#equitycrowdfunding
#seedinvesting
#amazon.com

wefunder.com/immortal

My Frame of Mind - 🤗 I had boundless optimism at this point. Amazon had secured VC funding and even gone public before becoming profitable, allowing it to grow quickly in the U.S. and begin expanding internationally.

At the time, Amazon was on an acquisition spree. At headquarters, I met dozens of people in their 20s and 30s whose companies had recently been acquired and relocated to Seattle.

One day at the office, I saw the two partners in the glass-walled conference room speaking with someone who looked familiar. It was Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. Within weeks of that point, our team grew to over 20, and our offices moved to Amazon’s main headquarters building on Beacon Hill in Seattle.

The live auction internet startup where I worked was building momentum. In just a few months, our team of eight moved from a modest office into a Class A building in the downtown core.

(Part Four) Is equity crowdfunding a viable financing strategy for building a global consumer network?

Amazon.com Acquisition

I was at meeting with other founders this morning and I described Famzona.com like a mashup of a private facebook for extended families + Ancestry.com + Generative AI

Does that sound accurate to you?

famzona.com

#family, #FamilyTree

Internet technology millionaires were being created almost daily, at least on paper.

My Frame of Mind - 🤗 Excitement

#equitycrowdfunding

wefunder.com/immortal

After raising some capital, they built a small team of six working in a modest ground floor office of an older apartment building. Dot-com fever was in full swing. Yahoo’s stock was soaring. I knew many early Microsoft employees whose stock options were rapidly gaining value.

It was there I met my first VC, Ann Winblad from Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, where I was introduced to concepts like “first mover’s advantage.” The company was run by a pair of twenty something cofounders who had no hands on auction experience.

(Part Three) Is equity crowdfunding a viable financing strategy for building a global consumer network?

The Scrappy Startup During Peak Dot Com

In 1998, I returned to Seattle and began doing graphic design for a startup that provided remote access to live, in-person auctions.

Reserve in Immortal | Startup Famzona.com Seed Round - Private SaaS for extended family management. Immortal is testing the waters on Wefunder. Reserve your interest and follow updat...

I also overlooked how quickly technology would render human translators obsolete.

My Frame of Mind- Neutral. I know nothing about raising external capital.

#equitycrowdfunding

wefunder.com/immortal

As the web erased borders, it was clear sites needed to be translated into multiple languages. In hindsight, two things stand out. Rapid growth was not the goal. I operated with a pre-digital mindset that prioritized sustainability.

I remember my first time online. It felt like diving into endless possibility. I knew I wanted to build something fun, creative, unique, and impactful, but what? I had zero exposure to VC funding so bootstrapping was my default. My first internet company was Clifcom Translation Services.

(Part Two) Is equity crowdfunding a viable financing strategy for building a global consumer network?

Looking For a Niche
Around 1995, I managed a warehouse for a computer mail-order company that shipped AOL CD-ROMs nationwide. I used my employee discount to buy a Global Village Gold modem.

Reserve in Immortal | Startup Famzona.com - Family Safe Antidote for Social Media. Immortal is testing the waters on Wefunder. Reserve your interest and follow updates from the team.

My Frame of Mind- 😐Neutral. I know nothing about raising external capital.

#equitycrowdfunding

wefunder.com/immortal

Through the years, nearly every tech founder I met seemed to circle back to the same choice: bootstrap, or raise outside funding? By the way, none of those 30 years were spent in the Bay Area.

In those three decades I’ve launched multiple companies, joined four startups (three B2C, one B2B2C), and done some freelancing along the way. The startups were all VC funded. . Only one of those VC funded startups actually survived and thrived. I’m sure you’ll recognize it.

(Part One) Is equity crowdfunding a viable financing strategy for building a global consumer network?

The timeline
My digital entrepreneur clock starts in 1996, in Redondo Beach California. I’ve spent close to 30 years in technology now, with only a few brief detours.

The eventual liquidity I'm envisioning would the same regardless if the scaling is financed through bootstrap, VC, or equity crowdfunding- that is an IPO. My series focuses only on the scaling phase. (BTW it would be hard to bootstrap a global network)

From there, I can walk through the moments along the way when I found myself weighing bootstrapping against venture capital. Finally, my introduction to equity crowdfunding and plans for a global network.

Before I share my thoughts on using equity crowdfunding to fund a global consumer network, it feels worth starting at the beginning. The origin story sets the context.

Is equity crowdfunding a viable financing strategy for building a global consumer network? (Intro)

This will be a multi-post series. I’ll do my best to keep each post brief.

https://wefunder.com/immortal

Own a Piece of Immortality

Immortal Inc. is the parent corporation of Famzona.

We have decided to host a Community Round on Wefunder to share the upside of our success with the people who know us best: our family, friends, and customers. You are our foundation.

wefunder.com/immortal

Recently, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in the design or operation of their social media platforms, linking them to social media addiction.

Famzona doesn't rely on advertising so maximum levels of user engagement are not required.

famzona.com
#joinfamzona
#PrivateSocialMedia

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Saving your children's photos and milestones to Family Link is a Parental Pro move.

Family Link is a free online hub where both immediate and extended family can connect.

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Family Link is a free online hub where both immediate and extended family can connect.
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