Facebook for the Wine Enthusiast

How about Facebook for the wine enthusiast? It's here and it's known as the OpenBottles. Sagi Solomon who started OpenBottles has made social networking a part of his marketing plan.

BusinessWeek.com: Building a Facebook for Wine:

Sagi Solomon founded OpenBottles in 2005. An attorney in San Jose, Calif., Solomon hopes to make the wine review and social-networking site his only full-time job next year. He deliberately avoided outside investment, however, because he does not want his vision for the company diluted. "It's costly to get venture financing, and you do give up not only equity in the company but overall control of strategy and where you want to take the business," Solomon says.His model for growth is Craigslist: "He started it on his own with no financing, and it's grown into this really vibrant community," Solomon says.

Solomon believes that community comes even before there ever is a profit.

"You can't just wait for profits. They don't just magically show up. You have to plan for them," he says. "If taking on debt does not contribute to plan, then don't do it."

Even with a solid plan and good product, building a self-funded startup takes patience. It's not the approach for entrepreneurs looking for big returns right away. "It took four years, to 2003, to get to a sort of tipping point where I had enough customers and cash flow, my first initial employee, enough hype, and a good enough product that now, things finally started to happen," says Stajer.

Self-funded entrepreneurs also face the risk that the significant time and money they put into their businesses may never yield profits. "It takes a lot of work," says Solomon, who invested $10,000 of his own savings in OpenBottles. "You're working nights. You're working weekends. You've got to make that investment."
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photo credit: yashima

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