Socrata

Four of us have made the trek to Palm Desert for DEMO. The excitement is starting to build. I did my rehearsal (practice) run on the DEMO stage yesterday. It was a lot of fun. I’m really impressed with the set up. The audio and visual folks and all the other support people are really top notch. You certainly get the feeling that they’ve been here and done this before.

Thanks to all the well wishers pouring in with their emails of encouragement. I know I’ve been a little quiet lately. We’re just getting ready.

Before we go on stage, I just want to compliment Paul, Matt, Jeff, Justin, Amir, Aaron and Sam for doing an awesome job so far.  Keep up the great work.

Back to work for me – I need to keep practicing. Talk to you soon.

Are you a road runner who runs in organized races? If so, you know that feeling when you make a turn and realize it’s the last. You see the finish line and all the spectators cheering you home. Adrenaline floods your body and you kick hard to the finish.

Business, like life, has few clear starting lines and finish lines. But every once in a while you turn the corner with a huge milestone in sight. Adrenaline flows and you kick it up a few notches.

We didn’t know it two nights ago, but yesterday was a corner for team blist. We’re in overdrive now.

blist is launching in limited beta at DEMO at the end of this month. When I talk to people I’m surprised to learn that not everyone knows what DEMO is, so I thought I’d write a quick post to tell you what it is and why we decided to launch at this event.

So many mission statements are too generic, too long and with too many words containing too many syllables. DEMO nails their mission statement: “DEMO is the premier launch venue for new products, technologies and companies.” Brevity, succinctness and clarity. More importantly, a track record of 18 years demonstrates that they’ve achieved their goal.

Stewart Alsop was the original producer of DEMO 17 years ago in 1991. In 1997 Alsop turned the reigns over to Chris Shipley, who quickly instituted an enormously impactful change. Shipley’s innovative modification to the venue’s format was a requirement that all products showcased at the Venue must be publicly unveiled at the event itself. The result of the change was significant. DEMO became the launchpad for new companies and products.

How influential is DEMO? Its track record speaks for itself. The following companies and products were launched at DEMO:

*) Java
*) The Palm Pilot
*) E*Trade
*) Tivo
*) Salesforce.com
*) IronPort

DEMO is attended by about 700 of the most influential people following emerging technology. Journalists, venture capitalists, bloggers, entrepreneurs and corporate development officers are all there to catch a glimpse of where technology and its most innovative companies are headed. Each company gets 6 minutes on stage. No more. No less.

All things being equal, we’d like another 60 or 90 days of development before launching. We decided early on that we’d launch blist when the product was ready – unless we were fortunate enough to be selected to present at DEMO. Well, it happened, so we’ll come out a little early because DEMO is too important an opportunity to pass up.

blist is honored to be a part of DEMO 2008 and to present on the same stage where pioneers of our industry previously unveiled products that have gone on to become iconic. At each conference a few of the top performers are awarded the coveted DEMOGod award for incredibly polished demonstrations. Me, I’m just hoping for a reasonably well presented demo that ends at about 5:55 without a blue screen of death. Wish us well.

I had lunch earlier this week with an exceptionally bright and capable software engineer. He shared with me that he was discouraged that his manager wasn’t allowing him to interview for interesting positions elsewhere in the company. His manager is a relatively new manager, having been promoted to manager earlier in the year. It’s a common mistake for new managers to try to hold key people in the group. But it’s the wrong thing to do.

I think one of the ways you measure a manager’s success is by how often his direct reports are promoted to roles outside of the group. If the company is growing and new projects are forming and a manager’s direct reports aren’t moving up, it reflects poorly on the manager. The manager’s manager has to be asking himself “why aren’t the folks moving up?” Two possible reasons might be: A) he’s hiring people that other teams don’t want; or B) he’s hoarding good people (at their own expense). Neither is a particularly glowing endorsement of the manager.

Look at most of the group leaders at Microsoft. Many of the department managers, GMs and VPs were hired as software engineers years ago. I’ll bet very few moved straight up. The more likely path looks more like a staircase, up and over, up and over, up and over.

Create opportunities for your people. Their advancement helps them and you. When members of your team become the seeds for so many great teams in the future, you’ll know you’re doing a great job recruiting, developing and promoting your people. Look at PayPal as the model. How many startups today – Yelp, YouTube, LinkedIn, Slide and many more – trace their DNA to the PayPal farm system? A decade from now I’d love to see the Seattle startup landscape populated by blist alumni.

Are you roadblocked in your current role? Are you one of tomorrow’s entrepreneurs? Come grow with blist.