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TEQ: October 2006
Tell us a little about your background and how you started LearningPoint.
I started in the advertising field in Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh. After that, I went to FedEx Ground to start their in-house agency. I then founded The Creative Group at Access Data where I diversified into e-learning by building Deloitte-Learning and hundreds of custom courses for companies like GM, Kodak and P&G. Then in 2005, The Creative Group left to start LearningPoint.
Was it scary to start your own business?
Not in the beginning. We were too naive to realize what we were up against. It got scarier as we went on.
What’s been your biggest challenge getting your company off the ground?
Funding. Our plan was to use consulting work to fund the development of Collaborate, the product we were building, but it didn’t work out. Funding was necessary so that we could focus solely on developing our product.
Any advice for those looking to hang a shingle of their own?
Line up potential capital, either through customers or funding, before starting your own business as well as having a year’s salary in the bank.
How can Pittsburgh become more business friendly for small companies?
Streamline the startup support network to get rid of redundancy and inefficiency. By doing this, twice as many startups could benefit from half of the resources.
