The Mentor Network Founder Feature — FestPop
Today we are rolling out our final Founder Feature of the Series (for 2018), where we chat with the founders of the 6th Cohort of The Mentor Network to learn more about them as individuals, as well as their entrepreneurial journeys. We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know our founders a bit better! They have great wisdom and experience to share with the rest of the community and could likely use your help as well!
Today, we would like to introduce you to Moe Hamid, Co-Founder and CTO of FestPop. Moe describes FestPop as Rolling Stones magazine meets Kayak. We provide a one-stop website for music festival lovers to get high-quality reviews of music festivals by writers who actually attend the festivals, in addition to very competitive travel booking to these festivals.
Besides being accepted into Cohort 6 of The Mentor Network, Moe is an official member of the Forbes Technology Council and CEO of another startup as well. As if that weren’t enough, Moe holds a Bachelor Degree in Medicine & Surgery, Bachelor Degree in Information Technology and a Masters in Software Engineering!
What did you do before you were the Founder of your startup?
I was a Senior Software Engineer and CEO for another startup.
Why this startup? A.k.a. what is your ‘why’?
We were trying to check out music festivals, as music is a passion of ours, and we ended up going to more than 8–10 websites to get the info and to book the trip. Needless to say, most of the festivals’ info, besides the info from the festivals’ websites, was subpar and didn’t touch on our questions. This was very frustrating to us. We decided that in this day and age, things can be, and should be, much easier for music festival lovers, without sacrificing the quality of the info. We are the living proof of what happens when passions for music festivals and technology intersect.
Festopop.com has the highest grade reviews for music festivals. Our writers actually attend these festivals. Our trip booking prices are extremely competitive to other websites too. We are in the process of adding 2019 festivals to our system. We always welcome new writers. Contact us at press@festpop.com if you are interested. We provide press passes.
What was your first milestone/win that let you know you were on the right track to building this business?
Building the website, getting accepted to the partnership program with Priceline, getting accepted into The Mentor Network at Sprint Accelerator, and getting accepted to Forbes Technology Council.
Why did The Mentor Network stand out to you as a positive program to be involved with?
I read the reviews about The Mentor Network and they were very encouraging. I also liked the idea of being matched to a mentor. My mentors have been a great addition and helped me make the right decisions. Their council was on point when I needed it.
What have your big wins been so far within The Mentor Network?
Learning about DiSC Work of Leaders at Sprint Accelerator was an eye-opener. Ari knows exactly how to teach these principles to the founders. Furthermore, I got introduced to a few people who I am sure will help us along our journey to success.
How do you maintain sanity in this crazy, insane startup world?
We are big on Lean/Agile. I use a kanban board with the team to help organize everyone’s tasks. I have a solid team working with me. We make the decisions collectively and we are open with each other. Team meetings are a safe space for everyone to present their point-of-view.
As for hobbies, I play guitar, video games with friends, and of course, I spend as much time as I can with the family. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough “slack” in my schedule these days for the first two, but it is a small price to pay for success.
KC has so many resources and people to help entrepreneurs. What are we still missing? What gaps do you think we need to fill?
The Kauffman Foundation is big on resources for entrepreneurs and startups. I wish there was a bit more “linkage” between the two, like getting a guest from the Kauffman Foundation to speak for 30 mins.
Regarding the KC startup ecosystem, what has been your favorite service/resource that you would like to share with other founders to take advantage of?
Again, the Kauffman Foundation. They are very helpful, have many resources, and very friendly.
If you could go back to the day you started this journey and give yourself one piece of advice what would it be?
I would tell myself to start earlier, not to be afraid of failure, and to trust my instincts and intuitions a bit more.
You can connect with FestPop via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram!
Originally published at Sprint Accelerator.
