Ok, Dex isn’t launched yet but Scott A. gave it a sneak peak to VCs at last week’s Ottawa Venture and Technology Summit. Here is a short video of the presentation. Enjoy!

Reading about the concept of the fatal flaw got me wondering: how can so much time and energy be spent on refining an idea, only to have it fail because of one flaw?

Was it passed off as not important? Did they hope nobody would notice? Or did they just not think of it?

It’s easy to get so close to a project that you can only see what you want to see. Having an innate understanding of your idea – your product – can often blur the big picture.

We’re about to expend serious energy to introduce people to dex. Like proud parents, we are in no position to provide truly objective feedback about the proposed messaging.

We know too much. We’re too close.

We need to solicit feedback from people who are genuinely meeting dex for the first time.

I’m back. Five weeks of paternity leave split between our cottage and our home was great bonding time with my infant daughter. I’d do it again tomorrow. Vive le Quebec.

Taking a step away from Mercury Rising offered me a refreshed perspective. I found myself describing the Mercury Grove project to friends and family with no props – no computer, no web sites, no paper. Just talking, active listening and animated hand gestures – engaged conversation.

We have done well to describe dex in industry language, but now we need to focus on the most basic of explanations.

The people I was speaking with are laypeople. They don’t follow the leading edge of this industry and they’re not early adopters. They represent the majority. I realized that if my friends and family can’t repeat the salient points from our conversation, they’ll never tell any one about it, or even think to tell anyone about it.

We need to create an experience that will tell dex’s story in a way that everyone can understand and that people can repeat. Everyone likes to share new stories and everyone likes to sound knowledgeable. We have to refine the details so that people can do both.

Laypeople won’t seek dex out. They will need to hear about dex from a few friends before they’ll even start hearing it (how many times did you hear about Facebook before you were ready to join?) For that to be possible, dex’s story has to be easy and entertaining.

Succinct.

Simple.

Worth repeating.

When I was done explaining myself everybody that I had spoken with said the same thing: Cool, I could use that. Would they be able – and feel compelled – to go and tell a friend about it? Not yet.

There’s always Thanksgiving.

I have spent the last several days in Kentucky working out the last few weeks of development for our applications and I am extremely excited about where we are and what the next few weeks will bring.  I think its going to blow your minds!

We (I) haven’t been able to write too much about the developments over the last few weeks - a similar story for Creighton, Andrew, and Mike - but not because we haven’t been accomplishing a lot of really exciting things.

We are just finishing a patent application, the timeline for the last 4-6 weeks of product development and some potential important partnerships - I expect to be able to publish a lot of great content over the next couple of weeks!

As if our project was not enough, Andrew (and his talented team) have launched an amazing website for young outdoor explorers called AndyCamper.  Congratulations to his team for this awesome accomplishment.

We need a name. Four names really. Okay, maybe five.

So far we’re stumped.

Every decision, every action has been the product of collaboration and passionate discussion, yet this elephant in the room seems to receive sporadic attention, or inattention. It’s the blank screen problem on a billboard scale.

Its seems that this one area of the project has been relegated to our quiet contemplative moments – almost as an afterthought.

This needs to change.

We need a rambunctious, semi-professional stream of consciousness type discussion that can put 50 to 100 names on the table in short order.

No filter. No judgments. Just ideas.

I just got back from an intensive two-day brainstorm / working retreat with the team up near Mount Tremblant in Quebec.

It’s difficult trying to make the best use of such a short period with everyone in the same physical location - it’s only happened one other time - at the beginning of this project - and it’s unlikely to happen again.

The highlights of the meetings:

• A lot of progress was made on how we integrate the customer management, customer portal, and team collaboration modules.  We discussed where they overlap, and how we can ensure smooth transitions for all of the different roles of the people who will use the software.

• Huge progress in design.  I think we have an excellent, innovative navigation and data structure model that will make it easy to find information quickly without feeling overwhelmed by the screens.

• Some killer features.  Like a combo twitter-like IM / mobile notification and communication platform that is extended across the apps.  Or a scrollable, graphical timeline view of all information about an account in the company section.  I am really excited about some of the concepts that are playing out.

However, for me the biggest challenge and opportunity that came out of the last two days is how we are going to “name” the software.  We came to a conclusion that we are not doing traditional CRM or support management - and that our software really “humanizes” the relationship that companies have with their customers.  So we’re looking for a name that will reflect this.

Any ideas?

Writing generally involves deadlines and limited access to the people who can provide the information and the direction. Much of being successful is being able to get everything you need in one shot, usually at the drop of a hat.

In this situation – which can happen pretty much anywhere – I try to lead a detailed conversation, to really get a sense of what we want to write about. This really beats getting a slew of information that people think you would need to get the job done.

In these types of discussions I will assume the role of someone who knows nothing about the subject (which is often not a stretch). The goal is to get the person/people to explain concepts, ideas, and approaches (whatever the subject matter might be) in a variety of ways.

When I want to drill down I “provoke” people. What I mean by this is that I will intentionally reiterate something they’ve said incorrectly. I’ll get it wrong. In some cases it is as simple as repeating a word that they have already said “doesn’t quite capture” what they mean. This prompts people to re-explain something against another notion; often using different language, often with further clarification. Sometimes with a hint of anger or frustration. This is the sign to move on.

The underpinning to this approach is that you need to be engaged and leading the discussion and you need to make sure you capture everything that was said. Believe me, you can’t be engaged and take notes. It breaks the flow and draws focus away from the discussion. I use a recorder. It sounds simple, but I see very few people using them.

Back at my desk, I revisit the conversations (sometimes ad nauseam), make sure I truly understand the discussion and pull out the salient phrases and concepts – in their own words.

Whether I’m under a deadline or undermotivated, it makes it much easier to hit every point while creating a succinct, measured and articulate version of the discussion.

People really like that.

Scott Annan and I had a great conversation this morning about how to categorize people who sign up for the MG beta. Usually when companies start collecting email addresses, they simply lump everyone into the same category without considering the fact that people always have different reasons for signing up for something.

Realizing that fact is very important because when you start interacting with these people, you can easily turn them off by sending them something that is not in line with their own intentions for signing up.  For example, lets say someone signs up because they are passionate about your application and helping you make it better but they will never be a client for whatever reason.  This person has tons of value and insight that they are freely willing to share however if your first contact with them is a “When do you think you can expect to buy” email, I can guarantee that person will lose interest fast.

I guess the big question is: How do you determine why someone signed up for your beta?  The answer is: You ask them.  If someone has taken the time to give you their email address, you should take the time to engage them in a little conversation.  It will be evident soon enough what people’s interest in your application is and why they signed up.  Then group them accordingly and interact with them in the way that is most productive for both of you.

These days, if the only engagement you are having with your beta signups is to send them an email when your application is ready, you are missing a major opportunity.

Scott and I grabbed a quick sandwich at Goonies on Friday. A series of last-minute meetings and the need to deliver on a speech request (read: It’s 9:30, I need to see something from you by 3:30, but I can’t meet you until 11:00) had hijacked what was supposed to be a casual Friday after a long week.

In an abridged meeting, Scott and I talked applications, we talked community, we talked web site messaging and we talked blog.

The reality is that the ebb and flow of creative inspiration, work/life demands and basic motivation do not always contribute to a healthy writing process. But to get everything together by September and to keep people in the loop, we need steady production. For our plan to work - for our blog to work - the whole team needs to be turning out written material with regularity.

As we headed back to our respective afternoons Scott and I agreed that we would meet again on Sunday to bring Scott L into the discussion to brainstorm suggested topics and find ways to motivate and encourage each other.

Starting with no direction takes too much energy. If everyone has a few ideas to work from, we may be able to yield a higher return. It’s the blank page that’s the killer.

Sure brilliant ideas can come from nothing, but sometimes there’s a need to summon brilliance (or at least quality writing) when you’re just not feeling it. Having a defined topic, a critical path and a deadline can be incredibly motivating. This fact was crystal clear later that day as I hopped on my bike, having just hammered out two days worth of writing in three hours.

Yesterday I sent out a “Friends of Mercury Grove” email announcing the launch of our blog.  Below are the click rates from the email using our email campaign tool (code name marathon).

The Friends of Mercury Grove list is made up of personal contacts and people who have signed up for our newsletter over the last year.  We haven’t sent out a note in several months, so our we had a higher bounce rate than normal, but we also had a lower open rate (people who open emails) than I expected.

Industry standards for opt-in newsletters is between 18 and 21%.  I was hoping to be closer to 30%, but forty-eight hours after sending the email we have a 23% open rate.  Although this is lower than I hoped, the click-through rate (people who click on a link in the email) was 87% versus an industry standard of around 30%.

Prognosis: We need to clean up our list so that only people who are interested receive our message; we need to improve the subject line of the email (so people open it); but we have some excellent content that people who care are interested in reading.

PS - if you’re interested in joining our Friends Mailing list, click here.