Archive for February, 2009
February 17th, 2009
Are you a senior PHP and MySQL programmer with experience in developing mobile collaborative solutions, a strong strategic savvy about product development, and an entrepreneurial spirit? Are you looking for a job where you can create your own future, and that leverages two of the hottest technology trends today – mobility and cloud computing?
I’m starting a business that will focus on a SaaS solution for mobile smart phones. Start-up experience is a plus. Partnership opportunity for right person.
An ideal candidate is an excellent communicator, a team player, has great people skills, and interested in thinking out-of-the-box.
February 16th, 2009
Notes from Elaine Levenson on the Friday, February 13 Bootstrappers Breakfast with Pete Tormey.
It proved to be an educational discussion about how to protect your ideas. First some basic definitions for those who missed the event:
- Patents provide the owner a monopoly on an idea (for the length of the patent). Regarding Software, generally the process is patentable and the code is usually copyrighted. (Provisional patents can be filed and held for one year before the actual patent needs to be filed. These may save you money in the long run they are place holders for the original date of the invention).
- Copyrights can be filed for anything that’s written: text, software code, icons. Copyrights can be registered easily and cheaply at www.copyright.gov
- Trademarks are filed with the US Patent office and can be done yourself–though the process can be confusing. It’s possible to use a Nolo Press book or a help from a paralegal to save some time and ultimately the expense of a patent attorney. (If you think you’re going to use a trademark – trademark it and use it)
Other notes of interest include:
- Do your own preliminary search–don’t spend money if it clearly has been done before
- Be certain who the inventors are
- Only actual inventors can be named on the patent.
- Every inventor–including contractors if they may be material to the invention–should sign a contract that assigns patent and invention rights to the corporation before you hire them.
Write down exactly what the problem you think your invention solve.
- This invention is fast/better/cheaper because….
- Include any schematics — even if it’s a line drawing
- Provide to your patent prosecutor clean drawings in electronics format with each item marked. Provide complete flowcharts for software
- Provide to your patent prosecutor an editable file with complete instructions on how to make each part of your invention
- Seek a patent prosecutor with a technical background (education and work experience) in the same area as your technology (i.e. biotechnology, software, devices, etc.)
- Remember, patent practitioners give legal advice not business advice.
February 11th, 2009
Came across an interesting entrepreneur group in New York called “Ultra Light Startups” from a post by Allen Stern “Ultra Light Startups Recap”
Here’s how they define an ultra light startup:
- Aim to achieve profitability with little or no external funding
- Have low permanent headcount, low overhead, low budget
- Operate as “virtual enterprises” (outsourcing, partnerships)
- Use off-the-shelf and open-source software and platforms rather than build from scratch
- Use cloud/network computing rather than owning hardware
- Maximize efficient use of viral/guerrilla/social marketing
- Any other low-cost, high-flexibility techniques
Allen snapped a picture of a poster with the characteristics of an Ultra Light Startup, the tag line was “Focus on testing an idea in the marketplace, rather than planning something that should work in theory.”
Sounds like a similar model to many that Bootstrapper Breakfast attendees are following. There are also groups forming in London and Boston. Two differences is that we are less pitch focused and more interested in comparing notes on operational issues and that are meetings are smaller (8-18 vs. dozens) so attendees have a chance to speak more and get to know each other better. I think the networking after our formal 9AM end is easier because attendees have had a chance to get to know each other a little better than it is in the typical stand-up cocktail party atmosphere of evening events, but then I am biased. We clearly share a focus on low cost techniques that are effective at building a business.
February 6th, 2009
Full house this morning with a great conversation led by Eric Ries. Eric recapped several of his key experiences at IMVU, stressing the importance of continual experimentation, tracking cohorts of users (based on when they signed up for your service/site/application) to judge the impact of different improvements. When asked how to find a big market he advised “you always have to start in a niche, by definition; if you are lucky you will find a big market after a number of mistakes and experiments.” He told the IMVU story two ways, the cleaned up version where they executed their plan perfectly and built a profitable and growing business, and the “as it happened” versions where they were wrong about many things (e.g. IM interoperability as key feature) and only by continual ongoing experimentation and conversation with their few customers were they able to make adjustments to find a significant opportunity. Some other insights Eric offered (from my notes):
- Your investors are not your customers. You have to satisfy your customers for enduring success.
- You can bootstrap if customer acquisition cost is less than customer payout. It’s essential to understand both.
- Read “Founders at Work” by Jessica Livingston to get a sense of the amount of change to features and business model that most startups had to make to succeed.
Mar 2: Howard from SharedGain added a number of good quotes in his comment I am promoting into the post
- Use cohort analysis for measuring retention. Use time series for looking at groups of individuals that become members or customers at a certain period and consider them as a class to be measured over time. Each group coming in is treated as a canonical group. Different classes will have different attributes of the systems applied to them, and then the continuous A/B split testing can be done against different classes to see what works most effectively. The split tests for behaviors are looked at 1, 3 and 5 days later. The rapidity of change and analysis allows quick turns for the testing and A/B analysis. Then adjustments can be made on a regular, short-cycle basis to improve the retention cohort curve.
- Pick a few key metrics. Use funnel graphs and retention graphs.
- Some sites–like dating sites–are utilities, and usage drops off naturally over time. However, on-line social network sites like Facebook have word of mouth and viral elements, so people get sucked back in by their peers and friends if they go away for a while.
- Some statistics offered by Google Analytics are not meaningful, e.g. unique visitors or total visits. Seasonal factors, like day of week can confound the analytics.
- If can be effective to acquire new prospects using PPC, and expand the budget to bring more in, as the understanding of customer value and the stickiness of new customers increases.
- Customer development is the key—customers pay money, users don’t pay. The businessman chooses to be “right” or to be “successful.” Talk to customers and see what they like. Make adjustments to improve total involvement, and number of users and customers. There is a paradox about taking care of customers and listening to them. Current customers will complain about changes, while the new customers that are being attracted won’t say much. Therefore look at the aggregate customer behavior to determine what is working, but don’t listen too much to the noisy older customers that don’t like change. Many will stay with the site despite the changes in the site/offering, but you will loose some while gaining many more as you adjust to generate satisfaction for the larger and growing number of customers.
- Rapid deployment of modifications based on assessments from continuous A/B split-testing will evolve customers and the product to growing success.
February 6th, 2009
I have started a new venture that provides an online personal offer exchange platform for the vacation, leisure and entertainment industry. I am currently looking for an additional partner in the Vacation, Travel, Leisure, E-Commerce, Search, and Advertising space to help on the marketing strategy and business development. Here are some general requirements:
- Bachelor or graduate degree from a top university.
- 5+ years of experience in product development, business development, and/or marketing, with a track record of building and leading successful companies or organizations as a director or company executive.
- Experience in the Vacation/Travel/Leisure space with extensive connections with top leaders in the industry.
- Expertise in E-Commerce, Online Advertising, Search, Data Mining, Web 2.0, Application Platform, & Open Web technologies
