Question

Topic: Strategy

Selling A Software Technology

Posted by Anonymous on11/7/2005 at 4:53 AM ET 125 Points
Hello marketing gurus,

I have been working on a certain technology. I can produce software products based on it myself, but they will be severely limited in usability - it is something I am doing in my spare time. Therefore I am looking to team up with a commercial or government body or found a startup. The latter is less preferable as I am really not into administrative work.

It is about multilingual natural language processing; currently I see a few markets:

1. Multinational corporations - managing multilingual content.
2. US military - irrelevant because I am located in Australia.
3. Publishers of content with multilingual sources.
4.各种国际组织餐饮for 3rd world education.

The industry is tiny and even though grows rapidly, it is still struggling to prove its usability. Many people are unaware that it is already at work and the company which dominates the market does not produce the best quality products.

What would be the best strategy to follow?

Can you elaborate about the process of licensing a technology to a corporation? Provided it is something which is unlikely to be maintained by someone else, is it possible to sell it and still keep working on it?

Does it make sense to appeal to the various "techno-charity" programs of large corporations, like Google or IBM - provided it can become a usable product for 3rd world?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted byCarl Crawfordon11/8/2005 at 5:16 AM Member
    Why not make it open source? That way you can you can get lots of developers working on it (at no cost to you). Get it posted onwww.sourceforge.netand they will host it free.

    You can usewww.sugarcrm.com/crm/strategy, they make the product open source, but charge for the installation, support and training.

    If you give it the right licence agreement your competitors wont able to use your code.

    If you are targeting the 3 world, them you MUST make it linux compatible. Most people in the third world either have illegal copy's of windows or some variant of linux (read FREE).
  • Posted on11/9/2005 at 12:58 AM Member
    In the US, there is considerable interest from universities in teaming with businesses to commercialize products that originate both in and outside of academia. Work through the university business development or commercialization office, or step out and develop relationships with the graduate or faculty thinkers in your area of interest. You may get significant administrative interest or find good team members to work with you to push the project along.
  • Posted on11/9/2005 at 3:11 PM Accepted
    US shouldn't matter, though we seem to have a leg up when it comes to small business development. There are also technology commercialization organizations that look for and can help entrepreneurs.

    The following organization is one such outfit -- I2E (www.i2e.org) , originally founded as the Oklahoma Technology Development Corporation, is a private NFP Oklahoma corporation “focused on wealth creation
    in Oklahoma by growing the technology-based entrepreneurial economy.” By looking at this group, you may find other similar ones in your area. They also have a good commercialization model --https://www.i2e.org/uploads/Comm%20Model.pdf.

    I suggest Googling for others similar sites or topics that can give you the roadmap to licensing.

  • Posted bytelemoxieon11/14/2005 at 6:25 AM Member
    Some of us have ten, twenty, and more years experience selling software to commercial organizations. Please don't expect us to teach a marketing class to you online...

    Also, you have not provided very much info on your technology. How can we provide specific advice anyway, when we do not know what you are selling?

    My advice is, if you don't have 3-5 years sales experience, don't try selling large corporations on your own. Find an experienced and affordable marketing partner.
  • Posted bytelemoxieon11/18/2005 at 5:45 AM Accepted
    Vadim - Thanks for providing more info.

    Sure, lots of folk (myself included) have experience selling specific high tech tools and solutions. And, there is a large and increasing number of companies who have increasing needs for such capabilities.

    If I were personally marketing your technology, I would approach large systems integration firms selling language-based solutions to the US Federal Gov't. You say above that the US Government is a potential market, but is irrelevant to you, since you are in Australia. I disagree. The US Government (either direct, or through integrators) is the largest buyer of IT services and technology in the world - and buys technology from all over the world.

    The fact that you are in Australia is a positive for you, not a negative. You say that you are doing this part-time, I have to assume you are doing something else full time. The differences in time zones will probably help you set a schedule to work with a US based company which does not interfere with your day job.

    One strategy would be to identify "prime contractors" who are either bidding on or currently working on related projects, and develop a teaming arrangement. If you would like to discuss further, please contact me offline (click on my name on the right for my contact info).
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