At the May 14 session of the Software Forum/UniForum Unix SIG, a panel of Unix entrepreneurs talked about their companies--how they started, what they do and what they plan for the future. The evening session, held at Amdahl Corp. at Sunnyvale, CA, provided an open, interactive forum where attendees were free to ask any business-related questions they wanted of the speakers. The panelists were David Coelho, president of Personal Productivity Software of Los Altos Hills, CA, a maker of paging software; and David Wellington, president of Crosswind Technologies, a calendaring and scheduling software manufacturer based in Santa Cruz, CA.
Among the subjects that generated the most questions and discussion was the issue of venture-capital funding. Both Personal Productivity Software and Crosswind Technologies were started without venture capital, and Coelho and Wellington were in agreement that, for the most part, the small entrepreneur is better off avoiding the use of VC funding.
In response to questions, both CEOs praised the Internet and the World Wide Web as selling and distribution tools. They spoke at some length, for example, about the use of UseNet groups, both to find beta testers and as points of contact for actual sales. Coelho and Wellington agreed that giving customers the option of downloading their products directly off the Net is one of the greatest boons to the small software manufacturer.
Software Forum is a leading Silicon Valley-based nonprofit organization dedicated to software professionals, with almost 1,000 members. Started in 1983, it informs and educates its members on all facets of the software industry. Software Forum sponsors 11 other SIGs, which meet once a month: Business Operations; Client/Server; International; Internet; Macintosh; Marketing; Mobile/Wireless; Multimedia; Networking; Visual Basic; and Windows.
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