The Upwardly Mobile

Starting a company is no easy task; 99.9% of startups fail within their first year, and those that don’t often struggle to remain viable in the long-term. Yet all of today’s promising companies and Fortune 500 giants were once startup companies, striving to create a niche in their industry and turning some heads in the process. It’s this corporate casino—where most lose, but the winners win big—that makes following a startup so interesting. It’s also one of the reasons I’ve created the first-ever feature at the Upwardly Mobile, Startup Smartup, to give you an inside look at the trials, challenges, and tribulations of working on a startup from day one. Over the next few months, you’ll get a chance to learn from my mistakes and (hopefully) successes, and get an inside look at an exciting new Web 2.0 company. I’ll be discussing the practice of all those things I learned in my entrepreneurial leadership classes, and we’ll challenge the efficacy of some commonly-held beliefs about entrepreneurship.

There’s only one catch: I can’t tell you the idea yet. As much as I’d love to give you every last detail–and believe me, I’m excited enough to go on for hours–I’m sworn to secrecy for the next few weeks, at the very least. I can tell you that I’ll be posting early and often about this, however, and that you readers will be the first to know whenever I have any news. So join us for the ride and check back for an update soon!