The primary purpose of this blog is to record for prosperity the experience of starting my first company. I’m a forgetful and nostalgic person. I expect to search this blog constantly for my own advice, for quotes of inspiration, and for links to useful resources. Also, many years from now, I expect to read these posts and laugh at how much and how little has changed.

The secondary purpose of this blog is to inform and connect other early stage entrepreneurs in Indianapolis, IN. There are no shortage of people telling me that Indiana is not the place to start an emerging technology/ low-cost internet company. There is little to no capital here for pre-revenue companies and similarly, its harder to find developers and other professionals desiring to work for a startup.

This is all true and I’ll be the first to admit there are better environments for me to start Pocket Tales (Paul Graham has a great essay on why an entrepreneur should live in a startup hub), but I’m already here. I have a network here and I have some momentum. If that proves valueless or if there’s a better opportunity in New York, or San Francisco, or Boston, I’ll take the company there (and I’ll have to think up a new blog title).

Until that happens, I’m going to do my best to connect with the other entrepreneurs like me in Indiana. Hopefully this blog will help them, and in return, hopefully they’ll help me. I’ll be as candid as possible about what I’m experiencing and learning so hopefully future Indiana entrepreneurs can learn from my experience. I know I’ve already learned plenty from the experiences of entrepreneurs I’ve talked to.

On a final note, If you haven’t figured it out for yourself already, the title Man Indy Arena is a play off of President Teddy Roosevelt’s inspiring speech nicknamed “The Man In the Arena.”

I haven’t succeeded yet, so anything I write should be read with that in mind.

Let the first round bell ring.