[TriLUG] Can open source solutions be viable companies?

[John Franklin]

On Monday, July 1, 2002, at 03:08 PM, Scott Chilcote wrote:
> Give away the product and sell consulting?  Sell the documentation?=20
> Sell boxed product but let anyone download it?  Sell 24-hour support?=20=

> Or even, sell a bare-bones version and cost-extra upgrades (but that's=20=

> stepping outside the lines).  Just try floating any of these concepts=20=

> past a purely profit-motivated management team that doesn't care what=20=

> kind of widget it's selling as long as the numbers look good.

I find it strange that you - a geek/techie - are asked to present=20
(bulletproof) business cases to management.  Asking you to do so is=20
either foolish on their part or they're setting you up for a fall. =20
After all, you would *never* ask them to recommend a server, nor to come=20=

up with a security model for a distributed application, nor to even=20
install a simple 100Base-T switch.  Do they really believe that geeks=20
have such expertise in profit/loss forcasts, the current momentum of the=20=

market, the latest polling numbers and a critical understanding of the=20=

companies direct and indirect competition that the geeks are the go-to=20=

guys for business plans?  Don't they have *teams* of marketing gurus,=20
MBAs and pollsters to do that for them?

Stick to the tech stuff.  When they ask you such things tell them, "If=20=

this is all you have, how do you think it should be marketed?"

Ok.  Rant over.

jf
--
John Franklin
franklin@elfie.org
ICBM: 35=B043'56"N 78=B053'27"W