[Taylor Caby]

I was fortunate to start playing poker online right before the time when poker became insanely popular. I started playing right around the time moneymaker won, and through a lot of hard work and long hours made well over a million bucks playing in college. just like any other kid who made a lot online, i put in a lot of hours and surely had a lot of luck.

when i was a junior in college some people approached me to start a website to teach others to play poker. the deal fell through and that site never was built. i decided to start something similar a few months later, with a few twists. i got a partner who was also a successful poker player and we started cardrunners.com during the summer after my junior year of college.

we started as a very small community built around my reputation as a successful player and we started to hire some other well known players. i soon realized that it was very important to bring on top notch talent so i tried to get the best players on the internet to be associated with the site. there has been a proliferation of other training sites on the internet, but i think we will always (hopefully!) have a competitive advantage because we will have the best teaching talent.

the site grew from word of mouth mostly. after a few months, we started to advertise on some poker forums and i begrudgingly started to write some articles for poker magazines because it would be good publicity. i learned you have to not be afraid to go out and sell yourself in order for your business to be successful.

eventually we developed a reputation on the internet as being the premier training site on the net (open for debate, but certainly we are one of the top choices). our new goal will be to reach out to different types of players including live players, low stakes players, and tournament players. we are always trying new things and it is exciting adding new aspects to the business edit: i hope it doesn't look like i'm selling the business, just trying to make the point that we are always trying new things and looking to improve what we do - i think that's what makes us a great service).

the business has grown like i never thought it would. through a lot of hard work, persistance, and luck, this business is now just about as profitable as playing high stakes poker online. i have found that running the business is much more exciting than grinding out poker day after day.

what i learned? SO many things.

-don't listen to all the naysayers out there. there are always people who are negative about ideas, no matter how good they are. sure, most businesses fail, but if you have an idea that you believe in and you have done all of your homework and everythign checks out, don't listen to people that say otherwise.

-your reputation is everything. in the business world, you have many tough decisions where it is could be easy to make disparaging remarks about someone else or to get involved in shady situations. you can't fake being a good, honest, trustworthy person. you need to be this person and it will really get you far. just be friendly, approachable, and honest and you will be amazed at how eventually that reputation will be reflected in your business.

-be flexible. i never thought i would be running an internet business when i graduated college. there are some things my business does now that i didn't think we would ever get involved in (different focus/service) but because of the changing environment of poker it made sense to change what we did. the person that can adapt quickly to changes in the environment is the one whose business will find success year after year.

-trust your gut. if you have a bad vibe about something/someone, don't ignore it (goes the other way, too). there are many times where i just had a bad feeling about a certain deal or person but couldn't quite explain why. you don't need a reason to avoid something, it is your business, your choice. also, don't feel bad about saying no. it is hard but a necessary part of running a successful business.

-the most important thing i've learned is that it CAN be done. i now know that i am capable of starting something great and this gives me the confidence i need to keep pushing forward. in a few years i would like to start something new, unrelated to poker. a lot of people have told me "yeah, you did well with CR, but that's just because you were lucky to have a great skill (poker) and it would be a lot harder outside of poker." yeah, maybe some of that is true, but i know a lot of other people who are good at poker and i don't see many of them monetizing that away from the tables (at least to this extent). the time will come when i am ready to prove that the knowledge and skills that i have will be transferable to areas outside of poker. i look forward to that challenge someday. i find that posing challenges to myself like this keeps me hungry.

these are some things i learned...nothing groundbreaking but hope they help some of you.

tc