One more fail

For a start, a few words in defense of the description of fails

Every success is unique. Prior to each success leads the path that someone passed. If you go the way of success, then most likely you will not find success.
But errors are standard. Everything breaks down for the same reasons.
Therefore, if you want to do something, then you need to invent your own way, but to know the failures of others, so as not to repeat them.
You can repeat the failure. Repeat success - almost impossible.

My failure

For a long time I worked in a large telecommunications company.
But at some point I realized that most of the time I spend on punching the walls with my forehead. And only a little time for useful work. This situation caused me to cry, so at some moment I shouted: “I have had enough!” And left the company “to nowhere”.
At that moment, my friends were doing their project and planned to make their company.
His project was to create a new video surveillance system that works with IP cameras. I supported the idea of ​​my company very hotly, becoming a co-founder.
We decided (or I decided that we decided, to be more precise) that we are doing a video surveillance system, and to get intermediate money that will allow us to live, I am looking for Web projects.

Job

As I wrote, the work was carried out in two directions.

1) work on the video surveillance system.
2) work on web projects.
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The main customer for Web projects was the same telecommunication company in which I worked.

, . . , .
Thus, several months passed, during which the video surveillance system was brought to readiness and several Web projects were completed. But inside a large telecommunications company there have been changes due to which they could not continue working with us. The rest of the Web-projects brought little money. I took it easy, deciding that now we can focus on the launch of the video surveillance system.
Just from this moment the sunset began. It turned out that we do not have a queue of customers, everyone is skeptical about the system, IP cameras seem to be terribly expensive to people. Companies that install video surveillance are optimized at the price of implementation, and not at the price of ownership, and it is not profitable for them to install IP cameras.
I was invited to enter on the other hand, to position the system as a component for modern SCADA, which allows to get the control and monitoring system completely on IP devices. In order to position the interface modules with SCADA Trace Mode in this way. But it was a slow way, because this idea had to be implemented. And the money was needed now.

As a result, we could not agree on what we are doing now and then. I insisted on concentrating activities on promoting the idea of ​​integrating SCADA and video surveillance systems and working on the system. And the second co-founder believed that it was necessary to outsource projects and look for customers.
This conflict lasted for about a month, during which I managed to write and, with the help of AdAstra, which publishes Trace Mode, publish an article, agree to hold a joint seminar with AdAstra for their clients. By the way, contrary to some opinions about print media, the article was launched absolutely free of charge, and then I was surprised to learn that my article was scientific ( http://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=12689507 ).

When such a quiet confrontation became unbearable, we sat down and “thought on paper” about the possibilities and what we would get in different ways of development, and I raised the question of whether we were following the path I suggested or leaving the company. The second founder did not agree with my proposal and I decided to leave the company. It was a little disappointing that I did not manage to complete very promising negotiations with the company that installed video surveillance systems and hold a seminar at AdAstra. But I did not want to go on an eternal search for customers and develop systems according to other people's requirements.

Total

The company we have created exists now and does something.
As far as I know, even without further action on the part of the company, from time to time people turn to it with questions about the possibilities of the integration of video surveillance and SCADA. What happens next with such requests - I do not know.
I continue to engage in IT, as an employee. But had I made the decision to leave the company now I would have acted exactly the same way as then.

What i got

• I realized that the company is better to do alone than together. And if you do together - you have to VERY EXACTLY about everything to agree and write everything down on paper. Banality, but it must be felt the hard way.
• It’s impossible to make a company focusing on one customer, even a very large one.
• Your product is better than outsourcing. Outsourcing as a product requires a very large initial capital.
• Knowledge of video surveillance systems. So far this has not been useful to me, but who knows where it will emerge.
• Scientific article (item with a tag of irony).

What have i lost

• Some naive ideas about people. And do not mind.
• Again, I work as an employee. But it is even good, because there is time to generate ideas for implementation and choice of one's own.
• The money that was received for Web projects could have been spent somewhat more rationally than financing the development of a system that is not progressing now.

Conclusion

Running your own business is very interesting. Even if everything ends in a fail, you get more than you lose.