Today's Entrepreneur: Cory Jones

Kevin Hsu · September 23, 2011 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/1efd

No. 1 Mistake: Lack of understanding of the market and customer.

Today's entrepreneur is Cory Jones, CEO of DINKlife,   the first and only online media and lifestyle brand/community for couples without kids.

Cory is one of the tens of thousands of entrepreneurs on Vator, each of whom create and drive innovations and products.

Our entrepreneur profiles let members share top lessons, mistakes and insights from their startup journey. So if this is your first venture, or you're a serial entrepreneur, we want to hear from you!

DINKlife addresses the traditionally underserved demographic of DINK couples ("Dual Income, No Kids"), launching in May as the premier online destination for the community.

According to his entrepreneur assessment test (VEQ), Cory is good at thought leadership, marketing management and team motivation.

You are a(n):

Entrepreneur

Name companies you've founded or co-founded:

DINKlife

Name companies you've invested in:

DINKlife

Name startups you worked for:

DINKlife

If you are an entrepreneur, why?

Little in life is more fulfilling than building something new that will help others

List your favorite startups:

DINKlife, Qwiki, TaskRabbit, UpOut, TrunkClub

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Entreneurship and innovation are by nature the boundless shaping of your own path. One could only be frustrated by a lack of ideas, which, gratefully has never been my handicap.

The rewards are just as boundless, defined by the individual and culminating in self-actualization.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?

Lack of understanding of the market and customer.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. Plan to acquire more customers, partners and team members than you expect to need. Quantity is a multiplier on quality, without one of them you have 0. 
2. Plan to spend more money than you expect to need. When you've never done something before, the odd critical component will be missed in planning. 
3. Plan to consume more time than you expect to need. See #2.

Full bio

Born and raised in the Dallas area, Cory gained his competitive edge as a powerlifter at the University of North Texas, shortly thereafter achieving his greatest claim to fame thus far - achieving the title of Texas Strongest Man (the plastic trophy doesn’t have his name on it, but we believe him). Cory cut his professional teeth as a citizen of the free standing country that is Accenture; learning to travel and spend per diems, and a work hard/work hard mentality that has stuck with him ever since.  

Going on to work in a dizzying array of industries, and diving into everything from marketing to retail management to productivity consulting (he insists he’s sorry for that big layoff in 2003), Cory claims during the span of his career to have single-handedly sold at least 1 phone line, 2 hotel rooms, 97 strawberry and banana smoothies, and 19 full palettes of treated 4X6 redwood.

Having defeated all TX stereotypes - he rarely wore boots, wasn’t a fan of Keith Urban and owned a pickup for only a short time (and it was a compact) – Cory felt he’d done his part and departed The Republic with Katelyn, moving to downtown San Francisco in 2009 to start DINKlife. When not reliving the enormity of his accomplishments with the rest of us, you can find Cory fretting over the header size of a DINKlife email, enjoying a Chicago pizza over an 80’s action flic, or planning how he’s going to fit in his two-seater Nissan after this next pizza.

Related Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs

DINKlife

Startup/Business

Joined Vator on

DINKlife is the only lifestyle brand and resource for the second fastest growing life-stage demographic in the US: couples without kids - DINKs (Dual Income No Kids).  DINKlife validates their unique lifestyle and helps them make the most of this time in their life.

  • Growing market currently 30MM+ US, 130MM+ globally self-titled DINKs (Dual Income No Kids)
  • 60% of US people will be part of a couple without kids in their life
  • DINKlife built a business model around what DINKs need: ways to meet others like them, local deals and events, and lifestyle specific info/entertainment.
  • Led by DINKs: 2 bootstrapping founders: combined 23 yrs. experience selling big brands & building business strategies (founder voted Top 10 Digital Marketer in 2011)
  • Launched DINKlife.com BETA site May 2011
  • Generating advertising revenue now with 120k+ visits, 2k+ members, & thousands of posts.  Sales and subscription channels coming soon with new products.
  • Tested and proven go-to-market strategy in place 

Check out our video (released May '11) to get a feel for our brand...

http://www.dinklife.com/topic/trends-news/dinklife-public-service-announcement-video

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Cory Jones

Joined Vator on

Cory is the visionary behind DINKlife, with a formal education in Entrepreneurship followed by 12 years of business consulting, marketing and business strategy roles.