Chris Shipley, executive producer for the prestigious DEMO conferences called me on the day, that I was doing final edits to the final Chapter of Naked Conversations. It was slowly dawning on me that I would soon be unemployed. Chris asked me if I could help, this start up--Ojos get ready to presented at the upcoming DemoFall. It was the sort of work that I have been doing for years. I've had my share of successes helping start ups get ready to tell the world their story. But after writing a book, helping a client prepare and rehearse for a six-minute Demo demonstration, might pay the bills, but it didn't not fill me with joy, the way writing the book had done.
The client was Munjal Shah. I immediately liked him. I enjoy determined, smart, passionate people who are trying to implement visions with technology, making both themselves and the world just a little richer. For 25 years, I've been working with tech entrepreneurs and remain in amazement of how technology keeps tweaking the way things are. In the case of Ojos it automates finding the photos you want. It recognizes every shot I have of my wife Paula, once I show it Paula in one picture. So, I began this project with ambivalence. For me, presentation trainings have become old old hat but promising startups remain my passion.
After two weeks, it became clear that all the passion in the world would not make this product ready to shine on the dais on Sept. 19 at Demo. The company was trying to beat its own development schedule to be ready for a conference, a tactic that proves to be a mistake more often than not. Munjal proved himself to be a pragmatist. He backed out of the conference, forfeiting a very substantial financial penalty.
This is where my story with Ojos probably should have ended, but instead, it's where it actually began. A pivotal moment came on our last Demo meeting, when Munjal told me how important the blogging community was to his success status. He told me that he considered favorable comments by Robert Scoble to be more important to Ojos than a favorable column by Walt Mossberg. This left me with my mouth agape. It took me another day to realize that blogging had come this far, at least when it comes to end user technology. A cool way to search for and find your photos was more important than a column in the Wall Street Journal.
So, when I went over to see Munjal for what is generally called the "exit interview," he asked me to stay on. Instead of helping him with a traditional launch, there would be no traditional launch. Instead, there would be a conversation that he would start, and other would join. And in that conversation, marketing would happen.
I recently learned that the blogosphere could help me write a better book. I believe Ojos is about to learn how the blogosphere can help them build a better product. Hopefully, the blogosphere will help them find the kind of user evangelists that have proven so powerful for the FireFox guys.
Munjal has started to blog. He calls it "Recognizing Deven." Deven is his son and the title is exactly what Ojos does in the pictures. He also has hired Rogue Marketing's awesome Tara Hunt who found out about the position on a blog I posted here earlier. Hopefully other members of the Ojos team will also join this conversation as it moves along.
What Ojos has started is a blog-centered marketing program. It will be forced to comply with the authenticity and transparency that the blogosphere demands. Munjal is new to blogging but, like most bloggers, he figures that he will figure it out as he goes along and the blogosphere will help him. I think the reverse is also true. Businesses are struggling with how to use blogging in a way that benefits their company, and doesn't simultaneously piss off the blogosphere. It will be fun to see how this develops. It will be fun to be a part of it.
