Mentations on Mentations

Intellectual Property - The Outsourcing Of

Many in the IT industry are fond of outsourcing if not offshoring in today's hypercompetitive, global economy.  I say this is well and good so long as it doesn't involve your core competency.  However, what is surprising to me is the number of folks I talk to who even advocate outsourcing that.  Specifically, I know of a number of software startups that are either using temporary contract workers or who are offshoring.  Perhaps it comes down to what exactly is getting outsourced.  If these companies have software architects that are developing detailed specifications as to what exactly should be coded and then the outsourcees simply execute that plan, then that is bad but maybe not disastrous.   What's the big deal?  Knowledge is gained, lessons are learned, and decisions are made during the creative exercise of birthing an application, and whoever is physically doing the work gains significantly more know-how than anyone else.  So if these companies are outsourcing the whole kit and caboodle, then I think they are on thin ice because not much intellectual property is retained in-house; of course, whoever did the work makes out pretty well and could even market that domain knowledge to other potential clients... maybe even a given company's competitors!

Our New Logo - The Rationale

I'm really excited by our new logo design.  It replaces the old, hackneyed coat-of-arms theme that we were previously using.  The idea is that the sun, along with the retreating shadow below it, represent Grimaldi's core mission as embodied through Mentations of cutting through the fog/chaos/darkness of information overload to shed light on a given user's universe of data.  Put another way, Grimaldi is striving to create the end-to-end solution for collecting, distilling, categorizing, monitoring, analyzing, and reacting to a given user's set of information... bringing light and order to where there was only darkness and chaos before.  Ok, granted, a healthy dose of hyperbole was used, but hey, it certainly is motivational!  ;^)

Venture Capitalists - The Paradox

I've gotta get this off my chest.  What is the deal with venture capitalists?!  Yes, I know they've been burned badly as a result of the dot bomb, but that doesn't mean that they should throw the baby out with the bath water!  There are many talented techies out there who are trying to do innovative stuff and who need help at the seed stage.  Many of us, coming from our geek/tech/introverted paradigms do not have the connections/network to get much, if any, angel funding up-front.  Hence, we need seed VC support.  Heck, I have even talked to some 'angel network' groups who are just as gun-shy as VCs.  Of course, I know the counter-arguments.  "If the entrepreneur can build out the product, grow the management team, get customers, and make some money before they contact us then this is evidence that they are worth funding and will save them some equity since their company will have a higher valuation at that point."  That might be true, but that's assuming we can even survive this first stage without assistance!  Trying to keep a day job and growing a start-up simultaneously is a tough nut to crack.  Plus, if I've already created a business that has customers and is profitable, am I really going to go see a VC or the bank if I need money??  Since the VC's requirements resemble the bank's in many ways at this point, and the bank is much less apt to kick me out of my own company, I'll choose to do business with the latter.  Sure, I may not be able to get as much money, but that's ok by me given the trade-off.  As many have asked, where has the 'venture' in venture capital gone?