Startup Fiance

A lot happened this past weekend with the startup! The transformation from the beginning of concept development to now is exactly as the cliche goes – like night and day. We were looking at some old screen shots from the original home page with the dialer, and if the name was not at the top, you would have no idea it was even the same product. In addition to completely re-vamping the site layout and graphics, Butterfinger has been working to implement new features, putting advertisements on the site, and a better FAQ’s section. He has made more positive progress in the past 3 days than the past 3 weeks combined; just goes to show, when you are on a roll you really just need to ride it out and see where it take you.

I do my best to try to keep Butterfinger on-point, reminding him to complete certain goals (like putting the ads on) and stay focused on the big picture. I am a fairly detail oriented person, but he takes details and perfection to Mt. Everest heights. He is constantly tweaking little details and back-end configurations, most of which the regular user will not even notice, but when you look at them as a whole, it completely changes everything about the site. Some of these “little” tasks, such as moving a menu bar a few inches, can take him a few hours to complete, and would most definitely be overlooked or ignored by pseudo-entrepreneurs.

As much as I admire his attention to usability and detail, I have an even greater admiration for his determination and positive entrepreneurial spirit. If a certain feature is not working the way he had planned, after he lets out a few obscenities and a sigh of frustration, he takes it apart step by step and analyzes why the problem may have occurred. He is accepting of the fact that not everything he tries is going to work, yet he always gives each part of the startup his 100 percent effort. The ability to stay positive and truly believe that something is going to succeed seems to be the difference between those that make it, and those that fail.

I know this momentous upswing will not continue forever, but I think it provided a much needed boost for the entity that has been trying to get out there for about a year now. It seems we have finally started to figure out how to balance the startup and our startup relationship because we even had time this weekend to watch a movie together, do some shopping, and eat a few meals together! There is much more left to do and no light at the end of the tunnel as of yet, but right now we are enjoying finding our way.