Nate Ritter

Disclaimer: this is a paid review but contains no affiliate (paid) links. Click away.
Disclaimer on the disclaimer: I do paid reviews only on subjects, websites, products and services which will benefit you, my trusty readers - even if the review on the subject is a bad one.

For starters, I must say that I apologize for the last post on the VC Money Connection. Not for the subject, but for the method. I’ve been trying to get out of this stupid writing funk of being dry and well… boring. I am deeply sorry for it. I hereby pledge to work harder at being less dry. I guess that would make this attempt more … moist?

First Thing’s First: Paid Review Controversy

Ok, for those of you who would like to stick a fork in some orifice of mine (an ear?) for writing paid reviews, I’d like to say one thing. Stick it in your orifice.

Here’s what I think, short and sweet like. There are only two reasons which must go hand in hand when you’re considering writing a review that’s paid.

1. It must provide value to your readers. If you can’t do that, you’re wasting your reader’s time, and providing a disservice to them. A.k.a. you should be shot.
2. It must be honest. This goes right along with #1. If you aren’t honest in your opinion on the matter, you’re a sell-out. Go do some spamming or something.

If you can meet those two criteria, why shouldn’t someone get paid for their review? In fact, why shouldn’t we get paid for talking to someone else about a product or service any time? You do it every day. I do too. Getting paid for an honest opinion which relates to the people you’re talking to is worth every penny to everyone involved. (hint hint on the above graphic)

Ok, On With It Already! What is the Go BIG Network?

So, I got a chance to take a look at The Go BIG Network. My first .01 second response was, “Hmm. Looks like another boring portal.” Fortunately, it’s got a bit more spice than that.

In fact, it’s almost providential. Even though VC Money Connection and How to Get Funding as a Young Entrepreneur were slightly boring reads, the content and questions were sincere. How do young entrepreneurs find the money when we need it? (If we need it, or if we should need it are different questions entirely.)

The Go BIG Network (GBN) has some awesome potential (gasp, the “P” word!). In their own words:

The Go BIG Network allows professionals to connect with small businesses, entrepreneurs, investors, customers, vendors, employees and advisors. The Web site is like a “virtual rolodex” that people like yourself can use at any time to connect with people that can help your business.

In my words, the GBN gives us young entrepreneurs the opportunity we’ve been looking for. The typical “angel” investors focus on investing around $100k. VC’s typically look to invest in the millions. What if you only want $25k to get off the ground? Starting a company successfully can be cheap these days, you know. Where would you go if you didn’t want to save it all up, didn’t want to or couldn’t ask your parents, and have almost no rich friends?

You could go to Prosper.com and try your luck there. But, the interest rates are a bit high to use it as an investment. The GBN is the only other alternative I’ve seen so far (if you know of others, please say so!).

What the GBN Does Right

• Comprehensiveness filling in the gaps - Everything seems to be there. How few dollars can I propose I need? It’s there. What if I have an idea I want to bounce off the community of investors and entrepreneurs? It’s there. I need help on a business plan! It’s there. Have everything except a good marketing plan? It’s there. Legal, accounting, staffing, HR. Yup, all there. They have a forum for just about everything you can think of as an entrepreneur.
• Free services and registration - Many of the services are free, which is great. What would be the point of paying money if you weren’t sure you were able to get the value out of the service you came there for? Very nice. High five?
• Great intro to the investment/angel/VC world - Articles on what these investors will want, types of investment you might need (seed, angel, vc, etc), how the process works, how an investor thinks, how to write a good funding request, and more. Way to make the new fresh meat… ahem, I mean new entrepreneur feel right at home and learn this stuff.
• Contact info - Holy crap! They have phone and fax numbers! I’m simply amazed when any company puts an actual phone number on their site. It’s like they are calling me in my dreams - “Come talk with us. We like you and want to hear from you.” They even put frickin’ directions on how to get to their office ON THE CONTACT PAGE! Who does that? Kudos and good karma to you folks.
• Live Chat - Now, this wasn’t available at the time of this writing (11ish PM PST), but since they’re East Coasties, I’ll give them a little slack. I’m assuming they are the real deal and not some whacked out non-English speaking/writing “call” center, so I’m ok with them not being there right now. Sleep well young GBN’ers. Sleep well.

What the GBN Does That Makes Me Want To Puke

• Google Ads - I don’t usually put down people’s methods of monetization. But in this case, I have to ask how much they really make with those? It can’t be too much because they are certainly not placed very well. And if that’s the case, remove them. They clutter the design up, which brings me to my second puke…
• Design and colors - Having been a web-chef for over 10 years, I have puked a lot on site design. Granted, I’m not the best designer, and I recognize that. But, I certainly can tell when a site is cluttered. I can tell they are trying hard to keep things organized. But, the site needs a redesign badly. The colors are all over the place and everything else is so frickin’ busy my eyes just jumped out of their sockets and rolled down the hallway in fear.
• The registration form - Registration is not a bad thing. Registration that asks me a ton of stuff all at once is a bad thing. All you need from me is a desired username and password and perhaps my email address if you want to confirm that. Otherwise, I’ll fill out my profile when I’m damn good and ready.

Honestly, I can’t find too much fault in them other than their choice of design, ads, and the stupid registration form crap. I really do think it’s a valuable service, and if you’ve never done the entrepreneur/founder thing before, you ought to give this network a shot. I may be using them soon as well (shhh, don’t tell. How’s that for juicy/moist?).

Technorati Tags: entrepreneur, network, social, business, funding, investing, vc, angel, seed, capital, venture