Goal: Sell first Company before turning 30.
*checks off list*
I’m elated to announce one of my dreams has come true this past month. NetLine, the #1 B2B content syndication network, has acquired 123LinkIt. The deal officially closed on November 18, 2011.
From the announcement on the 123Linkit blog:
We have been working hard to help bloggers make money from what they are already doing since early 2010. We believe by seamlessly transforming product and brand keywords into money-making opportunities, we enable bloggers to effortlessly build passive income from their published content.
After integrating our software with tens of thousands of blogs, we believe now is the best time to expand our efforts with another team that shares our vision of enhancing the online advertising process. We’re excited to announce that we have been acquired by NetLine and will be joining their RevResponse team to continue creating an enriching and unobtrusive advertising experience on the web.
What happens now? 123LinkIt will continue to live on under its own brand. We’ll be integrating our technology with NetLine’s to enable them to provide in-text advertising to their B2B ad network, RevResponse. I have joined their East Coast team in Lansdale full-time as the Product Marketing Manager to help with the move as well as other exciting initiatives.
Before signing off I’d like to thank my team, my family, my friends (especially Jeff Brelsford), my advisers – Anthony Gold, CH Low, Skip Shuda, Dave Fortino (of NetLine), Donna McCarthy and Scott Jangro – as well as PhilaDev (which includes Phil Ives & Chris Myers), a startup accelerator in Philadelphia.
Last but not least, a huge thanks to our 123LinkIt users (with a special shout-out to Stephen Belyea) and partners who have supported us along the way. This would not have happened without you!
Update: The official press release can be found here.
Stay tuned as I post what I’ve learned during this experience in the coming weeks.
I’m in the last year of my twenties, getting more and more gray hairs every month and I’ve probably aged twice as fast in the last two years thanks to my startup.
So what’s a girl to do when faced with these realizations? Have a professional photo shoot of course! I’m suddenly reminded of a Sex and the City episode when Samantha decides to pose for nude photos because she wants to remember her body before “everything goes south.”
This wasn’t THAT kind of photo shoot by any means. Not even close. I decided to have headshots done primarily for my various social networks and websites. All of my photos have been cropped from personal pictures with friends (sound familiar?) and I felt like I needed the “grown-up” variation.
The first photographer that came to mind, Colin Lenton, is a friend who shot the TechnicallyPhilly guys and the most well-connected man in Philadelphia, Mikey Il. Colin and I have an interesting history. To make a long story short, I accused him of trying to commit a felony the first night we met (wasn’t even close). When I ran into him the next time, I asked if he had lost a lot of weight because I remembered him being much heavier. I’m blaming this on a case of reverse beer goggles. And yes, I am that blunt.
I also noticed that he appeared first when I googled “Philadelphia photographer. I reached out to him a month ago to discuss dates and we met in his studio a couple of weeks later. I have to say, being on the other side of the camera isn’t easy. I felt like an “America’s Next Top Model” reject. Well…except I’m much shorter with hips and I have no idea how to strike a pose without giggling like a little schoolgirl. Colin faced these challenges and to my surprise (Sorry Colin, underestimating you turned out to be a great thing), I’m extremely happy with the way the final pictures turned out. One of my favorites is on my About page.
Check out his work at http://colinmlenton.com. Maybe he’ll include my picture in his gallery one day (hint, hint!). Hopefully this post makes up for implying he was obese that one day (he’s not at all by the way, and ladies – he’s single!)
Updated 10/30/2011 – The video of the event has been embedded below. I start at the 1:09:05 mark.
I’m about to head out the door to speak at PANMA’s “WhyWe LovePhilly – The Awesome Philly Tech Scene” event. The idea is to showcase the diverse, tech community in Philadelphia by having various organizers come in and speak about the groups they started or participate in.
As most of you know, I’m fairly active in Philly’s tech scene and I’ve spearheaded a few projects. They include:
- GirlDevelopIt Philly
- Goal: To bridge the gap of women in software development
- Next event: Using WordPress to Build a Site for Beginners on November 2nd
- Sign up link
- TechGirlz
- Goal: To encourage middle school girls to get into technology-related fields
- Next event: Programming with Kodu on November 19th
- Sign up link or contact info[at]techgirlz[dot]com
- Philly Startup Leaders Poker Club
- Goal: To take other people’s money..err, I mean to network with each other in a relaxing environment
- Next event: November 10th at Eight-Eleven HQ
- Sign up link
- Philly Startup Leaders Book Club
- Goal: To support our reading habits while learning and holding meaningful conversations about some of the top books in business and entrepreneurship.
- Next event: November 7th to discuss the Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- Sign up link
I just started a LearnRuby 101 group as well and I’ll post more information on that once we get off the ground.
See you tonight!
- After toying with the idea of living in Philadelphia for 5 years, I moved into the City to live with my then boyfriend.
- I had my heart broken.
- I moved again, this time with a friend of my sisters.
- I gave up my car lease and stopped driving for the first time since I got my license.
- After months of planning, we held our first GirlDevelopIt Philly class.
- I developed my first website (Not ready for public consumption after one HTML/CSS class. You’re welcome
). - We changed direction at 123LinkIt.
- My Company turned 2 years old.
- I spent more time with my family and we became closer.
- I decided to make a valiant effort to stop being my own worst enemy.
- I’m finally learning how to cook.
- For a period of time, I unintentionally got back to my High School weight (I promise it’s not related to the previous item, haha. P.S. Break-up “diets” are the best!).
- I accepted a part-time teaching gig at Montgomery County Community College.
- I blogged more…and was named one of the top 10 entrepreneurship bloggers in Philadelphia.
- I finally made it on TechCrunch! Okay, not exactly but I’ll take a shout-out during my buddy’s TC Disrupt debut
. (P.S. Check out Playsay.com for an innovative way to learn a new language using Facebook). - I’ve become open to the idea of marriage and having a family (I had sworn it off years ago).
- I started dressing up more. As a long-term tomboy, this warrants inclusion to the list. I bought my first 3 dresses and I wear them without having to (which is a big deal for me). I also put my hair down for occasions besides special events. To put this in context, I would probably borrow a dress once a year from my sister and wear my hair down 5 times on a good year.
- I bought this motorcycle. Okay, okay this didn’t really happen but I will have my own bike come Spring!
- I accepted more invitations to speak at events such as TechGirlz, StartupCorps, Word 11 Prefix and PANMA.
- I’m now volunteering to speak at events such as the upcoming WordCamp Philly and BarCampPhilly. I would not have done this last year.
- I’ve grown closer to certain acquaintances and I’ve expanded my circle of friends of which almost half of them I didn’t know until recently.
- I’m taking salsa classes.
- I signed up to become a Big Sister (Pst, they’re looking for more volunteers. Click here to learn more about the Program).
- After vehemently refusing to watch it, I finally saw the Star Wars trilogy and I had to swallow my pride to friends when I admitted to enjoying it.
- I got back into running.
- I ran my first 5k for CHOP.
- Besides walking, I’m using a bicycle as my main mode of transportation.
- I discovered I can still shoot a basketball. Last weekend, I beat two people at a PNC Bank P-I-G Challenge. The second person was a buff black guy who wasn’t too happy about it. Worse for him is I was wearing heels, ha! [Picture]. I used to play religiously during middle school and high school.
- I learned you can’t change people who don’t want to change themselves, a difficult feat for someone as persistent as I am.
- …more I can’t announce just yet!
For those who don’t know me I’m someone who develops habits, particularly with things I like. And when I like something, I become OBSESSED with it. Take a new song for example, I will listen to it repeatedly over a course of a few hours. I ordered rancheros huevos while out at brunch with friends a couple of months ago and I have become so enamored with the dish, I cook it for myself at least twice a week now. I would go as far as to say you can’t find a better tasting one anywhere else. That’s me…I fall in love with things I like, thrive to become the best at it, and either stick with it or lose interest and move on.
What’s my point? The word “change” is not at the top of my vocabulary list. I’ve put myself out of my comfort zone more in the last few months than I ever have and the level of on-going discomfort I’m experiencing is new. That said, I’m noticing I’m becoming more relaxed about the possibility of change, even embracing it sooner than usual in some areas. I’ve learned more about myself during these last three months than I have in years and this process has helped me figure out what I want and more importantly, what I DON’T want.
I’m an extremely private person and even being this open is different for me. Maybe I should add that to the list! As someone once said, “If you don’t create change, change will create you.”
Do or do not. There is no try. – Yoda
All of us in some form want to leave an impact on someone or something. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t want the satisfaction of making a difference. I would argue most of us lay out a time-consuming and complex plan on how we plan to accomplish this.
What if you made an impact on someone’s life without realizing it? Without even REMEMBERING it?
Let’s rewind about three weeks ago. It’s Friday night or my first ever Girl’s Night to be more specific. It was supposed to be three of us and a friend brought someone else along I’ll call Kim for this post. We introduced ourselves and started chatting. At one point, she leaned in close and told me we’ve met before.
“What? No, we didn’t.”
“Yes, we did,” she proclaimed. “Actually, you inspired me to become an entrepreneur.”
My jaw dropped. “When? Where?”
She went on to explain how we’ve briefly talked at a party three or four years ago. I was gushing about how I was about to start my Company. She said I was the first woman in technology she had met and she was so motivated by our conversation, she left her corporate job and started a web development shop right here in Philadelphia. At one point, she pulled out her phone and showed me that she still had my number saved from that night.
I was completely transfixed during our conversation, amazed that I had left an impression on someone without thinking twice about it or even knowing it. That I could have that kind of influence in such a small period of time.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. How many short encounters do we miss out on everyday that can truly transform someone’s life? How often do we ponder how our words and actions can leave a mark on others? Making a difference seems like a daunting task. As I’ve recently learned, sometimes it’s present in the small things.