Andrew Dumont is a technology entrepreneur and the Director of Business Development at Seesmic.
Since the beginning of Andrew’s time with Seesmic in February of 2010, he’s led efforts on the Seesmic plugin marketplace which now boasts over 70 integrations, the Seesmic.com site redesign and presence of brands like Samsung, Zappos, eBay, Ning, Red Bull, USA Today and more.
Andrew also co-founded eBook comparison engine Leatherbound, with a few close friends during Rails Rumble, a 48-hour developer competition in October of 2010 – earning coverage in TechCrunch, Wired, PC World and generating revenue from the first day.
Prior to his role at Seesmic, Andrew worked in the early stages of inception at text messaging startup Tatango as the VP of Business Development.
What are you working on right now?
These days, Seesmic has been taking the majority of my time. Fresh off a recent round of funding of 4M from Salesforce.com and Softbank Capital, we’re in the process of transitioning from a consumer app to an enterprise solution. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of work that goes along with a transition of that level. On my end, I’ve been working to build out our enterprise offering, by tying in services like Salesforce Chatter, Yammer, Ning and StockTwits, along with fleshing out our long anticipated monetization strategy.
3 trends that excite you?
Social content – After years of using sites like Facebook and Twitter, it’s exciting (and a little bit frightening) to think about all of the social content that’s readily available about us online. The idea of being able to watch ourselves grow through time is an exciting one, one that’s now possible to the very last status update.
Location – Of course, the trend around LBS is all the rage lately.
But, if you think further than just “checking in,” it’s something that has the potential of drastically changing the way we operate day to day.
The Noise – With everybody and their mother on the big social networks, it’s clear that things are becoming increasingly noisy. What this means is that the experience is going to become increasingly poor for the average user. Eventually, this may cause the fall of the big social networks and the emergence of the next big thing.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I do them. Too often, I hear people with great ideas never run with them because they’re afraid to. As an entrepreneur, you can’t be afraid to fail.
What inspires you?
I’m amazingly inspired by startups. Everyday I talk with people in startups that have dreams of changing the way we operate. It’s people like that, who change the world. Startups are the entry point for innovation.
What is one mistake you’ve made, and what did you learn from it?
As with most people, I’ve made hundreds of mistakes. The one that sticks out in my mind is balance. As a young, motivated guy it’s tough to know when to stop. A few months back, I pushed a little too hard and wound up spending some time in the ER. It’s important to find the balance between work and sanity. Knowing when to turn it off is just as important as knowing when to turn it on.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
One idea I was kicking around for awhile was a timeline of past social content that you could flip through like a yearbook. I realized that much of what goes on in my life ends up on my Facebook profile, Twitter, Flickr and others, but there’s no way for me to go back in time and see the milestones of the past.
What is one book that you recommend our community should read, and why?
My favorite book of all time is Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s one of those books that every entrepreneur or businessperson needs to read. In business, you need to make hundreds of decisions each day, many of which need to me made in split second situations. This book does a great job of providing you with the confidence to trust in the decisions you make.
What is one gadget or piece of software that helps you bring ideas to life?
I think ideas and innovation, along with much of business, is based on the people that you know. At a startup, success is almost 100% dependent on the team that’s behind the startup. Because of this, I really value the people I meet. I’ve been using a tool called Rapportive a lot lately that taps into my gmail and pulls social info on every person I exchange emails with. Now, it’s that much easier to follow the people that matter to me, and foster better relationships.
Who would you love to see interviewed on IdeaMensch?
I’d love to see hear an interview with the founder of Virgin, Richard Branson. He’s one of those eccentric CEOs that you’d love to spend a day in his mind to figure out what the hell he has planned next…
What’s the key to becoming successful in your professional life?
It seems so simple, but the key to becoming successful in business is doing something that you’re passionate about. If you don’t, you’re just wasting your time.
What’s your most prized possession(s)?
All of my many mac products.
Connect:
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Twitter: @AndrewDumont
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Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.