2006 12
What went right, and what went wrong
Published by MartinVarsavsky.net in Fon with No Comments
I already said what went right this week, how we grew our registered fonero numbers 400% to 13,000, how we were approached by many ISPs wanting to sign up to our global wifi roaming platform to increase ARPU and reduce churn, how we appeared in over 100 newspapers around the world, 1300 blogs, dozens of TV shows, radio shows, magazines, etc. Now let´s talk about what went wrong. The mistakes.
One is that I made a mistake with our announcement strategy. I chose to blog first and tell old media later. This got them upset. Moreover I told my blogger buddies advisory board members (although some not on the board) about the news cause I know that us bloggers love to blog first. This means that 16 blogs got the news ahead of the remaining 1284 (estimate) and the result was resentment in some quarters. If I had to do this all over again I would just issue a press release and then anybody can print or blog.
My second mistake was underestimating the impact of the news. We thought we would double the number of foneros this week and we were ready for that. But we quadrupled and we are scrambling to hire more people, buy more routers, etc. I should have realized that anything that has the phrase Google and Skype is a media magnet. I was thinking blogs, I did not calculate the enormous presence we had in media in general.
Lastly there´s the personal mistake. I left wife and kids unattended for 9 days. This is a big one, I have spent the weekend trying to make up for it and if there are other entrepreneurs with families reading this blog they will understand. You may think you are hot outside your home but at home, you are just a missing dad. I am spending this weekend trying to make up for it.
Now having said this, these mistakes won´t take away the fact that this week ranks in the top 5…of my life.
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No Comments
Wolfgson on February 13, 2006 ·
Martín, we all make mistakes…
Some people admit it, some people don’t…, but I do really consider that it is always good to go back, recap and think about what we have done wrong to avoid future mistakes.
Ariel on February 13, 2006 ·
Then, why did you move to Spain from the States?
Honestly, it’s not realistic to be an entrepeneur and expect a 9to5 workshift.
Spain is a country where enterpreneurship
is saddled with many hurdles and, on top of
that, you end up working more. Looks to me
like a lose-lose situation.
Ari
Maksimil on September 2, 2007 ·
All Greetings !…
Mobile phone is not a luxury but a tool….Nothing think !…
You look at Mobile telephone!
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teleken on February 13, 2006 ·
Martin Varsavsky
I cannot tell you enough how excited I have been in the last week. I’m 49 years old and over the past 20 years i have been always looking for opportunities that would allow people of ambition to be a part of a grand vision. And I must say in my opinion Fon will play a major part in the integration of the affordable high-speed Internet. I clearly see why Google and skype, and other business investors, did what they did. The concept will have a profound benefit from the bottom-up social economics impact.
I do very much appreciate your blogs, and others on the advisory board. It helps me to understand the synergistic effects taking place. Congratulations on the accelerated growth , and I do understand what you’re talking about. I to have children at home in a beautiful wife it’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement and lose track of time. In my opinion family and loved ones must come first. Being part of a long-term grand vision takes second place.
Keep up the blogger looking forward to reading them, if you and I never meet I want you to know that it’s people like you and the ideas that can impact of progress of society in a positive way to have a major effect on the little guys. And we do , and I do appreciate what I call. The producers.
Sincerely yours The Plugger, a.k.a. teleken,