Rodrigo A. Sepúlveda Schulz

Software alternatives to Microsoft

In case you missed my previous post on how to save money with open source software, here I go again.

Open source software can help entrepreneurs
i. save lots of money by not paying excessive software licences;
ii. tweak the software to better fit their business models
iii. protect their environment better because Microsoft software is usually prone to many security flaws (for many reasons including a large installed base helping hackers-wanabees play with it, insufficient focus on security at Redmond - although this is changing, vaporware side-effet as products need to get on the market fast without enough testing, etc.).

So why don't you enjoy some of the best efforts and latest releases of standard desktop packages on the cybermarket ?

1) get yourself a real cheap computer (nonetheless powerful) WITHOUT an operating system. Companies such as Maxdata from Germany will sell you those, with a plain DR-DOS 7.0; you will bring costs down immediately. They are delivered with mouse and keyboard. On-line store Wstore.com carries them as well.
2) buy a used screen from ebay.com or whatever on-line service. Alternatively get a new one from cheap discount places such as Rue-Montgallet.com. Remember you are in the process of getting a cheap computer that might break down (you are doing backups right ?) not something that has a brand and that has approx. the same probability of breaking down such as dell.com.
3) now get yourself a free Operating system such as Linux (*BSD are also good candidates): My personal preference goes to Red Hat's Fedora Core 2 (easy to install, graphical, non geeky) over Mandrake 10 (slightly better performance and look and feel, more difficult to install) and Yoper 2.0 (waow, no way to reduce that big screen fonts in a snap). Relax it is really really easy to install, even for beginners. If you would like in-depth discussions on all these OSes, check OSnews.com. It has everything.
3) after a couple of hours of setup (hey, just clicking now and then), get yourself a great Office suite with complete documents, presentations, spreadsheets. It is only missing a database GUI (but hey PHP and mySQL are around, and a number of easy tools to manage them float around). I am talking about the latest release of OpenOffice.org 1.1.2. It will read and write to your favourite Microsoft formats, so your friends / colleagues won't even know you are on the right side of the force ;)
4) now, no desktop would be complete with a great browser and mail program. I recommend the latest releases from mozilla.org: firefox 0.9 and thunderbird 0.7 (that's what I use on a daily basis - no problem whatsoever). Quick and fast, and no virus exploiting IE bugs here...
5) lastly, should you need to install any extra tools, learn how to use the apt or yum programs and get new stuff from sourceforge.net and freshrpms.net. Otherwise just install synaptic (a GUI front-end to all this package management).

Finally if all of this is too much if you're trying to build a server (test server or workhorse server), you can try to rent them online. Yes dedicated servers with bandwidth. Some of the best places today are amen.fr in France and servidores.com in Spain.

Or if you don't want to install anything, get yourself a real cool alienware PC.

Service providers such as idealX can also help you migrate your existing installed base to open source. Don't believe anti-linux propaganda from Microsoft. IBM has bet a big chunk of its business services on Linux. The Bavarian government has gone open source. The French government annouced last Friday they were trying to migrate part of their almost 1 million computers to open source (or at least renegotiate their MS fees...)

Entrepreneur dinner in Paris

At last, thanks to Felix (my great intern from ESCP-EAP working with me really late in London - pix to the left), we have managed to get the pix out of the bloody phone. All other issues remain open.

So, souvenirs from last-night:

Loïc discussing some war stories with the xxxxxxx...

Entrepreneur Bruno discussing new venture possibilities with fund-raiser Pascal:

Matthieu comparing notes with Loïc:

And Jean-Mimi discussing about xxxxxxxxxxxxx with nounours:

And, our lovely host offered us some limoncello (after some hard bargaining).

By the way, the maître d'O wouldn't listen to our wishes of installing a hot-spot in the restaurant for some live blogging. We might even bring an Heckelbot next time to our Entrepreneur's dinners ;)

Struggling with technology

Ha! I must be getting old... Although I can install linux (but the recent distributions are making it very easy), I have been struggling lately with a number of technologies (making me wonder that it is not as intuitive as one would expect it for consumers):

• I have been trying to set up my technorati profile for quite some time. Impossible to do on my own, no reply from the technorati support guys. Must be very simple since a number of people have it, but I just can't make it work


• Same story for sitemeter. Tried to add it to my typepad account. I must get something wrong...


• I have also tried to get some google ads on my site - how do you do that ?

Still trying to get moblogging working on my site. I guess it's just a simple SMTP parameter that I got wrong on my phone

• haven't tried to set up a google search on this blog either (although a howto is here)


• Lastly, I've recently got myself a Nokia 6600 to play with. After installing the Bluetooth stack on my Sony Vaio laptop, installed the Nokia PC Suite, I still can't figure out how to download the pictures taken last night at the initial launch of the Entrepreneur's blog dinner (check the posts on the blogs of Pascal, Bruno and Loic).

I think the weekend and your comments will help me solve much of these issues (well I only slept 3 hours, coming home from the entrepreneur dinner, and catching a much too early Eurostar this morning, hence maybe this explains why...). Also a FAQ for dummies (like me) would also help (maybe it exists, no time to check...)

Hey, technology is getting harder, or I'm growing older...

Wi-Fi Buses

After Wi-Fi trains, Wi-Fi bicycles, Wi-Fi planes, the Paris Transport Authority is announcing Wi-Fi enabled buses!

The only thing we need now are Wi-Fi taxis...

Update (8/7/04): the NYTimes is running a story on Wi-Fi for commuters, including ferries...

Create and sell your company in 24 hours

Joi has an interesting note of a new phenomenon: write a business plan, recruit staff, find some early financing, create the web site and services, launch the company and sell it on ebay, just in 24 HOURS ! Funny phenomenon. This idea should expand into global contests ;)

On another note, Philippe Laferrière is asking whether he should go public with his business plan as he develops it, and whether he should take feedback from us all, or try to protect his ideas. I think he should go public to some extent. More on his blog. Extract from my reply there:
"I would suggest you discuss the value proposition (describe the market pain fully), some products & services (don't describe them in too much detail), some market analysis (but don't give away your sources), your overall revenue and cost models (but don't discuss specific values, sensitivity analysis or cash-flow statements), team profile (but don't give out names), and risk analysis (but not on how you are going to minimize them). Finally do not disclose your implementation plans in detail until you are confident you have created some barrier to entry (patents, exclusive rights to something, etc.)."

By the way, there are many many ressources on the web to help you write a business plan. Most venture capitalists will have a page on how to do it better. This is another ressource. HEC has also an online tool to check the validity of business plans.

easyMobile: Stelios to join the MVNO race

The Business (13/06/2004 p.4 ) has the following story:
"After Easyjet and Easycar, Stelios brings you Easymobile
Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the Greek entrepreneur behind the Easy brand, plans
to launch a budget mobile phone service called Easymobile by the end of
the year. It will be a virtual network operator, selling on to the
customer call-time purchased in bulk from the networks, in a similar
manner to Virgin Mobile's successful partnership with Deutsche Telecom's
T-Mobile network. Customers will be asked to buy call-time online in
advance to keep costs low. Stelios is reported to have been in talks with
the founder of Telmore, a web-based reseller of mobile telephony recently
purchased by Scandinavian firm TDC AS, and it is thought TDC will
collaborate on the venture."

The new venture's homepage on http://www.easymobile.com has an interesting exchange of views between Richard (Branson) and Stelios...

TiVo entering the VoD market

Attention, movie fans out there.
i. There was a time when you watched whatever movie the TV networks decided to air for you. Prime time movies, post-prime movies, B-series, etc. No choice, and crap quality.
ii. Hence you went to the movie theatres, and that was expensive (parking the car, drinks & popcorns, etc.)
iii. Then came the video-clubs: they theoretically had a very large choice, great availability, a reasonable price, although late fees came in expensive. But after a while, you grew tired of renting out always the latest action blockbuster, paying late fees, waiting for your choice to become available. Blockbuster was born during this time.
iv. Then VHS were out, and DVDs were in. Better sound, crisper image, easier navigation, easier to store, better waow effect. You kept going to Blockbuster or your local video club, but the same problems remained.
v. Hence, you subscribed to cable TV or satellite TV. Now this was cool: 20 channels to choose from, no commercials, at least one would fit your taste; and all for a flat-fee price ! but as usual the more you get, the more you want. You wanted to start your movie whenever you wanted.

2 start-ups tried to solve the problem differently:
1) TiVo was launched as a personal video recorder device + a subscription service allowing you to record any live program, and pause, fast forward/rewind (amazing! I tried it a couple of years at Matt Greenhouse's place in NYC - he's the President of Colspace, an interesting start-up in the collaborative space. More about him soon). Problem here ? You could watch only what the TV networks were airing at a given time, but at a flat fee, immediately, whenever you wanted. So much better!
2) Netflix was launched by Reed Hastings: this mail-order company has the largest choice of DVDs on the planet (well, in the USA), and for a flat fee, will mail it to you. You can then watch the movies and return them by mail. The problem: you can't get immediately another film which was not in your immediate selection. Imagine some US President died and you wanted to watch one his most famous movies... you'll have to wait. (by the way, this is the way glowria.fr operates in France: best selection of catalogue, best prices, great service).

So, how do we solve this problem?
a) TiVo is announcing it is going VoD! (the NYTimes has the story).
b) and Netflix announced it would go VoD in 2005 (check the discussions in the latest earnings call).

Natural evolution for both models; they will find a number of players on their way such as movielink or moviesystem (recently purchased by Canal+). The battle will now move to new parameters: consumer equipment, pipe bandwidth, right-holders discussions for VoD. A number of start-ups in Europe are already trying to enter this space. Stay tuned.

Can't make it to an INSEAD business development panel on thursday

Professor Ha Hoang from INSEAD (The Rudolf and Valeria Maag Fellow of Entrepreneurship, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship) recently invited me to participate in a panel on business development at INSEAD next week. Unfortunately I will be travelling that day, but the matter deserves a longer post here, as I have been involved with business develoment activities quite a lot in the past few years. Keep tuned for that post (I shall put it as a follow-up comment)

Nadim Saad, VP Business Development of Intamac, will be presenting his views there. If you can make it to the Fontainebleau campus, it should be an interesting panel.

100 ideas for a new company

Challenges, a French economical newspaper, is running an interesting paper this week on entrepreneurship. They invited 10 entrepreneurs or advisors to write about 100 good ideas to turn your sweat into gold. The 'jury' includes well known entrepreneur Charles Begbeider (founder of online broker Selftrade, now CEO of Poweo) and the always fun and inspiring Philippe Bloch (founder & CEO of the espresso-bar chain Columbus Café).

They decided to look at 5 areas and had some really interesting thoughts, although I am not sure about their ROI... Here are a few that caught my eye:

• Self-care/cocooning: day-care for kids (oh yes! the system here is so unflexible... I am told that in some countries day-care starts at 6am until night-fall);


• Simplify life: Key bank (leave a copy of your keys with some kind of outsourced concierge), on-line business cards (hum... has anyone heard about VistaPrint ???), appartment scouts (they do that on your behalf), a primary market for equity trading for entrepreneurs (this would help mutualise risks... very interesting => talk to Christophe Chausson about it)


• Entertain: a family-focused travel agency (great idea, in the meantime, check meta-aggregator www.easyvols.com);


• Food: biological fast-foods and resturants and chic fast foods;


• Communicate: motorbike taxis (I used them for many years in Asia: great! I have been wondering for a long time why we didn't have them in Europe), wi-fi webcams (if you read this blog, you know by now this is something I am interested in. Check Intamac, a company in which a good friend of mine has just invested), disposable DVDs (very bad idea. Check discussions here), flirting sites (well, yeah... meetic.com, match.com, love.com... expect that sector to consolidate real quick into 1 or 2 players per country. In the meantime, they top the charts in terms of traffic in some countries such as Greece).

A number of our friends also have a quick note or sidebox in the article, including Michel from Photoways, Loic from ublog.net, and Hervé de La Martinière (we share the same investors at glowria.fr... ).

Now, please take note of a reply of Guy Kawasaki (I met him quickly at a conference back in 2000 - real great speaker, he used to be an Apple evangelist) in a interview a couple of years ago (he has been saying this for ever, and all VC-related professionals would repeat it over and over again - see a similar recent post by Philippe Laferrière ):

"Q: So when you talk to startups looking for capital do you tell them part of the way to succeed in the venture world today is building a business that goes to where the demand is?

[Answer:] We have to separate two things. Part of getting funded is what you just said. But part of building a business is not necessarily that. In today's atmosphere to get funded, you have to solve pain. You have to have a team. You have to have technology. You have to have traction. This is just a statement of fact. However, if you were to apply that test to most humongously successful companies, none of them would pass that test. There's a huge chasm if you will, between what can get funded today and what can be the next big thing."

Installing Linux Fedora Core 2 on a sunny Sunday afternoon

Sure... they are more fun ways to spend a sunny sunday afternoon they toying around with your computers at home. However, as my kid is having chicken pox, I am stuck home today.

I have a simple set-up: a broadband connection at home, linked to 2 SMC home routers performing dual NAT (=Network Address Translation). I defend myself that way vs. outside hackers and friendly 'visitors'. Indeed check my router's log in the past minutes:

Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:16:31 Unrecognized access from 200.247.27.64:4248 to TCP port 135
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:16:34 Unrecognized access from 200.247.27.64:4248 to TCP port 135
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:16:55 Unrecognized access from 162.83.120.22:2796 to TCP port 445
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:16:57 Unrecognized access from 162.83.120.22:2796 to TCP port 445
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:17:04 Unrecognized access from 162.83.120.22:2796 to TCP port 445
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:17:40 Unrecognized access from 219.113.119.251:1035 to UDP port 1434
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:17:41 Unrecognized access from 82.226.132.97:3897 to TCP port 445
Sunday, June 13, 2004 18:17:42 Unrecognized access from 216.55.155.11:30598 to UDP port 1026

Kind of non stop right ? The majority of attacks are stopped there. A small program on my laptop then checks regularly my second router for additional attacks (none so far :). One of those routers is Wi-Fi enabled and allows all laptops at home (3 of them, including two old ones by Toshiba and Compaq) to connect seamlessly to the Internet. I have also attached my 2 HP printers (a color one and a b&w one) to the routers that act like print servers (using unix lpd queues). One of my laptops is also connected to the phone line with a fax software, allowing all 3 machines to send faxes over the air; received faxes are forwarded to me by email, and printed wirelessly on the laser printer.

Finally, although my professional laptop runs Microsoft Windows XP with a recent Microsoft Office suite purchased with the computer, I didn't want to keep on running Windows 98 on the other 2 laptops (which was the OS they came with) and refused to pay the Microsoft tax for a modern OS and software. I went the open source way, and both computers are running today some flavour of Linux (it changes according to my mood and tests) and free software on them. I hence invested in some extra memory for both laptops and Wi-Fi PCMCIA cards to connect them to my W-LAN (from Orinoco and Belkin).

One of my setups includes a Fedora Core 1 linux OS, running OpenOffice 1.1.1 and a number of goodies, such as the gaim multi-IM client, and a Citrix client for linux to connect remotely to my wife's office. I am currently upgrading to the latest release, Fedora Core 2 (should be finished in a couple of hours) and will blog my impressions then.

The other laptop runs sometimes a gentoo setup, or a yoper setup, as I try to give a 2nd chance to that old hardware by recompiling the software with all optimizations on.

Why would this be of any interest on this blog ?

1) well because you can save money by installing open source environments at home very easily and give a 2nd life to your old machines (great for the family)

2) because you learn also by doing, and understanding the pain or the ease of installations, maintenance and upgrades; this allows us to advise our companies (at RISC Partners) with the best options on how to cut costs, or on how to bet on the future. As an example, the glowria.fr back-office and warehouse terminals all run on linux and/or freeBSD distributions. It represented for us a big savings in license fees from Microsoft when we hosted our machines on the Internet and protects us to some extent better than the Microsoft-OSs, prone to security holes!