[mindcrime]

We try to be pretty transparent in most things at Fogbeam. We actually consider our small size a selling point, and it dovetails with our strategy vis-a-vis The Discipline of Market Leaders[1], which is to focus on customer intimacy.

When I talk to prospects, I emphasize that, since we're small, we will be very responsive to their needs, and that they get access to the highest levels of the company in a way they never would with, say, IBM or Oracle.

"With us, you'll have the CEO's personal cellphone number, and you can call and wake me up at 2:00am if you need to. I hope you don't need to, but you'll have that option if need be. And you won't get that from Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, etc."

As far as burn rate and financial data... we don't actively disclose that to the world, because there doesn't appear (at first blush) to be an value in it. But we do disclose a lot of stuff (sales leads, prospects, product roadmap details, etc.) to our advisory board members, and a group of 20-30 or so people (investors, potential partners, etc.) who have expressed at least some interest in knowing what we're up to.

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/The-Discipline-Market-Leaders-Customer...

[kevjordan]

It depends are your target market. We went with a similar service based approach, but a few potential clients were worried that we may not be around in a few years.

[mindcrime]

That's true. Hence the old saw about how "you can't be everything to everybody". In our case, the gamble we're making, is that the market of companies who will work with a smaller company and appreciate the extra attention and intimacy, is big enough to support us (at least in the early days).

It may not work out, but I guess only time will tell.

[bike_index]

Yeah, that's essentially what the Jason Cohen talk is about. Our small size is a virtue, since we care a whole lot.