Startup.com

Danielle Thacker

The movie Startup.com provides an exact view into not only the world of entrepreneurship, but also personal responsibility for a company’s wellbeing. After watching Startup.com our class was taken aback by the demise of Kaleil Tuzman and Tom Herman’s govworks.com. For us college students, the ending to the movie was stark and shocking. Many of us do not have business responsibilities that even compare to that of Tuzman and Herman.

As Tuzman left Goldman Sachs and Herman said goodbye to his daughter, they embarked on a journey to become the premier application for municipality and citizen interaction. The business plan aimed to provide the ability of citizens to pay government dues (parking tickets, taxes, etc…) online, as well as provide municipalities with the information needed to make their operations more efficient. Tuzman and Herman’s govworks.com grew quickly through venture capitalist investments. Their ability to sell themselves and their idea successfully is one fundamental step in marketing that is essential to any start up company.

Tuzman and Herman wanted to be a first mover in the market and adopted this as their business strategy. They pushed the entire company toward completing the website. On the day of testing the audience witnessed major problems within the website. Tuzman and Herman then got anxious to go live with the website as EzGov.com, a competitor, had previously launched their site.

The consuming predator of govworks.com was the inability to keep the website on the verge technologically. Herman was unable to implement the newest and latest technologies to keep this website on the forefront. It took Tuzman a long time to oust Herman as co-CEO due to their great friendship. Tuzman gave Herman extra time which proved to be fatal to the entire company as competitors raced past govworks.com. Tuzman, mature in many leadership attributes, still had something to learn: the division of professional v. personal relationships. I agree with the previous post’s statement, “Had Kaliel not been so attached to Tom, someone more qualified and capable could have kept the company from submerging.”

Students of the Villanova School of Business, primarily leave college and enter jobs at large firms, hiring thousands of recruits per year. Coming out of college, the majority look to these jobs because they are within comfort zones. They provide resume building activities, experience, a base salary, and less responsibility than entrepreneurial ventures or jobs at private companies. These jobs are perfect for many just entering the world of work.

In working in my family’s business, I watch my Dad make business decisions everyday. I overhear some of these decisions, some of which are vital to the company’s livelihood. By working here I have been able to have a glimpse of responsibility. I have had a glimpse of “When it is YOUR money, you really tend to not only watch it closely, but you also tend to find ways to both protect it and stretch it as far as possible” (quoted from the article Dr. Andriole sent us about the movie). This is the view of business we have yet to been exposed to in our education, except through the Startup.com movie. And at this point, we don’t necessarily need to be exposed to it. We’re just pulling up to the starting line.

I have chose to work at my family’s business. I have chosen this because I not only like, but want the challenges that Tuzman and Herman faced. Of course, I will have a running start with an already established business. However, personal responsibility for a business is not necessarily so daunting as thought. It is fun. It is challenging. It keeps you on your toes. It makes you a better business person. So if you are a person that likes fun, challenging, and bettering yourself, I challenge you in some point in your career, to find a career where you have personal responsibility for a business. This is the path I’ve chosen and hope to continue once my brother and I step up and my father starts to step down.

PS I hope to show this video to my family, so that we [my family] can draw a distinctive line now as to our personal v. professional relationships.