Digital Common Sense

I’m a bit late posting this because I’ve been traveling to San Diego and in some early meetings here. Brian McConnell dropped me a note this morning to let me know that Open Communications Systems (OCS), the folks behind RadioHandi and a really interesting newer venture, Stream Codes, are listed up on the block for sale on VentureBeat.

Here’s the story on OCS and some great skiiniy on the details.

Open Communication Systems
Open Communication Systems, based in San Francisco with engineering and support offices in Buenos Aires, develops cutting edge group communication and multimedia content delivery services that are accessible on a broad range of computing platforms and communication networks. The company has completed development of two products, both derived from a common underlying platform based on open standards telecommunication and content delivery technology.

Beyond the sale announcement, Brian has a nice article online in the Venture Beat contributors section too.

An alternative to VC: “Selling In”
By Brian McConnell 10.10.06

Silicon Valley prides itself on its ability to transform entire industries, yet it is surprisingly resistant to change itself, notably in the way high tech deals are conducted, from investment to acquisitions.

I am a serial entrepreneur, currently on startup number three, having sold two previous businesses, one to a public company, and one to a private company. The third one is on the block now, at VentureBeat’s new marketplace VentureBoard.

The market for emerging technology deals is inefficient (unless you’re a hot property like YouTube). The process is broken. It forces entrepreneurs to spend a lot of time searching for acquirers or partners, and makes starting a business riskier. The way companies get funded and sold can cause entrepreneurs to think about raising money first, product second. While some companies like 37 Signals can bootstrap their way to profitability, this is the exception, especially in capital intensive industries like telecom.

Brian’s often described as a serial entreprenuer because he just loves starting new things, incubating them to get things started, and then looking at the next new thing. His viewpoints are well-balanced with some depth of experience in the telecom sector that sometimes eludes people. This article’s well worth a read.

Technorati Tags: Open Commnications Systems. RadioHandi, Brian McConnell

Filed by Ken at 12:19 pm under Unified Communications