I was at a talk, recently, where the speaker mentioned “a lot of data driven people fall into the trap of wanting more information to make a decision. The problem is that the world does not always give you complete information.”
I thought about my own experience. I remember at times presenting a new product idea and getting the feedback, “we need more *fill in the blank* information.” Usually, they asked for more market information. The product concepts we were proposing were in a burgeoning field. We could only show the customers we visited or contacted who demonstrated interest, the competitive solutions out there, how much customers currently pay and the total available market.
Now that I think back, I think I would have had much better luck if I took the decision-makers on strategic customer visits. I remember traveling to several medical accounts with one marketing manager. He was exposed to our customers’ challenges. Enthusiasm would have been an understatement for his reaction. He understood the problems that our customers faced because he stood in their shoes, albeit briefly. When we got back to our headquarters, I didn’t even have to pitch the concept anymore. He was telling everybody that we should build products for that application.
Now that we are pitching products at Baydin, these little experiences bubble back up to consciousness. If I can’t show market numbers because it is nascent, I can at least help investors stand in our customers’ shoes.
So getting back to that talk. Baydin can’t help someone who is not ready make a decision. But we are thinking about and working on the problem of giving you more complete information.
Small Talk
baydin, experience, market research
Alex and I spent some portion of our time phone interviewing potential interns for the summer. Unfortunately, the resume is often an inaccurate indicator of one’s programming ability. In a previous existence, we could throw money at that problem – we’d review a resume and then FLY a candidate in to interview. The candidate would go through nine interviews with various engineers, designers and marketers on-site. At Baydin, we subscribe to Joel Spolsky’s philosophy on hiring creative, capable developers because they can make the difference between success and failure. However, we can’t afford to fly any candidates out for an on-site interview. Here’s how we find the gems.
While a bad resume can knock a candidate out from even getting an interview, a good resume does not guarantee that said candidate is a master programmer. Since we are on a limited budget, Alex came up with a nifty way to see if a potential intern has the right stuff.
On the phone we delve into the details of the candidate’s experience. This is important because it gives us background information. It can tell us if the candidate has experience working with a team, leading a team and how he or she contributes in a project. It also tells us whether or not the candidate can communicate complex technical information.
We then ask some basic programming questions to see how he or she approaches the problem. Thus far, we’ve had a great experience using EtherPad. The candidate and we can write on a “virtual whiteboard” simultaneously. This allows us to see in real-time how a candidate frames the problem and solves it. We’re looking to see if he or she understands fundamental concepts. In short, it was an effective way to give a technical interview without flying a candidate to our site.
We’ve only posted openings for a week and we’re psyched at the turnout we’ve received thus far. There are some great candidates applying. If you are interested in interning on the ground floor of an exciting startup, then drop us a line.
Small Talk
baydin, experience, hiring, interns
Our friends have asked us if we were nervous about going out on our own, especially with the economy as it is. Alex and I have wanted to do our own thing for a while. We call this yearning “not wanting to work for The Man.” We, to a large degree, control our own destiny. That means we need to simultaneously market our company, raise capital, develop the product and run an office. It’s only been two weeks and we’ve learned that when you are The Man, you have to wear many hats.
For most people who work in established companies, these tasks are divided and parceled out amongst numerous specialists. One of the chief complaints I heard from the younger engineers at our old company is that they don’t have a good view of the overall business. What I think they mean to say is that they don’t see the interaction of all the components that make a company run. I was an applications engineer, where I would meet customers, help solve their problems, sometimes at their location, define products and characterize them in end-applications. I thought I had a good view of how the business ran. Boy was I wrong.
There’s a lot of “small” organizational tasks that I took for granted. For example, we had a closet full of pencils and notebooks. We had an amazing field engineering team. We had a healthcare plan. I learned that when you are The Man, you need to know when to take advantage of the sale for a 24 port 10/100Mbps switch. You need to implement a successful distribution system and understand how to deal with healthcare for you and your employees. By the way, Microcenter, has a great deal on a 24 port D-Link switch.
I see PR in a whole new light. At our previous large company, I authored a fair number of webinars and articles. I contributed to ad campaigns for product releases. But at a startup, there is this visceral sense of the direct linkage with the bottom line. It’s where the rubber meets the road. Our web page ranking and the press we get will clearly affect how Baydin takes off. We’re working on a kick-ass product but people need to know about it to buy it.
To our friends who have been writing in to ask us how things are going. The protective cocoon has come off and we’re experiencing the internal clockwork of business. We’re beginning to see things as they are.
Small Talk
baydin, experience
As we start Baydin, we wrap up work at our old jobs. I’ve spent the last three weeks trying to “transfer” everything I’ve learned in the greater part of a decade to my colleagues. It’s tough.
Knowledge that’s instilled or discovered over time is conveyed quickly without context. I copied my entire hard disk and passed the external drive around so that everyone could store the information. I gave a few presentations and some explanations of typical problems and what to look out for.
Although I work with some of the smartest, most talented people around, they do not have the full context of each of these projects. I mean, how could they? I worked on it for years. They have had three weeks to ramp up before I leave.
What we’re working on at Baydin will have huge ramifications on getting up to speed and transferring knowledge. Our software will give people the necessary context to most effectively understand and learn. In addition, it will show only what is relevant. No more. No less.
I see examples of the need for Baydin everyday. It’s going to be exciting. Stay tuned!
Small Talk
baydin, experience, work place
Whoa, no way… someone’s actually reading this? Sweet!
Over the next few months, we’ll be using this blog to describe the development (both the software and the business!) of Baydin, our first startup. For the next month or so, we’re still at our day jobs, but starting May 8th, we’re going to be in it full time.
We’ll describe what we’re working on as soon as we get the right words put together. Google is forever, after all 
For the moment, let’s just say we’re going to make a plugin that will make Outlook a whole lot more helpful.
Small Talk
baydin