Welcome, Nasuni.
For those of you who have been wondering what I do and what the hell that japanese-sounding-company-name I work for does, today is your lucky day! Today, February 9th, Nasuni has come out of stealth mode and launched our flagship product – the Nasuni Filer. No longer are we dodging questions and casually commenting that we are “the gateway to the cloud.” Of course there has been good reason for us to maintain our low profile. We’ve developed some really impressive technology backed by a whole lot of IP that is actively being patented. Rather than give the store away for free, everyone felt it best to drive to our beta release and launch with a touch of flourish. [Insert flourish here...]
So, what exactly do we do? The Nasuni Filer makes it possible for companies to take advantage of the scale economics of cloud storage without ever having to write code or make changes to their existing infrastructure. In simple speak, we make it possible for your company to use the cloud for your network drive. Know that “J:\” drive they make you save all of your important documents to? We do that! But instead of having another server in that back room with all the fans, we use offsite storage (known colloquially as “the cloud”) to give everyone unlimited storage capacity.
Let me make it even simpler: Companies need lots of hard drive space so everyone can share files across the network. We make that possible at a much lower cost than current solutions. Well, that an offer a whole bunch of really great features to make the whole thing simple and easy to manage.
[Attention, nerding-out about to happen here. If you aren't a tech geek or an IT manager I highly recommend skipping the following paragraph!]
Nasuni has developed a virtual file server, called the Nasuni Filer, that delivers unlimited file storage and complete file protection for businesses. Working in partnership with leading cloud storage vendors, the Nasuni Filer leverages the vast capacity of the cloud to store and protect company files offsite, while retaining the local functionality and performance of a traditional NAS.
This technology allows businesses to use the cloud provider of their choice as a replacement for traditional primary storage. Snapshots, file versioning, and offsite storage are integrated into the file server itself – ensuring business file are safe and secure at all times. No need to manage complex backup and DR schemes – if the file server is running, files are protected.
[Nerding out completed.]
I’m thrilled about this launch. The team here has been working non-stop for months to bring this idea to fruition. Our engineers, who are brilliant minds and great guys (and gals), have developed a product that works beautifully and integrates seamlessly. The initial alpha customers have given the technology and support glowing reviews. Now comes the fun part…
Today we open the doors of our public beta. Anyone is welcome to sign up for a free trial of the Filer and store files in the cloud. Remember when “the cloud” seemed very far away and complicated? No more. I can’t wait to begin working with and talking to customers. We’re thrilled as a company to really focus in on how people will use our product, what works well, what could be better, and what great ideas will take things to the next level. Interested? Confused? Want more? Go check out our website at www.nasuni.com.
Sure this all probably sounds a bit exuberant, but remember I’m generally an unabashed enthusiast. Honestly though, I’m thrilled about Nasuni, the work I’ve been a part of here, and our potential to reshape an existing market over the next few years. We actually might be the company people look back at one day as the small group of people who changed how businesses think about file storage. Well, that or maybe I’m just excited because I haven’t gotten that much sleep leading up to launch… You decide.
In: About me, Cloud Computing, Entrepreneurship
Listening
I hate to admit it. I mean I really hate to admit it, but sometimes is really is better to listen than to speak. I believe this is especially true for younger individuals in the workplace. We are trying to prove our worth; that we aren’t there just to set up the meeting, and so we want so desperately to speak up, to add value.
Even with this internal desire to communicate and show our worth – often you can learn a lot from a meeting by forcing yourself not to speak. Forcing yourself to listen and to watch. Much is being said with body language, with eye movement, and even head nodding. This type of non-verbal communication is incredibly valuable and can really add to your organizations understanding after the sit-down.
Great salespeople are great listeners? That’s what “they” say. I’m not 100% sold, but I will say that being a good listener is most definitely a valuable tool in your arsenal. If you’re anything like me, it can be very enlightening to force yourself to listen. Stop trying to look for an opportunity to speak, and take the opportunity to listen.
In: About me, Entrepreneurship, Management · Tagged with: Listening
Images I’ve been enjoying lately
More to come – thinking about doing a series of posts about job searching. Also I’m so frustrated by my calendaring lately. How is it that cross company exchange is so damn difficult? Event the startups out there aren’t doing it right…
Makers vs. Managers (or understanding how others work)
I read an excellent note by Paul Graham yesterday about the differences in scheduling between “Makers” and “Managers.”
His basic premise is that engineers and others who create need large, uninterrupted sections of time to get their work done. They thrive on silence and isolation because it gives them what they need to create. While managers and business-y people work in hour chunks, on different projects with many meetings and many changing demands. Since these manager types don’t create, they don’t need long isolated stretches of time to accomplish their work. Their work is meetings, not is interrupted by meetings.
This is a fascinating realization for myself. Much like the first time I learned about my Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI – a lot of people think this stuff is bullocks, but I’m a big fan – its all about understanding how you interact with those around you). I was both shocked at how little I knew, as well as how obvious it all seemed. I love the simplification of such complex concepts so that even the most ADD of us can grasp them quickly!
I have a tendency to work my own way (as I do many things) and often want to apply my way of doing things onto others. I’m not trying to be dictatorial but believe my way to be the best and want to share that with everyone. Turns out everyone isn’t the same, isn’t quite as ADD as me, and often has figured out the best way to work for themselves.
All of this leads up to a simple realization I came to yesterday: Once again I will need Tristan when I start my next business. For a reason I can’t explain Tristan understands all of this schedule stuff innately. He has the ability to interact smoothly with makers (who I drive crazy) and managers (me). At Event Seek, he would arrive before anyone else, prepare the day’s material and get his engineers kick started when they arrived. He catered to their needs and understood their limitations, while at the same time keeping me on track, in meetings, and productive.
It seems everyday that I can learn more and more from those around me. Often I don’t even know what to look for. This is a perfect example of what I thought to be just Tristan’s style, his way of doing things. Turns out that not only was there a method to what I thought was madness, but he knew how to keep the talent happy – something I’ve never been good at! (Unless I’m the talent) Some of you may remember that I called it “Wrangling the Nerds.” It might be more appropriately categorized as “A sophisticated managerial dance with engineering talent in order to extract the optimal levels of happiness and productivity.”
I’ll continue to strive to learn more about how to work with engineers, salespeople, executives and others. If I learn anything really exciting or innovative or boring to you, but exciting to me – I’ll share it here.
In: Entrepreneurship, Management · Tagged with: Makers, Managers, Managing Engineers, Schedules
Why I’m screwed.
Be simple.
In the vein of my post last week I saw an excellent question today that I had not heard before:
“Given what we’re trying to do now, what is the simplest thing that could possibly work?”
This question was asked by Ward Cunningham, the inventor of the first wiki and defines his opinion about software development and other development platforms.
Combine this with what Einstein said:
“As simple as possible, but no simpler.”
And you begin to see a pattern emerge. I’d rather be spend my compute cycles making things simple so others can comprehend them easily. If I can do the work for them then everyone wins.
So is sales taking a lesson from engineering and physics here? Yup, I guess so. Make your product simple. Make your explanation simpler. No one will fault you for over-simplifying, you can always add more details and more confusing stuff. But then again, why would you?
In: Entrepreneurship · Tagged with: Einstein, Sales, Simple, Ward Cunningham
Man vs. Food (Chris Nolan vs. The Fresser) – Natick Edition
It takes up the entire baseket!
As many of you know, Chris Nolan, Nasuni’s resident food destroyer, has set numerous records for beef and beans consumed at Chipotle. He’s been known to tackle double and even triple meat burritos without batting an eye. I once saw him threaten a small child who dared take the last of the precious barbacoa for his feast. Suffice it to say he is not to be trifled with.
If you still question his abilities or haven’t seen him eat in person, I suggest you watch this video. You are warned however – this is not for the faint of heart!
Today however, the stakes were raised. No more are we trifling with mere triples. We have moved into the range of 5x. On Thursday December 3rd, 2009 at 12:51 PM a challenge was issued that will resonate through the halls of history. Seconds later, Chris agreed to take on “The Fresser.”
The Fresser is a sandwich. It is a sandwich in the same way that Woodstock was a simple concert. This author has heard stories of The Fresser defeating countless numbers of eating contest champions. Legend has it that Kobayashi himself only finished 80% of the beast. I believe Chris has the potential, but the real question is whether or not he will be mentally prepared. We’ve all see what happens when competitors aren’t mentally prepared.
For those of you that are interested in witnessing this amazing feat (or pitiful failure), you are lucky enough to have the opportunity of a lifetime. On Thursday December 10th 2009 at 11:45 AM at Joan & Ed’s Deli in Natick, MA you will bear witness to Chris as he tackles his greatest eating challenge yet.
Personally, I’m rooting for the sandwich.
Because I promised myself I would
I promised myself I’d record every business idea Tristan and I have and talk through, regardless of how bad or impossible they are. (You should have seen the list from the first time!) Today we share the first:
In: Entrepreneurship · Tagged with: Idea, Projector
It has come to my attention
That my last post was really long for a message about simplicity and brevity. It was. I should have made it shorter.
There’s a reason TV ads are 30 seconds long
Over the past few months, I’ve spent some time reflecting on the lessons I learned at Event Seek. There are many – too many to write about now. However I’ll share a few with you (and myself) every so often.
One of the most important lessons I learned at Event Seek was how important sales is to any company – especially a young one. Given I’m an engineer by training and a life-long skeptic, this was a big transition for me.
Sales is an enormous question and a complicated beast to tackle, but it becomes much more manageable (at least to me) if you begin to think about it as small lessons.Much like many other things in life, sales is a game of inches. If you can control the small stuff (with an eye on the big stuff) often things will fall into place.
But sales isn’t just about convincing customers you have a great product. Sales permeates everything a startup does. Talking to advisors? Sales. Talking to investors? Sales. Talking to press? Sales. And yes, talking to potential customers is definitely sales. Every interaction of every member of your team is a sales meeting – not just the CEO. That’s not to turn every entrepreneur into a sleazy used car salesman, but to suggest that you need to recognize that every meeting is an opportunity and every interaction is a chance to create a supporter, evangelist, investor, or customer.
You make this...
One critical tool in the ability to ability to generate and cultivate these relationships is how you talk about your company and your product. I can’t stress enough the importance of your ability to simplify what you do. I spent months talking about Event Seek before I really began to find a set of language that people understood. We spent more time than I want to admit talking about technologies, features, and capabilities. Over time my language changed though, and started to become focused on the simple value we offered. It’s all about the simple value. It’s the only thing that matters.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. When building a company and product you know the details better than anyone. You know the intricate technical aspects of how it work and what it can do. And guess what? No one cares. Not a one. Not until they understand the simple value of what it does.
...BUT you sell this!
A meaningful conversation will naturally transition from generalities to specifics. It’s not bad to get specific questions but wonderful – and can only happen when the person you are talking to fully understands the simple value you deliver. Explaining the simple value in a sentence or two is your ability to open the door to a much more meaningful discussion about your company. Without the ability to hook and excite people with the simple value you deliver you’ll spend valuable minutes trying to reexplain what you do instead of really connecting with your opportunity.
All of things brings me back to my original point: TV spots are 30 seconds long for a reason. People have short attention spans and don’t want to listen to long drawn out convoluted stories. If you can keep the message to a minimum number of words, use language people understand, and add a bit of fun & jingle, you’ll find people are much more excited about your company, your idea, and your management team.
In: Entrepreneurship · Tagged with: Event Seek, Sales, startups
