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Software with a purpose - Clearballot makes vote auditing economical, reliable and secure

on Tue, 02/26/2013 - 16:45

I'm really interested in technology startups. I'm an advisor for a couple and am on a constant look out for new emerging ideas. I've recently discovered a really exciting and rather unusual one - in a space ripe for innovation. Its not easy to find a startup that is both innovative AND standout socially impactful. Quite often you'll find a cool idea that sadly has no real business or social impact. Those are the ones that usually don't make it. This time around I found a real goodie. A few weeks back I had the great fortune of meeting Larry Moore, CEO of Clearballot, a local Boston startup.

Solving the database join problem can lead to richer user experience.

on Fri, 01/11/2013 - 20:29

Akiban is a new class of operational data store for query acceleration that I recently had a chance to take a good look at when collaborating with their team. It snaps into replication streams for MySQL today, looks like another MySQL slave, and is a great fit for scenarios where there's a real need for high-scale query acceleration. The core value proposition is Akiban's ability to physically group "tables" together in a single btree whilst giving developers SQL and REST access. What does that do for user experience you might say?

Thoughts on startups. Creating a groundswell of raving fans is critical to startup success.

on Sat, 11/03/2012 - 18:47

Recently I've been helping a startup in the database space to get its sea legs. I love startups; always full of creative challenge. This particular startup was at that point where every customer experience counts. Counts in terms of references for not only the next client but would be investors too. So I focused on helping them to build a base of "raving fans" - client, partner, prospect , and ecosystem cheer leaders. The attitude of ensuring that everyone that "experiences" the company becomes a "raving fan" is not always top of the prioritiy list for companies even when they say it is.

Is full time co-location critical to project success?

on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 12:09

A daily part of my profession is to pitch professional services. There are a broad array of topics raised by prospective buyers as they evaluate risk and look for the best solution. A recent encounter got me thinking about co-location strategies and the criticality of full time co-location to project success.

What’s at stake? Managing risk on enterprise projects can be a full time job. With so many variables - it’s often easiest to simplify the issue of co-location and mandate it as a must do.

Signing up for the business result

on Thu, 07/19/2012 - 12:09

Recently I watched a movie called “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”. Check it out if you can it’s really good. It reminded me of how important it is to be passionate about what you do and never take your eye off the result. I like to think the work we do as Acquian’s - with the help of partners - results in epic business outcomes for our clients. My role in professional services, working with clients, can be both demanding and rewarding. A core aspect of my role is ensure not just delivery, but delivery excellence, and that what we do makes a difference.