Downstream Effects of Moore's Law

Those of you familiar with Moore's Law know that basically it states that computing power will double every 2 years. Occasionally, it's so interesting to experience a real-life effect of such a frantic pace of technological advancement.

In early 2006, a trade association I helped create made a strategic decision to launch a new online community in the form of a "niche" social network. We gathered 8-10 of our senior Advisors and planned our project. We estimated that our custom development project would cost the equivalent of $75K and take up to 6 months for a team of specialized developers to complete. Since we did not have that kind of extra cash in our budget, we would have to rely on donated services. Needless to say, the project never really got off the ground.

In early 2007, we identified a relatively new open source content management platform (Drupal) as a potential alternative solution. Drupal essentially provided an affordable set of hosted modules that could be assembled into a relatively customized online community. Suddenly, our "development" project from a year prior transformed into an "integration" project, which we figured would cost $15K and take 2 months for a team of general integrators to complete. Much better.

However, before we could really get THAT project off the ground, we discovered a company called Ning, a venture co-founded by Marc Andreesen, the technological co-founder of Netscape and one of the "Fathers of the World Wide Web." Essentially, Ning offered an online platform that made it easy to create, host, and manage social networks. In late October 2007, it literally took me 15 minutes to launch our group's social network. Granted, it will take us a bit longer to fully customize it and get the look/feel just right, but the basic components were live on the Web in 15 minutes. Oh, and did I mention that the basic Ning service is FREE (the premium services that our group will have to purchase still come to less than $50/month!)?!

So ... imagine this:
- In early 2006, our "development" project was estimated at $75K and 6 months of a specialized team of developers.
- In early 2007, our "integration" project was estimated at $15K and 2 months of a generalized team of integrators.
- In late 2007, our "activation" project was completed for FREE ($50/mo max) in 15 minutes by 1 non-technical person.

This is truly the power of Moore's Law in action on the business end of computing power!

The Power of Networking

In December 2001, when I first moved to the DC area from San Francisco, I knew very little about networking ... social, professional, or otherwise. However, I knew that I would have to build up a new "network," since I only had 3 contacts in this new sandbox I'd jumped into. I was told that I should check out a local group called Netpreneur, which put on events to connect/educate tech entrepreneurs.

At the first Netpreneur event I attended in January 2002, I met a guy named Joe Walsh, who was about 2 weeks away from starting a new job at a VA-funded non-profit called the Center for Innovative Technology. He has since moved on to greener pastures, but in the meantime he became my friend and made some terrific introductions for me.

Perhaps most important, we learned about the power of networking, which really hit home this week when I returned from a terrific business trip to Los Angeles.

So, check out this cool chain of relationships:

Link #1: From Joe to Mary (2002)

Joe introduced me to Mary MacPherson, the multi-talented professional running Netpreneur. When the group decided to sunset its offerings a few years ago, Mary went on to head up marketing for Blackboard and she's currently building up her own consulting practice.

Link #2: From Mary to Andy (2003)

Mary introduced me to a guy named Andy Forbes, who is a fixture on the local DC area tech startup circuit. Andy and I have also become friends, co-networkers, and even co-workers for a while at NuRide (Joe introduced me to the Founder/CEO, too!).

Link #3: From Andy to Ben (April 2007)

Andy is a LinkedIn power user, so it was only natural that through LinkedIn he met Ben Cianciaruso, a local tech entrepreneur. Ben had recently sold his last company and was looking for a new opportunity. So, Andy introduced me to Ben.

Link #4: From Ben to Evan (June 2007)

I introduced Ben to John May, a guru on angel investing, Chairman of the Angel Capital Association, and founder of New Vantage Group. Ben attended one of John's monthly deal screening meetings. At that meeting, Ben briefly met Evan Loomis, who had recently taken over operations for The Wedgwood Circle, a national angel investor network focused on the arts (film, tv, music, theatre, publishing, etc.). Since I was in the process of trying to find funding for a friend's slate of three feature films, Ben introduced me to Evan.

Link #5: From Evan to Dane (July 2007)

Evan introduced me to Dane West, a local DC area former tech entrepreneur who had been working in the entertainment industry for a few years. He was co-chairman of a group called the Independent Producers' Alliance, which had just closed a $60M film production fund.

Link #6: From Dane to Marcia (October 2007)

Dane introduced me to Marcia Allen, his LA-based i-banker who helped him negotiate his IPA fund deal. This is who I met with last Monday. She's a wonderful woman with an incredible professional track record.

Link #7: From Marcia to ... ?

If all goes well, we will likely retain Marcia's firm to introduce us to her friends on Wall Street, and hopefully we can strike a deal with them. If not them, then I'm sure that Marcia can help us find other partners. If not her, then I'm sure that we'll eventually find what we need/want through continued networking.

There you have it! A multi-link networking chain that crossed the country and included both virtual and physical meetings. Yes, I may have known very little about networking six years ago, but I'm really starting to see the importance of it now!