Something hit me today like a ton of bricks.

Something thats so damn obvious I cant believe I never encapsulated it into a single coherent thought before.

The secret to being a successful entrepreneur is trading up.

Yep, thats right, trading up.

Trading up, as in the Red Paperclip guy who, after a series of trades, went from a paperclip to a house.

Except Im not talking about trading paperclips for houses. Im talking about turning nothing into something.

Im talking about hustling. About maximizing opportunities. About asking yourself, what could I do with this thing I just got, to turn it into something bigger and better based on my goals? (the thing being press, or a successful product launch, or an introduction, or basically anything).

I just realized today this is something I do all the time. Ive done it so much that its ingrained in the very fabric of my being.

This is the first of a multi-part blog post IÂ?ll be writing over the next week that will chronicle my experience raising a $1MM round for AppMakr.

I�ll be sharing my learning and experiences as a first-time fundraiser out here in the Valley.  My goal is to provide pragmatic tips to help other entrepreneurs understand the process and short-cut the time fundraising typically takes.  Think of it as download that condenses 4 months of learning into a series of blogs you can read in an hour.

Be sure to subscribe to the blog (at right) if you�d like to get those future posts.  Also, we�re throwing a party to thank the investors who made this round possible, and celebrating the fact that over 1,000,000 people have now used apps made through AppMakr.  RSVP here to join us on 10/28 at 6:30pm.  You�ll meet Mitch Kapor, George Zachary, Pietro Dova, Ben Narasin and other AppMakr investors.