To dream the Impossible dream...
I can't believe it's been nearly a whole year since I last blogged anything meaningful about my plans to start a mobile network!
I had planned to be transparent about the process and have written several blog posts since but haven't been able to publish them due to NDAs and not wanting to "rock the boat" with existing and potential suppliers, many of whom were being very cooperative in helping us get off the ground.
So having not published much it's quite disheartening that what I can publish is the post talking about how it's all gone terribly terribly wrong!
So where was I a year ago? Looking at how little I have now it's hard to believe that I had almost everything in place to start a mobile network! All the suppliers had lined up and delivered much of what was needed and pending a few minor but mission critical tweaks we were looking good for a late summer launch.
But these minor issues we needed resolving became major issues for other people and their lack of progress left me looking at ditching our existing partner and seeking alternative routes to market (which is to say another host network to launch on). I spoke to several networks as well as MVNEs who work with networks but reading between the lines the message was this: innovation isn't welcome here.
If I wanted to I could launch a new MVNO in less than a month but it would be nothing more than an "airtime reseller" (one network actually uses this term to describe MVNOs).
My apologies for being so vague but I would still like to launch this one day - it will always be something I chase after but for the time being the industry isn't ready to support it and I no longer have the funds required to make it happen.
My closest friend told me over Christmas that she thinks I've stopped caring about the things I used to care about and I think she might be right. I've been working for my own companies for the better part of the last decade and while there have been some successes as well as failures the past six months have left me emotionally and financially drained and, if I'm being totally honest, I'm tired of hearing bad news* - I think it's time I took a job somewhere innovating for other people.
In short, I think it's time to look through my book of contacts and find some work. I've built a ton of technology for Impossible Telecom so I may spin some of that off as stand-alone products but I think it would be as more of a small lifestyle business than trying to build the next Vodafone.
* - I wrote down a quote from a video interview with Marc Andreessen about doing startups which ends with: "...you're gonna feel alone and isolated and you're gonna get lots of bad news"; he's right, but remember the saying: "if your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough".