soon to be non-secret non-stealth-mode

Those who know me well, may have had to put up with my non-specific rambling about what it is that I do for a living. Many of you have probably heard me describe in a non-articulating kind of way, something about a top-secret super-stealth-mode startup project, and I do apologize for being so general. Very soon we’ll be unveiling the elusive “beta.” So fear not, as we will launch our little baby out into the open, allowing for some hard-core beta testing from our core group of users — p.s. that’s you, if you’re reading this blog.

It’s been a crazy, hectic few months (actually, a year in total if you’ll count the formulating, thinking, tinkering, and taking-the-plunge) trying to gear this puppy up and get her ready for not only beta, but the long road ahead. Our goal is very noble, and if I must say, quite revolutionary.

In the mean-time, I will give you a little bit of a teaser, because it does relate to our concept–our model–if you will….

Recently, Jodi wanted to take a course on an architectural program, called AutoCAD. She naturally asked me to look into helping her find a course somewhere. I looked around a little, but then thought, gosh, my friend Kenny really knows AutoCAD, being the Grad student (and full-time worker, I hear) he is, and he could probably do an excellent job of teaching. I approached Kenny (read: e-mailed/IMed) and started to setup this interaction. After all was settled and done, with me out of the picture, the price was negotiated, and the classes were started, I naturally remained eager to learn if my little recommendation was successful. Now technically, there is no incentive for me, other than the nature of a good deed to follow up, or even see if the opportunity/interaction/deal goes along smoothly or at all. No where am I getting a “cut” of the action, nor really would it be feasible, or acceptable socially, to initiate a fee or percentage for “hooking” it up — the ole “finder’s fee.”

But why not? What would happen if I did? Would I have more of an incentive to make sure the class was going well? Would I be in a better position to actually resolve conflicts, mediate efforts, or ensure success, with all parties knowing that my role is to “hook it up” and “ensure success?” Where would I be if this kind of transaction went well, and how could Kenny repay me (monetarily or metaphysically) without a fully conscious-act: slipping me some money (I’d refuse) or going out of his way to allow me to continue to be an initiator of future “jobs” for him (not efficient or realistic)?

To that last sentence, I suppose you can see where I’m going — that in reality, this concept loses merit, and yes, in an alternate system/game/network, it may be possible to persist.

The idea is simple, and sure, it’s novel, and yes, it relies on the Interweb2.0/www.html-network-o-trust — or whatever you call it…. But, it’s definitely more than worth a shot.

Keep those RSS aggregators running — there will be more, of course. It’s only a teaser, remember?

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 25th, 2005 at 11:09 pm and is filed under biz-ness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.