Anonymous Hex - All Comments

re: Got a great idea? A VC that will probably listen to your pitch (and it’s one that you probably never thought of).

Phillip Leslie — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:56:03 GMT

Jeff,

A Clarity friend of mine pointed out this post and I can't resist commenting.

I agree that its all-too-typical that when a employee comes up with a new business idea, they assume that their best path to success is to strike out on their own. I offer three explanations for why this might be the case:

(1) Many companies don't have the systems in place to compensate in-house entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs traditionally take larger-than-typical risks, for the *possibility* of outsized returns. But an employee paid on salary and working on an entrepreneurial idea is not really taking unusual risks--thus its tough to build up a reward system that gives substantially more compensation. If such a reward system exists, it risks distracting all employees, who might flock to the entrepreneurial projects, since there is no downside (salary stays steady), but yet a 'free' upside (potential bonus or other additional compensation if things go well). Finding the right compensation system for in-house entrepreneurs is a real challenge.

(2) Moonlighting Restrictions / Non-Compete Agreements: it seems to me that many technology companies have these clauses in their employement agreements, which implicitly sets up an incentive for employees to keep their new ideas (if they hope to transform them into a new independent business) under wraps until their ready to jump ship.

(3) Perhaps most importantly, a company needs to *show* employees that funding proposals from current employees, for new/proposed ventures, are welcome and have a reasonable probability of receiving a warm reception (as you did here). The default assumption, without such an example, is that they aren't welcome.

On the flip side, a company that can build a reputation for supporting in-house entrepreneurs, or helping employees branch out into their own new ventures with a bit of funding/support from the company, stand to enjoy great benefits. E.g., product tie-ins between the new venture and the existing company, adding an innovative flair to longstanding products and services, giving the new venture credibility while adding some new excitement for the existing company's products.

I think its great that Clarity encourages entrepreneurship--what better way to grow the business?

Phillip Leslie

Founder, ProOnGo LLC

re: How Long is the Long Tail?

Patrick Handel — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:26:57 GMT

Very cool, Steve. San Francisco needs one of these ... if someone hasn't put up something similar in the last 9 hours. Out of curiosity, for a company that makes most of its hay off custom Microsoft solutions, why did you choose the Google Maps API instead of LiveEarth? Again, good stuff here.

re: How Long is the Long Tail?

sholstad — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:23:31 GMT

Sadly, the Google Maps API used for this doens't support live inside an AJAX update panel... hence the annoying full page refresh to show train movement. Plans are in the works to convert/enhance this app to SL, although we probably will lose the nice side benefits of gmaps.

re: How Long is the Long Tail?

Andy Amiri — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:34:59 GMT

Very cool! Great concept, and an awesome solution to an annoying problem. I just had a few problems with the interface. It keeps "refreshing" in Firefox - maybe some of Clarity's excellent Silverlight design-elopers (combination of designer and developer ;) could take a look at the UX.

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