Many entrepreneurs not only bootstrap young companies; they rely on friends and family to supply manpower as well. Bellevue, WA-based Eggsprout is a good example of this. The company began last year as a site that enables and manages customizable networking (such as for conferences and alumni associations), but it has grown to encompass other endeavors such as the newly-launched Ripplely to help jobseekers better utilize personal networks on Facebook, and Price Yeti to track the best retail deals. As part of our continuing series of interviews with VCs, entrepreneurs, marketers and other influential businesspeople, VOXUS asked Eggsprout co-founder Brian Ma to discuss the startup and the benefits/pitfalls of being in business with family and close friends.

1) We understand that you started Eggsprout with your brother, and while they aren't related to you, your other two partners are siblings as well. What are the pros and cons for going into business with such a close-knit group? How do you manage to keep personal boundaries?

Haha, I didn't plan for it to go this way. I was just looking for really bright, really motivated, and just awesome people in general to start our business with. In hindsight, I'm actually glad it turned out this way. Working with siblings adds an interesting dynamic. It actually makes our discussions very productive because we can cut through all the "don't hurt feelings" crap and get straight to the point. If you're wrong, people will tell you and that's how I think a startup needs to operate. I've been told I'm wrong so many times I can't even keep count. And I really appreciate that kind of brutal, yet honest feedback. The cons? Same thing. When you have four really bright people arguing about the future of a product, some discussions can get really heated. I feel really blessed being able to work with these guys though, because at the end of the day, it's just business. Our secret to resolving these conflicts: we end every meeting with a game of super smash bros brawl. The winner is right and the loser is wrong. :)

2) Eggsprout faces some stiff competition in the professional networking site market. You've said that your long term goal is to grow the company; what are your primary targets? You've started to carve a niche in the job postings arena, but where else are you focusing? And since you're bootstrapping Eggsprout, how do you plan to reach out without spending a lot of money? Is social or viral marketing your vehicle of choice?

Kind of. I'm assuming you're referring to LinkedIn, and if that's the case, we're completely different. We help professional groups build and manage a community around their members which in reality is very different from LinkedIn. LinkedIn is focused on you as the professional, and we're focused on the groups and you being a valuable contributor to those groups. We're much more like Ning, but we think there's a niche there in the DIY site for just professionals.

Right now, we're focused on growing our community of network creators. It actually takes a lot of commitment and energy to use a new platform and manage a group, so we're focused on making everything extremely easy from the technical standpoint. Our revenues come from sharing the revenues network owners generate from job postings and events so we're not successful until our network creators are - it makes it a very good partner relationship. The basic platform will always remain free and as we grow, we'll continue to innovate to add innovative services that creators may decide to pay for. I'm no expert in marketing, so my answer to your last question is probably: yes. We'll do all those things, but at the end of the day, we put a whole lot more priority in making the experience awesome for our current loyal users then spending money to acquire more. We believe an awesome product and loyal customers who love it is the best marketing tool out there.

3) You've got a secondary project in the social networking market. How do you juggle two initiatives, even though they might be compatible? Did you plan to have a number of projects under the Eggsprout name when you launched the company, or did it just happen? If the latter, do you think you'll keep future projects under the Eggsprout name, or establish another company that becomes the development umbrella?

Actually, there are two labs projects. One is Ripplely.com (a Facebook app that allows you to tap your network and your friend's network for jobs) and the other one is PriceYeti.com (track any product and get instant notifications when the price drops). Both are public so feel free to check it out.

We decided to explore these lab projects because Eggsprout was at a stage where it really wasn't the technology that needed work, it was the handholding, marketing, and growing of the user base. The platform itself is actually really powerful. So what do you do with a bunch of awesome people that can churn code like there's no tomorrow? Solve more world problems. We're actually not sure where this'll go, but that's the point of labs projects. Twitter came out of a labs project. So did Gmail and Google Maps and a whole bunch of other successful stuff. It's a great way to relieve our creative entrepreneurial energies and have fun while doing it. :)

Tags: eggsprout, brianma, ripplely, priceyeti