My Client, Taltopia, Raises $800,000

Well this is pretty exciting stuff for me. My job mainly entails creating websites and software for people who plan to make a living from it. Some think they can just put up a website and expect sales to come flooding in. That's not how it works.

Allen Vartazarian and Anthony Zanontian, the Taltopia guys (formerly known as Famesource) came to me in October of 2006 with a brilliant idea: A website focused on letting talented people show what they can do and letting others vote. It's "America's Got Talent" meets YouTube meets Digg. I loved the idea from the beginning.

We signed the contract October 19, 2006 and started our long road ahead. After many sleepless nights and even a week-long hospital visit days before our planned launch, the website was finally live March of 2007.

However, that was only the beginning. We added new features, changed many things, and got a lot of bugs worked out. Starbucks (specifically, the one in Downtown Burbank) became our new home, since that was where we would meet to do most of our work together.

It was an uphill battle, but it has finally paid off. Last week, Taltopia closed on their Series A funding of $800,000. It's a great start and, knowing how very frugal Allen and Anthony are, they will make that money go very far for their users.

Congratulations guys. It's one thing to get paid for doing work. It's a whole different story when that work provides the foundation for a successful business. Here's to many more years of fame! (Now... where's that Ruth's Chris dinner I was promised?)