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Filed under Arc90 on June 24, 2008 by Tim Meaney

Introducing Kindling, the first product from Arc90

Ideas are everywhere, but how do I find them?

It’s been often said that the best ideas come from within an organization, as the people closest to the action are best positioned to see untapped value.  However, in practice some businesses seek new ideas, whether they be process changes or the next product line, from the outside - from hired consultants or strategic management firms. 

For those that do seek this out from within, often the problem is actually tapping into this potential wealth of ideas.  If there was only a tool that allowed all members of an organization or community to submit, discuss, refine and vote on ideas?  The net effect of all of this activity would be a well-vetted list of ideas, those that by the nature of being exposed and vetted have the support of the group.

Kindling, a new product by Arc90, is just such a tool.  The product has been within our company for over a year, as well as by a handful of organizations during our private beta, and is available today, as we widen our scope to a public beta.  More on that below, but first, since when is Arc90 a product company?  As cryptic as our web presence might be, it is pretty clear that Arc is a services company, so how did we get here?

An evolution into product

A year or so ago, the management at Arc90 made a strategic decision to diversify our business by pursuing product development.  As a services company we had been functioning as if we were building product, because we were building product - product used exclusively by our clients!  Very rarely could our work be considered custom software.  There’s both cause and effect in play here, as we tend to think in a way where we look at the problem at hand, abstract it one or two levels up, and then create software that speaks to the larger issue.  We also only hire people that think that way, perpetuating the trend.  This is how we keep ourselves interested in, and passionate about, our clients’ business.

Besides our inherent product disposition, we also seek control over our future.  A simple truth exists about the services business:  no matter how good the work is that you deliver to clients, you can never fully control your own destiny.  A client, very pleased with our work, could fail, or get sued, or experience a change in management, or undergo a strategic change in direction.  

Services companies attempt to get around this inherent challenge through diversification - ‘let’s get additional services clients!’  But that’s the rub for a company like Arc90 - we do our best work, and frankly usually only take on work, when we’re operating at a strategic level within an external organization.  And those relationships are hard to find.  We could take less desirable (as we define it) project work, but then not only would we not be controlling our destiny, but we’d be doing work that doesn’t suit us.  And since this is our company, we’re just not going to choose to do that.

For those reasons, we made the decision which we are now executing on - diversify into product.  Teams within Arc have been working on a few product efforts which are at various states of readiness.  And so, as I mentioned above, I’m very pleased to announce that our first product is ready. 

Kindling, an idea management and collaboration tool

Kindling is a web-delivered application which allows the members of an organization or community to create, discuss, refine, and vote on ideas.  All of this activity naturally results in a listing of refined, quality, popular ideas.  “Bad” or “unpopular” ideas will filter out of view, and “good” and “popular” ideas bubble up to the top.  From there, decision-makers can approve or reject ideas and the cycle continues. 

A key aspect of Kindling’s value is the scarcity of votes available to everyone using your group’s Kindling.  Fewer votes means more value for each one, so people will use them to support the ideas they feel strongest about.  That decision-making process, as played out over the group, will result in the best ideas gaining the most support.

Why would the people in my community or organization participate in Kindling?  People participate in Kindling to see their ideas get acted upon, and to help support and refine other good ideas.  Group or community decision-makers participate in Kindling for the same reason, as well as to identify and implement the group’s ideas.  There’s a strong incentive here for decision-makers to participate in Kindling, as who besides members of the organization or community would have or recognize good ideas?

Kindling’s thoughtfully designed interface and experience make this process fun and engaging.  I see this play out in Arc90’s Kindling, where there are usually a few new ideas and lots of new commentary around existing ideas every day.  To illustrate, here’s an idea from our Kindling (note the date):

Kindling works for us, and we think it’ll be useful for others.  If you find this interesting, head over to kindlingapp.com and request an invitation to join the public beta.  The beta program is free with no obligation to subscribe once we launch the paid version (but you'll receive reduced pricing if you're in the beta program), and you’ll have the chance to provide feedback and participate in the refinement of the product as we prepare it for public availability.

Stay tuned to this blog for updates on Kindling, as well as our quest into product.

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