Venture Kid

Chrometa – Time Tracking for Enterprises

January 5, 2009 – 12:30 am | by matt

I recently spoke over the phone with Brett Owens. Brett is the CEO and co-founder of Chrometa LLC (formerly Time Tracking Buddy). Brett and his team originally positioned Chrometa as a consumer facing utility that would help users track where they spent most of their time while on their computers. However, the Chrometa team realized that it would be better to reorient the company’s product as an enterprise software application. The perception of value by business customers, for instance law firms who have become increasingly concerned with tracking billable hours, was much greater than for individual consumers.

The value for large enterprise firms is that it provides a screenshot time of what an employee is working on at different time intervals. By making the work that an employee does or does not do public to Managers and Executives, the company is able to view in the aggregate and at the micro-level how time is being spent and therefore hold employees accountable.

The choice to become a B2B company has thus far proved to be a fruitful one, as Chrometa recently finished a pilot test with a healthcare company. The company is looking to roll out version 1 of its software in the near future.

Best of luck to you Brett. In today’s attention deficit world the computer offers an endless slew of distractions; your software has the potential to help companies keep employees motivated, focused, and productive.

I will predict that time and task tracking software like this will increasingly go mainstream. The recession should accelerate its adoption. By knowing which employees are slacking and which are on task employers will be better equipped to reward and punish the behavior.

While such solutions make perfect sense for employers there may be some pushback from privacy advocates. Such software may give the negative, omnipresent feeling that one is being watched all the time at work.  Employer interests, however, are likely to prevail since all employees are employed at will and in general make concessions whereever and whenever they use company resources. Finally as work systems become increasingly mobile and the divide between work and liesure time is blurred, this shift will only increase the need by employers for this type of service.

Tags: Brett Owens, Chrometa, Enterprise Software, Time Tracking Software

Creating Value

December 14, 2008 – 12:07 am | by Matt Ackerson

How does one create value?

Assume that value is a subjective judgment and not an objective measure. Value is created in two ways: through perception and function.

Paper currency has value. There is the perception that is has value: we as a society have collectively deemed it to be valuable. It is also functional: is can be traded for goods and services.

Google is valuable. Google takes the mess that is the internet and makes it easily accessible and searchable. Google has high functional value as a result of solving this problem.

Creating functional value requires having the right set of skills or tools, and perhaps a good idea or two. Creating the perception of value is an art that is just as difficult to master. Look at Mint.com. Refreshing money management. Mint. I get it. But more than that, I feel good from the moment that I have entered the site. And I am going to feel good about using it. This is a result of the near flawless design coupled with the facts, ideas, or stories behind the company’s existence.

Compare this to Buxfur. Compare this to Wesabe (not the best name). Compare this to Yodlee. Compare this to Geezeo.

The difference is clear. Some of these companies provide a more functional product. Regardless, Mint is kicking their ass because Mint has executed beautifully to achieve a more compelling perception of value.

Remember the dualistic nature in your effort to create value, in whatever it is that you are building.

Tags: creating value, functional value, marketing, perception, percieved value, value