Startup Progress : The Office Setup

Ok.. so we signed the LLC documents today and the checks are being cut (Two months in the making) .. I am stoked to say the least. The web development team is all in place and ready to roll... Now my focus is on our actual office setup.


Just a little background.. our main investors and some of the executive team will be located down in Atlanta. Myself and 2 other poor souls will be located near Portsmouth NH. This has already proved to be quite a logistical challenge so far..I am thinking of ways for us best to incorporate a efficient collaborative environment.

Our Office space is conveniently located across the street from a main Verizon hub..which we will be using FIOS for business 30mbps/5mbps up/dwn . So we will be cookin for sure.. :)

Next is Voice Comms... I really want to go w/ Skype. I have been a Skype user for almost a year w/ Skype in/out . The only problems I ever have is w/ my slow Comcast connection.

We will be extremely reliant on our phone system so this is extremely crucial to our day to day ops... I plan on using Plantronics Voip headsets comments would be greatly appreciated on this..

We also plan on using Google Apps $50/yr program for all of office needs. I have a jotspot account as well for collaboration.

So now I have to choose PC's for the three of us.. we are on a limited budget so I would welcome any recommendations on a good setup .. i.e low maintenance etc. We will be primarily using browser based applications so we don't need any monsters. Can we save in this area to spend in the dual monitor department?

I already have a Lexmark X5470 combo setup.. so we are good to go in that area.

Any thoughts on a setup would be greatly welcome!

Google Office .. We ain't seen nothin yet!

Well as most people have heard by now Google has launched a premium service targeted at small and medium size business. This is the key difference between the all out war some are calling this w/ Microsoft Outlook. Microsoft has the medium to large size business's locked up.


Google is very smart in their approach going after the long tail..a place where most of their ad revenue comes from almost $1 billion a quarter. Here is a qoute from Eric Schmidt “The surprising thing about The Long Tail is just how long the tail is, and how many businesses haven’t been served by traditional advertising sales,”.

Most small business crave a simplified office environment. Gmail is simple to use and makes life easier. Docs and Spreadsheets on the other hand is a little rough around the edges but I have a feeling enhancements will be made available quickly.

I am surprised what hasn't been talked about more is the non integration of Jotspot's Wiki tools. This is a great set of tools for a small or med. biz as a virtual intranet for resources etc.. I also expect a rumored Power Point clone very soon as well which would give Google Apps a very powerful set of tools to really take it to the next level. Now this Premium package would be very attractive to larger business's.

I think that Google is counting on people who don't want to upgrade to Vista/Office 07 but see it as inevitable as an alternative solution. Could Google really be positioning itself better than we think w/ Google Apps?