Twelve months later, now that Balsamiq has enjoyed skyrocketing sales and press coverage, how much of this advice would you still give? Have you developed new techniques, e.g. Q: Your advice about how a startup can launch and get press should be required reading for any startup. I also really enjoy writing, it helps me organize my thoughts in a way that nothing else can. I am still committed to sharing as much as possible, I always try to provide value in all of my output, and I’ve learned so much from other people’s books and blogs (yours included!), sharing what I learn along the way is the least I can do to “give back.” Knowledge is for sharing! :-) It seems so silly to worry about that in 2009, but we live in a country where kidnappings still happen…. I am always tempted to share everything, but I’ve been pulling back, especially on sharing sales figures, for two reasons: I don’t want to come across as bragging, and most importantly I don’t want anything bad to happen to our employees and our families. Having a straightforward, no-BS company page is part of the same effort.Īs for why I’ve stopped sharing as much, the blog post you mentioned has some details. Sharing my good sales figures was part of my efforts to reassure my potential customers that I was going to stay in business long enough to answer their support phone call when needed. The qualities I look for in a software vendor are honesty, attention to detail, focus on usability and outstanding customer service, so that’s what I want to offer at Balsamiq.Īlso, buying from a small company seems to be more and more acceptable in the enterprise (perhaps thanks to the recession?). I always try to put myself in a potential customer’s shoes. Thousands of years of evolution have made humans great BS detectors, so why do people even try to be something they’re not? If something smells fishy on a company’s website, would you buy their products? As a vendor, do you really want to only have the customers you have fooled into buying from you? It sets off the vendor/customer relationship on a bad note right from the start. Being transparent is how I’m trying to gain my customers’ trust and respect. Regarding transparency: in short, I am trying to build a company I would like to do business with as a consumer. Would you suggest that most people should follow in your footsteps or is this a cultural decision that isn’t vital to success? How do you decide what is “OK to reveal” and how much is “too much?” (For example, you used to publish all revenue figures but recently you stopped that practice.)įirst of all I’d like to thank you Jason for the great work you’re doing with this blog, it’s part of my “read every single word, twice” folder in Google Reader, so it’s really an honor to be featured here. Obviously this works well for you, yet still most small companies persist in promoting the façade of being ten times larger than they are. Q: You’ve been impressively - some would say frighteningly - transparent on your website and blog about being a tiny company. Let’s hear what Peldi has to say about building startups. I’ve referenced Balsamiq previouslyas an example of how startups can grow in recessions and as a model for how small, informal companies should act. The first Uncommon Interview is with Giacomo “Peldi” Guilizzoni, founder of Balsamiq Studios, makers of the popular Balsamiq Mockups, a tool for creating quick user interface mock-ups. Peldi got 100 product reviews in the first six weeks after product launch and raked in $800,000 in the first 12 months of operation. ( Leave a comment and tell me if you want more of these.) I’m starting the Uncommon Interview: Five questions that solicit deep answers with actionable advice, examples, and insight. You want to learn and get specific ideas from interesting, thoughtful people, not read a biography. I hate most interviews, and I think everyone else does too.
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