Shifting Back to Reality (Television)

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There was a lot of internal debate over the weekend about what Reality Venture Capital is going to look like in the coming weeks. We’ve obviously struck a chord with VT Response and our ability to crowd-source the Hurricane Irene volunteer efforts.

At the same time, as the world turns back to its usual preoccupations, it makes business sense to do so as well. Trying to balance the success and morally good work we’ve done, with the lure of The Real World San Diego premiere has been the central focus of the past few days.

Where should we go? Can we continue to do such good work without considering our budget and goals for expansion? Is the fiscal sacrifice worth the Ultimate Good that comes with running VT Response full time?

We’ve decided on a new bottom line. It would be negligent to discontinue our efforts with VT Response. We’re helping too many people to just close shop and cut our financial losses.

Our Co-Founder Sarah is the brains behind VT Response. We’re giving her free reign to do whatever she wants. When you have someone so talented, with an organizational mind focussed on doing nothing but good, it would be wrong for us to deny the world her talents and good will.

So our role now is in a support mode. When Sarah needs something done, the rest of the company will shift priorities to help her.

In the meantime, we’ll continue running the entertainment side of Reality Venture Capital. The Jersey Shore Fantasy League is about to enter the playoffs. Real World Fantasy Leagues is about to launch its inaugural season. The Kardashian Wedding Special is ready to make a celebrity wedding truly entertaining.

All this and more. We’re shifting reality every day. It’s what we do.

Shifting Gears

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Things winding down with VT Response cuts both ways: while we are happy to have had the positive experience of helping Vermont get back on its feet following Hurricane Irene, it is equally disheartening to see things winding down like this. It is not that there is nothing left to be accomplished. Rivers that have run their banks in Rochester and Waitsfield need heavy equipment to put them back in place, yet the state seems oblivious.  There are hundreds of households across the state that still need work, yet our volunteer base has disbanded as the weeks between us and the hurricane pass.

It’s no ones fault. When these things happen, we as a society care intensely for a week or two. But, when our cultural spotlight refocuses, we move with it.

It is therefore with mixed emotions that we focus our company on what will always captivate society: Reality Television. While we will still man the phones, email, and posts for VT Response, it is time for us to focus on what we set out to do.  In the coming weeks you can look forward to:

As television moves, we move with it. With respect, fantasy sport obsession, and Situation points for all…

Matt and the Reality Venture Capital Team

Daily Update

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Hello friends-

Right now we’re dedicating our full resources to the hurricane Irene relief effort in Vermont. If you’re a Vermont local please feel free to get involved at http://vtresponse.com. We’ll be back with our usual entertainment features soon but at the moment there are people that need help. We intend to be the ones giving it. Thanks for checking in.

Matt Sisto, Chief Exec

Where We Are

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We couldn’t be more pleased with the success of our new site http://vtresponse.com. We’ve set up a great database for connecting people in-need with volunteers willing to help. In the next few weeks we’re looking forward to putting together a system for volunteer coordination that we hope we can apply to grass-roots volunteer organizations across the world. Part of the venture capital game is mastering the tools for success. Our learning here is going to lay groundwork for what we hope will be a global operation.

On the entertainment end we’ve had a bit of a lull in the wake of how busy we are with the NPO side. We have people working on content but not at the same speed our fans are used to seeing. But fear not: Jersey Shore Fantasy League scores will be there soon and we’re still launching The Real Housewives Fantasy League next week.

Thanks for tuning in.

Matt, the Chief Exec

Vermont Response

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We’ve always been all about reality television. Sometimes real life gets in the way though and we’re jarred from our every day reality.

As the waters rise around our neighbors’ houses and our communities suffer significant damages, we felt it was absolutely necessary to help out however we could.

We launched Vermont Reponse to help Vermonters organize relief efforts. We wanted to create a forum for people to discuss damages across the state, to create a place for voices to be heard and stories shared. Mostly we just want to help.

People talk a big game about doing good business. We also want to be in the business of doing good. We hope through our small efforts here we can help people across our beloved state get back on their feet.

Let’s get together and shift to a story of how we came together and helped each other.

Feel free to check out our new site at http://vtresponse.com

For any submissions or to request information please feel free to contact us via the form below.

Please take care of yourselves and be safe out there.

-The Reality VC team

Startup Life

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There’s no normal in startup life. There is also no 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Here it is, Sunday morning on the East Coast and we’ve been at our computers for a couple hours already. See, Hurricane Irene is bearing down on New York City and we can’t miss the opportunity to get fresh content out to bored masses.

In addition, there’s a bonus Jersey Shore episode tonight, which means that we have regular scoring and league duties. We’re also wrapping up the launch of Real Housewives for next week’s draft and doing a bunch of boring business side stuff.

One thing that the CEO and I decided upon yesterday is that we are going to bring in a Social Media Ninja. We are getting so bogged down in running the league and the websites that we don’t have any time to bond with our investors or forward think about Reality VC. What the SMN will do is crank out blog content, manage social media and research innovative ways to get the word out on all of our original Leagues. Innovation Time has no rules, just 5 paid hours a week, along the lines of Google’s 20% time.

For the rest of this week, look for profiles on the people behind Reality VC, the launch of new leagues and a big post on our first month of traffic as the new, improved Reality VC.

XO, The COO.

How we keep organized at HQ

Cascade of Content

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Another week gone by and we have so much to report! We’ve launched our totally awesome Kardashian Fantasy League and have been putting in all kinds of work preparing for the fall television schedule. The biggest thing for us going forward is to provide fresh content and new leagues to join, to come up with ways to jump in mid-season and to give people a reason to come back to our site again and again.

The biggest hurdle we face now is carrying our strengths over into a low-time television wise. That isn’t to say that the coming season is weak; it’s more to the point that the kinds of shows coming up aren’t ones we’ve traditionally viewed as Reatlity Television Fantasy League fodder.

Our biggest opportunity lies in a Network Battle Royale Fantasy League: a combination of Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser, Survivor: South Pacific, and Amazing Race. If we take all the judges and contestants in one big pool and create a waiver wire for free-agent pick ups we should be able to counter-balance the elimination process…

That’s all small beans though. In order to have a league the most important factor is an amazing score sheet. To come up with a great score sheet you have to watch a lot of television. Along with creating fresh content for the leagues we already have going we need to come up whole scoring systems for future leagues. Running the leagues is easy enough; creating them out of thin air is considerably harder.

But we won’t fail in this task. Following the monstrous success of The JSFL and the momentum we have behind the Kardashian Fantasy League and The Real Housewives Fantasy League we’re confident that we can put together a solid product by the premiere on September 12.

Stay tuned: Reality is Shifting.

The Reality VC Team