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Month: March 2008

Responding to Paul – "the Vision Thing"

L to R: Paul Robinson and Simon Grice at Northern StartUp DEMO 2 on 19th March 08 I cannot exactly remember when I first met Paul Robinson, perhaps at the inaugural event of North West Digital Communities, which was organised by Manchester Digital Development Agency to bring event organisers together every other month or so for collaboration. Since then Paul and I have discussed many issues, but have not yet worked on a single project. Paul recently published an article titled: The Vision Thing inviting comments from me and few others. Whilst I do not have the same extent of…

edocr getting ready for Webmission08 with Sun Microsystems and NTT Communications

As part of our preparations for Webmission08, we have decided to migrate our back-end and the front-end to Sun Microsystems platform. We are a proud member of the Sun Microsystems’ StartUp Essential Programme and also a Sun Microsystems Advantage Partner. In fact, I have been evangelising the programme well before it was launched, working closely with Stewart Townsend, who manages the programme in the UK and Europe. The final details are yet to be worked out, but the hosting will be provided by NTT Communications. Both companies are fully supporting edocr’s virgin mission to San Francisco in April 08. As…

edocr appoints Smith & Smith PR

This morning I shook hands with Nathan Smith, Managing Director of Smith & Smith PR, appointing them as PR Agency for promotion of edocr over the next 3 months. Smith & Smith PR will be responsible for PR within the European Union. As part of the discussions, they will also work closely with Northern StartUp 2.0. The actual details will be worked out over the next week or so. Technorati Tags: edocr, smithandsmithpr, public relations

ebdex Document Exchange – Read all about it!

Today, I decided to publish key documents related to development of ebdex Document Exchange. You would need to log in to edocr to view these documents. Please note that these documents may not necessarily be the final release. Feel free to use any content as you see fit. Comments are welcome.   Mutual Confidentiality Agreement Agreement for Preparation of Specification Software Development Agreement Confidentiality Agreement   Request for Proposal User Requirement Specification Software Design Description Use Cases     User Acceptance Test Plan Business Plan Sales Channel Agreement     Technorati Tags: ebdex, ebdex Document Exchange, Agreements, Software Development, Affno,…

Methodology for launching under £25,000

My brain was in an explosion this afternoon, whilst accompanying my family and a friend on a shopping trip to Ellesmere Port, off M56. This all started due to two conversations I had yesterday. I linked the two conversations with my experience of ebdex and edocr and devised a methodology for launching a new business for £25,000. For this to work, I need two ingredients: The domain expertise must be present in-house. Ideally, the proposed startup CEO must have this expertise and must be passionate about it. It must be easy for me to understand quickly and relate to a…

OB10 – A classic mistake!

OB10 is no stranger to making classic mistakes with it’s web strategy. How do you manage expectations of local communities whilst pursuing a global strategy? Perhaps the best example is to learn from HSBC – the world’s local bank. At the heart of HSBC web strategy is the corporate site, followed by country specific sites. In the case of OB10, no provision has been made for a corporate website. Here is the home page of UK website, where the company is head quartered.   And here is the US website. Both attempts to retain a similar look and feel, but…

e-invoicing – where has the innovation gone?

If you are thinking of starting or have recently set-up an e-invoicing/EIPP business, ask yourself candidly how do you intend to innovate? I assume you know the fundamental customer pain you are trying to relieve! Just for clarity, this is to replace manual paper based processes with an electronic system that exchange structured documents seamlessly from one system to another. In the past, I spoke about having connectivity up and down the value chain before commencing any development. Part of this is having a sizeable first willing customer who has significant power over its supply chain to allow the technology/product…

Webmission08 – edocr makes the final cut!

I am proud to announce that edocr has been chosen by webmission08 as one of the 20 most promising UK digital startups to visit San Francisco in April 08. I have known this for a while, but was not allowed to speak in public until TechCrunch broke the news. I see this as a win not just for the edocr team and its user base, but for the whole of the North West of England. We are proud to follow our fellow web 2.0 startup Yuuguu across the pond. Yuuguu achieved significant media coverage and growth since establishing connectivity with…

Barcamp Manchester – Inaugural event

I attended Barcamp Manchester on 1st of March 08, and here are couple of pictures thanks to flickr.     BarcampManchester had been a subject regularly discussed at North West Digital Communities meetings. Until Paul Robinson took over, they remained just talks. Paul made BarcampManchester happen! Well done mate! Here are some of the blog posts by other attendees: BarCamp Manchester BarCampManchesterUK Brightbox at Barcamp Manchester UK Here are couple of videos: Technorati Tags: barcampmanchesteruk

OpenCoffee Manchester is no more!

I am proud to have brought OpenCoffee to the North. First Manchester and then requesting Dean Sadler and Phil Blything to run Sheffield and Liverpool respectively. At the time, Imran Ali was thinking about running the same in Leeds. I convinced him to set the schedule for 1st Tuesday of the month. Manchester OpenCoffee never took off as intended. One reason perhaps was that I never gave 100% of making it a success as I was more serious about making Northern StartUp 2.0 a commercial success (at the time it was called NW StartUp 2.0 and it was free to…