Progress Update: On the sunny side of the street
I’m back in SF today after a 15-hour journey. I went over the final templates on the plane and sent Marcin my feedback last night (his morning) when I got in. David’s design is good: light, accessible, friendly and smart. We still haven’t made a decision on the homepage yet. Paul, one of the investors, is a marketing guru and had some comments that we’ve tried to implement. Tomek and David have prepared several formats that I’ll show to people this week to get some feedback.
It’s good to be back here; Holland had good weather for the time I was there but it is nice to return to a big blue sky. This is a view from my window.
Piotr started with HTML today and I’ll be approving each page as they are cut. He’s just got a new apartment and is busy getting it set up so Marcin had given him a few days off.
The team will start connecting the HTML to the engine by the end of this week. I need to finalize hosting and we’ve still got to sort out the results of our funding efforts of last week. Richard is taking care of the people we’re talking with in Holland. I’ve got a kick-off meeting with the PR team this week and need to talk with the lawyer about structuring.
We’re still on track for Beta launch at the end of October. Payment will probably be an issue for us. I need to secure a payment processor but cannot without tax ID and the US corporation ready. So, it looks like we will do the Beta without payment. This effectively ends the debate we were having about whether or not to offer a free Beta. Personally, I feel it is required at the beginning to let people see how the system works. Richard is correct, however, when he says that abuse of the site would hurt the brand. I’ll know more by the end of this week.
Speaking of Richard, he is busy organizing things in A’dam and Krakow so he can join me here in a couple of weeks. Sascha was on holiday but will come in later this week to help with the transition. Richard had planned his holidays for the end of this month, but given our accelerated launch schedule, he has graciously postponed them until we have a bit more breathing space.
All in all, I think it was a productive trip back to Holland and Poland, but I’m glad to be back here until we get the Beta launched
20 Sep
