ForbesOnTech

I Get Frustrated, the Wrench Goes Flying, -- Bambi the Lawn Tractor Gets Her First Spa Day

A mechanical failure late last week on my beloved yard tractor, Bambi, caused me to hurl a ½-inch Craftsman box wrench against my cinder block wall, pull out and hook up my utility trailer and tug Bambi down to the local Deere dealership for a long overdue spa day.

After five years of driveway mechanical maintenance, Bambi needed some serious work. Her primary load-bearing blade spindle was making evil noises and she started shredding drive belts. I spent about three hours tinkering and cursing like an infuriated Celestial before I realized that the best solution to my L100’s problems was to let someone who didn’t throw their heirloom tools when they get really frustrated

So I inched Bambi up the ramp and onto the trailer, cinched her tie downs tight and dropped her off at the local tractor dealership. I had a rough idea how much the needed service work would cost and mentally gulped. About an hour after Bambi was sitting in the dealership’s service bay, my phone rang.  They sservice manager suggested new tubes for the tires, a brake kit, a new seat and mentioned the hairline cracks on my chipped mowing blades.

I live on the safe and thrifty side of cheap, so I agreed them every thing but the brakes tubes and seat. The service manager said “Pick her  in two days.”

I smiled, and added two cans of “FixIt” flat tire repair to my weekly shopping list, checked my bank balances and ordered a replacement seat from an Internbet store front.

The total service/repair bill was less than I had been quoted and as soon as I got Bambi off my trailer yesterday; I shot the leaking tires with “Fixit.” Sixty minutes later my one-acre front lawn was neatly trimmed and Bambi was back in her parking place cooling down. 24 hours later, her rear tires still firmly hold air and I just received an email confirming that my new $55 replacement seat has been shipped to me via UPS.

The decals on Bambi are beginning to peel, but she starts up without using its choke. Five years of happy tractoring in short pants, a tie-dyed t-shirt and aviator sunglasses.  Life at Rancho Bizarro is pretty fine. On some days it’s hard for me to remember the stress of working, missing a deadline because of a major stroke or not having the time or space to plant and maintain big vegetable gardens.

Yes, I sent my lawn tractor to the dealer for a major service. It was worth it.

It’s another boring SPF 45 sunscreen perfect day in rural northern San Diego County.—Jim Forbes 11/19/2008.

What Makes a great Demo Company; look at Blurb Inc.

i've had more than a month to chew-on and digest Demo 2006. And for the last two weeks I've tried to find one company that illustrates of what makes for an outstanding launch.

Up front disclosure statement: I am not a paid blogger, nor am I an employee of IDG, the company that owns the parent group that produces Demo along with the GuideWireGroup. This blog entry represents my own views, not those of Demo’s executive producer, or employees of IDG. My insight into Demo comes from producing Demo branded events, writing DemoLetter and interviewing thousands of companies for spots at the shows. I had a debilitating stroke about two  hours before I was to have opened Demo 2002 and am now retired. I offer no excuses for my partisan views of Demo. The show produces results and offers and unparalleled snapshot of the technology industry and its entrepreneurs.

Speaking to a group of business students at a college in Southern California recently, I was asked how show selection decisions were made, and what a company had to do to make the cut. What follows is my answer  as well as my idea of what makes a good Demo company.

After looking at some of the online coverage of Demo 2006 and reading and watching the company presentations from this year's show at  Demo.com, I picked one company to  use as a snapshot of a good Demo company

The company I picked is Blurb Inc., which launched a publishing system called Blurb BookSmart in the Demo2006’s initial segment.

Blurb has everything I like in a Demo company.

+they had remained under the radar since founding. About the only people who were familiar with Blurb were its investors and very small handful of strategic partners and beta testers.

+Blurb’s Book Smart publishing system has a very wide appeal and is readily understood by consumers and technical professionals alike. It’s also extremely cost effective when compared to other self-publishing solutions and provides user examples that are as innovative as they are powerful. You shouldn’t have to be a desktop publishing wizard to publish great looking material and Blurb BookSmart is a shortcut I think a lot of people in business, at home and in colleges will quickly adopt.

+The product both creates a new category (online self-publishing) and redefines conventional segments of computer-based document production.

+Blurb’s BookSmart was almost ready for market. As this is written, Blurb is preparing to “go live,” less than two months after its February launch. It’s hard to overestimate the importance of delivering a product that’s been launched at Demo and attracted a great deal of attention.

+Blurb investigated various launch scenarios and decided that Demo was strategic to its business plan (which includes seeking more venture financing. Blurb’s executive team and its contract public relations agency took the time to plan how they would position BookSMart to Demo’s executive producer, Chris Shipley, The decision to launch at Demo had been planned in advance, the company’s management team actively promoted the company and its technology to the show's producer and kept her abreast of important milestones in the run-up to the event in February.

+Blurb took advantage of pre-show Demonstrator meetings to manage their own expectations and to show Ms Shipley that they were preparing a first rate demonstration.

+The company thoroughly read and understood Demo’s Demonstratator Handbook, (perhaps most of all the sections on how to deal with press at the event). Blurb’s founder, Eillen Gittens, says she studied and dissected company presentations made at previous shows in an effort to master her demonstration and to better understand the event.

+Blurb’s PR agency (Voce Communications in Palo Alto) took the time to learn about Demo and was an integral part of preparing its client for Demo 2006 and the selection process. Kudos to Voce for its work with Blurb Inc.

+ I also really like Blurb's Internet site. It’s focused on the technology, and how users can put Blurb BookSmart immediately to work, not who the company is funded by or what Internet implosion its founders emerged unsinged from.

In summary, Blurb is almost the antithesis of Web 2.0. This company was close to delivering a product at Demo 2006 and chose to launch at an event where they had access to relevant press, potential partners and investors.  Its management team had a clear set of goals and it closely defines what I think makes a great company to participate in the opening segment of a show like Demo.

Blurb’s Ms. Gittens used Demo to hit her most important goals, she says they generated “about 20 bonafide partner leads, and as many VCs who are candidates for their next round of financing.

It’s important to note that Blurb wasn’t the only company at Demo. I chose them as an example because they have the qualities that make for a great lead-off demonstration and also exemplify the value of understanding their own expectations and then artfully managing a producer to those same expectations.

This probably won’t be the last blog entry I write about Blurb. I believe that if the web-based services really do take off, this member of the Demo Class of 2006 could make very big news.  And that’s good for Demo.--Jim Forbes, from Escondido, CA

After the Six Minutes of Demo Fame..Now What?

Now that your company has had it's six minutes of fame and perhaps even walked away with a plaque, cup or certificate atesting to your status as a Demo God, what will you do?  What Will you Do?

+First and foremost get back to work, but make sure you take the time to assemble,organize, and deal with all of the contacts you made at Demo 2006. A meeting that includes everyone who attended Demo is entirely appropriate. Preparing for that meeting means your coworkers should organize the stack of business cards they collected at Demo and take time to physically note what they remember about the contact. That information can be the foundation of a strategically important knowledge base that helps your company benefit from its Demo experience and expenditures in the coming months.

+ Assign one person to followup on press contacts from the show. Make sure you've reserved your handouts from the show and don't assume that the reporter who met with your company for six minutes in the Demo Pavilion still has the press kit you stuffed in his hand. Over the years I've been astounded by the sheer number of companies who don't assemble and distribute electronic versions of the Demo press kits on their websites. Your web site should be a nexus where the press can find cu rent information on your company and as important, contact information for press inquiries.

+part of evaluating your press contacts from Demo is trying to understand what interests an individual reporter or what their primary beat assignments are. If it doesn't seem like a good fit with your technology, don't hesitate to call or email the reporter and find out the contact details of the reporter covering the appropriate beat.

+Take the time to learn what analysts are being quoted about products,companies and technologies that are similar to yours.  Get information on your company in front of those analysts, but be prepared for sales pitches from "business development managers" and other sales types who want you to become a client of the "research company." (note, one of the sad facts of life about the research business is the concept of "pay for play." Unfortunately too few reporters take the time to ask analysts if the company they are talking about is a "client." It's a cold day in Hell when a pay-for-play analyst slams a paying client or notes that your new product may be better than that produced by a company's subscriber list.)

+Comb your Demo contact lists for the names of bloggers who understand your market segment and who may be able to use and write about your product. (Note, a good blogger will cover your technology warts and all, so don't expect them to blindly write only good things)

+Expand your list of potential bloggers by coming through trade weeklies such as PCWeek, InfoWorld and ComputerWorld, or Network World and note the names of relevant columnists/bloggers and task one person within your organization to make contact with media contacts that write hands-on stories.  It's very important to make sure that contact understands what kind of environment is required to exercise your product, don't assume that every reporter or blogger has a gigabit Ethernet connection to a backbone network, a UPS, or a graphics card with 1.5 gbytes of memory. Based on what i read, I'm beginning to think that technical bloggers are becoming much more important than pay-for-play bloggers.

+Be prepared to compile, write and make publicly available lists of users who have tested your products.  Make sure you get permission from the users for the press to contact them and make sure you supply the press with valid, current, contact information. Word of mouth endorsements are priceless in a crowded market, particularly when those recommendations are tied to quantifiable numbers ( including financial information)

For a good Post Demo evaluation of what a small start-up is doing to take advantage of its DEMO experience  go to: http://saunderslog.com/2006/02/10/demo-two-days-later/. It's great advice for a small company returning from an exhausting show.

Jim Forbes

written from my outside office at 0900 on 2/13/2006 on a 72 degree sunny morning. 8-P to all you snow dogs.

The Sun, The Demonstrators are awake and so am I. Part I

The sun is up, most of the first round of Demo 2006 demonstrators are awake and so am I.  I'm sitting here in my outside office with a strong wireless signal, the mocking birds are making fun of me, and I'm thinking about what technologies will be on stage at Demo 2006 in about two hours.

I'm going to limit my first post to a couple of companies.

Here's what I think. MooBella is going to get a lot of ink and his Chris Shipley pick is right on target. MooBella incorporates everything that's great about a leading technology:

It has a great interface that allows you to create something that reflects truly individual tastes. In fact, the word "individuality" defines MooBella.   You  make your selection, pay for your product and put the machine to work. It delivers a product that your unique product in an individual serving.  I just wish it could add fresh cherries to my infrequently satiated craving for french vanilla ice cream.  Oh well, there's always a 2.0 of a product.

Note to Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers or other deep pockets VC: Jump on these guys now! they're the next JambaJuice.

MyPeople-- i really like the idea of anything that adds "torque" to the VOIP movement. I first heard about this company anecdotally three months ago. Anything that increases the value of VOIP is a great. Yes, adding videoconferencing, teleconferencing and minimal contact management is nice and I do like Skype because of it.

But hey, since I use my computer for VOIP calls isn't it about time someone took this to the next level, giving me real time feeds on topics I need? Well My People does this with a voice command interface that's a natural extension to the VOIP concept.

N.B. Because of a major change in my life status, I now find going  to San Diego International Airport at 5:30 a.m. every Monday morning and again at 5:30 p.m. Friday evenings. Wake up and reminder calls to my phone would be very nice, and is something I will use initially. Also, making a product feature set dependent on voice recognition can be challenging. VR has to work right each and every time it's used.  If it doesn't you might as well not use it, because consumer will discard your product or service immediately.

One of the great things about Demo is the chance to put new, small companies in front of investor and an experienced press audiences. I hope VC's like Mobius or Draper Fisher (a Skype investor)invest in this company soon. I suspect that My People will force Skype, Vonage and others to add competitive features to their services. I also hope that My People uses Demo to link up with previous show alums like Jabra, which has the best headset I've ever used for VOIP calling.

I'll come back to the\is later. I need to move my irrigation in the grove in front of my house.