This Software Startup is Right on Track

I'm the CEO of ClickStream Technologies, a six-person startup in San Francisco. We provide mission-critical application usage metrics for software companies and corporate IT shops. For example, our flagship ClickStream Survey collects daily usage information for all installed software products globally. This enables our clients to pursue new software opportunities more efficiently.

Since opening shop in October, we have already conducted several projects, including helping a software company redevelop its revenue model based on usage information, identifying the competitive threat for a new-entry product, and developing productivity models and best practices for information workers. We look forward to learning more with our clients in the years ahead, helping them lower costs and increase efficiencies.

Before earning an MBA at Saïd Business School at Oxford University, I spent almost eight years at Microsoft (MSFT ) in Redmond, Wash., performing a mix of market research and technical program management. While I enjoyed my experience there, I was ready to find a new way to add value to the software industry (see BW Online, 1/18/06, "Startup Secrets of the Successful").

SKIPPING STEPS.  The programs at Saïd that focused on entrepreneurship and business planning were critical to getting ClickStream Technologies rolling. But the people at Oxford were what made the real difference for me. During the winter and summer months of the one-year program, six classmates and I created a business plan and ran a pilot with a real customer using our new system (see BW Online, 1/19/06, "The B-School Route to Career Change").

Unlike other startups, ClickStream is entirely self-funded. Since we were able to leverage the time in B-school to get traction, we didn't need the typical research and development time required to open the doors for business. Other companies offer deep statistics on Web-site usage, but we saw an opportunity in combining rich statistical views of client-application usage (beyond the Web) with custom consulting projects that could really add value. Having completed two pilot studies during the course of the MBA, we were ready to go to market immediately.

Starting a software company in the Bay Area is a bit like pushing a train -- it can be heavy at first, but once things are rolling, the momentum can carry you a long way. Here's a snapshot of a typical day in my life:

7:00 a.m. -- Up and into the shower. Then I fire up the espresso maker and charge out the door with my signature one-minute egg sandwich in one hand and a homemade grande mocha in the other. Today is a big one -- I've got two big client meetings. I look up to a clear blue sky, grateful to be in California where the sun shines even in winter.

7:30 a.m. -- Take the metro (BART) to San Francisco's financial district. On a good day, like today, I can score a seat, instead of standing. That's a positive omen.

8:00 a.m. -- Make a quick stop at the office. I peek at our servers to see how many users have checked in data overnight for each project. All appears to be well, with over 2 million new "clicks" downloaded from our servers in Singapore in the last 24 hours.

10:00 a.m. -- Walk into a meeting with a major food production company based in California. Introducing our new "Productivity Audit" product, our first foray into corporate IT. By distributing the ClickStream instrument to sample on computers within a large company, we can help IT firms identify software usage best practices, find rogue (non-standard) software, and optimize software license arrangements. The presentation goes well, and we're moving ahead with a pilot.

11:05 a.m. -- Just in time to catch a train to San José, which is about an hour south of San Francisco. I check e-mail on my phone and confirm the meeting. While online, I do a quick check-in with my development team.

12:30 p.m. -- Make a quick stop at Starbucks to refuel and ask directions to the nearest FedEx Kinko's (free quiet desks and wireless Internet). Starbucks and Kinko's are priceless to road warriors like me.

1:00 p.m. -- Since there wasn't time to travel between my 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. meeting, I have traveled during lunch hour and plan to attend my 1 p.m. meeting over the phone at Kinko's. Using LiveMeeting, a Microsoft-developed Web conferencing service, I can present slides to a room of people two states away and still make my 2 p.m. appointment.

3:30 p.m. -- Present status report for our fourth major ClickStream deployment with my client. Keeping the client happy is the key to success on any consulting project.

4:00 p.m. -- Run out the door to catch the 4:15 p.m. train home to Berkeley. I say good-bye and remember to ask about my client's kids. We now have six accounts, so keeping the names of everyone's kids straight can be a challenge.

4:30 p.m. -- On the train, plan a get-together in San Francisco with friends through phone and e-mail, all the while looking forward to a quick dinner with my wife before her class at 7 p.m. We were married just three days before we left for Britain, so I could start the MBA program at Saïd.

6:00 p.m. -- As we eat our Mexican meal, we talk about our plans to pick up our new boxer puppy this weekend. We have been on a Mexican binge since coming home from Britain, where we were unable to find a burrito to save our lives.

7:00 p.m. -- Drop my wife at class and take advantage of the free wireless access at her art school to check server status and catch up on the last two hours of e-mail.

10:00 p.m. -- I close the lid of my laptop for the night. I think through the day and what needs to be done before my 7 a.m. flight to Seattle tomorrow.

As an industry, software boasts several advantages over others: the cost of maintaining "inventory" is non-existent, since software can be easily transferred over the Internet. Also, the cost of goods is relatively low, since the only raw material is the time of those involved in development (and a few machines and pizzas). My experiences at Microsoft and Oxford helped in getting the ClickStream model right, so we were able to be profitable from day one without outside funding.

Would ClickStream Technologies exist had I not gone through an MBA program? Perhaps, but things probably wouldn't have gone nearly so smoothly. And, more importantly, I would not have been able to learn from the classmates, faculty, and staff at Saïd. Those relationships were key to getting this train in motion.