Expect the unexpected

At the beginning of this week, I set out some goals following on from the interview I had last week with Springboard. I was quite happy that @seedcamp acknowledged the post and others took inspiration from it.

But I couldn't have anticipated how this weeks events would unfold, and how I'd have made major progress towards my goals is such a short time. So, here's a review of the four goals I drafted last Sunday night:

1. Product Management- I wasn't accepted to Springboard, and through this I've realised that while my product has both a mobile and cloud data loss prevention use case and value, trying to pitch both simultaneously, is quite difficult, and possibly a mistake. While the core technology and implementation lends itself quite cleanly to both scenarios of data loss prevention, trying to pitch these two together might be seen as contradictory. I've set a deadline for Monday morning 14 Sept 09 to update the presentation I did for Seedcamp, but now in 10-20-30 format I discussed in my previous post, focusing solely on the mobile data loss prevention, at first.

2. Sales and Marketing- Here was the big surprise. On Wednesday, I was made aware of an Invitation To Tender that was just announced that day, for a data loss prevention solution for a large UK council; approx. 5000 seats. This is potentially the revenue stream I was hoping for. I've quickly come to realise, being awarded this contract would be a much bigger win than having been accepted into Seedcamp or Springboard. I need to have a Datum Logic web presence online ASAP.

3. Finance- I have a potential partner. After I sent in my seedcamp application, but before my springboard interview, I met Mark C. from Brighton, who was also looking for new startup ideas and collaborators. Mark has experience with a few startup projects, has some good industry contacts, and has technical experience that complements my own. It was Mark who brought this ITT to my attention. He also has a project for which he's created a prototype, that he's trying to launch as well, but he's dedicating the next few weeks to my project and this ITT.

4. Product Development- One of the most interesting things about this ITT is the schedule. It will be awarded and deployed fast- awarded by November and deployed before the end of the year. This ITT almost exactly describes the problem I was trying to solve when I initially designed the Device Hotswap Agent and Removable Media Assurance component of Boomerang/PlexSafe solution. Focusing on this tender will not distract us from the larger picture; it will allow us to focus on an important subset of functionality and give us a vital reference account and provide us with a revenue stream, if we are awarded the contract.

So, all things considered, a very good week and lots of potential for the future.

rev 1 - 11 Sept 2009