The bus takes a break during this show, as Mike dishes out a little love in a “Look Who Gets It” segment. Some great listener emails and a sprinkling of StartupLounge humor round out another great show. Enjoy!

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes and Interview Questions:

As usual, we had lots of related follow-up questions and side discussions, but here is a good sampling of the questions we asked on the show:

• Give us your 30-second elevator pitch for MFG.com
• Tell us about what’s happened with MFG.com since our last podcast.
• You’ve had a chance to work with Jeff Bezos (or at least his people) for over a year. How has having him specifically as an investor helped MFG.com?
• How big a deal is being the regional winner of E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year and a national finalist to you personally and to the company?
• Talk about the process of earning that honor.
• What are the things you like least about being where you are now?
• Are there any side projects you’re working on other the the company? (breaking news!)
• How big a challenge is the current economy for MFG.com and what are some things you are doing to react to those challenges?
• What were the key challenges that growth posed and how have you addressed them?
• You were a relatively late life-stage entrepreneur – what were some of the challenges you had to face by starting MFG when you did as opposed to when you were 20?
• How did you prepare for entrepreneurship at that stage?
• What do you think about the Atlanta early stage investment climate today? Has it changed since we last spoke?
• Do you think it would have been easier/harder to raise money for a company like MFG.com now?
• What trends in manufacturing are impacting MFG?
• Are there companies in Atlanta that you see that are ones we should keep an eye on?
• What does MFG look like in 5 years?

Guest Bio:

Mitch Free is the founder and CEO of MFG.com, an online global operating platform for the manufacturing industry. Prior to founding MFG.com, Mitch was founder and CEO of 3DATUM, a provider of technology solutions for the manufacturing and engineering communities. Mitch, an Atlanta-native, began his career on the shop floor and has worked his way to the top of the manufacturing industry. He holds two patents and is recognized among his peers for his strategic vision, domain expertise and creative management style. Mitch belongs to the Atlanta Technology Angels, a private group that actively seeks investments in early stage technology companies based in Atlanta. Inc. Magazine named him an “Entrepreneur of the Year” finalist in 2005, and under his leadership MFG.com was ranked by Deloitte and Touche as one of the top technology growth companies in the U.S., and in the top 10 technology growth companies in Georgia. He was recently named by Ernst and Young as Entrepreneur of the Year for 2008 (Georgia/Alabama/Tennessee region).

Miscellany:

Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Links referenced within this episode:

• MFG.com
• Pramana
• Sentrinsic
• Zeewise
• Quickparts
• Total Technology Ventures
• Value Plus Ventures

Podsafe music used within this episode:

• Neolith by Kevin MacLeod
• Unhackable by Bob Ricci
• All the Money in the World by Hutch

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long (actually, it is largely driven by the guests and their responses.) While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

A special thanks to Mitch and Heather for coming in and hanging out with us!

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

Enjoy!

As an added bonus, hear Mitch’s view on where the Atlanta early-stage venture market is, what it is like to work with Jeff Bezos and the Samwer brothers, and what is next for MFG.com. We also discuss the subject of several outside venture funds taking a closer look at the Atlanta market.

Sponsors for this episode:
Be sure to click the logos below and visit our sponsors!

Shownotes:

How hard is it to move from a free service to a subscription/fee-based model? How did the business recover from it? How does SEO fit into globalization? What advice does Mitch have for early-stage entrepreneurs who are beginning to think about going global? What are the challenges to doing business in a place like China?

Soundbytes:

I don’t think that you can run a marketplace or a community serving a particular industry if you don’t know how to walk the talk and have the credibility in that industry.

I realized that I was going to have to bootstrap the business. So we focused really hard on delivering value that customers would pay for. We’d sell a subscription to the service and we’d buy a chair. We’d sell another subscription and buy a stapler. So we bootstrapped it along the way, and looking back, it was a fabulous way to do it. I’m glad it happened that way. Oh, it was hard – really hard. But it made us grow in lockstep with the market.

Don’t worry about globalization until you have a business worth globalizing. Focus on getting the business right at home before you try to take it abroad. There are a lot of things to work out in terms of revenue model, systems, scalability. When you do decide to go global, I think you have to decide which markets they are going to be, and why you want to enter them, and how you are going to enter them. It is also important to spend some time on the ground in those markets.

Switching from a free service to a pay service was the right thing to do because it meant revenue.

Hi, I’m here to see Jeff Bezos.

Let your people know that they’re loved. The most important thing in any business is loving your customers, and that starts by loving your employees.

[A bootstrapper's spouse] is immensely important because they have to buy into the fact that there’s going to be some risk.

Of course, there is much more in the actual interview itself. Enjoy! To play it, use the tools at the top of this post – you can play it via the embedded Flash player by pressing the big play button at the top, or download it to play on your computer or MP3 player.

Links referenced within this episode:

• MFG.com
• DLA Piper
• Bezos Expeditions (no link available – c’mon, Jeff!)
• European Founders Fund, GmbH (Samwer Brothers)
• Adams Capital
• PeachPodStudios
• National Personnel Services
• SON Capital
• Technology Association of Georgia

Tune in and find out!

Our format is a little out of the norm as far as podcasts go. We treat our efforts as a true “show” rather than a super-concise (limited) vehicle for delivery of information. Therefore, the podcasts can run a bit long. While we try to have very substantive discussions, we also try to have a lot of fun along the way (and that tends to elongate the programming a wee bit.) Our theory is that if we are having fun during the show, hopefully, you will be having a little fun listening as well.

Here is the breakdown for the show, in case you want to hop around.

Mitch Free, CEO of MFG.com

We welcome your continued feedback as well! If you have an interest in appearing on the show, becoming a show sponsor (hint, hint), have some suggestions for topics, have feedback, or would just like to email us and tell us to “shove off”, we invite you to contact us.

And don’t forget – the StartupLounge.com message forums are now up and running. If you need help with any aspect of your venture, we welcome you to jump in and get the help you need!

Enjoy!