“If it feels right, do it; if it doesn’t, don’t” – Zack Oates.
GiveEmThis.com is a personalized gift engine that analyzes your friends’ social media to recommend gifts! It is the creation of Imply Labs and is free to use. Basically, it changes Facebook and Twitter data into gift ideas from Amazon.com
Do you think the education you’ve invested in helped you on the road to success?
I am the founder of Imply Labs and inventor of GiveEmThis.com. I received a BA in Advertising from Brigham Young University and it has been a huge help! While in school, we were able to learn from working on real projects and worked with go-to-market strategies. As a startup, there is ONLY go-to-market strategies! It has been a huge help.
What was the “break point” or an AHA moment in your career that made you decide to start what you’re currently doing & how did you come up with that Idea?
I was helping a friend start his company and there were a lot of things that really bothered me about it. It was not something that consumers really needed. After looking into the space of social media more, I realized, through much research, that people were having a hard time organizing all of their social media AND wanted help finding gift ideas. I thought of combining the two and developed GiveEmThis.com.
As a young professional, what were some of the mistakes that you made and what did you learn?
One mistake I made was waiting to bring on the right people. If you can find people who are innovative, good communicators and dependable, then get them involved in a vesting schedule! I waited too long to do that and could have been further along. Now when I see talent, I keep talent!
What is one accomplishment that you are extremely proud of?
The day after we launched we were featured in Mashable! It was a PR move that I had been working on for 8 months and it was incredible to actually see us on the front page of Mashable! It was so cool and it was then that I realized that if we keep doing the right thing, we are on a winning path!
What advice can you offer to your readers?
Follow your soul. As an entrepreneur, you cannot always afford to make fully knowledgeable decisions. You need to act based on the information that you have, and since it is often so lacking, you need to trust your instinct. Mitigate with as much research and advice from others as possible, but in the end, you are the one to act. If it feels right, do it; if it doesn’t, don’t. Very simple…but then again, isn’t everything important? So follow your soul–mine hasn’t led me astray yet!
What do you do for fun & where do you get your Inspiration from?
My favorite place to be when I’m not at work is in the hot tub or sauna with friends! I am president of the unofficial “Hot Tub Club” and we have a blast trying out hot tubs and sneaking into different apartment complexes to find new ones! When I’m not at work and NOT in bodies of hot water, you can be sure to find me throwing parties or writing on my dating blog, EasterCloset.com
What is your favorite gadget(s), software(s), website(s) that makes your life easier and more productive?
For sure, GiveEmThis.com! But I also really love the android app called GTasks. Keeps me up to speed on all my thousands of ToDo’s and syncs them with my gmail. I also use words with friends to help me stay sane, hence more productive.
Who would you like to see featured here and why?
Courage to Hope, because they are support victims of domestic violence in Ukraine and they are much needed! I can get you in contact with them (heck, I started the organization and still run it!) I would also like to see John Bradshaw of Silicone Slopes features. He has done some amazing things for the tech world.
Ways to Connect with Zack:
@zoates
http://ping.fm/zPPdy
www.EasterCloset.com
www.ImplyLabs.com
www.GiveEmThis.com
From: http://ping.fm/M5xf5
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