Meet JB: Passion + Hustle + Strategy

Growth in a Multi-Billion Dollar Opportunity

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:11:26 -0500

Thanks to Tech.MN for the article outlining the Heroic opportunity. We are in the process of closing our Seed financing and moving in to the Series A financing, which will allow the company to further develop the platform, and grow in to additional major U.S. markets.

The opportunity is a rare one and we are excited to be solving a key problem for our customers: finding the right service provider is difficult. This makes it a big problem for both sides of the equation: customers looking for the right provider, and the suppliers aiming to offer service. Big problems like this equal big addressable markets. In our case, a multi-billion dollar opportunity opportunity currently addressed by inadequate solutions.

We believe wholeheartedly in making a product that our customers love. Our technology, with the Hero Match algorithm, is going to remove the headaches and lack of transparency for the customer. On the supply side, we are turning everyday citizens in to Heroes with a platform that makes sourcing new work a different type of experience.

@JustinPBarrett

webmsmith: The Psychology of Social. Here is a great guide to...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:46:36 -0600

webmsmith:

The Psychology of Social. Here is a great guide to understanding how to make your communication heard and when the best time of day it is to do so. Audience matters, engagement matters more.

Now Hiring: Community Development Manager

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:31:58 -0600

About the Job

As Community Development Manager, you will take a prominent role building the Heroic community, acting as a Heroic evangelist and building interest and excitement for the Heroic brand. Heroic will be growing nationally beginning in 2012 and this person will take a key role in the development of local communities. Charged with driving local demand, you will be responsible for the launch and growth of the Minneapolis/St Paul market along with a number of other key markets in 2012 and beyond.

Our goal is to bring people together locally to get things done, so that will be your primary drive. We are focused on getting people to post tasks and driving those tasks all the way through completion. You will work with the team to develop and execute strategies to move the needle in customer acquisition.

Responsibilities

Build the Heroic Community (sign up Heroes)
Develop creative marketing events and campaigns
Represent Heroic with local outlets and events

Requirements

1-3 years marketing or sales experience
Solid experience building community growth

Opportunity

Competitive pay plus option for equity and executive role
Direct influence on a rapidly growing, innovative company
Massive growth potential

How to Apply

Send cover letter, resume and proposal to Hello@HelloHeroic.com.

REMOVE THE MYSTERY

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 22:20:38 -0600

I hear it all the time. Or at least something along these lines: With Craigslist, I have no idea who I’m dealing with. We ran a survey recently and asked people about their experience with Craigslist. The most common words used to describe hesitance towards CList were “creep” and “psychos.”

There is no doubt, Craigslist is a powerful site. And it gets the job done. If you need to sell an old piece of furniture, chances are you can find a taker. But, just who is on the other side? Do you have any idea? How do you work around this?

I’m super curious about this, so I’ve been asking people. For some items it seems, people just have to come to your house or apartment. If you’re renting out your apartment or selling your TV, there is no way around it. Otherwise, people seem to find neutral meeting places, like a Macy’s or parking lot.

When I introduce Heroic, this issue resonates with most everyone I talk with. With a world where everyone is connected and is sharing information online, why not bring that transparency to peer-to-peer transactions. If I’m going to buy, sell or rent with someone in my community, I’d love to know a bit about their background, perhaps a rating with previous work history. We’re building this in to take that mystery out. More transparency, more trust.

On Planning Versus Execution

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:43:31 -0600

Putting together a business plan is an interesting process. Overall, I think it’s really just the process in the end that makes it helpful. Yes, the end result is a product that can be used for fundraising, but as a business owner you really need to think through the most critical issues of the business.

I’m most motivated to act, which makes the planning process more difficult. Getting ready and aiming before firing is important, as long as it doesn’t lead to paralysis. And I think that’s really one of the true traits of an entrepreneur: the ability to take massive action. That action really does need to take shape from sound strategy, which is why the planning process is so essential.

For me, it’s helped to have done this before. In just the last few years, there have been some recent methods that I think are greatly improving the planning process. The Lean Startup methodology, along with Steve Blank’s concepts in customer development, can change the game in how company’s get started. Yes, the business plan is important, but some of his concepts really change how businesses might think about their product development model.

@JustinPBarrett

Heroic Announced as Project Skyway Finalist

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:53:28 -0600

heroicblog:

Today Heroic was announced as a finalist for Project Skyway, a tech accelerator for software companies. The program is held twice a year with 10 software companies from across the country. We may or may not participate in the final program, however we are honored to make the list.

We will keep you posted on our progress; needless to say the next few months are going to be a fun ride!

@JustinPBarrett

Get Ready for a Heroic 2012!

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:54:00 -0600

Get Ready for a Heroic 2012! :

heroicblog:

I’m excited. It’s a new year and Heroic is getting ready for expansion at full-speed. With 2012 ahead of us, I thought we’d share some background on where we’ve been and where we are headed this year.

The Concept

Heroic has grown from a coffee shop napkin in June of 2011. My…

In 2012...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:03:16 -0600

How to Start a Fire

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:33:16 -0600

How to Start a Fire

I need it

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:45:48 -0600

My friend Zach shared this link saying, “I know you love start-ups and you love iphones. Here’s both!”

Awesome.

It all starts with vision #leanstartup

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:30:44 -0600

It all starts with vision #leanstartup

webmsmith: Action > Plans. Even when you plan meticulously,...

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:47:15 -0600

webmsmith:

Action > Plans. Even when you plan meticulously, often enough, the proper path unveils itself when action is taken. Action promotes clarity.

“If you’re commuting to work, you don’t give...

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:01:00 -0600

“If you’re commuting to work, you don’t give up because there’s a detour in the road or you made a wrong turn. You remain thoroughly focused on getting to your destination.”

This is so awesome my heads going to explode

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:18:34 -0600

From Eric Ries’ Lean Startup. Re: Andrew Mason and the beginning of Groupon:

“We took a Wordpress blog and skinned it to say groupon and everyday we’d do a new post. We would sell t-shirts…we didn’t have a form to add stuff. It was just so cobbled together”

Scrappy!

Photo

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:14:41 -0600

http://startuplawyer.com/stock-options/what-is-an-option-pool

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:50:38 -0600

http://startuplawyer.com/stock-options/what-is-an-option-pool

Exit Strategies for Angel Investors

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:16:00 -0600

This is a good time to be an entrepreneur and an angel investor. While this is a dated chart, we can see from 2008/2009 there are a growing number of M&A transactions. Not necessarily huge, in fact most are likely less than $20M.

Why? I’d argue that most big companies aren’t build for generating revenue from new business sources. The kind of creativity and scrappiness that drives early stage start-ups. For entreprenuers and angels, now is the time to start up an idea on a smaller scale and grow to become an attractive acquisition for large and less nimble corporations.

Photo

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:55:59 -0600

These are great

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:54:07 -0600

These are great

Busting through walls today!

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:34:54 -0600