Blake Callens is CEO of online publishing startup, PencilBlue and Co-founder of the Raleigh Entrepreneurial Acceleration Lab, a non-profit incubator with the mission of creating profitable, self-sustaining, technology startups in the Triangle. He is a DEMOgod and Webby award winner, and writes regularly on the subjects of software startups and UI/UX development.
Blake Callens is CEO of online publishing startup, PencilBlue and Co-founder of the Raleigh Entrepreneurial Acceleration Lab, a non-profit incubator with the mission of creating profitable, self-sustaining, technology startups in the Triangle. He is a DEMOgod and Webby award winner, and writes regularly on the subjects of software startups and UI/UX development.
One of the most common stories I hear from founders is that of the wayward software development contract. It's so common that the top post on the entrepreneur subreddit last weekend was from a business owner who is missing a sales cycle because a contracted project went late.
On the other hand, the sentiment from contractors about unreliable clients isn't any better or any less deserved—it has even inspired its own parodies.
I've been on both sides of the issue. Contractors I've hired have missed deadlines and attempted to charge multiples on the original estimate, even when the project parameters never changed. I've also been the contractor, with clients who were never satisfied, couldn't stick to the plan, and expected their every whim to be accommodated at no additional charge. --Read On
Entrepreneur:I'm working on a new startup that will revolutionize everything.
What's my product? Well, I told you—it's revolutionary. It literally revolutionizes everything.
What does it do? I can't tell you. If I told people the details they might steal the idea. Groundbreaking concepts like this don't come around that often.
So… anyway... I'm looking for some assistance. I need someone to help me staff my company and was told you know a lot of qualified people. I was hoping you could do me a favor and connect me with those people, pro bono.
What? Qualified candidates won't even talk to me until they know what the business actually does?
In that case, I'm going to need you to sign this non-disclosure agreement. I know I'm asking you to do this for free, but if you're going to know my game changing idea, I need you to be legally liable to me.
I think my idea is worth millions, so if you or a partner of yours ever build anything remotely close to it, I'll drop a frivolous lawsuit on you before you can say unconscionability. I also realize having you sign a NDA would require you to ask every potential candidate you speak with to also sign a NDA, making this an absolutely untenable situation, but I refuse to waver.
When was I ever required to sign a NDA for just a job interview? Well, that doesn't matter. Those companies weren't revolutionary.
Earlier this month, we launched the promotional website and developer blog for PencilBlue, our foray into the world of online publishing platforms. It was not only a public relations milestone for us, but a massive technical one as well.
PencilBlue.org going online was the culmination of many months of extracurricular work and the first in many tests of our company's vision—for when your product is a tool to build websites, every detail of your own website is up for debate. This scrutiny is magnified even further when PencilBlue's key value propositions are based on the premise that other products in a "red ocean" market aren't up to snuff (for more details, read this post on our developer blog).
I've led development of several applications from concept to market, and I've been hyper-focused on the web development space for years. Despite this, bringing to life a product in a genre that absolutely everyone has at least some opinion on has taught me more about the software business than anything that preceded it. Here's my journey and what I learned. --Read On
Consider this scenario.
Earlier this month, we launched the promotional website and developer blog for