I asked the question how they want to disrupt the CRM market. The answer was so great, I decided to blog it here, unmodified. It’s very useful, not just if you want to get into the CRM market.
Here we go:
Just admit it. CRM sucks and no one wants to use it. So make it engaging and rewarding. Gamify it.
Make it Open Source. But really Open Source. Like the kind of Open Source that gets respect from developers.
Design a killer minimalist UI that looks more like software you’d use at home than something you’d use at work.
Kill the bugs. Be your own exterminator and use Test Driven Development. It takes discipline, but it means standing behind your code and fostering confidence.
Take the features war out of the equation. Monetize on your ability to support the app instead. If your app it’s is as good as you believe it is, people will pay for hosting, support, and additional integrations.
Don’t be condescending. A light community edition is useless. You know it, your contributors know it, and your end users will eventually figure it out. You are building an Open Source project. Show some respect.
Don’t be small minded about Big Data. Is this concept overhyped? Probably. But you can’t ignore it. From marketers to analysts, everyone knows 90% of the world’s data has been created in the last two years. Even if they don’t know what to do with it yet, they all know any database system worthy of their investment will need to handle serious volume at rapid velocity.
Help innovators realize their dreams. CRM is still untapped in many markets. Welcome propeller heads and support other developers who want to verticalize. The beauty of Open Source is that you can pivot in multiple directions. Try out different pairs of glasses and welcome weird ideas. What you might see as a standard sales force automation tool, another visionary might see as the foundation to a potential vertical you’d never considered.