Adrian spoke up. “The commission model is great, but what if you also offered sponsored blog posts, where hotels pay to be featured? If you had a lot of traffic, that could be valuable to them.”
“Yeah,” said Preena, jumping in. “But it would be important to maintain your independence, so that you keep the trust of your visitors. In the end, that’s the most valuable asset you have.”
“I agree,” Celia replied. “I’m looking at some kind of combination of those two. However, here’s the problem: for either option to work well, I’ll need a significant user base. The last project I tried struggled with that limitation, so I want to have a plan for it before jumping in.”
“Very smart,” Clarence said. “Let’s spend some time thinking about how you might build a strong audience early on . . . maybe something like three thousand registered users in the first sixty days.”
The group went back and forth, tossing around ideas, adding to one another’s comments, and occasionally disagreeing. Clarence guided the discussion, but didn’t usually say much until it was time to move to the next person.
Next up was Jo, who said that she had grown up in eastern Europe and now worked as a pharmaceutical sales rep. On the side, she made and sold dollhouse furniture. “I got into it for some of the same reasons other people have talked about,” she said. “But for me it was also important to do something creative. All day long I talk on the phone and visit doctors’ offices. I wanted to actually make something, and I loved dollhouses when I was a kid.”
Jo’s problem was different from Celia’s. She already had a committed base of buyers and was making a profit of $3,000 per month. She felt like she could be doing more for them, but she had too many ideas and not enough time to implement them.
“I’m struggling to understand what’s most important,” she said at the end.
Finally, Adrian gave an update about his app. He was also doing well, having made $5,000 so far after expenses, but trying to navigate a tough decision. He planned to introduce a free version of the app to attract more downloads, but wanted to make sure it didn’t take away from the sales of the paid version.
They spent the better part of two hours discussing the issues that Celia, Jo, and Adrian raised. The whole time, Jake was writing a flurry of notes. Since he worked in marketing for his job, he understood most of what they were talking about. He noticed, however, that they tended to use different language than he did with corporate clients. For example, they didn’t talk a lot about big, strategic mission plans. The discussion was much more practical, typically based around simple questions like “Would someone buy this?” And they almost never referred to investors or said anything about “raising capital.”
I guess it’s because everyone here is doing it on their own, and without spending much money . . . which is how I’d need to do it, too.
Before the group wrapped up, Clarence turned to him. “Jake, do you mind telling us a little about why you’re here?”
“No problem,” he said. “And thanks for being so welcoming, everyone. Preena told me how much she was learning from this group. I don’t really have any ideas yet, but I’m hoping to figure something out.
“Long story short, the other day I learned that I need to start repaying $50,000 in student loans I’ve been ignoring since graduation. I’m also losing my apartment . . . and I might lose my job. Then there’s climate change, the earthquake that’s eventually going to take out California, and the latest war in the Middle East. But aside from that, everything else is going great!”
The group laughed.
“Seriously, though,” he concluded, “I need to make some money.”
Everyone at the long table nodded in understanding. “We get it,” Adrian said. “Money’s not everything in life, but when you don’t have it, you have less control. You have fewer choices.”
“Exactly!” Jake said. “I’m not trying to start a hedge fund, but it would be great to pay back my loans and rent a new place without stressing out so much. And I should probably call my girlfriend more often, but I suppose that’s out of scope for this meeting.”
More laughter. “That’s right, Jake,” said Clarence. “You’re on your own for that one. But if your girlfriend likes dollhouses, maybe you should buy some furniture from Jo, or book her a hotel from Celia’s website.”
Clarence looked at his phone. “Okay, everyone, it’s getting late. Feel free to post your notes and any questions in the online forum. And Jake, let’s see if we can bring you up to speed a bit more.”
* * *
—
The group broke up, with everyone looking wide awake after an intense discussion and a second serving of the Indonesian Sumatra.
Jake followed up on Clarence’s invitation. “Thanks again for welcoming me here,” he said as they packed up. “I can tell this could be good for me, but I don’t really know what to do next.”
“I understand,” said Clarence. “The best way to do it is to jump right in, but it does help to have some initial direction. I have an assignment that will be perfect for you. Can you meet early tomorrow morning?”
He hadn’t been expecting Clarence to offer a private meeting, and Jake didn’t have a lot of spare time for assignments these days. But he also knew he’d been putting off the reality of his situation long enough. “Okay!” he agreed, adding the appointment to his phone.
“Great, I’ll send you a link to the place. How about six thirty? That way we can talk for an hour and still have time for a full workday. Just be sure to check the time zone . . .”
Jake covered his head in mock shame. When introducing him to the group earlier, Preena had good-naturedly told the story of his missed meeting.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “This is far more important than any conference call. I’ll be there.”
—Interlude—
From: Clarence Johnson
To: Jake Aarons
Subject: Manifesto
Jake, I look forward to our meeting tomorrow. Here’s that document I mentioned. It provides some background about how we approach projects.
We’ll talk more in a few hours, so you don’t need to memorize this. But it might be good to take a quick look before we meet. Everything we do is based on these simple principles.
Get some sleep and I’ll see you at Lava Java bright and early!
Best,
Clarence
The Third Way
A Manifesto