That’s okay. Analysts agree to consider doing these things and to providing some “feedback” (that’s what vendors and their PR folks call free consulting) in return for early access to information. I’ve found out lots of interesting things this way and even gotten a few new clients. I’ve also learned a few lessons. With the thought that you might also need to evaluate ideas and/or products I thought I’d pass some of these hints along. Comments from our readers are, as always, appreciated. Setting Expectations Setting expectations is important. I sometimes think analysts should come with a sign (or an automated voice message) that says, “Analyst. Watch out. May bite.” When someone is going to share information with you, it’s important that you both be on the same wave length. Do they just want to lecture? Are they only looking for praise? Are they seeking critical input? Can you agree on what to expect? This is a two-way street. Unless you’re desperate to hear what the informer has to say, you the listener have a right to some expectations, too. I always insist on knowing something about what we’re going to discuss (no mysteries, no surprises), who’s going to be included in the discussion (there are some people too dumb or too annoying to waste time with), and whether they will agree to my ground rules. I’m not interested in being read a PowerPoint presentation. I do like to see any visuals in advance so I can look through them. What I want is an intelligent discussion about the subject at hand. What Is It? It’s amazing how many smart people in the technology industries are completely unable to tell you what they’ve got. Either they’re tied to some completely inflexible set of 58 PowerPoint slides where they can’t tell you the point of the whole thing for the first 20 minutes or – worse – they don’t really know. I have rules. Unless you’re hiring me to do your positioning – or you’re a close personal friend – I expect any company who wants to tell me about a product or an idea to be able to start by telling me (a) What it is and (b) Who it’s for. The second part better include a brief explanation of why that potential customer would find this product compelling. My eyes glaze over immediately when someone tells me “The customers are going to love this when they see it.” I just wonder if they’ve ever seen a customer. Repeat this mantra three times: Customers don’t buy technology. Customers buy solutions to identified problems. If customers are looking for solutions, then product companies need to be able to explain where they’re at, because Timing Counts. Do they have an idea for a product, a prototype, a product in the beta stage with some early customers? For anything beyond an idea, I expect to be able to SEE the product unless it’s some enormous piece of hardware and we’re talking on the phone. Software vendors who can’t figure out how to do web demos are too dumb to succeed in this market and I usually can’t resist telling them that. Business Models Count I am no longer excited by great technology that has no commercial application or no imaginable business model. (NOTE: In case you’re wondering I do NOT include Linux in this statement. I can offer you several viable Linux business models.) The dot.com mania is over and whatever the startups and their venture capitalists were smoking as they put millions of dollars into companies with no business models at all is gone, hopefully forever. If you can’t tell me how you’re funded, how soon you expect to have cash flow, and how soon you expect to reach break-even and profitability (or where on the spectrum you are – we do get to talk to Grown-Up companies who have been profitable for a very long time), I’m not sure you have very much of a future. We will make an exception for a first look at a new piece of technology to try to help its owner decide IF there is a viable business model available – as long as we both understand that’s what’s going on. Reasonable Expectations We’re very interested in what the product owner thinks is going to happen. We have no respect for companies who think they have no competition. Very few companies get to write on a clean sheet of paper and when they do they will have the problem of educating a brand new market – without the resources to take on the job. We like companies with a good knowledge of their market, a respect (but not fear) of the competition, and a plan for how they will differentiate themselves. Companies need to have goals that are reasonable for their size and resources. For most new companies that means a lot of focus on a single market or customer segment until they get successfully established. On the other hand, that segment needs to be big enough that a reasonable success will give them a big enough market to permit investors to be interested. Some of the people we talk to apparently never learned arithmetic.
Honesty Is The Best Policy We love people who are candid. It’s disarming and it’s charming (because it’s so rare). It puts us on their side, trying to figure out how to help them find the resources they need to succeed. We’re willing to do that because we’re betting that when we recommend them to a potential partner or customer their honesty will underlie that relationship, too, enhancing its chances for success. Analysts know how long it takes to create and market technology. We’ll guess when we’re being told something that’s unlikely in the extreme and when the briefer is proven wrong, we’ll remember that (we take notes). So honor us with the truth – or just say you’re not prepared to say anything at all just now. We’ll respect that. Comments or Questions: Send Email to
opinions@wohl.com
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