Month: March 2013

Going to name my next company/project: “Fred” or “Scout”.

I’m getting tired of “cutesy” names.  We seem to have used up all the good strong names that really tell about what a company does.  We’ve been inventing names for a decade now to accomodate the dot.com and technology boom.  It seems that everything “thematic” relating to cloud computing has been completely exhausted.  Steve Martin did a bit years ago about naming a bank, “Fred’s Bank”.  That idea has stuck with me for twenty years.

How do you say:  “I’m a big bunker with racks of servers, and i can get your data to you anywhere, on any device, at any time, with complete security and reliability” in a company name that will look good on a golf shirt?

Clarification of recent announcements

Here’s a brief clarification of the recent activity with our companies.  I know the recent activity and press releases can be confusing.

June 1, 2012
Streamside Ventures LLC began working with Computers & Tele-Comm., Inc. and KC NAP LLC.  I came on board as a contract interim executive (VP Operations) with the goal of creating a platform for growth in the local/regional market.  Our plan was to build a healthy regional company in the Managed Services, Data Center, Broadband (Wireless and Fiber) spaces, and for me to take eventual leadership and an ownership interest in the companies.

January 1, 2013
Streamside Partners LLC and I personally, took a combined controlling ownership interest in the two companies.  This was part of a planned ownership/control transition, and was part of a larger strategy to make some changes in the financial structure of the company.  This was not an exit strategy for Graeme or Larry.  Graeme Gibson and Larry Levin continue on as part-owners, and actively engaged in the day-to-day operations of the company.  There was no name change to either company.

March 1, 2013
IceWEB, Inc. and Computers and Tele-Comm., Inc./KC NAP LLC signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to merge.  This merger is now in the due diligence phase.  The companies continue to operate independently of each other until the merger closes.  This is not an exit strategy sale.  Existing IceWEB and existing CTC key personnel will continue on with the merged entity.  There was no name change to either company.  CTC and KC NAP continue to operate as CTC and KC NAP, with current pre-announcement personnel.

March 13, 2013
IceWEB, Inc. announced that they are going to change the name of their company to Ximbus, Inc.  There has been no name change for CTC or KCNAP.  CTC and KC NAP continue to operate separately from IceWEB.  The Ximbus name has to be announced in advance, because they are a public company.  I do not know when that name change will take effect.  Again, the merger is not yet complete, and there has been no name change for CTC and KC NAP.  

Everything is going quite according to plan and has been very orderly.  The IceWEB opportunity came quicker than we expected, but is an excellent strategic fit for our companies, and will help us to move quickly from being a local/regional company, to a national market company with access to the capital in the public markets and access to high caliber staff.  We are thrilled and amazed at how quickly things have progressed.   We are excited for what this means for us personally, for our employees, and for the Kansas City tech community.  We are just a small part of it, but Kansas City continues to gain more visibility on the national stage as a place for leading edge tech companies.  That’s going to be great for all of us.