RR: Have a great trip...
I just 'officially completed' a software deal for a young firm I have been consulting with....About 8 months ago I agreed to help the founders (the creators of the technology) find a way to form a company and license its first product. I introduced them to some friends in a good high tech law firm here in Chicago. We formed an S-Corp, launched Softcrate technologies website (http://www.softcrate.com), packaged up the main product (iWalk), recruited a virtual team, approached our first target client (The Broadband Test Division of a $3 Billion Enterprise Software Developer), presented our product and provided example source code for trials, competed with several other firms' technologies that the potential client was considering licensing, and we just closed a substantial deal that went live on Oct. 1....It's amazing that a young company like ours was able to get a Fortune 500 firm to pay up for access to our source code and for a comprehensive support contract. Many young firms give away their early products to 'the big players' in the target markets and try to use the beta clients to help create future sales. Yet, Softcrate is self-funded and we felt our product (with over 20,000 lines of code) provided substantial value and unique functionality. We made a strategic decision to license the product for a fee from the very beginning. We had to be patient, be very professional, provide some customization of our product, extend the trial period, and finally we were able to complete a deal that was mutually beneficial for both parties (our first enterprise license and support contract was way up in the mid six figures -- it will be paid to us in installments over the next few quarters). I am very proud of our team (and our lawyers) who were all commited to getting the deal done -- even in this most challenging market environment...Persistence paid off, the contracts are signed, and our first check from the client just arrived by Fedex. I will meet one of the founders for dinner tonight to celebrate and discuss future plans...I'll be ramping into a new opportunity in the next 6-8 weeks but hope to continue to consult for Softcrate. Helping to bring this new company into the world has provided me with a powerful learning experience.
Regards,
Scott |
