Stelios Constantinides is passionate about his start-up. So passionate that he quit his stable management-consulting job to pursue Notably, an online application that syncs with Facebook. As the website boasts, Notably is a summary of news about your friends. “It’s jobs, breakups, whose back in town. Honest-to-goodness news.” I was fortunate enough to speak with Constantinides about the trials, tribulations and future of his company.
Q: What do you typically tell people when they ask you what you do?
A: Right now, I guess it depends on who the audience is… somewhere in-between unemployment and running a company. Basically, I left my full time job two months ago and started my own LLC and I’m trying to start a tech software company of some sort. What I’m primarily working on right now is Notably.
Q: Why did you come to be an entrepreneur?
A: I’ve sort of always had an entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve just always liked creating things. I worked in management consulting for three and a half years before starting my own company and it was really fun because I got to work with really smart people and find solutions to hard problems. But, on the other hand, you’re limited in what you can do. So if you think there’s an area that you want to explore, it’s not up to you. It’s up to your client. With starting your own company, there are pros and cons. Of course, the pros outweigh the cons. Because no manager is telling you what tasks you need to check off your lists. You’re the one that creates that list. You’re also the one that makes sure you stick to it.
A: Looking back, what’s one thing you wish you understood about entrepreneurship before you ever got started?
Q: The idea that being a solo founder is extremely difficult. To the point where it might actually be impossible. And, that’s where I am right now. I’m looking for a co-founder. But I haven’t found the right match yet. I mean, this is kind of like a marriage. This is a person that you spend all day, every day with. [laughs] – so having the right founding team is extremely important to the success of a start up. It’s probably the most important thing. Much more important than what you’re actually working on. Because ideas change but people, at least the founding people, don’t tend to change that much. So that’s something that I wish I had appreciated more.
A: Where did the idea for NOTABLY come from?
Q: I’m a few years out of college. And, a lot of my friends, they’re moving across the country, they’re switching jobs often, and it’s really hard to keep up on a regular basis. It’s hard to keep track of where they are, what they’re doing, where they are in their life. You know. Major events. And with something like Facebook – it’s the least common denominator in the sense that, that’s what I’m connected to most people through—but it’s not very good at keeping you updated on major life events. So, that where Notably came in. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything really important that was going on in my friend’s lives. And that’s what it does.
Q: Tell me about the resources required to start up NOTABLY?
A: It’s a pretty simple company. It’s a pretty simple product. But I didn’t have all the technical skills when I started six months ago. I took a sabbatical from work at the time and I learned a lot more about the technical aspect of it. But it’s really just a simple app. One guy with moderate program ability just working on a laptop. There’s not a lot of magic in the background. It obviously doesn’t require a lot of finance. I’m paying everything out of my own pocket. I don’t have a team. It’s just me right now.
Q: What’s the strangest thing you’ve done, as an entrepreneur?
A: When you’re the only person working at a start up, you are the entire sales team. So, you are always selling. You are selling to your friends, to your family; you’re selling to random people at a cocktail party. And that’s something that I don’t necessarily enjoy that much –the actual selling part. And that’s something that’s always been strange. Always trying to think, like, ‘Hey, would this person be interested in Notably? I should get them to sign up!’
Q: When did you start Notably? How old is it?
A: It went public in the first of March. I left my job in the middle of January.
Q: Who is your typical audience?
A: I think people who get the most out of Notably, would be two different targets. One would be people with very dynamic networks, generally younger people—people who have friends that are moving a lot or getting jobs. So, I fall into that category. The other category would be people like my mom, who don’t really go on Facebook that often and miss out on a lot of events. So, it’s built in a way that it can appeal to a wide variety of Facebook users.
Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t doing Notably?
A: That’s an interesting question… running another company?