Carlos Pinto is a problem solver. When his father died, Pinto realized that he had thousands of his father’s documents, photographs, and other traces of his father’s existence that he simply didn’t want to put away unorganized.
Pinto decided the best solution would be to immortalize his father by creating a site where he could upload the events of his father’s life that were documented through photos, scanned documents, and sounds.
Now, Pinto’s startup, Lingon.de is an online destination where users can do the same. We had a chance to talk to Carlos recently, and here’s what he shared with us about Lindon.de :
How’d you come up with the name for your company?
I registered www.lingon.de in the 90s as abbreviation of “Lingua online.” Back in those days, I had the idea to offer a full flash page where people could learn Portuguese by clicking on things like photos. The voice the user heard was my father’s. Now, because of his death, I wanted to keep the domain as reminder and came up with the idea to call it as “LivING ON a timeline.”
What’s the very first thing you do at work everyday?
Ask myself a “Why….?” question – and try to find the answer.
How many people did you start the company with and how many people work for you now?
Only me from the beginning and it’s that way to this day.
Remember the early days starting up? Maybe you can share one anecdote that describe the struggle you went through?
I had the idea about four weeks ago, because of the death of my dad. My dad had roundabout 200 CD-ROMs with an average of 500 photos on each. They were the reason for the idea as I wanted to share all of them in a chronicle view with our relatives and friends. The hardest thing with this, was to be really sure about deleting it as I was afraid of deleting something that might be important for my mother or any other relative.
How do you handle frustration? When/how was the last time you dealt with frustration?
By asking myself if the challenge really is possible or if I am not just a bit unfocused – so I try a workaround to reach my target.
What’s your office environment like?
Well for this project it was the place where my dad used to work. The whole room is just like he was: he loved to collect everything but then organized his surroundings like hell. Everything has its space and place. I always said that I just need my computer to work, but here I’m often distracted. What for others might be just a simple pen, for me results in a starting question of “When did he used it the last time?”, “What did he write with it?” It’s weird because this room is filled with love that makes me mourn. In the agencies I used to work sometimes it was the opposite. The room was filled with mourning’s missing the love.
How do you picture your company in 5 years?
Having two or three people who travel around meeting celebrities to create their timelines with personal pictures, sounds, videos etc. – stuff that you won’t find in written biographies..
Who or what inspires YOU?
My dad, as I mentioned he died a month ago. It’s like giving the footsteps he left a new stage, a new path.
How’d you fund this venture?
As the domain and webspace is part of a package I pay for my other projects, I would not say that there are any costs. On the other hand, I hope that there will be hundreds and hundreds of timelines created, but at the same time I’m a bit worried, as more timelines might mean more webspace necessary which means money. I’ll figure it out as the challenge presents itself.
Got any great bootstrapping tips for the lean startups out there?
Do what you love. And to be honest, do not think about the money. Just realise the dream. Nowadays the technical solutions for online-projects are endless. Get a free webspace provide, get a free domain provider and start your project. If you see or think that it might work out, invest in webspace and traffic. Do not even think about earning money. Free your mind.
What would you be doing if you had one year off and $500,000 to spend?
Open up a shop for another idea I have!
Do you consider yourself a successful entrepreneur right now? If not, what’s it gonna take to make you feel successful?
I am, but not because of earning cash but just for knowing that i am able to realize my dreams. By knowing that I’m able to teach myself programming-skills, languages or any thing else just because I like to and because the web offers me these possibilities. Others might start with a million and disappear after a year or two. I simply just want to know for myself that I’ve done it, even if I did not earned a cent.
Website you couldn’t live without and why?
Google Reader, because it keeps me updated about what’s going on out there in real life.
Mobile App you’re in love with and why?
AirDroid, because connecting my phone to my pc has never been easier.
iOS or Android?
Android – 100% !
Number 1 country you’ve always wanted to visit but haven’t yet?
Brazil
What’s the greatest thing about your company/website/idea?
When I started to surf the web, one of the first pages entitled “weird” by the “old media” was a virtual cemetery. Mine might be something like that, but brings fun into someone’s remembrances.
Where can our readers get ahold of you?
My blog : www.cyberholic.de . And I’m also back on my sports project at www.endorphinum.de as I now more then ever aim to finish a marathon in honor of the power of my dad. Also, you can check out my timeline.
