Page 92 - The $100 Startup_ Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love

IF YOUR MISSION STATEMENT IS
MUCH LONGER

THAN THIS SENTENCE, IT COULD BE
TOO LONG.

“Plans are only good intentions unless
they immediately degenerate into hard work.”

—PETER F. DRUCKER

Jen Adrion and Omar Noory graduated from the Columbus (Ohio) College of

Art and Design in 2008. They both began freelancing as designers, in addition to
Jen teaching at their alma mater and Omar taking a design job at a studio in
town. Based in a tiny apartment, they were making ends meet and working jobs
related to their degrees, but just one year after graduation, the feeling of burnout
from the world of commercial design was inescapable. “Should I have gone to
med school?” Jen wondered. “What if accounting would have been a better fit?
It was strange to be feeling this way only a year into our careers.” On a drive
back from Chicago, they talked about other things: an upcoming trip to New
York and a plan that they hoped would lead to other travels.

When they got home, Omar looked around for a nice map to help chart their
upcoming adventures. Long story short, they couldn’t find one that they loved,
so they decided to make their own. They stayed up late at night, working on their
ideal map while talking about all the places they hoped to visit. When they
finished the design, there was just one problem: The printer they wanted to use