The Seven Dwarfs are not in the building
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Ok, so I’m going to write a bit about the inner workings of Cre8buzz. Some background:
In a nutshell, the Antman came up with the idea. He inspired financial guy, Gabe, to join. They shook the bushes for initial investors and participants. Keith and John joined as investors and founders. There was no office, not much money, and an idea. A very good idea with some serious work underway, but primarily an idea.
To make it real, somebody had to actually develop the thing. We hooked up with some fantastic developers (Lee, Nick, and others, you know who you are!). We connected with a great partner in Chicago, Bridgepoint Technologies, who helps us with design, project and product management, and all things requiring some organization and planning (all hail Laura, Maren and crew). We’ve found some great friends online who’ve share their expertise and helped us develop the site.
Fast forward to today. I’d love to say that the formula was a killer team, a few smart decisions and hard work, and voila: we created a killer place that everyone loves and money is falling from the sky. Here’s a secret: We’re not quite the Seven Dwarfs, all happy and productive all the time. “Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it’s off to work we go!” Trust me, it hasn’t been that easy. There’s daily debate, some hand-wringing, many frustrations, and on occassion, second-guessing. I know I have been uncertain.
The big moments have been when people have had to make a call, lay down their cards, make a decision, <insert next cliche here>. What I am proud of is that this team has always chosen to go for it. Again and again. We’ve had to look each other in the eyes and decide whether we should continue. At times, it’s meant dipping into our family’s savings to keep things moving. Not a small decision. We’ve said yes.
What keeps me very motivated, is that it is working. We have built a place that we like to be. People are checking it out. Many are staying and building a fantastic community (thank you 100 times over to our early beta testers and Buzzbuilders!). We know what challenges we have to overcome to win. I believe we will overcome them.
Now if everyone would just listen to me all the time we could stop all this debate…
Keith
Comments
Ohhhh, I love reading about the behind the scenes stuff! Of course, my inner drama queen is dying to know what exactly you fight about… hahaha. Really, though. This is great stuff. I look forward to more.
Comment from Brillig on September 13, 2007, 8:27 am
I disagree with everything you just said, now if you change your mind, I will still disagree with everything, and if you agree with me, I will still disagree. 
Well spoken my friend, and I second the Thank You to all of our Beta Testers and BuzzBuilders, ya’ll are slammin’!
Comment from Antman on September 13, 2007, 8:27 am
Keep on truckin friends, it will be worth it in the long run! I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have faith you could make it work!
Comment from Suburban Oblivion on September 14, 2007, 5:48 pm
I’m glad you went through with it. It’s by far the best Social Networking site I’ve happened across and one I think I’ll be sticking with.
Only one question, is there a place for us to post suggestions and request features? 
Comment from AzhriaLilu on September 23, 2007, 4:14 am
Want to start your private office arms race right now?
I just got my own USB rocket launcher 
Awsome thing.
Plug into your computer and you got a remote controlled office missile launcher with 360 degrees horizontal and 45 degree vertival rotation with a range of more than 6 meters - which gives you a coverage of 113 square meters round your workplace.
You can get the gadget here: http://tinyurl.com/2qul3c
Check out the video they have on the page.
Cheers
Marko Fando
Comment from markofando on October 2, 2007, 8:20 am
I’ve got an Amazon gift certificate burning holes in my pocket,
and I want to get the most bang for my buck.
Enter the Secret Amazon Web Pages:
This is where you’re going to find the “latest sales, rebates, and limited-time offers” from
Amazon, and you can score some pretty deep discounts if you’re a savvy shopper.
Next, there’s the special Sale link. This is open every Friday, and ONLY on Fridays.
You can find the same good discounts here as you would in hidden Deals, although some
Fridays you can really get lucky and make off like an Amazon bandit - I’ve seen discounts
there as low as 75% off sticker price.
Comment from pruddedorge on October 4, 2007, 7:59 pm
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