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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy?
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To: Don Earl who wrote (15060)8/2/1997 8:39:00 PM
From: Scott C. Lemon   of 42771
 
Hello Don,

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I'm sorry about the delayed response.

> I understand your position of not being allowed to give out
> confidential information.

I really appreciate that. Many people seem to think that it's ok to tell the world, however I hope that shareholders would respect the fact that the employees understand limits of what can be said.

> I guess I suffer from the common misconception that if someone has
> a gadget that works they instantly make a bunch of them and start
> selling them.

I too thought this way until my first start-up. After my second start-up I learned even more. Now, I think I know about the software development process and product release process ... but I know there is more! ;-)

> I know it's not that way with software but I don't really know
> why. If it's OK could you explain some of the steps between having
> a test model and having a product. Kind of a general example
> suitable for public consumption.

I'll do my best to list some of the general concepts that I have learned in software development and product release. (These are my opinion, and might not be complete ...)

1. When technology is first developed and demonstrated, you must gather input from customers about what features are necessary to make it a "real" product that they would spend money on.

2. You must do the competitive analysis to determine what the value is worth, and whether the competition will quickly eliminate any advantages that you have in your approach. (Could be months)

3. You must complete development, and documentation. (Could be months)

4. You must perform internal testing of the software and the documentation. (i.e. make sure the docs are accurate and understandable.) The internal testing must also include benchmarking and performance analysis. (Could be months)

5. You must do field testing (beta?) and gather analyst and customer input. (Could be months)

6. You have to complete the packaging and roll out of the announcement, education of employees, sales force, and resellers. (Could be months)

As a small software developer in my last start-up we did all of this on a very small scale. I found that with a good team of people we might take six months to roll a product out the door.

I think that one of the most important steps above is number 1. You must try and analyze not only what the obvious values are, but the values that are hidden ... what makes the customer say "Wow!" ... and also carefully think through what the future is bringing. People purchase applications ... and you need to try and predict future applications.

I think I posted once before saying "This industry is like shooting a shotgun. You need to lead the target! You don't want to work real hard to shoot the spot where the target used to be."

Scott C. Lemon
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