A Raw and Vulnerable Moment: The Hugalopes Story
Jazz Tigan, the creator of Hugalopes (a "fuzzy Mr. Potato Head" plush toy) and I sat down to discuss entrepreneurism, knowledge sharing, hyper efficiency on a computer, the Socialize acquisition and many other topics in this wide ranging chat.
But the most incredible moment of our talk happened in the last 10 minutes.
In fact, it's so significant that I created a separate sub-video below to capture this moment.
Here's the back-story:
Two years ago, Jazz had the idea of Hugalopes. Last year, he launched a successful kickstarter campaign and signed a deal with a toy manufacturer to produce the toys. The Hugalope I had on my head in this interview was one of the first in production from the Kickstarter campaign.
However, as is often (always?) the case in entrepreneurism, things haven't been 100% smooth sailing for Jazz. Things are really hard for his startup right now. We talk about what the process is like of actually creating value, of creating something from nothing, and how incredibly difficult that is. In the last 10 minutes of the video, I make a bet with Jazz for $20 to encourage him to take the optimal next step in his journey. It's a poignant moment -- and I really appreciate Jazz being willing to let me capture it on camera. If you've ever thought "hey, I have an idea" and wanted to turn it into reality, I encourage you to watch the clip below.
I pushed Jazz really hard in the video to prioritize the most important thing in his business right now. At minute 2:45 in the video below, I challenge Jazz by asking him if he's doing that most important thing now. And we end up having a really, really honest and productive conversation around it. This is raw entrepreneurism at its most vulnerable.
I know Jazz can do this -- he's so passionate about his product, and even though it's hard right now, it's often hardest right before a big breakthrough. Keep believing in the Hugalopes, Jazz. They're awesome.
Here are the last 10 minutes of our talk:
Here's our full, wide ranging discussion on being an entrepreneur:
Here are a few Hugalopes pictures -- click here for a full gallery:
