers will show up a week sooner. That means we'll get paid faster. That means we'll be able to hire more people and increase our marketing spend more quickly. We'll get bigger, faster.
I could go to sleep now, or I could stay up and accelerate my vision by a week. I think I'll stay up.
My Competition Sleeps
I surely hope my competition likes to sleep. Heck, I hope the Founder I'm competing with is a total narcoleptic.
When he wakes up from a great night's rest and hops in the shower to get ready, I'll already be two hours into my day. By the time he gets around to reviewing his calendar for the day, I'll be half way through my task list and setting my goals for tomorrow.
When he clocks out at 5:30 to go home and have dinner, I'll be ordering lunch and blowing past my task list for the second day a little bit early. And while he's watching late night television and dozing off, I'll be already working on the next plan for tomorrow.
Sleep tight, buddy. You're about to have plenty of time to rest.
I Stay Up for Everyone Else
I know that even the most motivated team members of a startup company have other things to do. While I'm totally infatuated with a vision to build a great company, they are more infatuated with their own lives and goals. Fair enough.
So I need to lose a little sleep for them, too.
I need to stay up later to make sure we're thinking of all the possible opportunities for our sales team. I need to review our balance sheet one more time to see if we can squeeze some additional capital out of our bank. I need to think way ahead of our team to ensure our strategy remains aggressive.
By the time my team wakes up in the morning they'll have some new ideas for this week. But I'll have new ideas for next week, the week after, and the week after that. I stay awake because if I'm not spending more time and energy on our growth, no one else will.
The Market Won't Let Me Sleep
Of course I could nod off for a while. I could decide that it's time to slow down and take a rest. My friends have been saying I'm working too hard, I've got permanent circles under my eyes, and I haven't taken a vacation in far too long.
Yet every time I try to slow down and rest, something keeps waking me back up. It's like an alarm clock attached to my senses. It's called “The Market”, and the damn thing won't let me sleep a wink!
The Market is a constant reminder that every time I want to slow down and relax, there is someone else out there who won't. That alarm clock in my head isn't the ringing of a bell, it's the loss of a big contract to a competitor. It's my EVP that just got hired away to a faster growing company. It's the new competitive product that's sweeter than ours.
The Market will move as quickly as guys like me will push it. Like Gordon Gekko said in Wall Street – “Money never sleeps!” – so neither do I.
I'll Sleep When I’m Dead
This self-instigated sleep deprivation can end right now. I can get off this hamster wheel and leave it all behind me. I can go back to getting nine hours of sleep, relaxing on the weekends, and playing it safe.
But that's not what I'm built to do. I'm a startup Founder, and I don't sleep, I build. If I stop now, there will be someone else to replace me – maybe you. So I'll be staying up now and sleeping when I'm dead.
As for you? Sleep tight.
Discuss this article with Wil in the Go BIG Forums.
Wil Schroter is the Founder and CEO of the Go BIG Network, the largest network of startup companies and entrepreneurs at www.goBIGnetwork.com. He is also the author of the new book “Go BIG or Go HOME”
It's not that I'm not tired – I am. It's not that I can't sleep – I can. I'm working at 1:34 in the morning because that's what I do. I'm a startup Founder, and I don't sleep.
Startup Founders don't sleep because the work of a startup is never done. Many years from now, when this startup idea turns into a big company with lots of managers and bureaucracy, then I can sleep. As it stands now, there's too much work to do.
My Only Hurdle is Me
Unlike a big company -- where my extra hours really only benefit the company itself, in a startup, these hours benefit me directly. Every extra hour I put in, every extra step that I take, converts my vision into a reality that much faster. In many ways, the only hurdle to my growth is me.
The extra hours I put in tonight working on our marketing plan means our marketing team will get our next ad campaign launched a week earlier. That means our customers will show up a week sooner. That means we'll get paid faster. That means we'll be able to hire more people and increase our marketing spend more quickly. We'll get bigger, faster.
I could go to sleep now, or I could stay up and accelerate my vision by a week. I think I'll stay up.
My Competition Sleeps
I surely hope my competition likes to sleep. Heck, I hope the Founder I'm competing with is a total narcoleptic.
When he wakes up from a great night's rest and hops in the shower to get ready, I'll already be two hours into my day. By the time he gets around to reviewing his calendar for the day, I'll be half way through my task list and setting my goals for tomorrow.
When he clocks out at 5:30 to go home and have dinner, I'll be ordering lunch and blowing past my task list for the second day a little bit early. And while he's watching late night television and dozing off, I'll be already working on the next plan for tomorrow.
Sleep tight, buddy. You're about to have plenty of time to rest.
I Stay Up for Everyone Else
I know that even the most motivated team members of a startup company have other things to do. While I'm totally infatuated with a vision to build a great company, they are more infatuated with their own lives and goals. Fair enough.
So I need to lose a little sleep for them, too.
I need to stay up later to make sure we're thinking of all the possible opportunities for our sales team. I need to review our balance sheet one more time to see if we can squeeze some additional capital out of our bank. I need to think way ahead of our team to ensure our strategy remains aggressive.
By the time my team wakes up in the morning they'll have some new ideas for this week. But I'll have new ideas for next week, the week after, and the week after that. I stay awake because if I'm not spending more time and energy on our growth, no one else will.
The Market Won't Let Me Sleep
Of course I could nod off for a while. I could decide that it's time to slow down and take a rest. My friends have been saying I'm working too hard, I've got permanent circles under my eyes, and I haven't taken a vacation in far too long.
Yet every time I try to slow down and rest, something keeps waking me back up. It's like an alarm clock attached to my senses. It's called “The Market”, and the damn thing won't let me sleep a wink!
The Market is a constant reminder that every time I want to slow down and relax, there is someone else out there who won't. That alarm clock in my head isn't the ringing of a bell, it's the loss of a big contract to a competitor. It's my EVP that just got hired away to a faster growing company. It's the new competitive product that's sweeter than ours.
The Market will move as quickly as guys like me will push it. Like Gordon Gekko said in Wall Street – “Money never sleeps!” – so neither do I.
I'll Sleep When I’m Dead
This self-instigated sleep deprivation can end right now. I can get off this hamster wheel and leave it all behind me. I can go back to getting nine hours of sleep, relaxing on the weekends, and playing it safe.
But that's not what I'm built to do. I'm a startup Founder, and I don't sleep, I build. If I stop now, there will be someone else to replace me – maybe you. So I'll be staying up now and sleeping when I'm dead.
As for you? Sleep tight.
Discuss this article with Wil in the Go BIG Forums.
Wil Schroter is the Founder and CEO of the Go BIG Network, the largest network of startup companies and entrepreneurs at www.goBIGnetwork.com. He is also the author of the new book “Go BIG or Go HOME”
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
5 days after beta launch
We have launched our beta product on Aug 15th as planned. Have recruited 371 users in the first 5 days and it fits our targets. The feedback is very positive. We get bug reports, suggestion for minor changes and additional feature requests. This is exactly what we have looked for during the beta testing and prior to our official release on September 3rd. We are looking into having up to 1000 users prior to going live with the released product just to make sure that the system is reliable enough to handle large traffic.
While we are recruiting affiliates (we have 245 registered by now) we are finalizing the affiliation system so that we will be able to provide with the support expected from us.
On a different front we develop relationship and resolve technical issues with additional properties and we will get them up as we progress.
Looking forward to serving the players', the affiliates' and the properties' communities.
Itay
While we are recruiting affiliates (we have 245 registered by now) we are finalizing the affiliation system so that we will be able to provide with the support expected from us.
On a different front we develop relationship and resolve technical issues with additional properties and we will get them up as we progress.
Looking forward to serving the players', the affiliates' and the properties' communities.
Itay
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Setting goals and achieving them
Analyzing the reasons why a company is successful leads, most of the time, to some basic reasons. One of the reasons is the ability to set goals and meet them.
B4Playing goals were set by its management with a clear, strong belief that they are set to be met. One of the major goals was to launch the product on September first (Monday the 3rd for marketing reasons). In addition it was clear that a tested beta should be ready 2 weeks prior to the official launch so that a limited, controlled group will test the product and send feedback about major ( and tiny) issues prior to its wide spread distribution.
I am very pleased with the fact that the date of August 15th as the beta date was met. Yesterday at about 2100 GMT, the company has released the beta product and date was met!
B4Playing has very clear revenue, number of users and expense goals. I am very confident that all will be met based on recent experience.
The next date set is September 3rd to go live with the released version. Watch B4Playing and see if this goal is met.
Udi Netzer
B4Playing goals were set by its management with a clear, strong belief that they are set to be met. One of the major goals was to launch the product on September first (Monday the 3rd for marketing reasons). In addition it was clear that a tested beta should be ready 2 weeks prior to the official launch so that a limited, controlled group will test the product and send feedback about major ( and tiny) issues prior to its wide spread distribution.
I am very pleased with the fact that the date of August 15th as the beta date was met. Yesterday at about 2100 GMT, the company has released the beta product and date was met!
B4Playing has very clear revenue, number of users and expense goals. I am very confident that all will be met based on recent experience.
The next date set is September 3rd to go live with the released version. Watch B4Playing and see if this goal is met.
Udi Netzer
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Tomorrow
All is frozen. Code was frozen last night and being finally tested the entire day. We do not take additional properties and the ones who did have not complied with our technical and administrative needs will have to wait for the next wave just before we go live with the final version on September 3rd. Now, with more than 50 leading properties we believe that we are having enough value to start with.
With 30000 individuals who have pre- registered we believe that we will have quite a large community participating in our beta group. We have limited it to 1000 users and may consider broadening it based on feedback we will get from the market.
So far we have defined schedule. No more! Now, our users will be the king! They will define if we are giving the expected support and service and they will define the additional features they would like to see from us.
We are ready for the challenge.
Itay
With 30000 individuals who have pre- registered we believe that we will have quite a large community participating in our beta group. We have limited it to 1000 users and may consider broadening it based on feedback we will get from the market.
So far we have defined schedule. No more! Now, our users will be the king! They will define if we are giving the expected support and service and they will define the additional features they would like to see from us.
We are ready for the challenge.
Itay
Thursday, August 9, 2007
A word about competition
What will happen if somebody will come up with a competing product?
What is your window of opportunity?
Who are your potential competitors?
Well, my view is very simple: if you do not have competition it is probably a sign that your market is either too small or its revenue potential is too low.
We have heard again and again "how come nobody didn't think about it before?".
My view is that great ideas are very simple.
We are acting in an unlimited market. 20M+ players are active and this number is growing. There is a room for some players. My only focus is to bring the best value to our users. The rest will follow.
Our market has a long food chain. I am not sure competition is the most accurate word for this market. How about coopetition? (hmmm, new word cooperation with competition). We cooperate with the properties, we are recruiting poker affiliates and casino affiliates and we service our users.
Somebody is volunteering to compete?
Itay
What is your window of opportunity?
Who are your potential competitors?
Well, my view is very simple: if you do not have competition it is probably a sign that your market is either too small or its revenue potential is too low.
We have heard again and again "how come nobody didn't think about it before?".
My view is that great ideas are very simple.
We are acting in an unlimited market. 20M+ players are active and this number is growing. There is a room for some players. My only focus is to bring the best value to our users. The rest will follow.
Our market has a long food chain. I am not sure competition is the most accurate word for this market. How about coopetition? (hmmm, new word cooperation with competition). We cooperate with the properties, we are recruiting poker affiliates and casino affiliates and we service our users.
Somebody is volunteering to compete?
Itay
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Working with Investors
Working with Investors
B4Playing is my first venture for which I have raised funds from external investors. As an individual affiliate I could manage it with my own resources but the B4Playing goals and scale was such, from the very beginning, that it was obvious that external funds are needed.
I thought I would share with you some of my conclusions, 7 months after we have concluded the financing round and just before we go live with our casino and poker tool.
1. Team up with the best, most experienced partner you can. It is preferred to team up with somebody who compliments you and brings set of qualities and experience that you do not have. This was one of the best decisions I took since I came up with the B4Playing idea.
2. Select your investors- Well, I was lucky. Can't complain that we had a too hard process in raising funds. Took us 4 months (including negotiation and contracts) and I am told that this is relatively a short process. We could have raise more money and get additional investors but we took a decision to team up with investors that look like smart , self confident and friendly. We did very well at that respect.
3. Update your investors- We publish monthly report and we include all relevant data. Share the good news and the bad news too. The more you are open and sharing, the better support you get.
4. Meet with your investors periodically- Investors would like to know what the status of their investment is. They would like to look at your eyes, not just get written reports.
5. Consult with your investors- Each investor brings a unique view. You need to listen. You have the choice to agree or not.
Why am I sharing it with you today? We are 8 days before our beta lunch. We work days and nights and I am so supported (morally) by all the investors. I know it could have been different.
Itay
B4Playing is my first venture for which I have raised funds from external investors. As an individual affiliate I could manage it with my own resources but the B4Playing goals and scale was such, from the very beginning, that it was obvious that external funds are needed.
I thought I would share with you some of my conclusions, 7 months after we have concluded the financing round and just before we go live with our casino and poker tool.
1. Team up with the best, most experienced partner you can. It is preferred to team up with somebody who compliments you and brings set of qualities and experience that you do not have. This was one of the best decisions I took since I came up with the B4Playing idea.
2. Select your investors- Well, I was lucky. Can't complain that we had a too hard process in raising funds. Took us 4 months (including negotiation and contracts) and I am told that this is relatively a short process. We could have raise more money and get additional investors but we took a decision to team up with investors that look like smart , self confident and friendly. We did very well at that respect.
3. Update your investors- We publish monthly report and we include all relevant data. Share the good news and the bad news too. The more you are open and sharing, the better support you get.
4. Meet with your investors periodically- Investors would like to know what the status of their investment is. They would like to look at your eyes, not just get written reports.
5. Consult with your investors- Each investor brings a unique view. You need to listen. You have the choice to agree or not.
Why am I sharing it with you today? We are 8 days before our beta lunch. We work days and nights and I am so supported (morally) by all the investors. I know it could have been different.
Itay
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
We are recruiting
Attention all job seekers: With our official launch quickly approaching, B4Playing is recruiting various positions in the Isle of Man. We have a number of job positions we are seeking to fill including:
• Head of R&D Department
• Account Manager
• Reporting Accountant
• Data Analyst – Marketing
• COO
• Compliance Manager
• Client Manager
• Senior Account Manager
• Product Manager, Payment – Online Gaming
Each of the above listed jobs has their own responsibilities. To learn more details about these positions and the experience required, be sure to visit our page devoted to careers.
Aside from the work/education experience that is required for each job, what does it take to join the B4Playing team? B4Playing is a unique community that is designed to provide it`s users with the absolute best software and support. We don`t compromise and our only goal is success.
With that in mind, we are looking for individuals who are ambitious, innovative in their thoughts and ideas, and who embrace challenge and change. We`re also looking for experts and leaders who can work well with others, and who are interested in bettering the online gambling industry, and believe in the quality of the B4Playing tool. Essentially, we are looking for people who don`t think like we do, but who share the same vision of quality and success for bettering the current and future online gambling industry.
If you are interested in providing B4Playing with your job expertise and would like to become a member of our team, please look at our outstanding positions at: www.b4playing.com/careers.html
We hope you`ll join our team,
Itay
• Head of R&D Department
• Account Manager
• Reporting Accountant
• Data Analyst – Marketing
• COO
• Compliance Manager
• Client Manager
• Senior Account Manager
• Product Manager, Payment – Online Gaming
Each of the above listed jobs has their own responsibilities. To learn more details about these positions and the experience required, be sure to visit our page devoted to careers.
Aside from the work/education experience that is required for each job, what does it take to join the B4Playing team? B4Playing is a unique community that is designed to provide it`s users with the absolute best software and support. We don`t compromise and our only goal is success.
With that in mind, we are looking for individuals who are ambitious, innovative in their thoughts and ideas, and who embrace challenge and change. We`re also looking for experts and leaders who can work well with others, and who are interested in bettering the online gambling industry, and believe in the quality of the B4Playing tool. Essentially, we are looking for people who don`t think like we do, but who share the same vision of quality and success for bettering the current and future online gambling industry.
If you are interested in providing B4Playing with your job expertise and would like to become a member of our team, please look at our outstanding positions at: www.b4playing.com/careers.html
We hope you`ll join our team,
Itay
Monday, August 6, 2007
Internet- A marketing or technical play?
Back in the late 90’s Internet was a clear pure technical play. We, the ones who were there at that time, had to struggle with a lot of new technologies and a setting up a new site ( which expects to get high traffic) had a lot of technical implications.
During the last 2 years, it was clear to me as a large casino affiliate and poker affiliate that the name of the game is marketing. How do I get to more people? SEO, PPC, textual advertizing, content, content, content.
Well, we are about to go live in 9 days and I watch our R&D team. Stress testing (as we would like to be ready for about 500 downloads a day), bandwidth calculations, backup and redundancy systems, security and much more. I see the 15 PCs simulating various working environment, the new client being built every night and more.
Yes, building a website is very simple these days. However, developing an application is still as complicated as it was when I was dealing with it. And I thought that all is simple these days!
I wrote it in one of my previous posts. I deal with 100s of inputs and have to take 10s of decisions. It is time consuming but I didn't have so much fun for long time.
Yes I know it will be harder on August 15th when we lunch our beta program. As long it will be fun I am ready for these sleepless nights.
Itay
During the last 2 years, it was clear to me as a large casino affiliate and poker affiliate that the name of the game is marketing. How do I get to more people? SEO, PPC, textual advertizing, content, content, content.
Well, we are about to go live in 9 days and I watch our R&D team. Stress testing (as we would like to be ready for about 500 downloads a day), bandwidth calculations, backup and redundancy systems, security and much more. I see the 15 PCs simulating various working environment, the new client being built every night and more.
Yes, building a website is very simple these days. However, developing an application is still as complicated as it was when I was dealing with it. And I thought that all is simple these days!
I wrote it in one of my previous posts. I deal with 100s of inputs and have to take 10s of decisions. It is time consuming but I didn't have so much fun for long time.
Yes I know it will be harder on August 15th when we lunch our beta program. As long it will be fun I am ready for these sleepless nights.
Itay
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The fun of dealing with translation
Our decision to go live with 7 different languages had clear business logic. We would like to service the international community and talk their language. We all understand that these automatic translators would not do a good job for us.
So, we went and subcontracted professional translators from any possible corner of the world. Now, we are sitting in front of web pages in Japanese and Chinese that we can even not read (not to mention that we cannot understand).
Well, we send it to some of our international colleagues to scan and hope that we will not be offended when we go live. We clearly feel that supporting local languages if a major advantage and we will do anything possible to be accurate and precise with our messages.
Arividerchi on August 15th when we launch the product.
Itay
So, we went and subcontracted professional translators from any possible corner of the world. Now, we are sitting in front of web pages in Japanese and Chinese that we can even not read (not to mention that we cannot understand).
Well, we send it to some of our international colleagues to scan and hope that we will not be offended when we go live. We clearly feel that supporting local languages if a major advantage and we will do anything possible to be accurate and precise with our messages.
Arividerchi on August 15th when we launch the product.
Itay
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