Sowing Seeds, By Matthew Hagger So, what builds a great internet product? Applications that change the way we live and disrupt our living patterns, is primarily the answer. We are habitual beings at heart, yet when something genuinely affects the life of an individual, it is disruptive. So, for me;
Lastminute, Amazon,
ebay,
Google,
Facebook,
Myspace, Youtube,
Skype and more recently the pull of
London's open coffee clubs and
twitter have all played their part. For me, these sites form an addictive personal oligopoly that disrupt my life.
I myself, can only begin the quantify the value of an internet product by the time I spend engaged in it. There is only so many hours in the day that one can use the web, for recreational purposes, so with the time I have left, the product that can hijack my attention represents massive 'personal value' to me.
Running
e-Man - an London based agency that specialises providing strategy, design and build to web2.0 start ups - and developing new applications as an entrepreneur, gives me a foot in both camps. As I see things, now has never been a more exciting time for the entrepreneur. Open source and access to great communities allows smart thinking to accelerate ideas on a fraction of the budget needed to realise internet products of 5 years ago. We are living in an age where size doesn't matter, but vision is everything. Wisdom without zeal will not get you quite as far and whilst technology and innovation help, a dream will get you further.
So with the market hungry for 'the next big thing', backed by dynamic entrepreneurs ready the go that extra mile; arrives
Seedcamp. Based on an original idea by Saul Klein, Seedcamp is Web Europe's biggest talent show, that everybody is talking about at the moment. As our internet community pulls together in preparation for a step forward into pastures new. Here is the idea: Take Europe's brightest and most ambitious entrepreneurs. Put them all in a room together for a week in September, surrounded by the industries leading people. Imagine the result?! Then add caffeine.
Well, it's a result I wish had existed 6 years ago. I formed e-Man with
Eugene Kouumdjieff in 2000, and we set about developing internet products that would challenge the way users embraced on-line. But, the sector was struggling. High start up costs, a lack of investment and a largely primitive user environment, unwilling to adopt new ideas - the main factors. Oh, and dial up! In 2000, we developed Net Sorcerer technology. Effectively, it was a branded desktop application, allowing businesses to marketing-relationship-manage more effectively. How it works: User downloads, installs, sets up the their personal profile through the client, which interfaces with the database and feeds the appropriate information to the desktop, alerting the user with relevant information arrives, almost messenger style. This doesn't sound exciting today, but in 2000, with dial up only, Eugene and I had a dream for real estate, university students in 'clearing' and other sectors where a user would want to prioritise their desktop over a short period of time and be alerted, rather than having browser favourites, which rely on frequently checking a site. This dream was so big that I, like all entrepreneurs, believed we were going to dominate the world with Net Sorcerer. This passion overwhelmed everyone around us, although they couldn't see it the reality of it. Even the idea of broadband and video streaming was a non-starter to heads of marketing at McDonalds, Sky Sports, Disney and many more leading brands that we could have easily implemented the technology with. I was a 22 year predicting the future to a different generation.
We received DTI funding, received a lot of press and PR and everything was ready to go. One problem. The technology was so innovative that we had no idea to how to sell it. I remember showing the v1 Disney prototype to Buena Vista for home entertainment CRM and it was so far ahead of its time. Giving anything away for free, was also unheard of and we wanted an immediate return on the development outlay. Nobody could have budget for a new product that was untested. Here was the issue. Eugene and I did not have the required team of mentors and commercial experience around us needed to ensure that our dream and passion became a reality. Then came itunes. The result of Net Sorcerer saw companies we had educated, run with attempts at the technology. Sky Sports news alerts, Premiership Football clubs desktop pop ups, and branded desktop applications throughout the entertainments sector for children. This provided a safe channel of communication away from browsers where children could derive the benefits of on-line, which was our USP. All of these applications are inferior to our vision and I still look back with regret that we did not have a community of support and people to partner in our vision at the time.
I now use these lessons learned to inspire and assist entrepreneurs with their dreams and vision for global products. e-Man is set up as both an agency to established brands but also a strategy company to start ups with seed and later round investment. In addition we strategise, design and build brilliant projects for part budget and match funding in return for capital in the venture. I have interests in 7 web based businesses, connected to e-Man, of which I believe one of them is a global, multi-channel and disruptive world changer!
Away from e-Man, I, like Eugene, are still the same internet visionaries we were at the beginning. But, we still have lessons to learn. As this radical, dynamic sector changes so does our passion. E-man is exciting for me as I get to work with young entrepreneurs, who are basically are just like me. Ultimately I still have a dream. To create and grow an internet product that will change the world, as radically that those I mentioned at the start of this piece. Like all entrepreneurs, I believe I have it! We are 6 weeks away from launching from going into beta testing. How do I aim to achieve my goals, based on what I know now? By developing a team and being part of a community of smart thinkers who can help rationalise and direct our entrepreneurial vision. Money is great, but the past has proven one thing: You can have 1 million pounds to invest in an internet product, but without smart intelligence managing it, it matters not.
So, enter the smart money.
Seedcamp it is then. Here to help, for anyone who thinks they have what it takes, not just in the field of innovation, but with the desire and vision to realise it with a workable product.
You have to apply. If your idea is worth planting - it will be watered, here. So, have I applied? The answer is of course, yes. How could I miss out on the chance of such an opportunity.
After all, just like you, I have a dream!
