Why start-ups fail.No comment.
Arrgghh...
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tossed Under the Bus N
I was going to call this post, "Tossed Under the Bus 1" but the "1" seems odd. There were many times prior to this and many times after.
The story:
At a networking luncheon I sat with a senior exec from a major international company (MIC) that had a local head office. It was pretty cool and I managed to interest him in both our story and also our product.
Through Mr. Keystone, from our Board of Advisors, I was able to arrange for us to visit MIC to give a seminar on our product to his staff.
It unfolds that MIC has weekly lunchtime seminars and it is common for corporations to travel across the globe for the opportunity to speak at one. It was a great opportunity.
Aside from getting the gig and arranging the date, I was to attend, but the big cheese himself, DC, was the speaker.
DC set out to put together his presentation. Now usually these things include PowerPoint presentations, live demonstrations and a rehearsed lecture.
I was actually looking forward to seeing what DC had put together.
At 10AM the morning of the event, I get a call from DC; a meeting has come up and I am to take over. "Can I get a copy of your presentation?" I ask with growing nerves.
"I don't have one, you don't need one." came the response.
GULP.
You see we are an online solution, all our demos are online. Therefore we do not need a presentation. All we (you... er... that is, I) need is an internet connection, a computer and a projector.
No Problem.
I race out of the house to get there early --I have a bad feeling about this.
I get there at 11:30 --half an hour early.
The computer is there, it is connected. The corporate home page comes up...
You see, MIC is also a military contractor and security is a major issue. There is no way our solution is coming through their firewall.
The room is filling with people, about forty so far.
12:05, I am still on the phone with their IT staff. No luck.
Well, time to start tap dancing.
I stand before an audience of 50 engineers and technologists, each one used to receiving slick lectures/presentations from those fortunate enough to be able to present at their lunch time seminars.
I got nuttin' but a suit and a smile.
I manage to explain the situation, get a few laughs and tell them our story. I think I did well enough under the circumstances but the applause was a bit weak. I can't help wonder if some of them thought we were a bush league operation.
Sometimes the truth will out.
Arrgghh...
The story:
At a networking luncheon I sat with a senior exec from a major international company (MIC) that had a local head office. It was pretty cool and I managed to interest him in both our story and also our product.
Through Mr. Keystone, from our Board of Advisors, I was able to arrange for us to visit MIC to give a seminar on our product to his staff.
It unfolds that MIC has weekly lunchtime seminars and it is common for corporations to travel across the globe for the opportunity to speak at one. It was a great opportunity.
Aside from getting the gig and arranging the date, I was to attend, but the big cheese himself, DC, was the speaker.
DC set out to put together his presentation. Now usually these things include PowerPoint presentations, live demonstrations and a rehearsed lecture.
I was actually looking forward to seeing what DC had put together.
At 10AM the morning of the event, I get a call from DC; a meeting has come up and I am to take over. "Can I get a copy of your presentation?" I ask with growing nerves.
"I don't have one, you don't need one." came the response.
GULP.
You see we are an online solution, all our demos are online. Therefore we do not need a presentation. All we (you... er... that is, I) need is an internet connection, a computer and a projector.
No Problem.
I race out of the house to get there early --I have a bad feeling about this.
I get there at 11:30 --half an hour early.
The computer is there, it is connected. The corporate home page comes up...
You see, MIC is also a military contractor and security is a major issue. There is no way our solution is coming through their firewall.
The room is filling with people, about forty so far.
12:05, I am still on the phone with their IT staff. No luck.
Well, time to start tap dancing.
I stand before an audience of 50 engineers and technologists, each one used to receiving slick lectures/presentations from those fortunate enough to be able to present at their lunch time seminars.
I got nuttin' but a suit and a smile.
I manage to explain the situation, get a few laughs and tell them our story. I think I did well enough under the circumstances but the applause was a bit weak. I can't help wonder if some of them thought we were a bush league operation.
Sometimes the truth will out.
Arrgghh...
Why am I here
Good question.
I often compare it to a bad marriage: it totally sucks; it is going nowhere; but, on a day to day basis, it is hard to leave; and I don't have anywhere else to go --and it might pay off.
I often compare it to a bad marriage: it totally sucks; it is going nowhere; but, on a day to day basis, it is hard to leave; and I don't have anywhere else to go --and it might pay off.
A Directive
We need more investment, "Get your old man to invest." was the directive.
Fat chance.
Really, I was told to sell the company to my father so that he could risk some of his retirement funds on the "sure thing" that we are putting together.
Uh huh. Sure. I'll get right on that.
Perhaps this is when I should have walked away.
I was dutiful, I showed my father the demo of what we were doing and he looked at me like I was insane. I suggested that DC wanted me to ask him to invest and he suppressed a laugh. His measured response was perfect, "I am past investing in high risk ventures."
I passed on the message to the CEO and chief fundraiser (scammer), DC, to his great displeasure.
Don't worry, I would not have let it happen. Actually, I believe that, if I really believed in the integrity of the company, the competence of the management and the value of the product my family would have invested.
Oh well, to mis-quote The Kinkster, "No man was ever driven to hell by a woman without a fully paid ticket in his pocket."
Arrgghh...
Fat chance.
Really, I was told to sell the company to my father so that he could risk some of his retirement funds on the "sure thing" that we are putting together.
Uh huh. Sure. I'll get right on that.
Perhaps this is when I should have walked away.
I was dutiful, I showed my father the demo of what we were doing and he looked at me like I was insane. I suggested that DC wanted me to ask him to invest and he suppressed a laugh. His measured response was perfect, "I am past investing in high risk ventures."
I passed on the message to the CEO and chief fundraiser (scammer), DC, to his great displeasure.
Don't worry, I would not have let it happen. Actually, I believe that, if I really believed in the integrity of the company, the competence of the management and the value of the product my family would have invested.
Oh well, to mis-quote The Kinkster, "No man was ever driven to hell by a woman without a fully paid ticket in his pocket."
Arrgghh...
Drinks with the Boss
It should be noted that my boss, DC, lives with an infallible self image.
His Ferrari is part of this. His knowledge that everyone wants to be drunk is inarguable --the extension is that he honestly believes that everyone, at all times, wishes they were more drunk.
He is as gregarious as he is all knowing.
Drinks with the boss start with watching (or joining, if you are so inclined) him drink four to six double Tequilas in the first hour. This is just the start.
As bedding any willing woman is also the world view that he projects to all, drinks quickly devolve to buying drinks for anything that appears to lack an Adam's apple. Oh the humanity. Of course, this leads to slobbering on waitresses before moving on to a friendly night club.
At the club, his craving for female attention seems to increase whilst his striving for further drunkenness inevitably leads to his inability to speak.
Sound like fun?
Well as fewer and fewer people are willing to join in, the events start to become business meetings --therefore attendance is implicitly required. Joy.
Well, at least he always has a steady stream of externally beautiful women who like to hear tall tales, ride in fast cars and get free meals. I fear what will happen should he lose his ability to appear rich.
Arrgghh.
His Ferrari is part of this. His knowledge that everyone wants to be drunk is inarguable --the extension is that he honestly believes that everyone, at all times, wishes they were more drunk.
He is as gregarious as he is all knowing.
Drinks with the boss start with watching (or joining, if you are so inclined) him drink four to six double Tequilas in the first hour. This is just the start.
As bedding any willing woman is also the world view that he projects to all, drinks quickly devolve to buying drinks for anything that appears to lack an Adam's apple. Oh the humanity. Of course, this leads to slobbering on waitresses before moving on to a friendly night club.
At the club, his craving for female attention seems to increase whilst his striving for further drunkenness inevitably leads to his inability to speak.
Sound like fun?
Well as fewer and fewer people are willing to join in, the events start to become business meetings --therefore attendance is implicitly required. Joy.
Well, at least he always has a steady stream of externally beautiful women who like to hear tall tales, ride in fast cars and get free meals. I fear what will happen should he lose his ability to appear rich.
Arrgghh.
What Do You Do With an Incompetent Project Manager
With DM, our Project Manager, on Maternity leave, our esteemed head of HR, NM, hired Maynard to fill in.
Now for those of you who do not know, a Project Manager is responsible for keeping projects on track. Without a good one a project is doomed to failure. Project Managers are also charged with making sure that all relevant paper work is completed and up to date: schedules, gantt charts, meeting minutes, emails, development diary, and much, much more.
Well, the problems with Maynard began on day one. A key duty of his was to take minutes at development meetings to be circulated at a later date. That morning we had a marathon meeting where the whiteboard was filled and erased many times. Some outstanding work was accomplished and I was very interested to review the minutes when they were ready...
Did I mention that Maynard's first language was not English? In fact his English skills were poor at best. The minutes were as humorous as they were useless.
As time unfolds it becomes apparent that he is doing very little of the standard paperwork.
As you can imagine, the big boss, DC, quickly became frustrated with Maynard. There was only one thing to do: he was removed from all of DC's projects.
He gave him to me.
That is right. The process is to identify an employee as incompetent then pass him on to me.
And guess who gets blamed when the project goes south?
Arrgghh...
Now for those of you who do not know, a Project Manager is responsible for keeping projects on track. Without a good one a project is doomed to failure. Project Managers are also charged with making sure that all relevant paper work is completed and up to date: schedules, gantt charts, meeting minutes, emails, development diary, and much, much more.
Well, the problems with Maynard began on day one. A key duty of his was to take minutes at development meetings to be circulated at a later date. That morning we had a marathon meeting where the whiteboard was filled and erased many times. Some outstanding work was accomplished and I was very interested to review the minutes when they were ready...
Did I mention that Maynard's first language was not English? In fact his English skills were poor at best. The minutes were as humorous as they were useless.
As time unfolds it becomes apparent that he is doing very little of the standard paperwork.
As you can imagine, the big boss, DC, quickly became frustrated with Maynard. There was only one thing to do: he was removed from all of DC's projects.
He gave him to me.
That is right. The process is to identify an employee as incompetent then pass him on to me.
And guess who gets blamed when the project goes south?
Arrgghh...
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Share Squeeze
H'okay.
This story might meander a bit; I will try to keep it lucid.
I was originally brought into the company to learn the ropes.
DC, our CEO, was working on a totally new con that purportedly was going to alter the way the internet was used. The potential was... Google-like.
But, as my S&M experience (sales and marketing, silly) was in another industry, I was brought into DC's previously failed con (that still had a few paying customers) to, as I said, learn the ropes.
Well the new con was going swimmingly and the old company was going nowhere... No surprise.
Then one day I am invited to a lunch meeting with DC (CEO) NM (COO) and TN (CTO) and a great big deal is made of my being awarded 1% of the company, the new company, for my dedicated service.
I later suggested that as I was actually working with the old company I should have shares in it as well. The answer was swift and caring, "You don't want that, that company is going nowhere."
Well, before long for the new company eroded to dust and was miraculously purchased by the old company. By now DC had come up with a novel idea for the old company and it quickly took center stage.
I was unsure of my share status for but a few days.
Later that week, DC explained to me that after the merger my 1% was now worth a cool $100,000. Not bad, eh? But more importantly I was able to deduce from his words that I still had 1% of the company --the combined company. Woo Hoo.
And we proceeded. DC raising money on an astronomical evaluation of the company (Ten Million Doodledangers!) and each time proudly telling me that my 1% was worth 100k.
Despite my knowing his evil ways, NM (COO) still manages to surprise me.
It seemed to me that if I had been given shares I should have seen some type of paperwork to that end. So, I approach NM and ask if he has processed the paper work on my shares.
Now, I was prepared for him to say that I did not have shares in the old company, as I had received shares in the new company and I had no details of the "merger."
I was not prepared for him to tell me that I had never been given any shares. He was there, for Christ's sake! There were witnesses! He gave them to me!
No, he swore up and down that the aforementioned lunch meeting never took place and that I had no shares. If it were possible to crawl through a phone line and throttle someone...
Well, he said he'd get back to me and, friends, it was some time later that DC gave me a call. "Buddy." he said, "Here's the deal." And he went on to describe how that the new company was two in one, and since I held 1% of half of the combined company I now held 0.5% of the combined company.
The logic is sound. But, the previous day he told me that my 1% was worth a hundred large. Now, on paper, my equity in the company was worth half of what I thought it should be.
In case anyone is wondering, this is the moment that I turned. Previous to this I would give anything to the company. After this, I wanted everything from the company. I still worked hard, but the psychological shift was there.
When something is made a major incentive to work hard, you need to be very careful when and if you take it away. There is no substitute for quality HR.
Arrgghh...
This story might meander a bit; I will try to keep it lucid.
I was originally brought into the company to learn the ropes.
DC, our CEO, was working on a totally new con that purportedly was going to alter the way the internet was used. The potential was... Google-like.
But, as my S&M experience (sales and marketing, silly) was in another industry, I was brought into DC's previously failed con (that still had a few paying customers) to, as I said, learn the ropes.
Well the new con was going swimmingly and the old company was going nowhere... No surprise.
Then one day I am invited to a lunch meeting with DC (CEO) NM (COO) and TN (CTO) and a great big deal is made of my being awarded 1% of the company, the new company, for my dedicated service.
I later suggested that as I was actually working with the old company I should have shares in it as well. The answer was swift and caring, "You don't want that, that company is going nowhere."
Well, before long for the new company eroded to dust and was miraculously purchased by the old company. By now DC had come up with a novel idea for the old company and it quickly took center stage.
I was unsure of my share status for but a few days.
Later that week, DC explained to me that after the merger my 1% was now worth a cool $100,000. Not bad, eh? But more importantly I was able to deduce from his words that I still had 1% of the company --the combined company. Woo Hoo.
And we proceeded. DC raising money on an astronomical evaluation of the company (Ten Million Doodledangers!) and each time proudly telling me that my 1% was worth 100k.
Despite my knowing his evil ways, NM (COO) still manages to surprise me.
It seemed to me that if I had been given shares I should have seen some type of paperwork to that end. So, I approach NM and ask if he has processed the paper work on my shares.
Now, I was prepared for him to say that I did not have shares in the old company, as I had received shares in the new company and I had no details of the "merger."
I was not prepared for him to tell me that I had never been given any shares. He was there, for Christ's sake! There were witnesses! He gave them to me!
No, he swore up and down that the aforementioned lunch meeting never took place and that I had no shares. If it were possible to crawl through a phone line and throttle someone...
Well, he said he'd get back to me and, friends, it was some time later that DC gave me a call. "Buddy." he said, "Here's the deal." And he went on to describe how that the new company was two in one, and since I held 1% of half of the combined company I now held 0.5% of the combined company.
The logic is sound. But, the previous day he told me that my 1% was worth a hundred large. Now, on paper, my equity in the company was worth half of what I thought it should be.
In case anyone is wondering, this is the moment that I turned. Previous to this I would give anything to the company. After this, I wanted everything from the company. I still worked hard, but the psychological shift was there.
When something is made a major incentive to work hard, you need to be very careful when and if you take it away. There is no substitute for quality HR.
Arrgghh...
Thursday, January 8, 2009
That Blank Stare of Disbelief
How are you supposed to react when a short-tempered boss declares that the addition of a specific feature will make the largest corporations on the planet need to buy our services, that they will be left behind by their competition if they do not buy our services?
Well, ideally one's reaction should depend on the idea. If it is a good idea, then the reaction should be positive. If it is a bad idea, then the reaction should be negative (with allowances for diplomatic language.)
Should.
That is not how one reacts to my boss, DC. The only correct response is, "Yes." Of course the "Yes." is presented with differing levels of enthusiasm. A "No." is out of the question.
Often it is impossible to directly refute the declaration, even when your gut tells you that the statement is bunk:
Again, how to react. The new feature that is going to guarantee the client's investment will delay our release by 6-8 weeks. We are still busy implementing the new features from two weeks ago....
I often forget that the intention is NOT to bring a product to market; but rather, to make a company look like it is a buy-out candidate.
This brings me back to my question. How is one to react to an obvious falsehood that will delay rollout of the product by up to two months and will create the expectation of immediate success the moment the feature is complete?
Well, as this is a con, and as I know it is a con, the only possible reaction is to support his bunk.
So moving are these occurrences that I vividly recall every one.
Of course there is another nefarious reason for the speech. If it flies with us, it will fly with the investors. You see, many of them came on board for a short cruise over a year ago and they want to go home. The plan is simple, as the investors are clamoring for a return on their investment, they need to be fed constant good information to keep their mind off of the money they have tied up in a low yield, high risk venture.
The great thing about dodges like this is that they are so much more than a bid for time. Sure enough at the next BOA meeting, the message is not just that "We have this great tie-in with this new feature and this great client." No, the patter has evolved to, "This great client has asked for this new feature and we need another 75k over then next couple of months to secure the business."
By calling him on his lie I could have moved up the launch date of the project and I could have saved the investors 75k. But I would have been interfering with the con.
If you are ever in a meeting with both DC and me you will immediately know when one of these statements is presented. Just watch my face for a blank stare of disbelief.
Aarrgghh.
Well, ideally one's reaction should depend on the idea. If it is a good idea, then the reaction should be positive. If it is a bad idea, then the reaction should be negative (with allowances for diplomatic language.)
Should.
That is not how one reacts to my boss, DC. The only correct response is, "Yes." Of course the "Yes." is presented with differing levels of enthusiasm. A "No." is out of the question.
Often it is impossible to directly refute the declaration, even when your gut tells you that the statement is bunk:
"I talked to the client and they said that if we have this feature they will switch to our service."How does one refute this without calling him a liar to his face. The fact is, I have been in touch with the client more than he has and the client thinks we are a swell bunch of guys doing cool things; but, they have no interest in ever leaving the solution their team (of approx 100,000) is using for our untested (and largely unimplemented) service. They are not even interested in a small pilot project as "...the senior management loves the current system and it would be politically unpopular to suggest a change at this time".
Again, how to react. The new feature that is going to guarantee the client's investment will delay our release by 6-8 weeks. We are still busy implementing the new features from two weeks ago....
I often forget that the intention is NOT to bring a product to market; but rather, to make a company look like it is a buy-out candidate.
This brings me back to my question. How is one to react to an obvious falsehood that will delay rollout of the product by up to two months and will create the expectation of immediate success the moment the feature is complete?
Well, as this is a con, and as I know it is a con, the only possible reaction is to support his bunk.
So moving are these occurrences that I vividly recall every one.
Of course there is another nefarious reason for the speech. If it flies with us, it will fly with the investors. You see, many of them came on board for a short cruise over a year ago and they want to go home. The plan is simple, as the investors are clamoring for a return on their investment, they need to be fed constant good information to keep their mind off of the money they have tied up in a low yield, high risk venture.
The great thing about dodges like this is that they are so much more than a bid for time. Sure enough at the next BOA meeting, the message is not just that "We have this great tie-in with this new feature and this great client." No, the patter has evolved to, "This great client has asked for this new feature and we need another 75k over then next couple of months to secure the business."
By calling him on his lie I could have moved up the launch date of the project and I could have saved the investors 75k. But I would have been interfering with the con.
If you are ever in a meeting with both DC and me you will immediately know when one of these statements is presented. Just watch my face for a blank stare of disbelief.
Aarrgghh.
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Purpose of a BOA
This is key.
Let me restate:
Every meeting ended with a clear set of instructions from the board: take these measures and we will meet again to discuss the next steps. It was a dream situation: being mentored by the best over a company that is seen by all to have huge potential.
Unfortunately, come the next meeting the measures suggested by the BOA had not been carried out.
But, "We have a new and exciting direction that we are heading in..."
DC would then regale them with his latest, greatest thoughts on how the company was going to either bring in revenues of a million a month in six months or be sold for 50 million by the end of the year.
The meeting would end with a clear set of instructions from the board: take these measures and then we will meet again to discuss the next steps.
DC treated these BOA meetings eerily like development meetings, his disrespect for the input of others was identical.
Soon the BOA was meeting every 6 weeks, then every 8 weeks, then not at all.
Can you blame them?
But, I fear you have missed the point. It is good that the meetings have trailed off; you see they only took up time. Let me restate:
Arrgghh...
A Board of Advisors (BOA) is NOT for providing advice.Our intrepid CEO, DC, managed to assemble one of the best, if not the all time best, BOAs in the history of local enterprise. We had fundraisers, CEOs, multi-millionaires. We had several members that sit on the boards of fortune 500 companies and one who previously sat on the board of a fortune 100 company. We had specialists in rolling out new products, specialists in sales and marketing, specialists in emerging technologies and they all (at least initially) drank the Cool-Aid.
Let me restate:
A Board of Advisors (BOA) is NOT for providing advice.In the beginning, this incredible team met monthly to steer the good ship EveryCorp.com to its rightful place in the minds of all involved. The meetings were exciting, that much success and positivity in one room is a rush. I cannot tell you how much I looked forward to our BOA meetings (until my honesty made me a liability).
Every meeting ended with a clear set of instructions from the board: take these measures and we will meet again to discuss the next steps. It was a dream situation: being mentored by the best over a company that is seen by all to have huge potential.
Unfortunately, come the next meeting the measures suggested by the BOA had not been carried out.
But, "We have a new and exciting direction that we are heading in..."
DC would then regale them with his latest, greatest thoughts on how the company was going to either bring in revenues of a million a month in six months or be sold for 50 million by the end of the year.
The meeting would end with a clear set of instructions from the board: take these measures and then we will meet again to discuss the next steps.
DC treated these BOA meetings eerily like development meetings, his disrespect for the input of others was identical.
Soon the BOA was meeting every 6 weeks, then every 8 weeks, then not at all.
Can you blame them?
But, I fear you have missed the point. It is good that the meetings have trailed off; you see they only took up time. Let me restate:
A Board of Advisors (BOA) is NOT for providing advice.The purpose of the BOA is to lend credibility to the company website. To lend credibility to other investors who are looking at us. You see, with a BOA like this how can we not succeed? How can we not be worth fifty million dollars?
Arrgghh...
The Importance of a Client Portfolio
As I have stated previously, the current company morphed out of a previous boondoggle. This previous iteration actually built a list of clients that include some impressive sounding names and even some serious government agencies.
It is important to remember that as clients these are assets to be leveraged and leveraged hard. For instance, when talking to a person remotely connected to the telco sector it is important to refer to our telco clients no less than once every 4.5 minutes. Failure to do this will result in being blamed for the deal going sideways.
The system cannot be questioned. When asked what this major telco is doing with our solutions the answer is well established, "We are under NDA and cannot go into that." Can one of these companies actually provide a reference? "It is not usually their practice to do so, but we can make a call."
It is vitally important to leave the impression that the referenced company or agency is using our current, state of the art, blow your mind, yet to be developed solution. Let me state that again: it is vital to leave the impression that the referenced company is using our current, state of the art, blow your mind, yet to be developed solution. This, of course, is misleading. If these companies are still using our solutions, they are using the old technology from the old company and have no interest in ever adopting our new technology. But that is not the point.
The point is, that if an investor believes that a huge US Government agency is using our latest technology (they're not) then the investor might just come on board without doing proper due diligence.
Don't believe me?
Our CEO, DC, brought in over a million in Venture Capital before any investor asked to see the books. (that is another story.)
Of course there is no borderline fraudulent activity that cannot be escalated. If you go to our homepage (Let me remind you that I am writing this anonymously and have changed names and locations for my protection) you will see the following section:
This also works for getting the right names on the Board of Advisors (BOA). When bringing in an ex-telco executive it is important that he believes that our associations with the big American Telecommunication firms are current and very profitable, in fact, "They are all over our new solutions, they just need us to make a couple of tweaks." Later that very same BOA member is prohibited from participating in any telco conference calls or from using his telco contacts with the referenced companies. Draw your own conclusions.
I repeat, "Arrgghh."
It is important to remember that as clients these are assets to be leveraged and leveraged hard. For instance, when talking to a person remotely connected to the telco sector it is important to refer to our telco clients no less than once every 4.5 minutes. Failure to do this will result in being blamed for the deal going sideways.
The system cannot be questioned. When asked what this major telco is doing with our solutions the answer is well established, "We are under NDA and cannot go into that." Can one of these companies actually provide a reference? "It is not usually their practice to do so, but we can make a call."
It is vitally important to leave the impression that the referenced company or agency is using our current, state of the art, blow your mind, yet to be developed solution. Let me state that again: it is vital to leave the impression that the referenced company is using our current, state of the art, blow your mind, yet to be developed solution. This, of course, is misleading. If these companies are still using our solutions, they are using the old technology from the old company and have no interest in ever adopting our new technology. But that is not the point.
The point is, that if an investor believes that a huge US Government agency is using our latest technology (they're not) then the investor might just come on board without doing proper due diligence.
Don't believe me?
Our CEO, DC, brought in over a million in Venture Capital before any investor asked to see the books. (that is another story.)
Of course there is no borderline fraudulent activity that cannot be escalated. If you go to our homepage (Let me remind you that I am writing this anonymously and have changed names and locations for my protection) you will see the following section:
Below are just some of our valued clients using EveryCorp today.This is followed by a rotating list made up of mostly our previous company's clients. It is fun to note that most of these clients wouldn't have a clue who EveryCorp is, being that the previous company had a different name (and corporate registration --to my knowledge)
This also works for getting the right names on the Board of Advisors (BOA). When bringing in an ex-telco executive it is important that he believes that our associations with the big American Telecommunication firms are current and very profitable, in fact, "They are all over our new solutions, they just need us to make a couple of tweaks." Later that very same BOA member is prohibited from participating in any telco conference calls or from using his telco contacts with the referenced companies. Draw your own conclusions.
I repeat, "Arrgghh."
Sunday, January 4, 2009
The Google Factor
Nothing gets both the team and the investors fired up more than the thought of a major company is buying us.
Early in our story DC, our esteemed CEO, made the connection. We are developing a presentation tool that is not unlike a tool that Google has had great success with. Ergo, they are interested in buying us. Using assorted contacts, meetings with DC and senior Google staff were set up and DC blew them away. We definitely have what they are looking for and they are definitely interested in us.
9:00AM developer meeting in the office.
The whole team is assembled --as I am not an hourly employee at this point, I am welcome to sit in and contribute. DC, who called the meeting is late. Rather than waste the time, the chief Engineer, LX, takes charge. He has worked all weekend to design a solution to last week's new feature set and he is keen to get everyone's feedback. Within 45 minutes the white board has been filled with notes three times and everyone is in general agreement that the solutions are brilliant, will work and will set us apart from anyone else in the business.
DC arrives, looks at the board and proceeds to thank everyone for their great work.
He appears impressed, then states, "I had a great call with Google and here is what they want us to do..."
DC then proceeds to layout a vision that negates all of LX's (and the team's) work. This new direction will "...take care of everything that Google needs to complete their takeover of us" (implying that one has begun). The team is at once despondent over their wasted work and elated that Google is actually taking us seriously.
Jump forward six months. DC and I have arrived at a convention in New York to meet with the Google executive that DC has been negotiating with for the past six months. The plan: to hand over the signed NDA that the Google Executive has insisted we sign, then negotiate the deal. This is it.
Preparation for the meeting has been extensive; development has been put on hold for two weeks to put together the show: mockups, investor documents, I even lost 10 pounds so that I could fit into my good "power" suit. The days prior included lunch meetings to lay a framework for the deal we were willing to accept: share/cash ratios, min dollar amounts; even the acceptable duration of golden handcuffs was discussed. Everyone, and everyone's family, was on pins and needles.
We arrived for the convention, booked into our room and nervously began to discuss wardrobe. It was both crazy and fun.
We were ready at the appointed time. Dressed perfectly, notes in hands, demos working, NDA signed, not a hair out of place.
We confidently strolled to the Google booth and asked for the executive. He emerges from the office at the rear of the booth. DC reaches out his hand and nervously speaks in short sentences, "I am DC from EveryCorp. This is ME (my hand extends to be shaken). Here is the NDA you sent us. Where should we sit?
The Google exec looks both puzzled and welcoming. This is the man who has been intimately involved in the significant redesign of our company for the past six months.
"Who are you?" he asks without malice.
It dawned on me that I was not returning home a millionaire.
Ultimately we had a great meeting, he appeared aware of our existence though not familiar with our solutions. As the conference only provided limited Internet access to the floor of the show we were not able to show him any of the demos, but we shook hands as friends and he wished us good luck going forward.
On the plane home DC and I talked about how strange it was that he was uninformed about us and agreed that a person of his seniority probably relies on his notes which he obviously didn't have at the conference. That was it. He was, after all, very positive and encouraging.
In my personal debrief to myself I stressed that we had made good contact with a senior Google executive and even if he was not previously aware of us, now he is. This is not a bad thing.
9:00AM developer meeting in the office.
The whole team is assembled. DC, who called the meeting, is late. Rather than waste the time, the chief Engineer, LX, takes charge. He has worked all weekend to design a solution to last week's new feature set and he is keen to get everyone's feedback. Within 45 minutes the white board has been filled with notes three times and everyone is in general agreement that the solutions are brilliant, will work, and will set us apart from anyone else in the business.
DC arrives, looks at the board and proceeds to thank everyone for their great work.
He appears impressed then states, "ME and I had a great meeting with Google last week and here is what they want us to do..."
He then layed out the very detailed, new, direction that the company needs to take in order to fulfill the new directives from Google. He was very specific: outlining exactly the functionality that the Google exec told us they need to see before they can buy us.
Strange how he took all of that from our friendly fifteen minute meeting in New York, all I got was a business card.
Early in our story DC, our esteemed CEO, made the connection. We are developing a presentation tool that is not unlike a tool that Google has had great success with. Ergo, they are interested in buying us. Using assorted contacts, meetings with DC and senior Google staff were set up and DC blew them away. We definitely have what they are looking for and they are definitely interested in us.
9:00AM developer meeting in the office.
The whole team is assembled --as I am not an hourly employee at this point, I am welcome to sit in and contribute. DC, who called the meeting is late. Rather than waste the time, the chief Engineer, LX, takes charge. He has worked all weekend to design a solution to last week's new feature set and he is keen to get everyone's feedback. Within 45 minutes the white board has been filled with notes three times and everyone is in general agreement that the solutions are brilliant, will work and will set us apart from anyone else in the business.
DC arrives, looks at the board and proceeds to thank everyone for their great work.
He appears impressed, then states, "I had a great call with Google and here is what they want us to do..."
DC then proceeds to layout a vision that negates all of LX's (and the team's) work. This new direction will "...take care of everything that Google needs to complete their takeover of us" (implying that one has begun). The team is at once despondent over their wasted work and elated that Google is actually taking us seriously.
Jump forward six months. DC and I have arrived at a convention in New York to meet with the Google executive that DC has been negotiating with for the past six months. The plan: to hand over the signed NDA that the Google Executive has insisted we sign, then negotiate the deal. This is it.
Preparation for the meeting has been extensive; development has been put on hold for two weeks to put together the show: mockups, investor documents, I even lost 10 pounds so that I could fit into my good "power" suit. The days prior included lunch meetings to lay a framework for the deal we were willing to accept: share/cash ratios, min dollar amounts; even the acceptable duration of golden handcuffs was discussed. Everyone, and everyone's family, was on pins and needles.
We arrived for the convention, booked into our room and nervously began to discuss wardrobe. It was both crazy and fun.
We were ready at the appointed time. Dressed perfectly, notes in hands, demos working, NDA signed, not a hair out of place.
We confidently strolled to the Google booth and asked for the executive. He emerges from the office at the rear of the booth. DC reaches out his hand and nervously speaks in short sentences, "I am DC from EveryCorp. This is ME (my hand extends to be shaken). Here is the NDA you sent us. Where should we sit?
The Google exec looks both puzzled and welcoming. This is the man who has been intimately involved in the significant redesign of our company for the past six months.
"Who are you?" he asks without malice.
It dawned on me that I was not returning home a millionaire.
Ultimately we had a great meeting, he appeared aware of our existence though not familiar with our solutions. As the conference only provided limited Internet access to the floor of the show we were not able to show him any of the demos, but we shook hands as friends and he wished us good luck going forward.
On the plane home DC and I talked about how strange it was that he was uninformed about us and agreed that a person of his seniority probably relies on his notes which he obviously didn't have at the conference. That was it. He was, after all, very positive and encouraging.
In my personal debrief to myself I stressed that we had made good contact with a senior Google executive and even if he was not previously aware of us, now he is. This is not a bad thing.
9:00AM developer meeting in the office.
The whole team is assembled. DC, who called the meeting, is late. Rather than waste the time, the chief Engineer, LX, takes charge. He has worked all weekend to design a solution to last week's new feature set and he is keen to get everyone's feedback. Within 45 minutes the white board has been filled with notes three times and everyone is in general agreement that the solutions are brilliant, will work, and will set us apart from anyone else in the business.
DC arrives, looks at the board and proceeds to thank everyone for their great work.
He appears impressed then states, "ME and I had a great meeting with Google last week and here is what they want us to do..."
He then layed out the very detailed, new, direction that the company needs to take in order to fulfill the new directives from Google. He was very specific: outlining exactly the functionality that the Google exec told us they need to see before they can buy us.
Strange how he took all of that from our friendly fifteen minute meeting in New York, all I got was a business card.
Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
"Stop apologizing." came the directive from NM, our COO and head of HR.
"Stop fucking up." screamed my inner voice.
Apparently apologizing when you ought to is a sign of weakness, an admission of culpability. But what if you are culpable? What if you promised a quote by Friday and it is now the following Wednesday? What if you are fifteen minutes late for a conference call after insisting that the call be moved up fifteen minutes to fit your schedule?
No. Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
I have always felt that if you fuck up you should immediately draw attention to it as an anomaly, apologize and move forward: this immediately takes away the ability of the other party to hold it against you.
No. Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
I have always thought that if you are late for a meeting and you do not apologize you send the message that this is normal behavior for you and that your time is more valuable, in general, than their time. I have always thought that by apologizing when late you state loud and clear that, at least outwardly, you believe that we are all of value and that it bothers you that others have had to wait for your presence.
No. Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
Arrgghhh.
"Stop fucking up." screamed my inner voice.
Apparently apologizing when you ought to is a sign of weakness, an admission of culpability. But what if you are culpable? What if you promised a quote by Friday and it is now the following Wednesday? What if you are fifteen minutes late for a conference call after insisting that the call be moved up fifteen minutes to fit your schedule?
No. Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
I have always felt that if you fuck up you should immediately draw attention to it as an anomaly, apologize and move forward: this immediately takes away the ability of the other party to hold it against you.
No. Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
I have always thought that if you are late for a meeting and you do not apologize you send the message that this is normal behavior for you and that your time is more valuable, in general, than their time. I have always thought that by apologizing when late you state loud and clear that, at least outwardly, you believe that we are all of value and that it bothers you that others have had to wait for your presence.
No. Apologizing is a sign of weakness.
Arrgghhh.
Yes we can
What do you say to a client that asks for something that is clearly outside of the vision and the skillset of the company?
Potential Client: Can we provide a solution that mixes your drink every time you are away from your keyboard for more than 47 seconds?
Correct answer: Yes, absolutely. That is exactly what we do.
Honesty and integrity are liabilities.
Arrgghh...
Yes, absolutely. That is exactly what we do.I am serious. No is a four letter word at EveryCorp.com.
Potential Client: Can we provide a solution that mixes your drink every time you are away from your keyboard for more than 47 seconds?
Correct answer: Yes, absolutely. That is exactly what we do.
Honesty and integrity are liabilities.
Arrgghh...
Friday, January 2, 2009
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