Posted Under: Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Our Heroes

Happy 4th of July everyone! July 4th is the Independence Day for America but we celebrate independence everyday an employee breaks the 9to5 jail and declares his/her independence. We feature those freedom fighters here as “Our Heroes” and today’s guest under that series is – Niko Pipaloff. A Management Consultant by profession, Niko recently broke the 9to5 jail after winning the StartupWeekendNYC last month (June’11) and is enjoying the cheers and challenges of his startup – Tagify.us Let’s congratulate Niko on his new found freedom and talk to him to find out more…

DD: Who are you and what kind of corporate job were you at?

NP: My name is Niko and I worked as a management consultant for the last three years.

DD: What made you leave the job? When did you realize that you wanted to be an entrepreneur & why?

NP: I have been a “wantrepreneur” for a couple of years. I have been reading articles and blogs, jotting down business ideas when inspiration hit and keeping tabs on the trends that interested me. I did as much as I could to stay informed and keep an eye out for opportunities during late nights and weekends. I finally decided to take the leap because I found an opportunity that I think has real potential and the means (financially) to pursue it.

DD: What did you do to break the corporate jail? How did you prepare for the employee to entrepreneur transition?

NP: I made sure I had funds in the bank put aside to pay for the rent and Ramen for at least 6 months. Besides that, I’m not sure what more you can really do. You hope your idea is good, you hope you will make the right decisions and partnerships but you just won’t know until you try.

DD: What is one resource that helped the most?

NP: Startup Weekend provided me with the momentum to take an idea and very quickly build a team and the beginnings of a product so I have to give that organization a lot of credit and would highly recommend the experience to anyone interested in opening a company. Winning the competition has been great but regardless of whether you win or not, it’s a great way to see how working at a Startup might feel like and meet some like-minded friends.  Also anyone interested in selling anything should read “The Four Steps to Epiphany” by Steven Blank.

DD: What do you know now that you wish if only you knew when you made the transition?

NP: I just did it so I’ll have to let you know in a few weeks.

DD: What are your suggestions for aspiring entrepreneurs?

NP: Believe in yourself, believe in the team, believe in the vision, and then do your homework and be willing and able to change.

DD: How are you doing and how do you feel now?

NP: I am excited and optimistic and ready to get to work!

DD: Believe in yourself! This is where it all starts and ends – YOU! Choice is yours do you wanna live an unhappy and unsatisfied life imprisoned in a 9to5 cubicle jail and die with regrets “what if…” or “I should have…” OR do you want to be happy and satisfied, because even if you lost, at least you tried. No regrets!

Enjoy the fireworks, the picnic, the food and festivities, BUT ask and answer yourself – Am I really independent?

Success to all!