When visitors come to Mzinga offices today, they see a building complex with purple and green painted walls, various conference rooms named after board games, and sections of cubicles within what we playfully call, “The Hive.”

With about 200 employees today, it's hard to imagine what this company was like exactly seven years ago. On a Monday morning, very much like the one today, I sat in a Cambridge, MA basement and founded Rapid Insights, the predecessor company to Mzinga. It was a startup based on three simple ideas:

People want to share what they know and who they know with others

People will increasingly turn to their peers for insights and advice (market research, financial advice, travel, etc)

Emerging technologies will substantially reduce the cost of gaining access to the valuable advice and insight that brilliant minds have to offer

Today, I celebrate these ideas and I celebrate the success of Mzinga, a company that I have proudly invested in since July 28, 2001. Even more, I celebrate my visions turning into reality. Today, more and more people are relying on each other for help, support, advice, and collaboration through the use of community-based technologies. Mzinga, as a provider of such technologies and strategies, continues to grow with rapid momentum as these technology trends become more pervasive.

For seven years I encountered skeptics who believed my vision would never be a reality and despite hearing doubt and several “No’s” along the way, I’m proud to say that this company and the concept of community is stronger, better, and more valuable than ever.

Lessons Along the Way...

There are countless other dreamers and doers out there like myself, but for struggling entrepreneurs, I have the following advice to give:

Build your business around your core beliefs. Every company needs a solid foundation that rests upon principles and values.For me, I always believed the following: People are essentially good and want to help others when given the chance. Give them the tools to do so and the world will be a better place. This one simple concept has stayed with me all these years and is the driving reason behind why I continue to believe in Mzinga and this entire industry as a whole. Conversations can and will change the world.

Invest in what you know. It’s hard to dive head first into a venture without previous knowledge about what you’re doing. In my case, I had experience in business intelligence and traditional management consulting. I simply modified what I knew and shifted the focus into something exciting and different – network based businesses and consulting at a peer to peer level.

Never, ever give up. I braved a storm of naysayers in my career and luckily, I never let them sway my decision making. Given that this was my third start up, I became accustomed to hearing why my business model was not grounded in reality. So many skeptics along the way couldn't fathom how or why no business people or companies would participate and share my vision of community. However, we have all the proof we need today to argue otherwise.

Many Thanks...

Out of the three lessons, the last was my hardest to learn. It's not easy being told something isn't going to work out time and time again, especially when "No" is coming from venture capitalists, common angels, private equity investors, and even potential clients. Lucky for me, I did have some help along the way, all of which I owe my sincerest thanks. Amidst all of the "No's", I heard one big "Yes" and that came from a good friend, a local hedge fund manager. This support coupled with that of my wife, Ellen, allowed me to pursue my dream of building the leading on-line community company. In addition, my two sons, who from the very start, were active users of emerging on- line technologies, encouraged me to keep going, reminding me that the journey was more important than the outcome.

For all of those that believed – my friend, my wife and my two sons, I can only say thank you.

Finally, I want to thank all those that surround me today, seven years into this long and exciting journey. Thank you to my friends and family, board members and investors, clients and prospects, peers and employees, all of whom encourage me to keep going and growing. Together, "WE" are going to change the world! Thank you, thank you, thank you.