Dan Marques of Invenio Group
This 21 year-old college student is definitely on the path to success. From starting various internet businesses to running a Venture Capital firm, Dan Marques seems to be doing all the right things and taking the necessary risks that any student entrepreneur should be taking. Dan’s a student who knows that the energy and time that he currently devotes to his business will soon payoff more than he ever expected.
Watch out people, Dan Marques is making big moves and coming strong. Here’s what he has to share with Flush the Toilet:
Tell me a bit about the focus of your company. How did the idea come about? What was the brainstorming process like? Did you feel that your particular niche was unexplored or one that just needed improvement?
I’m involved in a few companies. I launched an internet marketing firm called ProfileAds. My core venture is Invenio Group; a venture development firm that helps college entrepreneurs launch successful ventures. Invenio was born out of necessity. As a young entrepreneur at Babson College I had a need to network and collaborate with other young driven entrepreneurs at a more serious level than was currently being provided.
Talk to me about your blog, Start-Up Guide. What are some of the ways that you like making money from your dorm room? You run a few other sites, right?
Start-Up Guide originally was intended to be a for profit blogging endeavor, while I may make a few hundred a month from advertising it is no longer geared towards profit, it is merely an outlet for my thoughts on entrepreneurship as well as an opportunity to let people know what I am up to and to network.
I also launched: ProfileAds.com, a blog network (that is currently also being liquidated), and I am part of a team that is going to launch a jewelry ecommerce site to compete with BlueNile.com.
I also make money through other ventures I’m involved in and consulting.
What college do you attend and how do you manage running a business, going to class, doing homework, studying, all that fun school stuff? Is college helping your business in any way?
I attend Babson College (#1 for entrepreneurship!!!), Babson is amazing. Anyone who is serious about entrepreneurship should consider attending Babson. They provide a great deal of resources, the faculty are amazing, and just the entrepreneurial environment is so exciting. My GPA has continued to slide as my business ‘success’ increases, you have to make choices on whether to study for five hours and not work on your business, or maybe study for one hour and spend the rest of the time launching your venture. It is hard to balance school and being an entrepreneur, but it can be done.
What inspires you as an entrepreneur? Any companies or people in particular?
My parents have always been entrepreneurial minded and have encouraged me to follow my own path to success. I am inspired by every entrepreneur I read about or meet who is out there in the real world making things happen, from the local convenience store owner to the CEO of the largest financial services company in Latin America.
What are some of the roadblocks or setbacks that you have encountered as being an entrepreneur and how have you gotten past them?
Access to capital and being young have been the two greatest obstacles. Getting funding is easier once you have a bit of a track record or when you are networking with a lot of people about your idea and have a business plan (or executive summary) ready. It is also easier to get funding if you have a proof of concept and now need money to expand. Being young is a double edged sword; it has benefits but also has a lot of pitfalls. When you go into meetings and you are the only person under 40 it can be challenging but exciting. There have been a few times where I was not taken seriously because of my age or the fact that I am in college. You just have to keep moving forward regardless and make the realization that those people probably are not the right people to involve yourself with anyways.
What books or magazines have you read that helped you as an entrepreneur?
I read a great deal of books on entrepreneurship constantly and I read Entrepreneur Magazine monthly. I am a big fan of reading and learning on topics you want to strengthen yourself in. Not only do you learn new things but it helps to motivate you and remind you what it is all about. If I had to name a favorite book I would say “The Richest Man In Babylon” it is not specifically about entrepreneurship but it is a very valuable book about money, integrity, and working hard.
What are some of the things that you consider before creating a startup?
Is this really an opportunity? Am I the right person to execute this opportunity? Can I break down all (or most) of the steps that it takes to launch this venture? I like breaking down a venture into as simple a concept as possible and then seeing what is the cheapest way to test and see if it really is an opportunity. Bootstrapping is my mantra.
In your own view, how would you define the internet 10 years from now?
Computers will no longer have hard drives or software, they will merely be a screen/keyboard/mouse that connects to the internet. Everything PC related will move to the net…think about it.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?
Continuing to help grow Invenio, working on a few ventures, actively contributing or running a non profit, and starting to settle down.
What’s your take on college students starting a business while in college, smart move?
The best move you can possibly make! Think about it this way, at no point will you have so little responsibility and so many faculty & research resources at your disposal. Even if you fail (as long as you do not get into debt along the way) you have acquired a great experience and employers now a days love to see entrepreneurial students who have done something out of the ordinary.
Talk to me about the support from your family and friends. Good, bad, none?
My immediate family has been amazing and always supports and advises me. My friends at college are incredibly supportive. My friends back home do not really understand what I am doing and think I should be going the ‘corporate route’ so it is sometimes difficult. I have been really fortunate to be surrounded by great people who have faith in me.
Describe a typical day as a student entrepreneur?
I live off of my outlook calendar. Every 15 minutes of my waking day is booked up until around 10pm. I go from class, to meetings, to conference calls, and then have to schedule in time for homework and tasks I need to get done for my ventures. I would say the bulk of my time is spent in classes or meetings (whether they are meetings with clients, investors, business partners, or advisors).
What are some of the things that you do to just relax and refresh your brain? I’m sure that stress becomes a factor at some point.
I do my best to make sure I have time regularly to just relax and hang out with my friends and my girlfriend. Sometimes you fall into a slump and it’s hard to completely refresh and reenergize, I am still trying to figure out the best method to get myself ‘back in the groove’ when that happens. Sometimes I use music, books, video games, or just talking to family and friends.
So now that you’re in the venture capital industry, do you get a lot of pitches? Would you be more inclined to fund a startup that a college student founded since you’re still a student? What do you look for in a business before you fund it?
I hear more ‘pitches’ than ever before. As of right now we exclusively fund college students only. We are all about investing in people. I would rather fund an ice cream shop being launched by two people I know are extremely competent young entrepreneurs that get stuff done as opposed to a group of kids who do not seem passionate about their ‘amazing’ idea that could be the ‘next google’.
Were you ever told to get a “real job” and just forget about being an entrepreneur? If so, how did that make you feel and what was your response?
I would say that used to happen on about a weekly basis but is somewhat less frequent now. It just gets me fired up and more passionate about pursuing Invenio and my other ventures. For every person who has doubted that I could be an entrepreneur there have been three who support me 100%, so it isn’t too bad. Actions speak louder than words, the more you accomplish as an entrepreneur, the easier it is to dispel the naysayers.
Can you talk a bit about how to go about creating a business model on the internet?
Creating an internet business now is easier than ever! Hosting is cheap and scalable (start with a $15/month plan on something like Hostgator.com and if your venture grows you can start upgrading). Web & graphic design is affordable (check out designoutpost.com for some services) as well as programmers are cheaper than over (check out elance.com or getacoder.com). I am a big proponent of leveraging outsourcing to launch your venture with as little funds as possible.
Of course now the challenge is finding a viable internet business model, you can start an advertising supported model as long as you realize that your revenue is tied to a function of how much traffic your site receives. Finding a viable revenue model besides advertising (i.e. subscriptions, purchases, etc.) is the real challenge for creating a great internet venture. Try to find ways to test your venture on a small scale using as little cash as possible, you can learn more from the market than by sitting in your room thinking about what people want, go out and try it, if it works great!, if not, try and tweak your concept. Just be sure to not get yourself into debt or over promise your investors in the process.
What’s your take on the whole go-to-school-get-a-good-job-work-for someone-for-40 years-then-retire-comfortably-somewhere philosophy?
That has held true in the past for most people and it is fine if some people want to go that route, I know I don’t. The fact of the matter is that big corporations can no longer promise you a job for the rest of your life, outsourcing and the pace of change has shifted the work dynamic. Most people will have multiple jobs over the course of their career and many may be faced with the reality that they need to become an independent consultant in order to stay competitive in the new workplace. Entrepreneurship is the way to go for me, but it’s not right for everyone, and that’s ok.
What advice would you give to another budding entrepreneur with big dreams and high hopes of success?
We have a few mantras at Invenio:
“Know how to tell the story, and have a story to tell”
“Execute”
“Go all out”
This basically sums up my advice and philosophy. You need to be able to network and tell people about your passion, yourself, and your venture. However, you must first have worked on whatever it is enough so that you have something worthwhile to tell and know what you need help with when you meet people. Everyone can talk, but execution and getting things done is what separates those who talk from those who succeed.
Entrepreneurship is about risk taking while also trying to mitigate those risks as much as possible. However, at some point you have to just take the leap and go for it, and when you do, make sure to not hold back and give it your all. That way whether you succeed or fail you know that you did your best.
