SoftGram Bi-Weekly for 01.15.2006, Vol. 2, No. 2 SoftGram Spotlight: ______________________________________ SoftGram is a Softletter Publication and is published on the first and third weeks of each month. To Subscribe to SoftGram, please visit us at http://www.softletter.com/aspx/Profile.aspx ========================================================= To unsubscribe from SoftGram, please use the opt-out link below: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/optout.aspx?u=[[user_id]]&un=[[UserName]] To change your profile and various user options, please use the link below: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/Profile.aspx Before you can use this option, please login into your account. If you have not changed your profile, your username is the first letter of your first name and the first seven letters of your last name. Your password is "softletter." Once you have logged in, you can choose to stay logged in via a cookie exchange and revisit the site anytime without having to go through the login procedure. If you block all cookies, or specifically logout of the site, you will need to login to Softletter to participate in the forums and change your user options at this link: hhttp://www.softletter.com/aspx/login.aspx To ensure you continue to receive your copy of Softletter, please add SoftGram@ezine.softletter.com to your white list. If you have any questions or concerns, please E-mail RickChapman@softletter.com _________________________________________________________ The latest issue of SoftGram is brought to you by: **** The Product Marketing Handbook for Software **** The Product Marketing Marketing Handbook for Software, 4th Edition is the definitive guide to successful software marketing and sales. Completely up-to-date, the Hanbook's 16 chapters and appendices, 690 pages, over 2600 checklist items, 300 cost-of-marketing line items, 20 case studies, 30 illustrations and figures, sample forms, free spreadsheets, and product management forms make the The Product Marketing Handbook for Software absolutely indispensable for any software company looking to succeed in today’s ultracompetitive environment. Find out about the Handbook at: http://www.aegis-resources.com _________________________________________________________ THE SOFTLETTER FORUMS ARE FREE NEW on the Softletter Forums: "One thing we're seeing more and more is PR being used as a search engine optimization tactic. Putting press releases on the wires increases the number of links back to your website from quality sites, which improves your ranking. " _________________________________________________________ What Is the Number One Reason Behind a Company Sale? Excerpted from the 01/01/2005 issue of Softletter By Nat Burgess, Corum Group Most software companies sell because they have identified a huge opportunity that can only be addressed with the assistance of a larger partner.  Or at least, that is how they open discussions with buyers.  The actual motivation behind a sale is usually more complicated. Regardless of your reason for wanting to sell your company, remember to position and plan for personnel just as you would financial readiness and technology. For software companies with multiple owners, founder conflict is the number one reason behind a sale.  In many cases, M&A provides an exit for owners who want out, and new opportunities for those who want to stay in, but there are two major challenges along the way: timing and positioning.  It takes time to sell a company, and a company that waits too long may start losing people and momentum before the closing.  Also, unless your intermediary understands the partner dynamics, they may present a departing founder as a key person, and then have to explain to a buyer why that person is suddenly leaving after the closing.  A disgruntled founder should start moving out of a key operating role early in the process and put other, capable people on point, so that the buyer isn’t surprised by the founder’s departure. Software is a complex, risky and fast-paced business and after years in the trenches, many founders are increasingly starting to look for ways to simplify their lives.  We often refer to this phenomenon as founder burnout; usually there is more to it than just fatigue.  Founders may want to diversify their portfolio and set themselves up for retirement, or perhaps they have a new business venture that has become their passion.  One of our clients had published several novels while running his company, and decided he wanted to write professionally.  Fortunately he began building out his team early, and by the time we went to market he was able to remove himself from the day-to-day management without hurting sales.  Many CEO’s find it difficult to delegate to a team, and are unable to both sell and exit. The best medicine for a CEO in this rut is an independent board that can push him to share control with management. _________________________________________________________ INFO POPS are sponsored by: License Technologies Group Since 1996, License Technologies Group (LTG) has been the established leader in providing solutions specifically designed for software publishers to more efficiently manage their software licensing business. Our systems and services support software license management, renewals management, eCommerce, Digital Rights Management, Partner Relationship Management and global fulfillment. We understand all of the nuances and best practices necessary to harness the power and profitability volume license and compliance programs can provide. Our experience in providing these solutions helps softwa practices and gain a strategic advantage on their competition. Smart Tools. Big Savings. http://www.licensetech.com ******************************* INFO POPS So, in hopes of pulling back the curtain a bit, consider whether the following statement is TRUE or FALSE: The software economy, oriented as it has been around proprietary software, has been a tremendous source of innovation over the past 25 years. Clearly, I think the answer is "TRUE," and I have trouble believing that anyone - including Richard Stallman - could claim otherwise with a straight face. No one can look at the past 25 years of computing history and discern stagnation and lack of creativity. Software has been so successful that it has sunk hardware as the center of gravity in the computer industry, a shift that some companies saw (Microsoft) and other companies didn't (IBM). The causes of this creativity were simple. Proprietary software companies compete to create better ways to satisfy the needs of their customers, and in so doing, earn the financial benefits derived from "ownership" of the intellectual product. Excerpted from:http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/?p=1531&tag=nl.e539 ******************************* The perspective of the product manager as the owner/CEO of the product line as reflected in several posts over the years is one that I find intriguing. While it provides a great conceptual perspective to describe the focus of product management, it is also somewhat misleading to the true function of the PM. I equate real ownership of a product to true P&L control, which in my experience is not something the role/title of “product manager” every really achieves. Let me elaborate. First true P&L ownership/control means “the buck stops here” in all decision related to the level of profit generated by a product line. This includes not only strategies and priorities, but most importantly resource allocation and expenditure decisions. Given $1 to spend, whether to spend it on advertising, sales training, market research, development tools, additional features, additional resources / employees, bonus payouts, or to not spend it and keep it as profit contribution are all P&L decisions, as is the final decision on whether or not to pursue a particular deal or opportunity. Excerpted from: PSPM@yahoogroups.com ******************************* "If you've followed the IT blogosphere even slightly over the past months, you've unavoidably heard of a "Web 2.0" web development framework named Ruby on Rails. Ruby on Rails (or, just "Rails") is indeed an exciting development and definitely has earned a lot of the attention it's getting. Following the recent 1.0 release of Rails, this article is my feeble attempt to help you see through the hype and see Rails for what it's worth. Specifically, I'd like to pose the question, where does Ruby on Rails fit in the enterprise development landscape?" Excerpted from: http://www.javaranch.com/journal/200601/Journal200601.jsp#a4 ******************************* The wildly successful pixel-powered Web page of a British university student is coming under increasingly intense DDOS (distributed denial of service) attacks trying to knock down the profitable brainstorm. Alex Tew, who created The Million Dollar Homepage to finance his schooling, has been selling pixels for $1 each since September and auctioned the last 1,000 pixels earlier this week on eBay. The technicolor site resembles a well-traveled suitcase covered with stickers, ranging from Che Guevara's image to a stop-smoking ad to a yellow smiley, all leading to paid links. Excerpted from: http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/01/13/73909_HNattacksonadpage_1.html ________________________________________________________ CHANGE YOUR SOFTGRAM SUBSCRIPTION : To unsubscribe from SoftGram, please use the opt-out link below: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/optout.aspx?u=[[user_id]]&un=[[UserName]] To change your profile and various user options, please use the link below: http://www.softletter.com/aspx/Profile.aspx Before you can use this option, please login into your account. If you have not changed your profile, your username is the first letter of your first name and the first seven letters of your last name. Your password is "softletter." To update your address or change your profile, please use the link below (this link takes you directly to your profile assuming you have chosen to stay logged in via a cookie exchange): http://www.softletter.com/aspx/myMain.aspx