Today's Entrepreneur: Kevin Stephens
No. 1 mistake: Not failing fast enough
Today's Entrepreneur is Kevin Stephens, Co-founder and CEO of Kismet. Kismet is an easy way to meet new people in the real world, in real time. Whether you want friends or business contacts, they show you the people near you that you actually want to meet, tell you who you know in common, what you have in common, and give you an easy way to kick off the conversation.
Vator’s community is the home to entrepreneurs who embrace their passion and follow their dreams. Our profiles allow members to express themselves by sharing their interests, lessons learned, as well as bits and pieces of their roller-coaster journey.
These profiles give entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase themselves and tell their story. So if you are an entrepreneur, a serial entrepreneur, or even an aspiring entrepreneur, we'd like to hear from you.
I am a(n):
Entrepreneur
Companies I've founded or co-founded:
Kismet
Startups I worked for:
Boxee, Trilogy
If you are an entrepreneur, why?
I want to invent something cool.
My favorite startups:
Kismet, Astrid, Crowdmob, Boxee
What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?
Having complete direction of a product that I find personally exciting.
What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs make?
Not failing fast enough, and being married to a single idea or approach.
What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?
Be agile and move quickly, particularly when it comes to product development. Pick investors as carefully as you would pick employees -- they're part of your team, too. Most important, don't be dissuaded by naysayers. The best technology always has naysayers.
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Kristin Karaoglu
Woman of many skills: Database System Engineer; SplashX event producer; Author of Startup Teams
All author postsRelated Companies, Investors, and Entrepreneurs
Kismet
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Kismet connects you to your existing friends in the real world by simplifying getting together face to face. We show you which of your friends are nearby or alert you when the app isn't open, then make it simple to invite them to meet you.
When you're planning to get together with a group of any size, Kismet makes the experience simpler and more social. Users can invite their friends whether or not they are Kismet users. Non-users can easily reply from the web or their phone without having to install the app.
No longer do you need to send hundreds of text messages or try to follow long email threads just to meet for Happy Hour. Users are also notified automatically when other users arrive and depart the event, meaning you’ll never have to ask “Are you here yet?”
Kismet was one of the most talked about companies of SXSW 2012, in the hot "ambient location" and "social discovery" space. Founded in 2011, Kismet was part of AngelPad's Winter 2011 class of startups, and has been lauded as one of the most privacy and user conscious apps in the space.
Kevin Stephens
Joined Vator on
Co-founder and CEO of Blink, previously an early engineer at Google and YouTube. Also worked at Apple & Boxee. BS Computer Science, UCSD.