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Originally published on 05/02/2002
The economic climate today does not support profligate startups the way it used to, but that won't stop entrepreneurs from starting businesses. They are just more reasonable now, and more likely to apply their energies to thinking out business models, rather than figuring out how to spend VC cash. (Likewise, I'm spending more time at business schools prospecting for stories, and a little less time rooting around in VC portfolios.)
Fast Facts:
Cima Systems
www.cimasystems.net |
| CEO |
Lisa Marino. Last job: VP of finance, Mercantil
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| HQ |
San Francisco, CA
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| Employees |
6
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| Market |
Telephone scheduling software
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| Funding |
$200,000 in friends-and-family. Looking for $500,000 to $1M first round
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| Profitable? |
Projected for Q2 2002
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Some entrepreneurs are even going back to old models, like -- are you ready for this? -- PC software.
There are still people who want their PCs -- not Web services or a "grid" -- to actually do work for them, and new companies are addressing these needs. A typical example: a little startup out of the Women's Technology Cluster called Cima Systems. The company makes appointment-management software for services companies like medical offices and salons. It's phone-based, allowing customers to secure appointment times by pressing telephone keys. More importantly, though, it can automatically call customers the day before their appointment to remind them to show up, potentially reducing no-show rates (which hover at 27 percent for medical offices, according to Cima).
There's no leading-edge architecture here -- Cima's TelAppoint just installs on a PC and works with widely available voice-processing boards.
The sales model is also straightforward. Rather than base the business on direct sales (expensive), Cima integrates its notification technology into existing scheduling applications like ProSolution (for salons and spas); the ProSolution sales team resells Cima's product into its customer base.
I know this sounds boring when compared to in-silico biology startups, and I'll continue to cover new technologies. But it's also worth watching the straightforward businesses that are emerging. These startups are helping to fill in the holes in the economy that the Internet boom ignored.
- Rafe Needleman
email: rafe-needleman@catchoday.com
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