I own a small company in Central Illinois. We specialize in automating business processes - especially in publishing over the last few years, but we've also done everything from insurance subrogation tracking (yeah, and only about 50% of the people I meet actually know what that is) to high volume transactional processing. (Real simple transactions, REALLY fast). And then something changed
A few years ago I created a term vectorspace engine called VSDB as a thought experiment in how search engines work. But instead of focusing on documents, I focused on "dimensionality", and thought how nice it might be to look at objects instead of just documents. This way, you could use it to search a database, using it for dating, use it to find problem/solution pairs in a knowledgebase, or any number of generic matching you need. In the process I also discovered that the data can clump, and the engine could brute-force find Common groupings in data, like finding common groupings of blogs.
I immediately started building little tools to help me do things with VSDB, from searching for recipes based on what I have on hand, to blogging and notetaking in a cloud, to searching my emails (Back to 2000, I'd still like to find the ones going back to 1995.)
So, my background is consulting and problem solving, and this whole "packaged product" thing is completely new to me. So I found Group of enterprising individuals, and started pulling at threads to see how the heck these people make a living selling software.
Now, I realize - I missed a few steps along the way, and need to really examine how to create my "startup" - selling my vectorspace engine and building a product based business, or at least building a consulting practice around my VSDB product. I've read a lot of stuff, I've bought a few books, and I've met a few people - but I think that running a business is very different from programming.
I'm a programmer, I know deep down that there is an efficient way to do just about whatever it is you want to do. You can either look it up, or you can buy it... but it's out there. Since the web is populated with a lot of programmers - you can find it if you know how to query properly. But I've noticed that learning about running a Micro-ISV or other startup requires a conversation - the problems and opportunities are built on the interaction of people, and the solutions likewise require the interaction of people. Someone posts a question, and there is a large amount of discussion that follows about what's worked, what hasn't - telling you : "Yes, Here is a general concensus", or "Well, your milage may vary depending on a lot of variables".
Either way, the solutions require conversations.
So - I thought. Why not ask these guys what they do, how they got there, and what their challenges are.. and give them the opportunity to shill their products at the same time. Win, win. So, here it is. Now excuse me while I go find people to interview. Got any suggestions?
A few years ago I created a term vectorspace engine called VSDB as a thought experiment in how search engines work. But instead of focusing on documents, I focused on "dimensionality", and thought how nice it might be to look at objects instead of just documents. This way, you could use it to search a database, using it for dating, use it to find problem/solution pairs in a knowledgebase, or any number of generic matching you need. In the process I also discovered that the data can clump, and the engine could brute-force find Common groupings in data, like finding common groupings of blogs.
I immediately started building little tools to help me do things with VSDB, from searching for recipes based on what I have on hand, to blogging and notetaking in a cloud, to searching my emails (Back to 2000, I'd still like to find the ones going back to 1995.)
So, my background is consulting and problem solving, and this whole "packaged product" thing is completely new to me. So I found Group of enterprising individuals, and started pulling at threads to see how the heck these people make a living selling software.
Now, I realize - I missed a few steps along the way, and need to really examine how to create my "startup" - selling my vectorspace engine and building a product based business, or at least building a consulting practice around my VSDB product. I've read a lot of stuff, I've bought a few books, and I've met a few people - but I think that running a business is very different from programming.
I'm a programmer, I know deep down that there is an efficient way to do just about whatever it is you want to do. You can either look it up, or you can buy it... but it's out there. Since the web is populated with a lot of programmers - you can find it if you know how to query properly. But I've noticed that learning about running a Micro-ISV or other startup requires a conversation - the problems and opportunities are built on the interaction of people, and the solutions likewise require the interaction of people. Someone posts a question, and there is a large amount of discussion that follows about what's worked, what hasn't - telling you : "Yes, Here is a general concensus", or "Well, your milage may vary depending on a lot of variables".
Either way, the solutions require conversations.
So - I thought. Why not ask these guys what they do, how they got there, and what their challenges are.. and give them the opportunity to shill their products at the same time. Win, win. So, here it is. Now excuse me while I go find people to interview. Got any suggestions?