Jimmy Gardner has a deep passion for all things related to social media but it was frustrating to him that no one was really talking about the East Coast and in particular, the MD/DC/VA area. Everything in the press was all Silicon Valley this, Palo Alto that. Meanwhile, on the east coast many companies were innovating with new web products and creating content but being left out of all the media swarm that is prevalent in the Valley. Jimmy started EastCoastBlogging.com to be a voice for our side of the coast and also has a startup project called MyDropBin.
We recently sat down for an interview and I was able to spend some time with him and discuss social media and the future of MyDropBin. Here is a transcript of PART 2 of our interview:
Steve: Switching gears a bit, I would like to talk about your project, MyDropBin. Your background is developing technology in the government sector. What exactly is MyDropBin?
Jimmy:
MyDropBin is a new web service that offers users an easy way to store and aggregate any content, big or small, static or dynamic, and pay only for the amount of storage they use. All content is saved in user defined Folders and tagged for easy viewing and organization. And best of all, you can access any of your content wherever you may be, as long as you have Internet connectivity.
Not only can you save all of your data, why not share it as well. You can share your content in one of two ways, email your friends the link to the item or better yet give them the RSS feed to one of your folders or tags and let the content get pushed right to them.
In its essence, it is a users front end to their own Amazon S3 storage space, leaving the ownership of their data to them and no one else.
Steve: How did you get the idea for MyDropBin?
Jimmy:
About 18 months ago, Amazon had recently released their new cloud storage platform, S3 (Simple Storage Service). I thought it was way cool, but seemed to be lacking something, an easy interface to manage your data in their cloud. Around the same time I started using an app on the Mac called Yojimbo. It is a really cool app that lets you aggregate data, web pages, documents, etc into folders and tag them with meta data. This was great except for the fact that all that data resided on my laptop. I could not get to it while at work, on travel, or just away from my computer. Then one night I had THAT question pop into my head. “I wish there was a app like Yojimbo but on the web.” That was my spark.
Steve: How does MyDropBin differ from its competition?
Jimmy:
There are a couple of main differences, the main one being that the storage space is the users, and they pay for only the storage that they utilize.
It also offers users a great set of features to use to save and share their data.
Amazon offers a great secure and inexpensive storage platform, MyDropBin affords users an easy way to use it, and no one else does that.
Steve: What are some lessons good or bad you have learned from starting MyDropBin?
Jimmy:
Steve, I will say my biggest lesson by far is this: Follow your passion and simply make something happen around it. Take your idea and build something. I am but one person but I was able to build a product with very little capital that can compete on a global scale. The technology and Internet landscape has brought the barriers to entry so low, anyone can make their idea come to life.
In doing something, anything, and taking that step opens doors that you would have otherwise never seen before you. I have met great people because of it, and that has led to other opportunities. I have had inquiries from other startups for licensing the software and am currently working on a deal that will take it to the next level. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t simply decided to make a small investment in myself and a little time and effort to just build it.
Sure you will hit roadblocks and stumbling points but its is all a learning process.
Steve: Do feel that companies building products should do a big beta launch or a small viral growth to gradually improve the product?
Jimmy:
I really think it depends on the size of the company, but in my case and other small startups, like trooQ I think a big beta launch is unrealistic. Simply get a product out to market and use the great social media tools available to us to build a base, let the word spread and as you said allow the small growth to help improve your product.
Let your friends use it and others write about it and it will grow. It makes no sense to spend $$ on PR you cant afford when you don’t have to. Spend that money where it is most needed. And then you will get that one hit, that one blog post, that sends the viral flag up and if your product is good enough, people will find it fast.
Steve: As we close the interview I would like to revisit the East Coast Technology scene. Since you have been through a few economic cycles, what do you think the next 2-3 years hold for Web 2.0 and Social media here in the east coast? Do you think it will evolve differently on the west coast?
Jimmy:
I think that whereas our location and involvement with so much government hurts us on some fronts, it helps us during the economic cycles we are experiencing now. The government will always be a huge employer in the area and will help to buoy the economy and the workforce.
I do think it will be different on the west coast, as we are already seeing. There was not an IPO in the last couple of quarters and VC money is tightening.
So as we move forward I think Web 2.0 and social media will stay strong here.
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