1. What is Tatango?
   Tatango in the most simple of terms allows any group the ability to send out a group text or voice message to all their members at the same time, for free.
2. Why should we/I care about Tatango?
   Tatango is currently changing the way groups communicate with their members. It used to be that back in the day, groups would use phone trees, then it evolved into emails and now Tatango is taking group communications to a whole new level by pushing these group messages to the mobile phone. This is a huge shift in group communications and I’m excited to be part of the team here at Tatango that is going to make this happen.
3. Where did the name Tatango come from?
   We actually changed the name of the company almost a year in; it used to be called networkText. That name we found out was really a ball and chain for the company, as it locked us into doing just text messaging, hence the word “text” in it. Once we realized this, we locked all our employees in a room for a few hours and just came up with random names, which would allow us to freely move in any direction that we saw fit. We actually didn’t come up with a name during that time, it came from one of our employees, Andrew Dumont (VP of Marketing) who went out afterwards to dinner with his parents and came back with the name Tatango. I was so frustrated at coming up with names, I made sure the domain was available and we went forward.
4. When will I be able to video message people with Tatango?
   Right now we have the ability to send video to most phones, but that’s only one piece of the equation. The second piece is that users on the receiving end have to want to receive video messages. With the rates charged by the carriers for MMS, it isn’t going to be happening anytime soon. Sorry.
5. How do you feel about NDA’s?
   There are certain instances where an NDA is a good precaution, but from what I see, young entrepreneurs overuse them. My two cents: businesses are built on a good product, vision, leadership, planning, passion and execution. The only one of these things that an NDA protects is a good product. When an entrepreneur wants me to sign an NDA, it usually only means that they have a good product, and are afraid that they won’t be able to execute the other aspects. They feel if they loose the idea for the product, they will have nothing left in their business.
6. What was your biggest mistake, and how can it be avoided?
   I have a background in business, not technology. When I started the company, I thought I could outsource the technology side, but what I should have done from day one is brought on a partner that had a technology background. I see this all the time from other entrepreneurs, they try and outsource the technology from the beginning and realize after it was a mistake.
7. If you could go back in a time to when you were just starting Tatango, what business related advice would you give yourself?
   Don’t Re-Invent The Wheel – No matter what problem you are experiencing or challenge you have in front of you, you aren’t the first person to ever go through it. Seek out advice or guidance from someone that has gone through the same thing you are going through, this will save you from making a lot of costly mistakes in the future.
8. Has anything negative come out of Tatango.tv?
   The only negative thing that came out of Tatango.TV for me personally is that because I’m being filmed all day long when I’m at work, I sometimes forget that I’m not being filmed when not at work. I woke up this morning and before I opened my eyes, I thought to myself, shit, do I have a camera in my bedroom? Overall though it’s been a very positive experience and allowed us to connect with people on a more personal level.
9. Have you had a stalker from Tatango.tv yet?  You also give out your phone number on Tatango.com has anything bad come from that yet?
   I call those stalkers my mom; I swear she watches Tatango.TV more than anyone. That’s correct, my personal cell phone number is 206.334.4012 and I encourage people if they need anything to call me. I get a lot of phone calls from people just seeing if it is a real number, but for the majority of the time, people respect my privacy.
10. What’s your favorite kind of beer?
    I’m more of Vodka and Red Bull type of guy. Being the CEO of an Internet startup, requires long hours and very little sleep. If I go out at night, and I’m not drinking some type of energy drink, I will fall asleep.
11. PS3 or xBox 360 or Wii and why.
    When I was growing up, I was always working, never had time to play video games. Recently though we were given a Wii from one of our sponsors and I have actually been spending a little bit of time playing tennis. Pretty fun!
12. Why did you drop out of college?
    I was never a big fan of college; I was there more for the girls and parties (in that order). I have always found school extremely boring and restrictive in terms of allowing me to think outside the box, which is what I do best. I was always just waiting for a good idea to come to mind, which would give me an excuse to leave college. The idea for Tatango came to me in my junior year at college; it took me no less than an hour to decide I was dropping out.
13. Do you plan on going back to college?
    From my last answer, I’ll let you come to your own conclusion…hahaha

When did you start ideablob.com, and why?
For the past few years I’ve attended the Kinnernet Conference in Northern Israel. It’s where about 200 internet geeks (like me) come together, live in hostels and talk about the future of the internet. One night in 2007, I had the opportunity to watch a computer animation created by a young Israeli artist. It was beautiful. I thought to myself, this young artist could take off with a little bit of capital and a network of supporters. That was the beginning of ideablob. About six months later we launched ideablob at DEMO in the Fall of 2007. We thought we had something pretty interesting and were ecstatic when it won DEMO’s People’s Choice Award. Fifteen months later there are over 125,000 entrepreneurs sharing and supporting ideas on ideablob. Of course, we also provide a $10,000 grant to help one idea get off the ground each month.

What’s the main goal of ideablob.com?
We have one goal at ideablob – to help entrepreneurs realize their aspirations and we work really hard around the clock to achieve it.

What is your vision for ideablob.com?
A lot of websites strive to the best at this or that. Our job is not to create the #1 website for entrepreneurs. We wouldn’t run away from that title, but we measure success in how many people are able to grow their ideas through the ideablob experience. It’s happening every minute on ideablob right now and we want it to continue to happen more and more each day.

Is there some commonality between the monthly winners of your “best small business idea”? If so what?
Absolutely. They are all smart, web-savvy, passionate about their ideas and work their butts off as entrepreneurs. You have to have passion and an ability to work hard or you won’t make it as an entrepreneur. We think the ideablob contest is a pretty good testing ground not only of an idea, but of a person’s entrepreneurial abilities.

How do you feel about NDA’s?
NDA’s might work and be appropriate for some entrepreneurs.  I’ve personally never signed one in years to protect and entrepreneur pitchign an idea, and I don’t know anybody who has.  Many entrepreneurs choose to pitch their ideas on ideablob, in exchange for the feedback, advise, and networking.  I believe that the trade off is well worth it, but ultiamtely it’s their choice.

What are your plans for bloblive.com?
We’ve held eight bloblives throughout the country in the last three months and we’re planning at least a couple dozen more in the next three.  Initially, we are excited to focus in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The bloblives average about 75 people and are filled with entrepreneurial energy. We also livestream each event over the internet for people to watch and participate live via twitter. Entrepreneurs are making connections, working together and improving their ideas. Again, it was just an idea, but it’s been an awesome resource for entrepreneurs and we’re looking forward to seeing where it goes.

What was your biggest mistake, and how can it be avoided?
Every time I think and act in more then a baby step, I regret it later.  If I keep the scrappy entrepreneur in me for all the steps that we take, 9 out of 10 times it works.

If you could go back in a time to when you were just starting ideablob.com, what business related advice would you give yourself?
Keep it simple.  Dont strive for perfection out the door.  And constantly be open to change and evolution.

How do you see the global credit crunch affecting your business?
Some of the world’s strongest companies today were built during history’s most difficult economic times.  You have to keep your head up and stick to your convictions.

What are your plans for the future?
We wake up every morning, and go to sleep dreaming about how to help entrepreneurs.  If we stick to our passion, I am confident that we will do well.

I want to extend a special thank you to Ami for taking the time out of his busy schedule to do this interview! Thank Ami. Make sure to check out ideablob.com for more info!

Note: I did not receive any form/type of compensation for writing this blog post.