Making Money Online with Ann Crady
SVP of Consumer Experience, Baby Center, LLC,
and CEO/Founder of Maya’s Mom
www.babycenter.com
Ann Crady will be one of the featured speakers at our BYOB (Be Your Own Boss) event on September 6 in San Francisco. Click here for more info.
Where Ann Crady goes, online conversation follows. First Crady got people to dish about their favorite cars, while serving as the director of business development for Yahoo! Autos. But she knew it would be even easier to get people gabbing about the one topic that inspires more passion in people than cars: motherhood. As the mother of two small children herself, Crady was active in both content-based and geography-based groups for mothers. She saw the potential of harnessing the Internet to connect even more moms, and decided to launch a business.
After weighing concerns that the entrepreneurial path would take too much time away from the very children who had inspired her vision, Crady and her husband decided it was too good of an idea to ignore. With her employer’s blessing, Crady tapped her colleagues at Yahoo! for an engineer who was willing to go start-up. With her own seed money and her technology expert in place, Maya’s Mom was born in 2005. The site, which was like a MySpace for moms, was an even bigger sensation than Crady had anticipated. It was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2007 and is now part of BabyCenter, LLC, which reaches more than 4 million parents.
What we learned from Ann: “I think entrepreneurs make a big mistake when they think that they have to keep their ideas so close to their chest because they’re so amazing, and so different, and so new. Certainly there are some businesses where that matters, but as a general rule, I think that’s a big mistake that entrepreneurs make.”
Ready, Set, Go?
“I always knew it was a big idea. But quitting my job was a very different thing. I definitely recognized that there was a very large audience out there; obviously a lot of moms. There were a very large number of them who used these online tools already, and even more who talked to each other offline. One of the rules of starting a business is you have to make sure you’re going after a big market, and clearly I was. The bigger challenge was figuring out, especially from a personal standpoint, whether I was ready to start my own company. That was really the thing that took much longer.”
The Big Question
“I definitely am a workaholic, and I tend to throw myself into a job. Whether it’s working for myself, or working for a big company or a small company, I tend to dive deep, and so that was our biggest concern—could I have enough time for family and for work?”
As a professional marketing executive who has launched many businesses for others, I found Ann’s insight invaluable. My fiance and I are thinking about starting a company which we are both extremely passionate about. We love brainstorming and visualizing about the end results. But, have finally taken the steps to get others involved. By sharing our ideas with not only family and friends, but potential end users, we keep gaining momentum and the courage to get the business plan to the bank.
I found in my startup life that ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the execution on the ideas that make (or break) a business. Sometimes you have to jump in and start creating, like Ann did with her partner.
People always copy success, so just try to be the best, the trend leader, and don’t worry too much about the competition. (at least at the beginning!!)
… Diane
“The Breastfeeding Hat Lady”
http://www.moboleez.com
Ann statement about sharing your ideas to receive help is crucial. I had spoken to women who say they have an idea but refuse to comment on it, fearing someone will steal it. However, they are hindering their ability to launch their idea because its a secret.
I have learned to ask for help because its the only way I can increase my small steps to bigger steps.
I have learned so much since I launched Cake and a Prayer earlier this year. We went live with the website (wwww.cakeandaprayer.com) in time for Mother’s Day and the response was incredible, but sales dropped off significantly until the next big gift-giving occasion. As a newlywed launching a business, I understand fully the need to balance family and work and when I say family, that include finances. My husband asked me if there was a point when I would say I had put enough money into the business. My response was … when we have gone through all of our savings (including 401k, stocks bonds), maxed out all the credit cards, sold the house, the cars and all the physical possessions we own, and are only left with the clothes on our backs. Then, and only then, am I done. Needless to say, he understood that I am in it to win it and his response (”Okay”) says that he is too. However, a better response to his question is probably a dollar amount as Ann indicated above. I just have to figure out how much all of our assets are worth so I can provide him with a more definitive number (smile).
Good article. I always recommend tapping into your social network, especially family and friends, to get money and resources to start a business.
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Hi Ann,
Just wondering if you or someone else you know could direct me on the best way to get my foot in the door to pitch an invention I have, exclusively for women! I have the prototype, patent pending just seem to have hit a wall on getting advise regarding how to contact and personally meet with potential buyers!
Thanks for any help:)
Carin
dc5naples@gmail.com