Month: August 2008

A SaaS contrarian taken to task

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

The smart folks over at Appirio have posted a direct and pointed response to Harry Debes' comments about SaaS being a passing fad as my previous post highlighted.  One of my favorite parts:

"When the sunk costs have been fully depreciated, customers effectively run the software for free." Yeah,
right. This is a shocking lie – unless Debes and on-premise software
companies want to stop collecting maintenance payments from customers.
Tell on-premise customers who have had their maintenance fees raised without warning,
or had a running product suddenly characterized as "end of life"
because their vendor was hungry for an upgrade, that they're running
software for "free." The even greater cost is the lack of business
flexibility these rigid systems empart on their customers.

Read the whole thing.

A SaaS contrarian

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

Here's an interesting Q&A with Lawson CEO Harry Debes (picked up via deal architect) proclaiming a collapse in SaaS hype in a couple of years.  It is an interesting read and a compelling counterpoint to the hype and excitement around "software as a service" delivery models.

His perspective is based on essentially seeing this type of thing before as "service bureaus" or "application service providers" in previous incarnations that failed to deliver as promised.  Also, he takes a shot at the time to profitability for this type of model.

No doubt that the economics are different from a perpetual model that provides cash up front and a maintenance stream to get fat and happy off of over time.  Incurring an upfront "dip" to acquire customers and using a monthly subscription fee to plane up to profitability is very different indeed as is how to value multi-year contract backlog. 

But what about enterprise customer fatigue with the old model where swallowing such a huge capital investment for software and then hoping for the payback often led to disappointment?  Hasn't doing what is most appealing to the software provider given way to what makes the most sense to the enterprise and allowing them to consume software on their own terms?  Maybe SaaS is a passing fad but enterprise software consumption and delivery models are changing and will continue to evolve. 

Your network is the platform

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

As I sort through the noise of all the forms of personal communication and connection available to me these days, it occurs to me that each of these platforms (personal & work email, my cell phone, CRM applications, social network du jour (Facebook, LinkedIn,etc.)) is disconnected from the other. 

The true "platform" is my active network and the actions I take during the course of the day. 

The fact that I have to jump between applications and devices to manage it all makes it almost unbearable.  I believe the answer to this is connectivity among all these disparate tools where no one platform is superior to the other.  They all serve some purpose for me ranging from critical to curiosity and it would be nice to manage them centrally.  This would shift ownership (and control) from any one of these platform providers to the individual but isn't that the way it should be?

Good news for IT spending?

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

Well…kinda.  This story from MarketWatch about a recent Gartner survey highlights an anticipated increase in spend over the next three years.  The anticipated 8% spending increase is almost cut in half when allowing for a declining US Dollar (although the dollar has gained in recent weeks).  Let's leave that to the economists and take this as an indication that folks will continue to spend money on IT going forward.

Gartner analyst Jim Tully points to several things driving spending growth including technology shifts:

Among those shifts are movements toward software being sold on a per-use, service-based model, and toward "cloud computing," in which information is stored on a server and any changes to that information are automatically made to devices that are linked into the cloud.

Being intellectually invested

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Those of you that know me know that I use the this phrase quite a bit as it relates to getting the right people in the right positions to take a new/innovative product or service to market.  There are many very capable sales and marketing types who can launch products, support go-to-market activities, and usher prospects through a sales cycle once product/market fit has been achieved and the patterns become repeatable, predictable and dependable.  If this is your company, congratulations as you have now moved beyond early stage and you are on the path to success.

Getting there is a whole different matter and takes a unique set of attributes for those on the team.  Intellectual investment means wanting to figure out how your product/service solves a problem for someone and going through the process of finding the problem(s), learning about it, adjusting features and messaging to fix that problem, and serving yourself up as a true adviser with subject matter expertise.

Bear in mind, people like this are hard to find and many (most) start-ups decide to ramp a large and expensive national direct sales team long before this process is complete.   Without achieving product/market fit prior to this scaling (assuming it is the right thing for your business) you need to surround yourself with folks that are curious and driven to "figure it out."

Large companies generally do not breed these types unless they are the cream of the crop, short timers, or have been part of something truly innovative and revolutionary.  Former management consultants (like yours truly) make good targets but make sure they have some operational perspective versus being pure spreadsheet or powerpoint jockeys.  There is no substitute for live fire exercises to firmly ground your assumptions and activities.  Anybody who has done it before or "already seen the movie" are prime targets as well.  Be cautious of those that were there as it happened versus truly involved.  There is definitely truth in the phrase "rising tides lift all boats."

Getting the coverage you want

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

This thread appeared recently on the Seattle Tech Startups (STS) and occurred around the same time as this approach by Jason Calacanis began to get some coverage.  While I think Jason's approach is creative and agree with some of it, there are still some hard truths about building market awareness.  PR firms are only as good as the material, market, and people they work with.  That said, I have had too many poor experiences with bad PR firms including both local boutique shops as well as national/global players.  Local players can be clueless about the national or international stage and big players will sell with seniority and then staff you with a freshly minted college grad as your day-to-day contact. 

If you expect your business to soar by blindly hiring a PR firm, you will be disappointed.

Here's my response to the thread about company launches on STS:

Identify the issues that are core to the problem you are solving and own them. Add something to the discussion about the problem you are solving and back it up with your expertise, customer value realized or even survey results.  Stats will get you coverage.  Also, building a coverage pipeline is like building a sales pipeline.  Lots of activity to get the results you desire.

PR can have a good ROI if the firm you work with gets it and makes themselves accountable to hard metrics.  Your job is to give them something to work with and view building market awareness in the broader context of growing a company.  If you are in the market, I strongly recommend VisitechPR out of Denver. I have worked with them in my last two companies and can't say enough great things about them.

A weekend in Connecticut

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

After spending a few days in New York City this week, I ventured into Connecticut to spend the weekend with some friends.  We had great weather and I enjoyed reconnecting with them after way too long.  We enjoyed some great meals including Lenny & Joe's for amazing fried clams and lobster rolls, the River Tavern in Chester, and O'Rourke's Diner in Middletown (try the "Irish Embassy" for breakfast). 

The friendships we develop early in life (college or early work in my case) are some of the closest we will ever have and keeping them strong takes some effort especially as we move to various corners of the globe and transition from being an individual to having a family.  The trick is to treasure the time you spend together, not dwell on the time apart.  I hadn't seen them in two years and we were able to pick right back up where we left off.  I am truly fortunate to have friends like this.  The real challenge is to find the time to get together and re-connect frequently.

A great meal at Blue Hill in NYC

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

I decided to find a new restaurant during my recent New York trip and came across Blue Hill in Greenwich Village during my search.  With Chef/Owner Dan Barber recently named a "Who's Who in Food & Beverage" by the James Beard Foundation and the emphasis local/farm fresh ingredients, I was sold. 

I had a great meal and really appreciated both the service and hospitality of the staff as a solo diner.  Some of the best lamb I have ever had combined with a theme of farm fresh tomatoes for the other courses.  If you like ingredients that stand on their own, this is the place for you.  

I also learned when you dine alone in NYC and carry a pen and paper to both make notes about your experience as well as sort out your projects and priorities, people seated next to you may assume you are a food critic.  I learned this after being asked by the couple next to me…

Although I failed to mention to them that I do write a small publication called "Reply to All" out of Seattle, I would definitely recommend adding Blue Hill to your list of places to dine while in NYC.

Bear Stearns closure

/ Robert Pease / 1 Comment

While in NYC last week, I managed to find some time to walk a bit on a beautiful late summer day in the city and strolled by the former home of Bear Stearns on Madison Avenue.  Not a trace left and closure for me.

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And here's a great picture of the Chrysler Building.  I have always loved the design of it.

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