I posted this quick WordPress site as a web-based placed where I could start to capture and refine the wonderful collection of information I am now in possession of, thanks to the many people who’ve been gracious enough to spend a brief amount of time with me, allowing me to ask them questions about their world, and even suggest additional people who might have more insight to give me.

While I’ve tried to follow as much of the letter of the process outlined by Ash Maurya in his book Running Lean, I’ve also tried to be respectful of the time and advice and requests placed upon me to documents of this new business idea in writing, in a format that perhaps Maurya would frown upon, but had some value regardless.

It’s only been a few weeks since I started working on this concept of a data science team for hire, but the process has been so interesting, I feel I should be recording this information somewhere. Sure, I’ve got notes from each of my calls, and meetings, and interviews, and brainstorm sessions, and pics of the whiteboard, or business model canvas iterations, but wouldn’t it be fun to have it as more of a story, cataloging the journey?

I don’t know if this here is the best place to document that sort of thing. Maybe it should be on a completely different website. Maybe it should be anonymous. Maybe it should be private, only to be revealed once we know whether this exploration succeeded or failed. Who knows?

There’s also the problem of how much of those who I’ve interviewed do I reveal? Sometimes who they are, what they do, or what they’ve experienced is as important to this story as it is capable of identifying who they are and violating their privacy and anonymity. It’s something I’m going to have to be mindful.

At the same time, there are times when I stumble across an article, or end up in a discussion with someone, and I’m overwhelmed with a passionate need to vent, or grandstand, or even mope and complain. Again, not something that should often end up being part of a company’s official blog, not something you want in your white paper, but there’s a place for it somewhere, right? It’s those moments that determine which path your company might take, or even just help subtly shape the DNA of your company.

Two examples that stand out in my mind of this are 37signals, and Fizzle.

In 1999, 37signals launched as a web development company with a website that almost exclusively consisted of this manifesto, links to over 30 web pages, each an explanation of who they were as a company. It’s no wonder that this was the shape that the popular book ReWork took that they published many years later. What’s a wonder is how much of ReWork was new material, not simply a republish of the original manifesto. This company also launched a blog called Signal v. Noise where they profiled companies that shared some of their same beliefs, such as bootstrapped and proud.

The wayback machine (internet archive) is helpful to uncover some of this info, because fast forward to today, and 37signals is no more. Instead, the company, which began spinning out products that solved specific problems they as a web dev shop faced (as did their clients), and ultimately took on the name of their flagship product, Basecamp, while selling off the rest of their companies.

XX add links to the above

The point I want to make is that 37signals as a team were not shy about sharing how they felt about the world, and certainly did seem afraid to voice their opinion.

Now let’s look at Fizzle. I am subscribed to Fizzle’s email list, and I also have read some of their very well written articles on their site, but what really got me was a recent podcast I listened to, where they very strongly cursed out the “top 10 tips for new businesses” published by the SBA. I’ve worked at many companies who would be afraid of offending an organization. Not so with Fizzle, and I really admire that.

What about the Startup podcast? XX

Finally, I should mention Medium, which seems to be an increasingly popular place for founders and executives to share their inner thoughts, and the more intimate and shocking, apparently the more popular it seems to be. Is it the shock and awe of the whole thing, like a crowd gathering to rubberneck a bad accident, or see a public execution? Is there something valuable in being forthcoming and honest about you as a person, then pointing out that these same views are inextricably woven into the fabric of your business? Are there clients that have stopped working with someone because of their honesty? I know people who’ve stopped buying a product simply because of a newly announced political association or point of view, but I don’t think that’s the same thing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially about how much of a person should go into the reputation and communication of a company’s persona…