On Rad's Radar? - startup Archives

SubOut is the Best of What Cloud has to Offer

2013-01-23T00:15:30Z

The transportation industry is more efficient due to a new start-up that launched. SubOut.com is a subscription-based communications exchange enabling transportation companies to source business, buy and sell parts, and streamline subcontracting via a secure, easy-to-use interface accessible from any web-enabled device. [PR]

"SubOut.com is an innovative web-based tool that streamlines the subcontracting process for the bus and limousine industry", said Thomas Howe, an award winning communications software architect and one of SubOut.com's founders. "This easy-to-use platform uses the most up-to-date technology to reduce the overhead produced from charter booking processes by allowing charters to be posted and accepted online, in real-time."

SubOut is a vendor management platform for faster, stickier coordinated bus and limo transactions. Transportation is still largely inefficient and analog. This platform allows for the layering of communications on top for ease of use and to speed up the bidding process for tour operators (and the like).

Programmers and telecom insiders forget that many people do not sit in front of computers all day. This is a framework for those types of businesses to leverage technology for business process improvement -- the holy grail of cloud computing. Subout.com adds instant communication. This results in filled buses, sold charters, and reduced idle time - and increased revenue, notes Anthony Vaccarello, President of Transportation Partners of America. In some respects, this is like Craigslist or elance for the transportation industry.

Good luck to Thomas Howe and his company. Howe has won awards for creating telephony mashup apps before. It looks like he is getting back to roots.

Find SubOut on G+. Watch the video for a thorough explanation of SubOut.com

ITEXPO West Wrap-Up

2012-10-08T16:03:35Z

I'm home from ITEXPO West in Austin. It was another great show for me. The folks at TMC did another wonderful job putting it together.

Jaime H. juggled my press room meeting schedule on Tuesday, despite my last minute schedule changes. 8x8, Hostway, snom, Centerbeam and others were all able to sit down with me. (Sometimes that isn't always joyful for the marketing/PR folks.) I'm always happy if I can have one or 2 good conversations out of these meetings - and I did.

The sessions were mainly full. I noticed a couple of things: people were not leaving the session rooms but staying for session after session - and they were not just doing that to use a power plug. Most people were not on their devices during sessions, which is unique.

In my Cloud Services Broker Panel, I asked all the attendees why they were there. All said to Learn.

I think our industry is in a lot of turmoil caused by too much cloud hype and consolidation.

The economy, the change, the cloud, and the consolidation makes everyone stressed and fearful of losing their job, when there isn't likely another available (at least immediately).

The marketing machine has ballooned the hype on cloud to ridiculous proportions. The term doesn't mean much to anyone - customers, prospects, vendors, service providers, employees.

With access revenues flat, apps and cloud services are the only way for many service providers to gain revenue. The CLEC industry HAS to be successful in selling cloud services to survive.

Every show has a lot of cloud - so many titles, headlines, banners, etc. It is worse than VoIP was a few years ago. The noise level is deafening - and boring. The industry has to fix this fast.

Startup Camp Comms was enjoyable. Watching Tampa's own startup, Phonism, pitch was exciting. RingDNA won the popular vote though.

I have to say that the keynotes were very good. I have remarked in the past about the commercialized quality of the keynotes, but this time the keynotes were interesting, tweet-worthy, and informative. Thanks to Shortel's CEO Peter Blackmore, IBM's Mike Riegel, and Siemen's CMO Chris Hummel.

Most significant sound byte: "joy of use" is an expectation not a nice to have @hummel_chris."

It is not about the technology or the marketing buzz. It is about Outcomes and UX (user experience). Without outcomes and UX, cloud is just a clumsy way to push technology on a user. That won't last. they won't use it. Then they will stop paying for it. Then you have a lot of CAPEX tied up in dust.

IBM used a Tire Store as a case study. A tire store. You can't get any less tech than that. If a tire store worries about the UX, then shouldn't tech/telecom companies???

Personal note: I either need new shoes or more exercise because my back and feet hurt from walking around the show floor, the halls, the podium and downtown Austin. The parties were mobbed, but I was in bed before midnight most nights. (It's about Outcomes :).

We go to these conferences to learn, to mingle, to network. (That's one reason I organize a dinner at each event.) This show definitely delivers on those attributes.

What did you think?

Want to learn more? Read my tweets or search #itexpo

What's Happening?

2012-08-24T20:34:01Z

Broadview Networks filed bankruptcy, albeit a pre-packaged debt reduction plan.

CenturyLink and Mediacom join the broadband cap club. Mediacom has a low end cap of 150 GB. Ouch! For cable companies, metering and caps are about preserving the TV money, but telcos should be cap free.

Are you a Start-up? Pitch your company at StartupCamp in Austin!

President's Club contests are popping up. Microcorp has recruited 6 carriers - M5, Level3, Comcast, EarthLink, Cbeyond, ACC Business - to help Agents qualify for the trip. WTG just announced their first President's Club destination: Puerto Rico. And Telepacific has a President's Club, too.

FCC's 8th Broadband Progress Report is out. About 30% of the US population does not purchase fixed line broadband - but they may get broadband at work or via 3G. Only 6% are stranded on dial-up, so I am having a hard time swallowing all the money that CenturyLink, Frontier and Fairpoint are getting in federal funds to build out - at approximately $775 per user!!

EarthLink's customer profile according to Mike Toplisek: "In large part, they would fit into the range of five employees up to 1,000 employees. Probably 95% of that customer base fits in that size."

The Economist has an article about OTT (over-the-top) VoIP apps and their effect on mobile operators.

The FCC approved the sale of SpectrumCo spectrum to VZW. There were a few restrictions on the joint marketing venture between the two.

FCC Suspends Special Access Rules, Will Collect Data To Modernize Them.

A Day in My Brain

2012-05-18T14:19:54Z

I was in NYC (Tribeca) this week to spend the day at a Q&A session with Seth Godin. He is a marketing guru and author of a lot of best selling business books. Like these:

Here are some of the gems that I liked.

"A "brand" is the promise of an experience." [Boy, could I riff on that one!] Brand IS the experience. Accept that most people won't like you. Build a tribe that will.

Commit to one marketplace or two. You can't chop all the trees down in the forest with one hatchet.

"It's way easier to sell water to thirsty people than to make thirsty people. It's OK to remind people they're thirsty." The corollary to that is People buy to avoid pain more often than they buy to gain pleasure.

You can try to create demand for your service, like trying to make people thirsty. Or you can find thirsty people and sell them water.

"Define failure before you start. When you reach that point, stop, learn and move on to the next thing." [It's a concept from Seth's book, The Dip]

"The secret, I think, is in understanding what matters."

"People spend their time and attention and money in places that make them feel valued." Are you making your customers feel valued?

What is the world view of your target customer? Does your marketing line up with that?

For a brief few, Seth talked about working for a start-up versus working for Google or Apple or Facebook. A start-up is about growth If you want fast-paced; to make an impact; and to learn, join the start-up. Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook are in the "keep it going" mode. You won't have an impact there. You will be a cog in the machine. In our world, working for any of the billion dollar LEC's or MSO's is like working for Facebook, only a lot less cool on your resume.

What is Important to you? Tom Peters says that he can tell what is important to you from calendar. What does your schedule say about what's important to you?

It's all about Direct Marketing and Pay for Performance. (Social media is a tool of direct marketing.)

There is no road map.

It's all about connection and association. Are you connecting people?

We have mass disruption going on today. Every industry including our own is being disrupted by the Internet. Why? The Internet is the first device that is both a Receiver and a transmitter. That's the problem.

Hopefully one of these nuggets gets you thinking.

Some notes made it to this Power Point I created.

Some Stuff Happened While I Was on Daycation

2012-04-23T18:23:04Z

I was taking today and tomorrow off to visit with some pals but the news won't quit.

In the I-can't-stand-it zone, the University of Florida decides that TD's are more important than IT and cuts the Computer Science Department. Just when Florida is playing host to the Rupublican Convention and is looking to make a name for itself, that name becomes DUM or MUD. In a time when we need more science and computer nerds, the state U decides to go a different way.

In Tampa, the former CEO of Savvis has closed his e-commerce company, Savtira, after a flurry of promises to hire 200 people and a number of odg and pony shows about the hot future. Apparently, he has done this before.

Cbeyond has decided that traditional agents are not its future. The Cloud has different demands and demands different partners.

Coresite bought Comfluent to enter the Denver market. "Comfluent plays a vital role in the interconnection community in the western U.S., serving more than 75 customers and managing the Rocky Mountain Internet eXchange (RMIX), the region's largest Internet exchange with access to more than 25 networks. Comfluent currently leases two sites that total approximately 9,300 NRSF," according to the SunHerald

Verizon Wireless wants its deal with the cablecos / SpectrumCo to go through, so it promised to sell off some spectrum. T-Mobile and others think that is just smoke and the deal should still be axed. [see here and there]

Tucows, a domain registrar and fellow ISPCON standard, runs an MVNO called TING.

Vodafone is bidding $1.7B USD to buy Cable & Wireless, according to Rueters

Linux talent will be important in 2013, especially in data centers, reports the Channel Insider

Alex Doyle left Broadsoft for Polycom. Good luck at the new position, Alex!

from Tony: An Insider's Guide to Technology Analysts

Dean Parker, CEO of Callis in Mobile, AL, has been selected in the top 12 finalists for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for the Alabama/Tennessee/ Georgia region.

The Latest in VoIP Updates

2011-09-19T22:00:37Z

There is just so many press releases. I'd say news but much of it is not new (that is to say innovative) or really news worthy other than as tidbits of info to keep up on the sector.

Metaswitch got into the SBC market, because their clients didn't want to buy the market leader, Acme Packet. Level3 jumped into the SBC market with a new service: Managed SBC.

Skype bought Groupme for a rumored $80M. Groupme was a contestant at the second Startup Camp, that also had the makers of the Android desktop phone, Glass.

Interesting thought: Inter-op is about user experience, so is device choice. Think about deployment from the user's experience.

Telesphere partnered with CosmoCom to add cloud-based contact center solutions. That's one more customer that won't be using BroadCloud. Oops! BSFT bought web conferencing company, iLinc, for just $2.4M. The hope is that clients will use BroadCloud instead of third party companies (like Citrix, MegaMeeting or CosmoCom) to fill in the UC components needed for the complete UC experience.

Sangoma acquired all the key assets of Vegastream.

InterCall announced that it will extend its Smoothstone VoiceMaxx IP-PBX services with the addition of VoiceMaxx CE, a suite of service packages based on the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution. Both Smoothstone and Intercall are owned by West Corp.

Here's something startling: a company debuted at ITEXPO with "a 100 percent turnkey white label product that will not only include provisioning, support, billing and telco services, but will also incorporate all of RealLinx products (VoiceLinx, SecurityLinx and BroadbandLinx)."

RingCentral got $10M more in funding. Aren't they self-sufficient yet?

8×8 recently acquired cloud-based call center provider Contactual Hosting.

"NetSapiens' SNAPsolution is utilized by One Source Networks to power a hybrid of cloud-based and premise-based solutions, integrating all of the necessary service delivery components critical to the OSN VoIP infrastructure, such as accounting, provisioning, and call switching to enable OSN's end-user applications such as unified communications, virtual PBX, conferencing, and enhanced call center solutions."

"Virtual PBX Complete with VoIP Anywhere allows customers to use their smart phones and computers as VoIP handsets with complete business phone system capabilities."

CounterPath added SMS, chat and presence to its Bria mobile app. Counterpath also launched the Client Configuration Server (CCS), a carrier grade server platform specifically designed to allow enterprises and service providers the ability to efficiently and consistently deploy, configure, update and upgrade softphone and UC Client end-points.

Zendesk adds some VoIP functionality via Twilio. Zendesk Voice is a cloud-based call center that integrates with the startup's popular help-desk platform.

Vocal IP Networx now offers a unified communications (UC) platform, dubbed Vocal UC, utilizing Microsoft Lync software.

ITEXPO in Austin Will Be Hot

2011-08-04T22:04:52Z

Taking a cue from Jon Arnold, here's what I have going on at ITEXPO West 2011 in Austin (a move from Los Angeles in previous years):

While I will miss the chance to hit Manhattan Beach for some beach volleyball, this will be my first time in Austin.

It's also the first time that there will be a CMO Summit at ITEXPO. My company and my pal's company, CR8 Group, in conjunction with a great team at TMC - Dave, Anna and Mike - are bringing in 2 speakers to discuss Online Branding. Rich Tehrani wrote about it today. CMO, CEO, President or VP of Marketing only. 75 execs in charge of marketing to network and learn. Apply for a ticket now!

I usually have a panel for Reseller Day or under the ITEXPO banner for VoIP, but this year I am moderating 2 panels for the Social CRM Expo. Keeping with the CMO theme of online marketing, my panels run from 2-3:45. At 2, Top 10 Tips for Online Marketing with Shawna vercher on the panel. At 3, Does Your Business Have a Social Media Strategy? Both should be pretty informative. (Wait until you see the panelists!)

Then over on the show floor, the Channel Vision Expo will be happening. Get ready for a Channel Manager Round Table!

Startup Camp is at 5PM on the 14th! That is a don't miss session.

If you will be in town, let me know - I woould love to have coffee, a drink, dinner or interview you for the blog. Email me for a time!

What You Can Learn from Blackberry

2011-06-30T17:13:34Z

An employee of Blackberry published an open letter to the co-CEO's on the web [see it here]. There are lessons for all in this letter.

1) It's all about the USER Experience. The people buying your product / service are the ones you have to please. Not Wall Street, your VC's, or your own desires. At the end of the day, if no one buys it.....

2) Focus. You can't be everything to everybody. You want to be everything to your Tribe! It's too expensive to market to everyone. It's also not possible to deliver great product / services to everyone. For example, every VoIP deployment can not be custom or your support folks won't have a clue how to care for your customers.

Another example, is that if you say you are a Cloud company or a VoIP company, how do you wrap into that story the 25 other services that you offer that have nothing to do with your primary focus? Stick to the knitting. Focus on delivering a few good services to a well-defined niche (at high margin). Be an expert - the best of breed in a category. [For more on this see The Dip by Seth Godin.]

3) The marketing isn't about your technology or your service, because no one gives a crap about you or your stuff. What do they care about? Themselves. The story has to be about THEM not you. How does buying your stuff make them cool, sexy, money, productive, rich? Period.

4) Leadership is importance. Not just through the tough times but also through the crazy growth times and even through the boring"things are going smoothly along" phase. Leadership sets the tone for everyone. Leadership sees the Vision and walks the talk.

5) Apps. It's what is driving EVERYTHING! Apps to make people productive or to let them play or to help them connect / communicate. It's apps that are driving Cloud, broadband, mobility, start-ups, everything.

It's not just Blackberry that has lessons to learn.

Growth Starts Here

2011-06-08T15:03:42Z

This is from GE's 2010 Annual Report. I liked the graphic and the slogan: Growth Starts Here! When I think about GE that brings good things to life, I think that they must have very good people and a culture to applaud innovation AND failure (because you can't innovation without risk and failure). This is what it must have been like in the hey day at XEROX PARC, AT&T Labs and 3M.

Today, most job growth comes from small business and startups. Don't believe me? Look it up or consider that for revenue growth, big companies have to achieve synergies which is political talk for firing redundant employees. So every merger is a net loss of jobs.

I work with a the tech startup community in Tampa Bay and with the many smaller service providers in the US telecom industry. Here's where growth starts.

Grasshopper Group closed down a new division called Speadable. They are doing a 4-part post mortem. One takeaway: every product or startup needs a Leader. This is key. It has to be a strong leader too. She has to have Vision to see it through the many challenges ahead.

Dane Jasper of Sonic.Net is one of those types of leaders. He has a vision and he is driving forward undeterred. A Big Congrats to him! Donny Smith at Jaguar Communications is another leader with a vision driving him forward.

It's about risk for sure, but its having conviction in your vision and the passion, desire and drive to run down any hurdle, tackle every challenge to get continue down your path.

That doesn't mean blindly either. You have to make course corrections as data comes in.

I look at the companies in Tampa Bay at that growing - 2 jobs, 4 jobs, 8 jobs - and I see strong leaders. And its these businesses that are creating jobs and helping out the local economy. The local (city, county, state) government needs to help. These companies don't need tax breaks or subsidies. What they do need is help with government regulations (and the paperwork to go with it); assistance with grants and loans; and communication with the local leaders.

It's easier than ever to start a business. (In fact, July 8-10 is Startup Weekend in America, where folks from a community will get together, team-up, and launch a business in 54 hours.)

It's the passion and vision that fuels the growth. That vision and passion has to infuse everything, from sales to talent to culture to customer care. But it never gets easier. Everyday is a new challenge, a different struggle. And when the passion fades, so will the growth.