As ImageKind grows in complexity, managing and adding to our CSS styles continues to bring maintenance challenges. That’s why I bookmarked this link on “Architecting CSS” today. It mostly applies to sites that have a fair degree of complexity but the lessons can be applied anywhere. Keeping yourself organized is a key point. Shared elements go in the main file. Pages of different archetypes inherent their own file. It’s a good read. Check it out.
Archive for September, 2006
I am sitting on the famous Sand Hill Road in a Starbucks as I write this post. Most people know very well that this road has the highest density of successful VC’s in all of technology. Any big tech company that went public to a value of over a billion dollars took money from somebody on this road. In about a half hour, I’ll start about a day’s worth of pitches here. And so, I thought it appropriate to take a moment and reflect on what it is that I see around me. For those who haven’t been here before, the scenery may be a bit disappointing. The energy is not. There are few visible signs of wealth along this road as most of the buildings are certainly not impressive. No streams. No rivers. Lots of shrubs and brown grass give the place a sort of anonymous visual tone that feels like any baren stretch of land you’d otherwise pass by without noticing. But, Stanford University is nearby and thus a slew of bright young students pass in and out with steamy lattes in hand. There seems to be an abundance of very nice cars parked outside this Starbucks…more than I’ve ever seen at any other Starbucks. Apparently the high property prices here aren’t so high that the over achievers can’t also afford to drive to work in style. In that sense it feels like the Microsoft parking lot.
About 6 different “pitches” are going on right now…with something in the range of 15 laptops sitting on tables throughout the place. People here like khaki pants and blue blazers. There is a bit of an unspoken uniform. Shoes have tassles. This uniform policy is only violated by the occassional techie who instead wears the long beard and Google tee-shirt. Thus, a bit of balance is achieved in the Sand Hill Universe. In general there is a sense of business optimism that seems more pervasive than in Seattle. There is a lot more activity and discussion overall about what the next great tech opportunity could be. It’s clear to me that there is “more going on” here than in Seattle. There are just more people talking about more business ideas and doing more deals. At least that’s the impression one gets.
I’m off to my first meeting. Then back to San Francisco for others this afternoon. I’ll be anxious to wrap up the day not based on how the pitch went but rather based on how this area differs from the Seattle tech scene.
Over n’ out.
I
Our friends over at Pluggd seem to be making progress and we wish them well. When entering a crowded space why do try to do something disruptive? This is a useful feature that has pragmatic value to users. Yet, getting it right isn’t exactly straightforward. That’s why Pluggd has value if they do it. Good luck Alex!
ImageKind is seeking a front-end design technologist. We’re looking for someone who is a cross over from graphic design into computer science. You should be passionate about symantically correct HTML, love design, and also be an expert at cross-browser CSS, AJAX, Javascript, ASP or XML. Our office is in Pioneer Square in Seattle and you will be part of a small and dynamic team. If you know C# that puts you at the top of the stack but it isn’t necessary.
Business 2.0 has a story on 11 companies that are really thinking big. Lot’s of web 2.0 companies aren’t doing something truly disruptive. I find the grand visions of some of these companies really inspiring. You only live once. Might as well go big as you can. Salesforce CEO says “We will destroy Oracle.” A little hubris goes a long way in start-up land!
One thing that I notice at ImageKind is the moral effect of early revenue. If you can launch a product and start getting orders immediately, it isn’t hard for anyone to imagine how you could grow a flow of orders that are already happening. We’ve only been launched for 5 weeks so we don’t make enough revenue to pay all overhead but its really exciting for everyone…myself included…when we get orders. These small validations are very invigorating for the team. I think that small wins are really important. A few nice customer comments each day make everyone feel like their efforts matter. While I could say that everyone’s efforts matter, smart people know that the customers response is what matters most. I love our first sales and they mean a lot to the team.
I’ll be here with a beer in my hand.
We are proud to announce that we’ve hired Kevin Saliba from Expedia to take over day to day operations at ImageKind in the new role of President and Chief Operating Officer. Kevin brings a great deal of relevant experience to the organization. He held a number of different roles at Expedia to include Director of Strategic Initiatives and other roles in Product Planning, and Marketing. He also played a key role in the success of Expedia’s private label & affiliate business. His previous experience includes positions with Magna International, Omron Corporation, and Micrsocan Inc. Kevin holds a B.Sc. in Engineering from the University of Waterloo and an MBA from Cornell University.
Kevin sees a great deal of potential at the cross roads of print-on-demand and user generated content and we’re excited to have him.
I’ve noticed people are selling and promoting their various ImageKind galleries in a pretty funny way. Here are some examples:
This guy has framed our entire site and is trying to build a little business off our entire infrastructure. Funny. Not sure I approve 
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/fur/205622729.html
This person is trying to leverage Craigslist traffic to promote his ImageKind gallery. Interesting. It’s driving 1% of our site traffic.
This person designed a custom site where all the “buy my prints” buttons actually link to his Imagekind account.
This guy is using an imagekind banner in his deviant art account to link to ImageKind so he can sell prints of his works. Clever!
It’s fun to see people start to think of their own ways to promote their ImageKind print business! Maybe we need a new contest…
Communication Arts is perhaps the most prominent mainstream design publication. Each year they propose outstanding design projects as voted by panelists called the Interactive Annual. This year’s winners were selected by a distinguished jury from a group of entries including Web sites, Kiosks, CD-ROM projects and PDA’s. The 34 winning projects are showcased in detail in the September/October 2006 issue of Communication Arts magazine.
Our Art Director, Keith Harper not only gets credit for designing the latest iteration of our very own www.imagekind.com but he also gets credit for being an instrumental part of one of the winning projects this year. Working with Gabe Kean, Keith helped design the interface for The Archeology of Seattle’s West Point which has been called “A seemingly effortless blending of video and information design, and a staggering compendium of content delivered through a consistent interface.”
Congrats Keith and Gabe!
We’ve always said if raising money for ImageKind takes too much time or detracts us from getting work done TOO much we would just forget about it and go alone. However, we observe that some investors like a big niche. At ImageKind, I’d say our only real competitor is Art.com though they really aren’t known for the community thing so there really isn’t yet a member component of any magnitude. There is no number 2. Yet it is a big multi-billion dollar market.
So, we’re starting to get verbal interest from investors on actual dollar amounts.
Hmm. Imagine that!
Nothing is real until money is in the bank but I guess I’m pleased. When I raised money for RocketVox it took a little while and I think that’s fairly typical.
In many ways, the validation means as much to me as the money.
Very soon, I’d like to be able to say we’re the world’s largest online outlet for acquiring unique artwork. It could happen very soon! Stay tuned.
Techcrunch writes of Kiko selling on eBay. Too funny. I touched on this awhile ago in a post http://blog.curiousoffice.com/?p=59 about this very thing happening. I have no crystal ball but this is what happens when you can start something cool for a few hundred grand. You can take six months to do it and make $100,000 on eBay or work a job for six months. Many young developers, particularly overseas, will start to do this as their planned exit. Just watch!
We returned from Bay Area today from as many meetings as we could pack into a morning. Well, actually we were there all day so we got one in the afternoon too. Anyway, one interesting thing about VC pitches that I imagine is overlooked by someone just starting out is that the pitch is actually a two-way exercise. VC’s don’t want to be “dumb money” and you don’t want that either. It is our responsibility to demonstrate that ImageKind is a worthy venture. It’s also our responsibility to determine which future investors might also make for good long term friends and partners.
We’ve got a few battle scars so we felt confident that nobody would tell us that our concept, website, or overall concept was the dumbest thing they’ve seen this month. There are always reservations but everyone liked the execution and some VC’s we met could add significant additional value. We’re sensitive to the fact that the site could look like a niche exercise on the surface but I was surprised how many folks today knew that the print on demand opportunity was actually very large (in the billions). For our part, we focused on personalities. Who might be the best board members? Who was most engaged? Who asked good questions? Who got up to leave the meeting early? Who made the communication feel most constructive?
Most VC’s have money - both personally and professionally. That isn’t the point. For us, the game was trying to decide who we might want to work with. Remembering that the evaluation is a two way street is important since we’re really considering adoping a new partner for the next 5-7 years.
The world is a funny place. When you need money its hard to get. When you don’t need money the phone rings off the hook. Oh well. Adrian and I are off to Silicon Valley. I’m looking forward to the comments people have about ImageKind and Curious Office in general. Today we had a good meeting with Nick, Mike and Pete over at 2nd Avenue Partners and they really seemed to like the job we did with ImageKind. I think one thing that is kind of refreshing about the ImageKind concept is that our revenue model is really easy to understand. We do a good job creating community and people buy stuff. Sure enough, we sold more this week than all of last month. Granted, it isn’t enough to pay for the small team we have in the office of curiousity but then again we haven’t spent any money on marketing yet. We’re just starting out! Some web 2.0 elitists may believe that marketing spend is very ANTI-web 2.0 but I’m pretty comfortable with our marketing plan and its relevance to this particular business. But I digress. Sencond Ave’s feedback? “ImageKind rocks. We love it. But this idea of trying to do too many companies sucks.”
Say no more. Message received. Let’s get ImageKind geared up for success and cut back on the number of meetings we take on.
Makes sense to me. Will post more on our meetings with VC’s tomorrow when the day ends. Maybe I can pass on some wise words to entreprenuers looking to embark on their own fundraising. One thing I’ve always known and which was reinforced today at 2nd Ave? The idea is secondary to the people. They are investing in YOU.
The Seattle Times gave us a nice review of our newest service, Imagekind.com today. We’re amazed how many contributing artists have joined the service so far (about 1,000 in the last three weeks). Our Alexa ranking has been on the rise and orders continue to roll in. Other big announcements coming soon!
