Foolmewunz
Grammar Resistance Leader, TLA Dictator
Relating all this back to the OP......
Vanillacone - I like your anecdotal evidence. This is exactly how the guys with the bright ideas proceed when they've only got a bright idea, or like in Steorn's case (and may of the internet startups in the 90s), they had something that kinda/sorta worked in a limited or controlled environment, and postulated that it could work everywhere, all the time.
The problem with this as regards Steorn, though, is that while following those axioms, they obviously had nothing more than the idea or the one-off example. Instead of the normal boardroom investment route, they decided to go through some rather strange moves, mostly geared to getting attention, but I think in the end indicative that they thought they had something, but didn't know just what that something was. Why else the Guradian advert, the open forum, the developers forum, the scientific panel, the woeful release of information*.
The NDAs are understandable in any such venture. But opening up a sub-panel which they referred to as their "Developers Forum", was ridiculous. This was bright lads and lasses from their forum. Sign the NDA and show some sort of knowledge or expertise, and you're in.
In hindsight, they were hoping that someone in one or another of these groups would come up with that "Eureka!" moment that would explain their original anomaly and allow them to replicate it.
All of this adds up to nearly the exact opposite of the theme of the OP in this thread. This was a horrible muddle in terms of business. (They haven't been taking new investors, so the idea that they're doing it to kite their stock price doesn't work, either.)
*If you look at their very slick website, check the press information, press releases, and Steorn In The News sections. There were many more announcements since last August - they made them in their Forum, though. They had dozens, if not hundreds of news articles and mentions on television and had whole sub-sections of websites and blogs dedicated to them. Yet none of the news clipping are after Aug/Sep of last year. They've published nothing in the way of specs, although they promised to. Instead, they've opted for stupid video clips and museum shows.
All in all, as I said, as "good business", this has been a disaster.
Vanillacone - I like your anecdotal evidence. This is exactly how the guys with the bright ideas proceed when they've only got a bright idea, or like in Steorn's case (and may of the internet startups in the 90s), they had something that kinda/sorta worked in a limited or controlled environment, and postulated that it could work everywhere, all the time.
The problem with this as regards Steorn, though, is that while following those axioms, they obviously had nothing more than the idea or the one-off example. Instead of the normal boardroom investment route, they decided to go through some rather strange moves, mostly geared to getting attention, but I think in the end indicative that they thought they had something, but didn't know just what that something was. Why else the Guradian advert, the open forum, the developers forum, the scientific panel, the woeful release of information*.
The NDAs are understandable in any such venture. But opening up a sub-panel which they referred to as their "Developers Forum", was ridiculous. This was bright lads and lasses from their forum. Sign the NDA and show some sort of knowledge or expertise, and you're in.
In hindsight, they were hoping that someone in one or another of these groups would come up with that "Eureka!" moment that would explain their original anomaly and allow them to replicate it.
All of this adds up to nearly the exact opposite of the theme of the OP in this thread. This was a horrible muddle in terms of business. (They haven't been taking new investors, so the idea that they're doing it to kite their stock price doesn't work, either.)
*If you look at their very slick website, check the press information, press releases, and Steorn In The News sections. There were many more announcements since last August - they made them in their Forum, though. They had dozens, if not hundreds of news articles and mentions on television and had whole sub-sections of websites and blogs dedicated to them. Yet none of the news clipping are after Aug/Sep of last year. They've published nothing in the way of specs, although they promised to. Instead, they've opted for stupid video clips and museum shows.
All in all, as I said, as "good business", this has been a disaster.
