Exbiblio Retrospect
Bill Gate’s late and jetlagged appearence at the British Library was to launch Vista - but he also spoke about how Microsoft is working with the library to digitise manuscripts, including some by Leonardo.
It’s a good moment to mention that we’ve finished our six month run writing for another Seattle based technology company, Exbiblio- if I was still updating their blog I would written up this “digital convergence” story for them. I’d like to wish Exbiblio the best of luck with their own project to bring together books and the digital world.
There’s probably a lot I could say about our Exbiblio blog project: its noble aim was to give an outsider’s account of life at a start-up, the whole truth with nothing barred. I would rate it a 50% success - it probably isn’t possible to go into all the little details about people at a company that would bring The Office to life. They are worried about their careers, both inside the company and beyond, and there still is a feeling that it’s unprofessional to bare all. Also, my view of the ‘truth’ was often far different from the management’s view of the ‘truth, ‘ and it was hard to reconcile the two truths. Perhaps I am just a bit too truthful and tactless for my own good. I think if events had proved me wrong, my warnings on the blog would have been more easy to live with…. as things went from bad to good, it would have seemed like triumph over adversity, but when you are struggling to achieve your life ambition, and as the delays, technical glitches, and cost overruns just mount up, I suppose that reading about it on your own website becomes rather irritating.
Anyway, we have a blog relations project on the boil which, if it is signed on the dotted line will be even more interesting, and I think has every chance of being a success (cross fingers). But the truth about our own company, Blog Relations, is that many interesting projects get kicked into the long grass before they get going. I suppose this is probably the reality of many service businesses. It would be hard for me to write up all our hopes and disappointments because they involve third parties… I think this is another fault line in the “no holes barred’ theory of blogging, unfortunately. So I’m afraid that mostly I’m going to be boasting about our modest successes because they are just so much easier to write up… it’s a bit sad really.
1. February 2007 at 03:07
(a former Exbiblio employee here).
Hugh, I’d like to say that it was fantastic meeting you and chatting with you on your visits here to Seattle! Without going into details (either…), it was definitely an interesting experiment and experience to have been a part of and to watch and hear about all that went into the Exbiblio blog, for sure.
1. February 2007 at 10:17
Hi Ed - Really Great to hear from you. I very much hope that you will be passing through London some time and will drop by - that goes for other Exbiblio and ex-Exbiblio people too!
4. February 2007 at 09:49
Exbiblio, being a new born start-up based on a radical new product, always carried a great execution risk, and although this chapter has come to an end, I am convinced that they will be reborn in the next few weeks with a new sense of direction and renewed spirits.
From this whole blogging experience I have come to conclude that the startup process erred on the side of too much vision. Paraphrasing from Exbiblio’s website the accent on lofty aspirations (”We will be a strong force for good in the world”), good feelings (”We will leave beauty in our wake”), and the drive to radically try to do things differently (”a community of people who have a holistic approach to their work and their lives … a flat organizational structure”), left little space to proven, down to earth, and nitty gritty business practices.
I think you have done a great job not only blogging from the inside but also providing a different point of view, healthily skeptical. As a sign reads in Exbiblio’s office: “The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you offâ€
4. February 2007 at 13:36
Hello Franciso, Thank you for dropping by here, and for your stimulating and interesting comments on the Exbiblio blog.
I totally agree with you about Exbiblio’s ‘lofty aspirations’ which also happen to be vague to the point of meaninglessness. I don’t’ think business people or inventors make very good moral philosophers, even if their intentions are good.