Alvin Mullins

Website: blog.stagester.com
Seattle, Washington, United States
Member since July 19, 2011

About

Education

1989 University of Houston , BS , Hotel Restaurant Management

I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:

Pandora, LookVook, Airbnb, EventsUnfold, Stagester

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

Things always cost twice as much and go twice as slow as you think they will.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

Not networking in the startup community.

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

1. Don't be afraid to tell the world about your idea
2. The importance of a great team
3. Don't be so attached to your idea that you cannot change it for the better

How do you know you are on the right trail?

When you go to sleep thinking about it and you wake up thinking about it and it creeps into almost every conversation you have.

Full bio

Went to school - waste of time, quit. Became a chef, trained in France, worked in Miami & New Orleans.

Went back to school, graduated - still a waste of time.

Started CatSound - captured 70% club market in Houston - good exit.

Got job in Korea for Dept. of Defense - hated working a government job. Left to work for luxury hotel chain - hated it.

Got job in only software company in Florida - started in tech support, upgraded to development (games), went over to the dark side - biz dev - loved it!

Got job at Canon to do M&A - absolutely loved it but Canon wants me to move to Long Island from SoCal - no way.

Start up VisualGM - shut down in 1st year - lost CTO.

Start up The Sales Whisperer - raising sales for business brokers - good exit

Putts around with a real estate idea - bad market - bad timing

Got accepted to Founder Institute, founded Stagester. Back looking for Tech Co-founder, ready to do local streaming tests (A/B quality vs. pricing). First big client signed soon.