Next Big Thing | Blog | Mark Steadman

14 Jun 12

NBT007: Nymbol

If you were at last month's Tech Wednesday you'll have seen this already, but if not: this is what all my "Next Big Thing" posts have been leading up to.

Nymbol is a content management system for the physical world. As our signup page says:

Nymbol connects digital content like text, photos, videos and apps with physical objects. Add content and context to anything from museum pieces to used cars to new homes.

Me and my business partner Andy Hartwell of Substrakt, have been working to design and build a platform that adds mobile content to real-world objects, using NFC, Bluetooth and the technology we love to hate, QR codes. Just scan a code next to museum artefact, a blue plaque or a car in a showroom, to get relevant information, links and tools. Developers will be able to get in on the action too, by creating custom widgets for the platform.

The whole thing will work via a free app for the iPhone and Android, but also as a mobile-tailored website. Creating the content is quick and easy, and pricing is really flexible. And if the acronyms sound scary, no problem; we'll be managing the whole process so you can start adopting emerging contactless technologies straight away.

The prototype process is gearing up and we're seeking funding right now. You can help by signing up for our newsletter, passing it along to your friends and following @nymbol.

If you want to improve mobile engagement around your organisation, you can email mark@nymbol.co.uk for all the details.

Posted on June 14, 2012 in Next Big Thing and tagged bluetooth, nfc, qrcodes

6 Apr 12

NBT006: Partnerships

In late February I mentioned I was looking for a CEO. I knew that my Next Big Thing couldn't be attempted on my own, and would need a business brain who could present well and whom I could trust.

I'm delighted to say that I've found that person, and a new company's being formed around this partnership. Already after only two meetings I feel empowered and excited. This is someone I've worked a lot with before, someone I trust, and - possibly most importantly for me - someone I get along with really well.

I've largely done away with the notion of CEO, CTO and CFO, just 'cos it's a little highfalutin for the humble beginnings this project will have. Titles mean little to me; they're just something to put on a business card, and when there are only two key people in a business, there's bound to be a little overlap as you both have to be public facing to a degree.

But now the new business has someone with - or with access to - pretty much all the skills I don't, so I feel things can really motor along. There's so much more I want to say, but am wary of - if you'll forgive the teenage idiom for a second - blowing my load too early, so I'll keep as quiet as I can.

So what's next in this series? A final reveal, or just more vague nonsense about stuff, and links to old blog posts? That, probably.

Posted on April 6, 2012 in Next Big Thing

7 Feb 12

NBT005: Secrecy

I like talking. This is not news to anyone who knows me. I like to talk about myself, what I'm up to, funny things that happened to me on the way to the other thing... I also love talking about other people, and listening. I'm not the most interesting topic of conversation, but if I come up, I'm an expert on me.

Anyway, one of the side-effects of working on my Next Big Thing is that it's often necessary to keep schtum about exciting developments. This is only going to get worse as I enter the lurid landscape of Intellectual Property law.

The unhappy issue that this kind of silence brings is that it makes it difficult to really gauge how useful something might be, or what the tastemakers around you might think of it. Playing your cards close to your chest means no-one's around to tell you if they're worth playing.

If I were braver or had more profile I'd probably shout from the rooftops in my normal boisterous way, safe in the knowledge that no-one would be foolhardy enough to rip off an idea by the great and powerful Me. But that's not the case... yet, so for now, shhh...

It's important not to underestimate how big a deal IP is at this early stage. Social media hipsters would probably say I'm being paranoid and a bit Old Media by being so guarded, but what I have may just be something no-one's ever done before. Not like Meegloo, which tries to do social reporting "but better"; this might be something using technology that, although not in its infancy, hasn't yet reached its zenith.

So first comes the business plan, then the non-disclosure agreement (or should that be the other way round?) and after that, who knows?

Posted on Feb. 7, 2012 in Next Big Thing

6 Feb 12

NBT004: The name

I did a little digging around on trademarks today. Only about 15 minutes or so, but it was enough to make me think it was worth changing the spelling of my Next Big Thing's name.

I still don't fully understand - and don't much care - about the ins and outs of naming, and whether you can use a common word that someone else has registered, if you're in different sectors or countries. And because to me, with this project at least, the name is one of the least important things, I find it best to avoid the issue completely.

Startups face this problem all the time, but it's usually one borne out of a desire for a good, memorable domain name. Meegloo, which leapt out of the stalls late last year got its name through the same thought process.

But not everything has to hinge on the domain name. For much of its like, Basecamp lived at basecamphq.com, and even now if you visit basecamp.com you get redirected to the original. (This is true of only one of their four main products, however).

If, like Basecamp you're developing a service rather than, say, a social network, and especially if that service is paid for, users are probably going to bookmark it for easy reach, so as long as you don't call yourself theincredibllylongwindedandincongruouslyspeltwebservice.com, you're probably going to be fine.

That's true of my project. In its original name, most of the "power" domains were taken, and even if I put the word "go" infront of it, I still would have had to settle for the second-class .net suffix. Now, with a bit of spelling fu that actually serves in the product's favour - because the "mis"-spelling has a happy and useful double meaning relevant to my service - I've got a lot more choice.

It will however, necessitate a lot of find-and-replace throughout my small, but burgeoning code library. The good news is, however, that if I wanted to trademark the name, the road is clear.

Posted on Feb. 6, 2012 in Next Big Thing

4 Feb 12

NBT003: Business plan

This week saw me embark on a whole new journey, one which has reigned my passion for what I do. In the past, profit and loss forecasts have always been a surefire way to snuff out the delicate flame of hope that I could build something exciting and unconventional.

My Next Big Thing is exciting but wholly conventional, in that it has a set and - I hope - sensible business model, targeting markets whose size can be estimated. Rather than serving to quash a sense of devil-may-care, and a "Build it and They Will Come" attitude, the forecasts I've been staring at the for the last couple of days are actually looking healthy.

Rather than being ambitious or lofty, I'd like to think my targets are aggressive, and with the help of a sales manager by my side, taking calls, making appointments and exhibiting with me at trade shows, I don't think they're excessively unreachable.

My incubator is putting on a business plan session at the end of the month, so I'll be looking forward to having my plan and its attendant digits torn apart, rebuilt, ripped up and rewritten again.

Who'd've thought business could be so much fun?

Posted on Feb. 4, 2012 in Next Big Thing and tagged businessplan

26 Jan 12

NBT002: Prototype

I was at an event on Tuesday which got me thinking that it was perhaps not too early to build a very rudimentary prototype for my Next Big Thing. So I spent an hour or so trying to find a half-decent name, just so I could start a new Django project (it's easier to start with a name and setup your code and database, than just to call it "newproject" and have to rename everything later).

Once I'd typed that lovely line that beings "django startproject", I knew I was in a for a few hours' work. Come the end of the night - bar a couple of hours to pay the bills and feed my face - I had something I could bring along to show some helpful minds at a meetup today.

Now a week later, I've revisited the system, applied Bootstrap to the frontend and set about creating the customer-facing part of the web app.

Exciting times are afoot, Watson. That's definitely not a tea quote, from anything.

Posted on Jan. 26, 2012 in Next Big Thing and tagged evernote, research

20 Jan 12

NBT001: Research

The first big thing I need to do to make my Next Big Thing happen is to research what already exists. I know my product idea is useful and who would pay for it. What I don't know yet is anything about the market itself:

Who are the players and decision makers?
How receptive would they be to my idea?
What barriers, technical or otherwise might be in the way?
Are they already using a competing product, and if so, can I improve on it?

I'm hoping I'll get answers to those kinds of questions soon. But while I wait for a face-to-face, there are other questions I need to answer:

What already exists in this space?
Do they do exactly what I do, or a variation?
Is their product bespoke (ie: does each of my potential clients have to build their product separately)?

I find the competitor research to be the ickiest part of the product development cycle, as I so often find I've got a great idea and then discover it's been done already. I tend to skim through articles in fear of finding the clinching proof that someone's already doing it as well, if not better than I could. But that almost never happens. Not because I'm awesome and my stuff will be the best by default, but because I came across the idea independently, and so am more likely to be attacking the problem at a different angle.

I'm lucky in that the gap in the market I'm trying to fill is very visible. It gives good Google results, but nothing (yet) that's made me give up and look for the next Next Big Thing :)

While I gather my results, Evernote is my friend. I use Evernote sporadically, but the web clipping extension for Safari works well, so I can easily gather articles either to read later, or to prove to others the existence and size of the market, and demonstrate the itch that my product will scratch.

More to come once I've had some face-to-face chats.

Posted on Jan. 20, 2012 in Next Big Thing and tagged evernote, research

19 Jan 12

NBT000: Welcome

My company is called Flaming Tarball. A tarball is like a Zip file, most commonly used to distribute software, so one that's on fire has got to be awesome, right?

My first project is Meegloo, an app for citizen journalists and social reporters. It's a pet project but one with potential mass appeal. Right now, I've built all I'm willing to and the rest is down to marketing; whether that involves me talking about it, actively using it, or lending its name as a sponsor to events (all of which I'm doing).

That's not a full-time job yet, so while that bubbles under I'm getting started on Flaming Tarball's Next Big Thing. Because this is more of a conventional product that has a simple business model, a demonstrable and unfulfilled need and a clearly defined market, I'm starting a little more traditionally.

The last thing I built was idoxiny. That took about 8 or 9 hours in total, and was not researched. NBT however starts with research. Research into the market, the competition - and how best to roundly send a boot up their collective arses - and advice.

I can't tell you what the thing is yet. Partly because I might find in a day or two that someone's already doing it better than I could, or that it's an unworkable idea. But because I don't think that's the case, I'm carrying on for now. Also it's because, as you can imagine I have to protect my intellectual property. I am however going to be as honest with you as I can: tell you when I've found something uplifting or disheartening; what stage I'm at and what challenges I'm facing. And when I'm ready to I'll reveal things pixel by pixel (a bit like Mr Chips off of Catchphrase), and the rest will, I hope, be history.

This isn't the end of Meegloo or a sign that I'm losing focus on it. It's just in a place where the bulk of the development - for now - is done, and it doesn't yet fill 100% of my day. I'll be gabbing on about it at SXSW, working it at TEDxBrum and of course there's the launch type thing, which is all in hand.

Anyway, I look forward to telling you more very soon!

Posted on Jan. 19, 2012 in Next Big Thing