Education and Market Validation
Unfortunately, these past couple weeks have been pretty slow for BreadCrumbs. Everyone I talked to has had tests. This brings up a common topic in the student entrepreneurial society. School over the start-up.
Now, at the beginning of the school year, all of us collectively decided that we will put school before the company.
We are all firm believers in education and we know that, in the long term, education will get us where we want us to go. I just hope that we are doing the right things in terms of time management.
Because I’ve been studying, the only real thing that I have been able to do is market validation. Even though this is a huge deal, I haven’t, personally, been able to reach as many as I think I should’ve.
The thing about market validation and e-mails is that, I don’t know if my damn e-mails go to their spam/junk. I hope it doesn’t. So for those of you who have received e-mails from danilo-pena-1@hotmail.com or have seen the subject line of “Need Help!” or “Students from the University of Texas”. Please check them. They will do you good!
For the most part, the people that I have reached have responded quite in our favor. They think that current methods of swapping contacts is inefficient. So, that’s good.
Another thing I’ve learned is focus focus focus. At first, my e-mails seemed to sway towards our product and the novelty of it. Now, I’ve been trying to focus on the problem that we are solving and less on the product we ideally want to make.
Well, that’s that.
Study hard!
P.S. We might make another pivot. We will keep you updated.
So this is just an update
I haven’t blogged in awhile. I know, i know, its just one of those things that can be so easily forgettable. So a couple of the more important things that have gone on since I have been gone:
1.3DS is over 
It was an AMAZING experience! If you love entrepreneurship or are curious if it is for you, you should really check it out. It was intense. Intense as fuck. BUT 3DS really shows you all the things that go into starting a business, the market validation, the thought processes, the problem-solving, the teamwork, the… the EVERYTHING! I could go on forever ranting about the things it taught me in that short weekend, but you can’t learn entrepreneurship you have to do it. And lest I forget, the mentors! They have so much knowledge and experience…. its hard not to be awe-stricken sometimes when you hear about some of their accomplishments.
2.Our landing page is up! We fancy, huh? hahahaha!
3. We are meeting with a lot of our future customers and getting positive feedback!
4. Applying to 1 Semester Startup! We in dis thang! (or at least we are trying to be)
So the takeaway, we have just been trucking on. We are working hard and our end goal is slowly coming closer, millimeter by millimeter. BreadCrumbs WILL be realized! Stay positive my comrades, we are just at the beginning! Land ahoy!
Thats us!
Arrrr-I’m-a-pirate,
P.S. Halloween was tight! I was a cop! Officer nauuuuughty 
Time Management
Entering college, I was very confident that I could balance everything in the world. I went into college with this mindset, acted in this mindset, and ended up with the campus on my shoulders.
I was taking 17 hours, elected onto my college council, the director of SaveAMother Mobile Youth, a member of ACM, TES, and a frequent attendant of the Technology Entrepreneurship series and various discussions and conferences around campus. I loved these things, but eventually they began to feel discontent with my divided love.
It happened that 3DS (3 Day Startup) weekend and my midterms came around the same time. That was a hell of a week with no sleep and a lot of Monster. I was thrashing my legs just to keep my head above water. All my loves were demanding my time more and more, especially the College of Natural Sciences Council. I overestimated my ability to swim, and was in some deep waters.
I am, sitting at a desk, blogging now that I have finally recouped from the time spent purely focusing 3DS. My grades have slumped, I haven’t met my duties to my various organizations, and the progress of my startup is moving at tortoises pace. Sadly, I have been forced to make some changes. Last week I broke up with the Association of Computer Machinery, Technology Entrepreneurship Society, the Natural Science Council, SaveAMother, and the rest, so I can give all my heart to my startup: BreadCrumbs.
Turns out, like women, you can’t keep everyone in your life happy. So what do you do? Like me, you have to decide who you love most and make them your one love.
Lesson #8 You don’t have all the time in the world. So spend it wisely, on the things that you care about most.
Spring 2012 and my FIG
Hello all,
This week was pretty crazy for all of the freshman class. All everyone ever talked about was registration, registration, registration. Basically, everyone got kind of screwed when it came to making their schedule. Especially my fellow chemical engineering friends. I think the BreadCrumbs team did a pretty good job in getting their classes for next semester, though. 
What we are all really excited for is getting into 1 Semester Start-Up, an entrepreneurial class that helps with your team’s start-up. The class hasn’t been added to our schedules yet, but we are hoping for the best. In fact, we might hear from them today because they followed up with Jimoh. So woot! That’s super exciting.
Oh yeah, I’m in this FIG – first-year interest group, an extra class where 10-20ish students come together because they have the same schedule. We get to hang out and chill. I’ve met some really cool people that I know will probably be my good friends over the next 4 years. But anyways, I was introduced the scenarios about contact sharing and how you miss connections at times. They all agreed. But the moment when I told them I was with a team who was trying to create a mobile application, a start-up that will address this problem, they all looked at me weird, and their expression basically said “What? What do you mean?”
I guess they were tripped by the fact that I’m not in business or computer science, but instead, a chemical engineer. Weird, huh? They proposed all of these questions that tried to attack the concept of starting something with a vision such as BreadCrumbs, they asked about privacy, getting a community etc etc. Things that my team and I think about daily.
Well, I guess I understood where they are coming from. But it just made me wonder if they ever wondered about all of the start-ups that are going on today in front of their eyes. If they ever wondered why they have Angry Birds, GroupOn, or Hashable on their phones. If they knew that it all started with ideas like these. I guess not?
Well that was a good portion of my week.
Until next time,
The Silver Lining
I just woke up from the morning after 3DS. As you can tell, it is 10:55 pm, I missed class, and I have taken my laptop to the restroom, because restroom time is the only time I will have this week to blog.
3DS started off as a huge fucking bummer. We broke off into small groups and pitched our ideas. My idea for a startup came out the victor of that 5. *Tangent: thing is, I didn’t pitch the newest version of BreadCrumbs (BreadCrumbs 2.0), which was some elaborate, even more life changing technology which no one could grasp. We probably shouldn’t have done a major pivot a couple hours before 3DS, but oh well.
To continue with the story, I went in front of the all 40 entrepreneurs and gave a humorous pitch. I though it went pretty well. There were a few questions about the community (the critical number of members needed for the service to actually be useful) and the effects of BreadCrumbs on battery life. I believe I handled them very well. We voted on which 5 ideas we wanted to work on for the weekend. Despite my expectations, BreadCrumbs was not one of the five companies chosen.
I was baffled.
I spent all weekend working on someone else’s startup that I initially didn’t care for. After the initial disappoint had past, I realized that I had one of the special 40 spots that many young entrepreneurs had vied for. It was in by best interest to work hard and learn from the wealth of experience that floated around me and the experience itself (Founders of Rackspace, Homeaway, Unwired Nation, and Tuffworks).
It was a tough, sleepless, weekend, but I made it in one piece to the 3DS after party.
I was quite fortunate, after the fact, that I decide to go after debating with myself. I was down in the dumps that the participants were not so eager to work on BreadCrumbs. Who would know that this gloomy tide would turn. Luke, one of the founders of 3DS, came up to me and said “I love the idea of BreadCrumbs, I think its innovative and people would love it!” Those words put a smile across my face, but he wasn’t the only one last night. During the duration of the party, several people came my way to tell how much they loved the idea and/or would love be apart of our team. They said they either
1. Voted to work on BreadCrumbs
2. Wanted to vote, but didn’t think it could be accomplished in 3 days.
Hmm…that makes sense. It is called 3-DAY-STARTUP. So I want to thank all of you for reinvigorating hope for my passion. BreadCrumbs1.0 will march on.
Lesson #6 March on.
Lesson #7 Don’t pivot drastically before a pitch without being able to pitch it to a 4th grader.
-findingjimoh
Me, Myself and I
Hey guys,
It’s about 5 hours into 3DS, and I am trying to find out what the heck is going on with my partners and BreadCrumbs. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys, I didn’t make it.
Here is the story of my interview:
My interview experience on that day was a completely unparalleled experience I ever and probably will ever have.My interviewer went to Stanford for undergraduate school and is getting his PhD over here at UT in ME. I called the dude like 15 minutes before the interview, and he said he was free, so we went right at it interviewed. When I met saw him, we shook hands and figured out a place to sit and talk. My initial thoughts of him were, “This guy most likely knows his shit and is super amazing” and “I hope he doesn’t give me some killer questions.” So we sat down and proceeded. He asked me to pitch our idea to him, and I did. While I was talking, his eyes weren’t focused on me but they insisted on looking at the trees, squirrels, and sky. Kinda rude and distracting. So, I finished. He nodded and said, “Do you have any questions for me?”
Boom.
Completely caught off guard. I was like…”Ummm…so have you been apart of projects in 3DS? How was Stanford? Can you shoot me right now? Do you want to ask me about market validation? WTF?” Stuff like that. I didn’t know if this was an interview for me or for him. It made no sense. I thought the interview process was to get to know me, to feel out the candidate to see if they are a good fit for your program. Not to ask, “So, what do want to know about me?”
After the awkward encounter, the interview/conversation/IDK WTF THAT WAS began to come to a close. We said our good-byes and left.
They never contacted me, so Jimoh had to talk to someone to see what went down.
Apparently, I was too “timid” in my interview. Whatever.
So now I am at the Student Activity Center sitting Indian-style wondering if my teammates are making it work over there at 3DS. I do know they will do well and play hard. I wish I was apart of the experience, but you can’t have everything. And plus, maybe this is a good experience for me. Somehow.
I can’t wait to hear their experiences though. They will probably blog about it too, so tune-in for that.
Lastly, I want to discuss the recent pivot we made in our business model. We started as a platform that consisted of two elements, the dough and the crumbs list. The dough was strictly for the customers, restaurant businesses, clothing, retail, etc. The crumbs list was strictly for the users, the people who would share their contacts. We were frustrated at the fact that there was this dichotomy because: 1) It probably would be confusing for the users and would probably generate questions about the functions of BreadCrumbs 2) There was no smooth transition between the two entities
And then, Jimoh came up with the pivot – “With just a crumb of information, BreadCrumbs opens a whole world of information and relationships to you, by cataloging the people, places , and things you meet in timeline; accessible anytime and anywhere. “
Basically, instead of having two separate entities of information, you world now consists of one unified stream of information. Your reality is now augmented. We want to build a platform that allows you to pick up a crumb from any physical location, place, thing, or person and learn as much as you can about it. We are bridging the online and offline world. Creating a space that collects and distributes helpful information that is easily accessible with your fingertips. It’s personal enrichment that allows you to find things out without having to toggle between the outside environment and Google’s search engine.
I love the idea, and I think it will have great societal social value.
That’s all I have for now. We will keep you posted about our progress.
-danny
Help An Entrepreneur Get His/Her Start
Hello Readers,
I am at 3 Day Startup right now, and I have to say: it is wonderful. I have met so many great people through this non-profit program that will expand my network, allowing me to accelerate the development of my startup. I would love for another dreamer to have this opportunity too. Any amount you can give, even a penny, please give. It would be deeply appreciated.
http://donate.3daystartup.org/findingjimoh
-findingjimoh
The Surrealist Moment – findingjimoh
As you may already know, from my show boating co-founder, we will be participants in 3 Day Start Up. Just in case you don’t know what it is, 3 Day Start Up is an entrepreneurship education program (that is now international) that sorts through many applicants to choose 40 individuals, who come from different disciplines and bring their own various start ups, to network, code, pitch ideas, and gain experience from seasoned veterans in the hope of building/ expanding/ completing their team and leaving the 3- day weekend with a full-fledged, incorporated company. So it is kind of a big thing, like my Dinishi displayed in her post “On Top of the World…BITCHES!”, considering what I am preparing to recount to you.
Yesterday, we were pretty siked that we were going to attend the entrepreneurs bootcamp (taught by Ash Maurya, author of Running Lean) on the 25th floor of the Frost Bank tower (tallest building in Austin) to the DLA Piper suite. As the two, large metal doors of the elevator slid open, Dinishi and I were dazzled at what met us…(below is an actual picture)
At that moment, we felt like toddlers sitting at a bar. “What am I doing here?” I asked myself. Good thing I didn’t wear sweatpants as I intended. Around us, all we could hear were the cordial conversations, tempered laughs, and clacking heals of law associates and business executives. What we are doing was real. We are starting a company, and by some miracle, we made it this far acting as we had been casually playing a game. Many are not so lucky. It should be real from day one.
The next part has to be the coolest. Dinishi, one of the law associates, and I walked down to the networking mixer at McCormick & Schmick‘s bar. We apprehensively stopped before reaching the door. The law associates turns back to us and says, “Aren’t you coming in?”. “I am only 18,” I thought. Our curiosity and excitement compelled us to proceed. I knocked down a couple fancy drinks, which I can’t remember their names (one was a gold martini) and courtesy of DLA Piper, and socialized with individuals old enough to be our fathers. Surprisingly, they did not look at me as if I was inferior. They intently listened to me as if I was preaching the gospel and laughed hysterically at my profanity ridden jokes as if I was Russel Peters or Carlos Mencia. What a nice experience. I never, in my life, had been perceived as a man. Toast to the 18 year old kid with the fancy drink!
Lesson #4 Think as if you are already a company, work as if you are one, and one day, hopefully, you will be one.
Lesson #5 Respect isn’t always given, so demand it.
Expect a post about running lean with your startup, very shortly.
I Feel like I’m on Top of the World….
I have been on top of the world. LITAHHLY. (for those of you that don’t know me, I can spell the word literally correctly. This is just my attempt to talk in my British/Aussie accent.)
Jim and I have been to the upper reaches of the atmosphere….. aka the 25th floor of Frost Bank. IT WAS SO LEGIT. Breathtaking views, granite countertops, modern design, stainless steel accents, TWENTY-FOUR DIFFERENT FLAVORS OF COFFEE, Thank you DLA Piper for sponsoring the event!
It was amazing. We had a speaker that made me realize a lot about what we were doing right and a lot about what we were doing wrong. If anything, I think the whole 3DS application was worth it simply to listen to Ash Maurya‘s words of wisdom. Honestly, it was really inspiring and humbling to see such exemplary entrepreneurs revealing some of their trade secrets. After his presentation, we went around the room introducing ourselves and giving a brief description of what we brought to the table. I gave a simple intro about sales blahblahblah, and then THIS GUY, JIMOH, PULLS OUT HIS BREADCRUMBS WALLPAPER AND SHOWS EVERYONE. Which is exactly the kinda balls we need to make our business successful and make Bread Crumbs BIG AS FUUUUUUUCK! thanks man 
The cat said it all.
Anywhoooooo, im tangenting like a mofoooo….
We got to share our ideas with lawyers, grad students, and other entrepreneurs and we think we have a really good chance of getting our idea chosen! Hopefully D:
Impeccable seems to be the perfect word to describe the whole experience.
Oh, and did I mention we went to a bar afterward with our fellow entrepreneurs for happy hour and expensive? and did I mention I am 18? And did I mention DLA Piper paid for it all? Thats right, we are doing big things! klasjfhsafhjksadlhfsa Things just keep getting better and better! Here’s a little lesson, never believe that you are inadequate, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Trust me, it goes along way. When opportunities come, seize them. As long as you got your shit down, they’ll respect you. And embrace what you love! I spent a lot of time deluding myself with studying medecine and acting like I liked it, and I am SO HAPPY that I am finally doing something I’m interested in! 3DS was really an eye-opener, and it gave me a lot to ponder about. Do what you love 
To end this note on a more interesting tone,
Sorry, that was immature.
Here’s a better one:
Sincerely,
I-really-want-pi-now,
Din
Last But Not Least/How I Met Your Partner
Hey guys,
My name is Danilo Pena, but I’ll go by danny on here.
I, unlink my cohorts, have not received an invite from glorious 3DS yet. I know, I know. It’s only been one day, rather it’s only been 17 hours 45 minutes, since my cohorts got their acceptance, at around the same hour, while I was on the phone listening to Dinishi scream happily. But…I just can’t take the anticipation.
My optimistic/pessimistic view on this situation: Even if I don’t make it, we are still a damn team.
Classic day at work
I don’t want to be a “drag” on the topic that is so dear to our start-up, so I will lighten the mood. (We will keep you updated, of course).
Meeting Jimoh probably happened 7 years ago in Hodges Bend Middle School on a basketball court in gym. We didn’t know each other, and we didn’t want to. This attitude progressed through high school. I had my group of friends that consisted of people that weren’t really my friends, and he had his. I focused heavily on my studies during this time, and the people around me reflected that. But. For whatever reason, we ended up spending a majority of our summer together. I became awesome friends with him and his group which eventually led me to become really good friends with that Sri-Lankan-girl-who-threw-that-sick-Holloween-party. Now we are all “married” to each other, according to Noah Kagan. That is, we share most of the day thinking, dreaming, discussing, peeing, and sleeping together. Anyways, that’s us meeting in a nutshell. Maybe we can have story time some other time when we are famous.
Dinishi in her prime
One thing is for sure though.
We shared a vision. We linked lifestyles. We became Scene Entrepreneurs.
I’m still thinking about 3DS…
