Today is a special day, just minutes ago, we announced our first institutional round of investment totaling $12.5 million for gWallet. It was led by Adams Street Partners, Trinity Ventures, and included various other prominent investors. You can read the formal press release is here: http://www.gwallet.com/press/gwallet_closes_funding.html

As many of you know, I originally created gWallet to be a platform for offers in the coupon space. We tried that and changed our direction. I’m probably the most critical person and I’ve set the bar pretty high for myself. I sold my first Company for $40 million at 18, my second one for $300 million at 25, and at 27 started gWallet. Even though the coupon space was interesting, it wasn’t quite big enough of a challenge for me. I also have an important philosophy when it comes to business that I even mentioned in my book. Here’s an excerpt from it:

“Most people think they need to know exactly what they want to do when they start a business, but they’re wrong. If you go into something with a very specific plan, you might be so focused on your goal that you won’t see the promising opportunities that present themselves as you make your way along. Take the blinders off. Look around. Don’t be afraid to go off on all sorts of unusual directions, since that’s where you might just find the most unusual—and promising—opportunities.”

That’s why we changed our focus and became a platform in the virtual currency space. And have had tremendous success thus far. It’s a new, multi-billion dollar market with a bigger challenge and something I feel we can dominate.

And, even though we raised $12.5 million – that just means the journey officially begins for us. The formula to success is going to be on hiring the best rockstars, innovating, and most importantly executing. The capital will give us great resources to open new offices throughout the world, launch our several product initiatives, and even potentially acquire companies.

I’m very excited about this milestone. I always felt – the third time can be a charm. And, I am hoping I can create #3, to be even bigger then my prior 2. With God by my side, I think I may have a great shot at this.

Steve Jobs once said these four words in a speech – and they’ve resonated with me since. “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.” To me this means – to never forget where you came from, and most importantly, never forget where you want to go.”

Here’s to another incredible journey…