Moving Forward

As I write this, hanging like an apostrophe between 2007 and 2008, I started thinking about the crazy chaotic movie Meet the Robinsons that came out earlier last year. A character whose early life was punctuated by a series of missteps and failures grows up to be a fabulous inventor and a zealous proponent of the notion “Keep Moving Forward.” This mantra was taken from the vision of Walt Disney, whose studio produced the film.

ThinkFree itself is a real-life example of the power of persistence. We have been at the forefront of a vibrant movement that has turned the traditional concept of productivity on its head. ThinkFree has most certainly been through its ups and downs. It’s an incredibly competitive area now, we’ve just begun to head toward “mainstream” status, and there is lot of work left to be done.

I’ve had a front row seat working with TJ, our development and sales teams and our partners to help promote the vision and impact that collaborative, web-based work tools can have. It’s been both incredibly fun at times - especially interacting with the ThinkFree community - and occasionally frustrating at others, as all innovations are as they seek to find their proper place in the world. I am extremely proud of the work we have done here.

What’s clear is that ThinkFree as a company and online collaboration tools as a market category are evolving to the next stage. Big-name brands are calling us, wanting demos and starting pilots. Heavyweights like IBM are stepping into the space.

Our parent company, Haansoft, is now taking a more active role in the strategic and tactical activities of ThinkFree. They are now deep into what this shift means for our development roadmap as we head into 2008. ThinkFree is no longer a startup, and our marketing program, which I’ve led for the past 2+ years, is also evolving.

This pending change has led me to make one of my own. To keep moving forward in my own own life, I am leaving ThinkFree effective immediately to look for other opportunitites to create something new and meaningful. My ThinkFree experience has left me with an addiction to the Web 2.0 world and I hope to be neck deep back in that world in early 2008. (I’ll post an update on my personal blog at http://jcrow.wordpress.com when I have news. I’ll also keep the Web 2.0, social networking conversation going there.)

Thank you to everyone in the community who has been so supportive to ThinkFree and to me personally. I’ve met some incredibly talented (and a few insane - you know who you are) people whose passion to change how we work is simply amazing. I will be fortunate if I can find myself in the same kind of company in my next role.

Best wishes to all of you for a healthy and prosperous new year.

http://www.webepags.com

Exact look & feel copy off Microsoft’s originals?
No, thank you.

http://www.leveragingideas.com

ThinkFree has 3 DMOZ listings and 2 Yahoo! directory listings — Pretty strong PR and ability to build up but I think the interface may just be the lacking tipping point — The big dogs are ruling the roost on this one

They have deleted the post mentioned here: http://blog.thinkfree.com/2008.....g-forward/

I do like their interface though, and a larger player in the market would be smart to snatch them up and integrate them into their current online suite the way Google did with their acquisitions.

On the other hand, what’s happening to omnidrive anybody knows? http://www.omnidrive.com hasn’t been accessible for 4 full days already since the 8th morning…

I use Microsoft Office when the job requires it and use lightweight Google Docs for the rest.

Thinkfree received remarkably little press though and is a bit pricey, given there are free office apps out there. I’d still reckon that if Thinkfree could better target users who want an office package that looks exactly like the one at work, but at a fraction of the price, they could get the mass take up they deserve. Team up with Tesco?