The Business Development Consultancy that Helps Technology Firms Grow

For the last few years I have been completely immersed in the world of 3D laser scanning and point cloud data reuse. I have lived it as a large software licensee, breathed it as an early-stage disruptive software vendor, I’ve talked about it here on LiDAR News, and I’ve watched it go main-stream – very quickly.

It all started back in 2009 when Bentley Systems, Inc. licensed the Pointools’ Vortex point cloud engine to enable point cloud data reuse for hundreds of thousands of MicroStation users. At that time I was the Bentley guy responsible for marketing most of Bentley’s revenue-generating products and subscriptions. My extensive portfolio included MicroStation which meant that I needed to get up to speed fast with the laser scanning market.

I was quickly sucked in to this exciting and rapidly expanding market. It was all so ‘James Bond’ in its innovation and rate of development. And before long I decided to go ‘full-time’ and bade farewell to Bentley in the USA, flew back across the Atlantic, and joined the Pointools management team in London. My mission: rethink the Pointools go-to-market strategy to accelerate revenue growth and outpace the market, by firmly positioning the company as the leading supplier of vendor-neutral point cloud software.

Soon after joining Pointools, Gene Roe invited me to take a seat on his editorial board as a regular contributor to LiDAR News and I snapped his hand off. I love writing for industry publications; it causes one to stop and think about new technologies, workflow challenges, and opportunities, and it forces one to circumnavigate the easy buzz words and acronyms if one wants to be easy to read. Hence, throughout the latter part of 2010 and all of 2011 I crafted a number of articles which were posted to LiDAR News.

Meanwhile in London we were successfully repositioning our Pointools products to appeal to new markets, and we were signing up new sales partners to reach them. As a result we grew the Pointools business faster than the the 3D laser scanning market at large by a factor of 7/1 (See “3D Laser Scanning Worldwide Outlook” by ARC Advisory Group).  And as the end of 2011 drew near, with a record financial year in our pockets, the Pointools business was acquired. My mission to grow Pointools for a successful exit was completed a good bit faster than we expected. So what next?

Well, I have always enjoyed a challenge and I am at my happiest when I’m pulling my weight to prove my worth so I decided to start-up a new business development consultancy called Oundle Group to help other technology firms grow. It is perhaps a slight oversimplification to say that great products will generate great business if the market demand is there and the right people are in charge. But, it is also true to say that without the right strategy or the right people even the very best products will just bob along on the tide merrily drifting without any great growth.

Unfortunately (for them) some start-ups or early-stage companies cannot afford to pay for the executive talent they need, which is where Oundle Group comes in. By offering executive-level strategic thinking, on a part-time basis at a fraction of the full-time cost, our services are affordable for smaller companies. We even offer an innovative fee structure where we place a portion of our fees ‘at risk’ subject to pre-agreed KPIs being met. This eliminates the fear many companies have about realising ‘consultant value’ and getting a return on investment. With Oundle Group, if our clients don’t get a return – i.e. if the company isn’t growing as planned – they don’t pay the full fee, simple. We share risk and in return we share the rewards. This wouldn’t be possible in all industries and with all clients but as business development consultants we have the luxury to select the firms we work with, and we have the opportunity to agree some very clear performance goals which are easy to measure – revenue growth.

In the coming months I will be changing my writing focus on LiDAR News to share business development best practices and insights. Each month I’ll pick a different subject area and pull in as many industry-relevant examples as I can find to make the point. I hope you’ll join me and I hope my musings will be useful to you.