When I launched CyberSynchs in 2008, my vision was to construct a company that would defy the depressed economy and provides a sorely-needed service. What I didn’t anticipate is that, for the first year, I could run the entire business from my iPhone.
Running out of My Pocket
Running CyberSynchs out of my pocket happened pretty naturally. As any entrepreneur knows, once you get the wheels moving on a new company, life starts moving pretty fast. Staff gets hired, ideas are developed into products and essentially the days start getting blurry as things develop.
What We Did
My company develops a patented universal data synchronization platform. Simply put, we help consumers wirelessly back up and manage their contacts, email, calendars, photos, ringtones, and other files to a central location. Users then go online to manage their data. Throughout our development period, I was told by friends and business associates to purchase a Mac Pro and run the business off of it. It was, as several folks told me “essential.” At the time, however, CyberSynchs was a virtual company. We had no office, just a team of developers, a few executives, and all working virtually and holding meetings at the local coffee shop.
Lots of Meetings
Developing the platform involved a lot of leg work. I was running around Manhattan for meetings, visits with developers, and dealing with the controlled chaos of starting a business. In retrospect, anchoring myself down to an office would have delayed our success, given the need for me to be both everywhere and available to work.
The “Ah-Ha” moment arrived one Friday afternoon when I realized that I had completed a week’s worth of tasks, merely by using the smartphone that I stuff in my pocket every morning. Spreadsheets were read, Contracts with partners were reviewed and approved, and letters were written and edited right out of my hand. The Mac Pro could wait.
Travel Anywhere – No Chains
Unlike many entrepreneurs, I wasn’t tethered to an expensive New York office. I could travel where and when I needed; review documents on the uptown subway, or take a reporter call from a downtown coffee shop. I was simultaneously free and at work, wherever I went.
This realization – that the business could be successfully run from my jacket pocket – gave rise to other insights into what we didn’t need at the time. Phone systems, desk rentals, and VPNs could wait until the time was right.
Virtual Office Work
The highlight of our virtual office period was when CyberSynchs was chosen as a Sun Microsystems partner. While invited, by Sun to attend the prestigious JavaOne Expo in San Francisco, I was able to review and mark up a new global partnership contract and submit a final version to my attorney, all from the expo floor via my smartphone.
When CyberSynchs received Series A funding from Momos Capital, the entire deal was orchestrated – on my end – from my jacket pocket. Everything from conference calls to agreements was handled via smartphone.
Now, Based in an Office
Today, CyberSynchs is finally based in an office. Our first round of funding helped transform us from virtual to a brick-and-mortar company located in New York’s Flatiron District. Our partnership with Sun Microsystems matured into an agreement by which CyberSynchs is now included in Sun’s JavaFX technology, meaning we’ll be pre-loaded on over 850 million PCs throughout the world and can also be acquired at Store.Java.com. A separate agreement with Samsung has been executed and details are to be announced shortly. We’ve come a long way in a twelve-month period and we’re proud.
I’m spending more time in our new offices these days – with a computer at my desk. The days of running a business out of my pocket are fading fast as our staff builds up and our offerings expand. These days, I’m building the next great technology that enables me to optimize my time and efforts. Within the first year of business, we have taken CyberSynchs from a small start-up to partnering with global brands to integrate our solutions into billions of devices worldwide.
Amos Winbush is an under-thirty CEO of CyberSynchs.
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