LIM, MARYLYN GRACE C.

OOA

            Charles Geschke and John Warnock founded Adobe System. Adobe System was founded when Charles Geschke and John Warnock was still working at Xerox. They developed a language called Interpress that allows any computer to talk to any printer. After developing Interpress, they showed it to the Xerox management and the Xerox management was excited about it. The only problem they have was that it would at least take them 7 years to bring a product out. That’s the fastest way Xerox could get a product out. Charles Geschke and John Warnock thought that if they will wait for 7 years before they could get the product out, maybe by that time users won’t be interested anymore in their product. So finally, they decided to bring their ideas and start a startup.

Their first product was PostScript. PostScript helps describe complex documents into a simple form. One problem they encountered was when Steve Jobs left the company and Jean-Louis Gassee replaced him. That’s the time when Jean-Louis Gassee and Adobe started not to get along. Jean-Louis Gassee was tired of paying Adobe royalties for the Laser Writer and she thought that they don’t have to pay them anymore. This problem was solve when Apple realized that it took Microsoft and Apple 3 years before they could shipped a product while Adobe was able to sold hundreds of thousands of units in just the first year. So Apple decided to just redid the deal in PostScript with Adobe.

One of the major turning points of the company was when IBM and HP realize that the PostScript was so popular so they decided to get business deals with Adobe System. Another turning point of the company was when they develop Illustrator. John Warnock’s wife wanted to get her concepts out on Laser Writer. So John Warnock builds a program that acts like what a graphic artist would expect to have. So that’s where Illustrator came from.

            For me, the products of Adobe System a big hit to the users because it was very useful for the users. The PostScript made the lives of the users easier. I think in the history of Internet, Adobe System gives great impact to the users because they were recognized as industry leader in graphic and desktop publishing software. And until now, many users are using this software.

            One thing that is unique in this startup is that their service was never offered before. I think they were the first one to develop Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat application. If not, I guess their product is much more popular than any other application.

            If I were in the co-founders shoes maybe I would have done the same thing, but I’m not sure of it because I’m not actually in their position and as of now, I don’t have enough knowledge to decide what should be done and not.

I think startup would be possible in a third world country, if the people will just think more creatively; there is a possibility for that to happen. Just like in the Philippines, Filipino people are very creative especially when it comes to inventions and graphic arts. Maybe there will come a time that Filipinos would start a startup that is more unique than Adobe.

Before I read the case study, I thought that it would only take a few months for a company to get a product out but after reading the case study, I was shocked that back then, it took them at least 7 years just to get the product out.

LIM, MARYLYN GRACE C.

OOA

            Ann Winblad started Open System with the help of $500 she borrowed from her younger brother. Open System is an accounting software company. Open System started when the group of Ann Winblad was chosen under the Request of Proposal bid to build a student accounting system for a vocational school. So that’s when they started programming accounting systems for smaller computers.

            One of the major turning points of the company was when Ann Winblad was able to get 12 $10000 checks from the CADO computer guys. Ann Winblad was telling them that if they give her a check worth of $10000 today, the guys from CADO could have unlimited rights to one of the modules which was the general ledger. Because Open System was a core component of the company so CADO wanted Open System to be successful so that all the software would work in his resellers.

            After 6 years, Ann Winblad sold Open System for $15 million. Then she started another startup called Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. Hummer Winblad Venture Partnerswas the first venture firm to focus exclusively on software. For me, Open System is not that popular, it is useful for students who take accounting courses and people who use accounting in their work. Limited people could use this system so I think it’s not popular worldwide.

            For me, Open system and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners didn’t have great impact in the history of Internet unlike other companies like Microsoft, Apple, Google and other big companies. Maybe because one thing is that I haven’t heard of their company and I think that not everyone could use their system. But their system did help a lot for people who know accounting. For them Open System did have a great impact in the history of Internet.

            One thing that is unique in this startup is that their founder was a woman. As we all know there are only few founders in a startup that is woman. I admire her for her strengths, determination and skills. Back then, she was just an ordinary girl who was having problems regarding money. She was very lucky because she was picked as “experimental” student. So she doesn’t have to take any pre-requisite like most of the student. And she was able to get double major in mathematics and business administration. She also takes some computer science classes, that’s how she was able to build a system. If I were in her place, I don’t think I could do all those things. It’s hard to take up double major then having computer science classes. But I think that’s the reason for her success. She didn’t give up; she kept fighting until she reaches her goal. Look at her now; she is the most powerful woman in venture capital.

            I think this startup could also happen in a third world country as long as you have the determination, strengths and skills to do it. It’s not easy but we just have to try and try, you don’t know, maybe it would be also successful just like them.

            Before I read the case study, I didn’t know that there was a startup called Open System and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. After reading the case study, I learned that Open system was an accounting software company while Hummer Winblad Venture Partners was the first venture firm to focus exclusively on software. When I searched for information at Wikipedia, I realized that it wasn’t a popular company so there was no information about it.

LIM, MARYLYN GRACE C.

OOA

            The founder of 37signals was Jason Fried. Before, 37signals was just a web design shop. But David Heinemeier Hansson was the one who helped them transform 37signals from a consulting company into a product company. Then he wrote the first product of 37signals which was Basecamp. Basecamp is an online project management tool. He was also the one who developed Ruby on Rails, a free web application framework, and Instiki Wiki, a Ruby-based Wiki clone.

            One of the major turning points of the Basecamp was that, Basecamp was very general in project management. It was not specific like billing and time tracking. In short, whatever project management that people want to do, they can do it on Basecamp. If you compare Open System with Basecamp, Basecamp is more useful than Open System because Basecamp is very general in managing projects; users can mange different kinds of projects, from simple projects to complex ones. Users can do everything they want. While in Open System, they are very specific so there are only few users who use their system unlike Basecamp, there are so many users who loved their product.

            Some of the mistakes that they did was that, they didn’t figure out that bank wouldn’t let the company to bill people once a year. So they change the plan from billing people once a year to billing people every month. Another mistake they did was that they didn’t consider the time-zones. They just assume that everyone is in the Central Standard Time. So they have to fix again in order for other countries to participate.

            For me, people used the Basecamp because of course it does help them and it makes their life easier. It uses less time in managing plans than manually managing it. I think people also love it because it can do all kinds of stuff with it like managing wedding, home improvement or even for personal use. At first, they just do it for the company’s use. But after getting feedback from the users, they too have the same problem as theirs, so they launched it so not only the company would benefit from it but also for the users too.

I think Basecamp can influence other startup company by providing something that will not only benefit the company but also the users. Maybe other startups might be influenced in creating something that the users want. For me, most startups are the same because they are trying to do something different and unique. In Basecamp, I think the unique thing about the product is that people could manage their projects online. If I were in their shoes, maybe I would check all the possible mistakes that we could have done before launching out product. Once I’m assured that all mistakes have been corrected, that’s the time when I’m going to launch it so it would go smoothly.

Everything is possible anywhere. This startup or product can also be possible in a third world country. Developers just have to think something that will be useful for the people and that the users would love it.

Before I read this case study, I didn’t know everything about Basecamp or 37sisgnals. After reading the case study, I learned that Basecamp is an online project management tool and after I checked it out, I realized that this is really a cool site and very useful to people.