Enterprise = personal, consumer = data?

Like many silicon valley vets, I made the transition from enterprise software to consumer internet about 2 years ago. Having to work with large corporations and multiple divisions to get nearly anything accomplished was wearing me down. You know, talk to the business head and get them excited about the software. Then head to the IT department and get them to at least not block the deal (any new software just means yet something else to support). Then off to the CIO for a combined business/technology discussion. Then a reorganization hits the company and you start all over. OK, a bit of a cynical view, but like I said, it was wearing me down.

My first foray into the consumer side of things was at a company I founded, Lattice3D. We were/are bringing 3D data to the non-engineers at manufacturing companies. This led to interest among clients and consumers using our free viewer for assembly instructions, 3D websites, etc. What struck me most was how impersonal and data driven the consumer side was...almost counterintuitive. Since you don't personally interact with each consumer and don't go to their offices to pitch them a $1M sale, you mostly look at consumer behavior through a data lens. Downloads, %'s, most requested changes, %, bandwidth numbers, DDO (data driven optimization), %, you get the idea.

So there I went diving into the numbers like never before & moving away from the relationship driven enterprise software world. 250,000 users later I was sold on the strength and pull of the consumer internet world. I worked with www.songbirdnest.com early on (I'm an advisor now) and as an EIR, helped with investments in several consumer startups at Mitsui Technology's VC arm. I am currently working in the (surprise, surprise) consumer internet video space and will post more about this in the near future. In the meantime, I am having a blast though occasionally I find myself missing the human touch of enterprise software sales...funny huh?

I do appreciate not getting on that plane every other day to visit a company. Have them come to you vs having to go to them.