KEY POINTS:
In San Francisco last week at the TechCrunch conference where 40 start-ups got to pitch their big ideas to venture capitalists and the press, I wasn't the only Kiwi watching from the audience.
Sitting in the row in front of me was Tim Norton, the youthful chief executive of
Wellington-based PlanHQ, which creates web-based software tools that allows companies track the progress of their business plans.
Norton has been quietly working away on PlanHQ's software, with early financial backing from entrepreneur and Xero.com founder Rod Drury.
Among the clients he has won are some San Francisco-based venture capitalists. The business coaching market, which is huge in the US is also a good potential area PlanHQ will try to tap.
Norton is officially launching the start-up in the US at the DEMO conference in San Diego this week. I hope it goes down as well as fellow kiwi web company Ponoko's presentation at TechCrunch did last week.
Demo's focus is on emerging technologies and numerous companies, Palm and US Robotics included, got their big break at Demo, attracting venture funding after attending.
You can check out what PlanHQ's software does here
Also, here's a Q&A interview I did with Andy Lark, the kiwi entrepreneur and investor who has just left Silicon Valley to take up the role of Dell's vice president of marketing and communications based in Austin, Texas.
You've done this sort of role before at Sun, then left to work with start-ups, including New Zealand companies bound for the US market. What made you decide to enter the corporate world again and particularly, a big, global technology company?
"I love working with both small and big companies. You'd be amazed how similar many of the problems are no matter what the company size. It all comes down to similar things - leadership, focus, scaling.
"Fortunately, Dell is supportive of my efforts to help NZ companies thrive in the US and other markets. I wouldn't have taken the role if it had meant giving that up. Dell is at an incredibly exciting phase of its growth. No other technology company has come so far, so fast.
"Saying that, there is still great opportunity - consumer is a small but rapidly growing part of our business, we're just entering new markets, and our direct model is evolving fast.
"I was also attracted by how much marketing is changing - I don't think the new winners will be exclusively those with the coolest ads. Conversations and communities now matter more."
You talk about Dell's transformation being "well under way". What do you mean by this? What needed to change and is Dell's transformation symbolic of the wider change the PC market needs to make to meet the competition posed by innovative hardware and software makers like a resurgent Apple?
"Michael's assembled the team, tuned the business model and products, and has the company executing like crazy. We've got the new marketing leadership in place.
"The innovations and moves I'm seeing at Dell blow me away. Apple really isn't the competition - although they are great company in their niches. Demand for new Dell notebooks, for instance, is so strong we unfortunately can't meet demand as fast as we would like.
"Having spent 20+ years in tech I've come to understand a few things to be true: open wins out over proprietary, simplicity wins out over complexity, choice wins out over closed. Dell wins on all three counts.
"Dell started out as a PC company but is much more than that. This is going to be a battle between vendors that favor complexity and a fat services organization built to unravel the IT mess they create, and those that favor simplicity."
What are your impressions of Michael Dell? Any interesting anecdotes from your dealings with him as you weighed up the pros and cons of taking the job?
"I've had the privilege of knowing Michael since the early '90s. He's all the things you'd expect - smart, an idea machine, determined to win, passionate about the customer. What always impresses me is that he's lost none of his humility and pragmatism. Michael is the kind of CEO you want to be around.
"Michael understands that recruitment is a verb and he makes an effort to connect personally. When the CEO is actively reaching out to you then you know the role you will be doing is important and that he's committed. What also impressed me was the depth of talent he's assembled since his return as CEO in January. It's an incredible team to be working with and learning from."
What will your job generally involve day to day? How important do you view these "social media and marketing" tools to Dell's future business and have you been given the indication that you'll have the leeway to more heavily employ such tools across the business?
"The response to every idea we've chatted about so far has been "cool, let's do that". One of the reasons I'm here is that we need to completely embrace participatory technologies. I rant about the shift from transmitting to customers to conversations with customers. It's already happening here - Dell's Ideastorm is a great example - and my job will be to make sure it keeps happening."
How do you feel about leaving Los Gatos and the Valley? Will you miss the hands-on work with start-ups and being so close to that innovative community?
"We will really miss Los Gatos, but we're optimistic about Austin! Silicon Valley is an amazing place - the energy and vibe can't be found anywhere else. Once you've got it in your blood you'll never get it out - I'll stay as connected as I've ever been. And, I'm sure I'll miss some of the hands-on work but I there is so much to look forward to as well."
You're joining a small bunch of Kiwis who are in senior positions in US tech companies - how does this make you feel?
"I've never really thought about it that way, but I think it's great that so many Kiwis have been so successful both in the US and around the world.
"That said, so many of the entrepreneurs I look up to are building and leading incredible New Zealand-based organizations that rival the best Silicon Valley is able to turn-out - people like Rod Drury, Ian McCrae and Selwyn Pellet and the leaders we have in the No8 Ventures portfolio. It's pretty humbling being able to work with them and add value. I'm hoping that will be even more the case now that I am at Dell."
Check out Andy's blog here.
