Do More Faster: TechStars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup

Chapter 2. Start With Your Passion

Kevin Mann

Kevin is the founder and CTO of Graphic.ly, a social digital distribution platform for comic book publishers and fans. Graphic.ly raised $1.2 million from DFJ Mercury, Starz Media, Chris Sacca, and others after completing TechStars in 2009. Kevin also recruited Micah Baldwin, a TechStars mentor, to join Graphic.ly as CEO in the fall of 2009.

I am a huge comic book fan and I started my company because of my own frustration and disappointment.

A few years ago, I read about the release of a new "Dead@17" story and I was excited to find that for once my local comics bookstore actually had it. I bought the first three issues and loved them. I couldn't wait to pick up the fourth and final one.

On the day of the release of that fourth issue, I ran to the comics bookstore. I looked at the new release shelf only to find that it wasn't there. I asked the store owner about it. I was told that because of budget cuts he had to stop buying a bunch of titles and this was one of them. However, he said his sister store in Newcastle had it.

Newcastle was a 100-mile round trip and at the time I didn't drive, so I knew the journey was going to suck. I headed off to the train station and I took my iPod along to make the journey bearable. A couple of hours later I arrived at the Newcastle comic store only to discover that the fourth issue of Dead@17 was sold out ...