TRY THIS

I need help. 

Here’s the situation.

• Abstract5 code is frozen and ready for commercial release
• We envision eight different product areas for A5’s new technology
• We created a proof-of-concept demo for our first target area
• That demo has generated a lot of interest and pressure to release immediately
• We need to go from 0 to 60 NOW

RECAP:
Abstract5 is a cloud-based web utility that completely changes the web. Normal people with no training or code can

• create rich-content websites — from configurable seeds, or from scratch
• deploy them instantly
• share content between websites
• create data-driven website generators

This barely scratches the surface. A5 abstracts the entire server stack, and provides a push-button interface to do tasks that used to take a team of coders.

FIRST PROOF-OF-CONCEPT DEMO:

We decided to focus on data-driven website generation for our first proof of concept. 
A5 can create complete personalized / customized websites using ‘Big-Data’ data-analytic files.
A rich-content,, multipage website with pictures, videos, text, and pages entirely personalized with names, genders, locations, and any other factors.

Setup is fast and easy. A5 can generate thousands of personalized sites in seconds. Each site gets a simple URL (like mysite.domain.com)

We built a spec version of this for Warren Wilson College. 
Someone who saw that demo passed it to contacts at the Pentagon. 
We then created a prototype for military recruiting. 

We didn’t expect to be in this situation a week ago.

Here’s what’s up.

Abstract5 can use data (like a ‘Big Data’) file to generat customized websites — rich content, multipage websites with custom content, personalized by name, address, gender, ethnicity, etc

We call these data-driven websites “PDEs” (personalized digital experiences). They get unique, short, memorable URLs.

And we can build “FLOW” (a Freak Load of Websites) fast — several thousand customized pages a second.

An advisor suggested we create a prototype to show his contacts at the Pentagon. So we built a web generator based on a Recruitment Data file — Four pages of rich content, with 90 variations and hundreds of personalizations. A fully personalized experience instead of a generic “US NAVY” websites.

We asked he Pentagon contact to build 1000 fully customized Nave Recruiting websites in 4 seconds.

You can try it out here (you probably should, to undersand why I need help).

This prototype was meant for one person, but it’s been shared. And that’s the problem.

We thought FLOWs and PDEs might appeal to creators of Variable Data Marketing — personalized direct mail and email. We didn’t understand how strong that response would be.

So now I need help, and I think you can help me — or at least point me in the right direction.

Technically, Abstract5 is ready to go — frozen code, ready for distribution. We knew that its capabilities were so new and unexpected that it wouldn’t be easy for people to see the many ways A5 might be used.

We didn’t expect to be in this situation a week ago. Now we need help. Here’s what’s up:

Abstract5 can use data (like a ‘Big Data’) file to generat customized websites — rich content, multipage websites with custom content, personalized by name, address, gender, ethnicity, etc

These “PDEs” (Personalized Digital Experiences) get unique, short, memorable URLs.
A5 can build a “FLOW” of PDEs fast — several thousand customized pages a second.

An advisor suggested we create a prototype to show his contacts at the Pentagon., based on a Recruitment Data file. So we prototyped a basic PDE — four pages of rich content, with 90 variations and hundreds of personalizations. A fully personalized experience instead of a generic “US NAVY” websites.

With this, the Pentagon could build 1000 unique, fully customized Nave Recruiting websites in 4 seconds.

(You can try it out here  — and you probably should, to undersand why I need help.

This prototype was meant for one person, but the contact shared it. And that’s the problem.

We have just frozen the A5 code base for distribution, and planned to spend the next 3-4 months developing a business plan and building a staff. But the contacts who have shared this prototype are looking for answers now.

We are being asked these questions and we need help forming answers. I would appreciate your help with this.

What we need to sort out.

What exactly should the offer be?

• It’s pretty clear that the Pentagon contact is driving toward some sort of contract for services.
• For others, we could set this up as a campaign-based contract service
   - But I’m not sure if this is the best business model for A5.
    - I see us primarily as a technology play
• Selling the whole system as it’s designed, as a server app installed on a server
  OR
• Licensing the technology to some Big Company

What to price and how to price it?

• Clearly this new PDE technology is valuable.
  The Pentagon is spending about $2 Billion on variable data marketing
  but it gets a 2% conversion rate on clickthroughs to its website
  A5 will probably provide superior results —but what exactly is unknown.
• What should be the opening offer?
• How to translate that offer into ongoing pricing?

Does it look like I’m out of my depth?

• The plan was to Freeze the Abstract5 code and begin to develop

We didn’t expect to be in this situation a week ago. Now we need help. Here’s what’s up:

First off, you should probably see the site that’s causing the trouble.

http://somesite.com

What you’ll see in that site

That site is a hands-on prototype we created for a contact in the Pentagon.
On that site you’ll be able to create 1000 unique, highly personalized Navy Recruiting sites — in 4 seconds.

The Pentagon’s interest? They now do $2 Billion in Recruitment Marketing — variable data printing, email, and web ads. Highly targeted campaigns that all point to the same generic website (like navy.com).

The conversion rate for their expensive marketing is below 2%. They’re now seeing a way to improve conversion through Abstract5 “PDEs” (Personal Digital Experience”).

Showing not telling

We were moving into a new phase with Abstract5 — From radical new technology to commercial product. A5 is a unique technology — a web server utility that provides a push-button environment to provide non-technical users control over functionality that has previously only been available to developers writing page after page of code.

At first we described in excruciating detail the thousands of things non-technical users could now do that only highly trained developers could do. But the response was tepid — the descriptions were too long, too technical, and hard to synthesize.

The feedback we got was to show the system in action doing actual work and solving business problems.

We set our minds to this, and decided to show eight different commercial uses of A5 that no other system can do.

The FLOW / PDE solution

Variable data marketing and ads based social media profiles drive about $400 Billion in marketing. We saw PDEs as a terrific alternative to the generic websites this marketing typically point to, which have an average 2% conversion.

So we started by targeting this problem with FLOWs. Because no one else can do what we are doing with FLOW technology — generating Data Driven websites from data files — generating thousands of fully customized, fully personalized websites — thousands of pages a second — at least not without a ton of expensive custom development — nor without intruding on the patents we have applied for. (With Abstract5, the Navy Recruiting Flow was created in about 4 hours, and required no more technical skill than it takes to create a PowerPoint.)

Our first attempt was a FLOW of PDEs for Warren Wilson college recruiting. Someone who saw that had a contact at the Pentagon and suggested that we target military recruiting.

So that’s how the Navy Recruiting proof-of-concept site was created. Until you see a 1000 sites being built in a couple of seconds, it’s hard to understand the potential — or even believe that it can be done.

Our new problem is that they’re moving faster than we expected. What’s more, this site is being shared, and now others are approaching us.

Our plan was to create 7 additional proof-of-concepts for commercial uses, but this first trial has begun to be shared, and that’s our problem. We thought we’d take the time while doing the proofs to develop the business infrastructure to support a launch.

Which is why I’m writing. This interest is spinning up faster than we expected. We need to go from zero to 60, like yesterday.

We didn’t expect to be in this situation a week ago. Now we need help. Here’s what’s up:

First off, you should probably see the site that’s causing our trouble.

http://somesite.com

It’s a hands-on prototype we created for a contact in the Pentagon. On this site you’ll be able to create 1000 unique, highly personalized Navy Recruiting sites — in 4 seconds.

The Pentagon’s interest in this is because they now do $2 Billion in Recruitment Marketing, variable data printing, email, and web ads. Highly targeted campaings that all point to the same generic website (like navy.com). The conversion rate for this expensive marketing is below 2%. They’re now seeing a way to improve conversion through Abstract5 “PDEs” (Personal Digital Experience”).

Our problem is that they’re moving faster than we expected. What’s more, this site is being shared, and now others are approaching us.

We were moving into a new phase with Abstract5 — From radical new technology to commercial product. A5 is a unique technology — a web server utility that provides a push-button environment to provide non-technical users control over functionality that has previously only been available to developers writing page after page of code.

At first we described in excruciating detail the thousands of things non-technical users could now do that only highly trained developers could do. But the response was tepid — the descriptions were too long, too technical, and hard to synthesize.

The feedback we got was to show the system in action doing actual work and solving business problems.

We set our minds to this, and decided to show eight different commercial uses of A5 that no other system can do.

Variable data marketing and ads based social media profiles drive about $400 Billion in marketing. We saw PDEs as a terrific alternative to the generic websites this marketing typically point to. 

So we started with FLOWs. Because no one else can do what we are doing with FLOW technology — generating Data Driven websites from data files — generating thousands of fully customized, fully personalized pages a second — at least not without a ton of expensive development — nor without intruding on the patents we have applied for. (With Abstract5, the Navy Recruiting Flow was created in about 4 hours, and required no more technical skill than it takes to create a PowerPoint.)

Our first attempt was a FLOW of PDEs for Warren Wilson college recruiting. Someone who saw that had a contact at the Pentagon and suggested that we target military recruiting.

So that’s how the Navy Recruiting proof-of-concept site was created. Until you see a 1000 sites being built in a couple of seconds, it’s hard to understand the potential — or even believe that it can be done.

Our plan was to create 7 additional proof-of-concepts for commercial uses, but this first trial has begun to be shared, and that’s our problem. We thought we’d take the time while doing the proofs to develop the business infrastructure to support a launch.

Which is why I’m writing. This interest is spinning up faster than we expected. We need to go from zero to 60, like yesterday.