the brothers crow

Tuesday night was Xconomy’s Battle of the Tech Bands, a technologist social gathering and band competition rolled into one. My company, Aerva, was a sponsor and we provided the interactive display setup for the event. We had people voting for their favorite bands using SMS, and also sending chat messages and live photos to the screen. I was responsible for moderating the messages and photos, so I spent the entire evening in the sound booth. It was a bit cramped at times, but the excitement of watching the bands perform and the audience interact with our system made it all worthwhile. We received nearly a thousand text messages over the course of a few hours, which is outstanding given that there were about 300 attendees.

The performances were awesome. Seeing these people get up on stage was inspiring, particularly since I could relate to them as a fellow engineer and musician. I would love to be a programmer by day and rock star by night, but I just don’t know if I’ve got the tenacity for it. I’m not sure if I believe enough in my own music to put myself up there on stage, and for now, I think I’m still more comfortable writing software than songs. Plus, there’s probably not enough time in my day for both.

Yup, working at a startup keeps me very busy. Thinking back over the past few years, it’s been a long and intricate journey from the inception of our company to where we find ourselves today. We work very hard, but what amazes me most is how flexible we’ve had to be–we had to explore many product variations and several business models before focusing on our current path. We tried a lot of different things, and we did it with a fairly small team. Some of us had to wear many hats (some of us still do).

However, if anyone could have told me back in 2003 what Aerva would be like today, I don’t think that would have helped much. Truth is, without the exploration and the ups and downs, I’m not sure we would have as strong a team. Many small startups advocate a “whatever it takes” attitude that is critical to survival, but testing one’s ability to follow that philosophy–no matter what kind of obstacle–is what builds lasting strength for the future. I believe that the way we handle these initial challenges gradually defines our company culture, and that in turn helps determine the paths we choose as an organization down the road.

So how do you keep the faith when you’re just starting out? If you don’t have an exact roadmap to success, it can take a lot of individual resolve to keep pushing forward. That part is different for everyone; it’s really a personal question. My own motivation varies a lot, and I think sometimes it depends on whether or not I eat breakfast or how much exercise I’m getting.

Last week, Google Alerts sent me an article with a short interview given by Sanjay Manandhar, our company president. The video is actually from last May, but this was my first time seeing it. In the interview, he talks about his own views on being an entrepreneur. His perspective is a little different than mine, but it was interesting to hear his thoughts on the startup process since we’ve been working together for over four years now.

Based on our experiences, one thing is very clear to me: To be successful, an entrepreneur must never stop believing there is demand for his product or service. Just like the bands that competed Tuesday night, you have to put yourself out there, even if you don’t know whether the audience will pick you or not. And if you don’t come out on top, that’s okay. Learn from it, adapt and try again.